May 9 – Stan Bowles the Cup (Or Does He?)

BACK in the early 1970s, when Roy Keane was just a vicious toddler no doubt biting at people’s ankles, Sunderland AFC enjoyed their finest hour by winning the FA Cup at Wembley against heavy favourites Leeds United.

Understandably pleased as punch with the achievement of winning the cup for the first time in nearly 40 years, the club decided to parade the trophy around Roker Park before their next match, a Division Two game againt QPR held on this day in 1973.

After the parade, the trophy was placed on a table at the side of the pitch and the match got underway. The exact details of what happened next are debated, but what is certain is that the FA Cup itself was sent flying by a QPR player striking it with the ball with some force.

In his autobiography legendary Hoops midfielder Stan Bowles claims it was he who did the deed, to win a bet between his teammates. Bowles takes up the story: “There were a couple of us who had a bet on who could knock it off the table with the ball first. With the ball at my feet I tear off straight across the park. Everyone on the pitch is just staring at me – and then, bang! The FA Cup goes shooting up in the air.

“The whole ground knew that I’d done it on purpose – then the Sunderland fans go ape. They want my balls in their sandwiches. I wound up their fans even more by scoring a couple of goals and in the end there was a pitch invasion. At least I got my tenner, and my picture on News at Ten. And all because I was just having a bit of a laugh.”

But, that is not the end of the story. After this tale was recounted on the Guardian’s football website in 2006, Gordon Jago MBE, the manager of QPR at the time of the incident disputed Bowles’ version of events, and wrote to the newspaper with his recollection.

“The truth is that yes, the FA Cup was knocked off the table during the game against Sunderland, but not by Stan Bowles. It was Tony Hazell, the QPR defender,” Jago said.

“At some time during the game Tony cleared a ball and it knocked the cup flying. This incident really upset the home fans; so much so that the referee took both teams from the field to let tempers cool. The game was eventually restarted and we finished 3-0 winners. Stan had someone write a book for him and he tells the story about a bet and that he deliberately knocked the cup off the table. Fiction! I do not know if Tony or any of the other players have contacted Stan to correct him, but that story is typical of him and no doubt it helped to sell the book.”

So, a touch of poetic licence there from Stan, but it’s a good yarn nonetheless. We’ll be back tomorrow with more football japery, but until then, check out what else was happening in this football day right here.