In 1997 I had the good fortune to watch one of the greatest FA Cup games of all time. Lowly Chesterfield had managed to work their way into the semi-finals having beaten Bristol City, Bolton Wanderers, local rivals Nottingham Forest and Wrexham.

Their date with fate was to be at Old Trafford against big-spending Middlesbrough, who boasted players of the calibre of Brazilians Juninho, Emerson and Italian superstar Fabrizio Ravanelli.

The Chesterfield side was spearheaded by veteran and loyal servant of the club Andy Morris and the club's brightest talent, a young lad by the name of Kevin Davies (now of Bolton), and from the start the pair caused the Boro defence problems, with Vladimir Kinder hauling down Davies early in the game.

'Under today's rules the match would have gone to penalties, an option which would have given Chesterfield a great chance of progressing to the final'


It was Morris who opened the scoring nine minutes into the second half steering the ball in at the back post after Davies’s original shot had been parried by the ‘keeper. Unbelievably, Morris went through on goal again only to be brought down by the keeper. Penalty! Nerves jangling Chesterfield fans watched through fingers as captain Sean Dyche drilled the penalty straight down the middle into the net.

At this point Middlesbrough were down to 10 men as Vladimir Kinder, tormented by Davies all afternoon, was given his marching orders. Davies himself admitted at this point he was wondering what suit he would wear at Wembley. However, the Premiership side fought back with a goal from Ravanelli, making it 2-1.

Then came one of the most controversial moments in FA Cup history. Chesterfield’s Jonathan Howard made himself a yard in the box before cracking a right foot shot against the bar and over the line. However, as the ball bounced up the goal wasn’t given, neither was a penalty as Gianluca Festa climbed all over Morris as he looked to stick in the rebound.

As Morris himself remembers: “It would have been 3-1 had that stood, and goals change games. After we had that legitimate goal chalked out, they got their tails up and suddenly they were on top.” So it proved with Craig Hignett levelling the game at 2-2.

To add insult to injury Middlesbrough completed the comeback, as, ironically, Festa’s header seemed to have sent the ten men of Boro into the final. At 3-2 down the game seemed lost. However, with minutes left on the clock came one of the greatest moments in FA Cup history.

"Local Boy Done Good” Jamie Hewitt, the player who had signed for the club he loved, looped in a header to equalise, delighting the Spireites' travelling contingent. Having been all but out of the competition, the Third Division side had earned themselves a memorable draw and a replay.

Under today's rules the match would have gone to penalties, an option which would have given Chesterfield a great chance of progressing to the final. However, it would be churlish to believe that after the exertions of the first semi a similar result was possible in the replay. So it turned out as Boro romped to a comfortable 3-0 win. Even so Chesterfield’s 1997 performance will always be remembered as one of the greatest acts in the world’s oldest cup competition.

(Despite being a Tottenham fan, Chesterfield are my second team. It's an allegiance due to them being my dad’s local side, and the game still rates as my greatest FA Cup memory).

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