This season marks the 50th anniversary of Sunderland's famous FA Cup triumph of 1973, when Bob Stokoe's side wrote their names into footballing folklore. Sunderland won English football's most prestigious cup competition when they beat Don Revie's then-mighty Leeds United at Wembley to get their hands on the trophy - the last team from the North East to do so.
Stokoe's stars that brought the cup back to Wearside is revered to this day, with players such as Jimmy Montgomery, Ian Porterfield, Dave Watson, Dennis Tueart, and Bobby Kerr, regarded as club legends. That glorious moment beneath the Twin Towers came on May 5, but Sunderland's route to the final began way back in January at the County Ground against Third Division Notts County, and ChronicleLive has been retracing their journey every step of the way 50 years on.
They needed two attempts to see off the Magpies in the third round, remembered in part one and part two of our series. Their fourth round tie against Charlie Hurley's Fourth Division Reading also went to a replay, with the initial tie ending in a draw at Roker Park as recalled in part three before they got the job done at Elm Park as recalled here in part four.
