Sunday afternoon will see Leeds United take on Sky Bet Championship side Norwich City, as the pair battle it out for a place in the quarter-final of the world’s most prestigious domestic cup competition.
It’s over 50 years since the FA Cup paired these two clubs against one another, which saw the Whites convincingly beat the Canaries on neutral turf, after two 1-1 draws previously in their own respective stadiums in round three.
A strong crowd on the night of Monday 29th January 1973 saw an overall attendance of 33,225 in the West Midlands, at Villa Park. It’s hoped that none of those arrived late, as by the 20-minute mark Allan Clarke had already netted himself a hat-trick and all but made sure cup holders Leeds United would be in the famous bag for the next round draw.
Clarkes clinical three goals in twenty minutes quickly ended the rave reviews Canaries ‘keeper Kevin Keelan had recently received, having stopped Leeds in the two attempts to separate Don Revie’s and Norwich boss Ron Saunders’ side.
It would take jus 104 seconds for the first to arrive. Clever build up play which saw Peter Lorimer, Paul Reaner and Billy Bremner all involved, was finished with Clarke firing home a left-footed volley from a Mick Jones ball into him.
Clarke would get his second, but prior to that, he would spend time off the pitch receiving treatment having been on the end of some rough challenges. Again, the goal build up involved and Bremner and Lorimer, with the latter lifting a ball towards the back post where it found Sniffer once more, allowing him to sweetly hit the ball on the half volley nestling it past Keelan.
It took Clarke a mere seven more minutes and he had his third entry on the scoresheet. It came out of an attack started by Trevor Cherry on the left. Cherry raced to the byline then from there, efforts each from Lorimer and Jones were both blocked but competing his hat-trick, Clarke was there in seconds. The England international used his left-foot to strike a perfect effort past Keelan to make it three on the night.
Norwich boss Saunders was looking forward to the break, but the Whites had other ideas and kept searching for more. Bremner was one of many Leeds players allowed time and space, which saw the captain calmly land a ball at the feet of Jones, who in ice-cold fashion bagged a fourth for Leeds in the first 45 minutes at Villa Park.
The second half went similarly to the first. The Whites had already seen one goal ruled out by the referee, but with just over twenty minutes of play left Lorimer did add to the scoreline, with a sublime curling effort.
The Whites had dominated proceedings on the night this was a memorable win on a journey that would see Revie’s cup holders reach the final once more.
