Today is the 50th anniversary of Sunderland's famous FA Cup triumph - and Tony Mowbray has challenged his play-off chasing Class of 2023 to make their own mark in the club's history. Bob Stokoe's second tier side pulled off the biggest FA Cup final shock of all time in 1973 when they defeated the then-mighty Leeds United at Wembley to get their hands on the trophy and, half-a-century on, they remain the last North-East team to lift the most prestigious domestic cup.
The images of that day - Ian Porterfield's winning goal, Jimmy Montgomery's incredible double-save, captain Bobby Kerr on Dennis Tueart's shoulders clutching the cup, and Stokoe's dash in tracksuit, trilby, and mac, to congratulate Monty - are etched into Wearside folkore. Even for Teessider Mowbray they form part of his earliest footballing memories, watching the game at home as a nine-year-old with his family, harking back to a time when FA Cup final day was a special occasion for football fans everywhere.
"I had a dinner at the stadium this week, in the boardroom, with the lads from 1973 and their partners, and it was really enjoyable," said Mowbray. "There are some real good characters there.
READ MORE: Tony Mowbray and Kristjaan Speakman had a 'discussion' after Sunderland linked with new head coach
"Fifty years seems an awfully long time ago. I can remember sitting there watching the game - it's one of my first proper memories of football.
"The World Cup in 1970 was a big memory, the FA Cup in 1970 with Leeds and Chelsea too, but 1973 was probably the next massive memory I have of football as a nine-year-old kid. Cup final day in those days was a proper family event, with the curtains drawn, the buffet done and all my dad's mates from the pub there.
"It was one of the top days. There was hardly any football on TV in those days, so to get to watch a live game was fantastic.
"To see Ian Porterfield score the winner, and Monty's incredible double save, they're iconic moments in football history and the club rightly should celebrate it."
The 1973 team are still lionised by Sunderland fans, with that trophy still the last major honour to find its way to Wearside. Sunderland bowed out in the fourth round this season but, with the Championship season set to wrap up on Monday, Mowbray and his modern-day team still have their eyes on a glittering prize.
It may not carry the same cachet as the FA Cup, but promotion to the Premier League unlocks untold riches. And Sunderland go into their last-day game at Preston knowing they are still in with a chance of booking a place in the play-offs, needing to win at Deepdale and for either Middlesbrough to beat Coventry or Millwall to drop points against Blackburn Rovers.
If they can secure a top six finish, they will become the first team to win promotion from League One and go straight into the Championship play-offs since Brentford managed that feat in 2014-15, and that would be some achievement in itself. Mowbray said: "The players from 1973 are still revered around the city – for me, we're trying to make the supporters happy with the current team.
"We've got this exciting, young team, but we have to make our own mark on history somewhere along the line. If we could get a positive result on Monday, and then have a positive outcome finding our way battling through the play-offs, then we'll create our own iconic moment in history. Hopefully, we can do that."
To what extent the achievements of Sunderland's 1973 team are appreciated by the current generation of players is open to question - even the oldest members of the side, Corry Evans and Danny Batth, were born almost two decades after the event. Mowbray is not in the habit of giving his players history lessons, but he has urged them to look up the likes of Leeds captain Billy Bremner and his midfield partner Johnny Giles on YouTube.
And he could not resist telling them to seek out the grainy images of his own play-off final goal against Barnsley at Wembley which helped Ipswich Town reach the top flight in 2000, in what turned out to be his last match before hanging up his boots. He said: "I don’t sit the players around the table and give them a history lesson on it, but I like to talk football.
"I'm constantly telling them to watch my goal at Wembley! I was talking about Giles and Bremner the other day, and one of the lads didn't know who was Billy Bremner was.
"This lad's 18 or 19 years old. I just said, 'Listen, when you've finished training, get your phone, put Billy Bremner in and go and watch the 7-0 against Southampton when he was doing all the backheels'. I like footballers to like football."
READ NEXT
- Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray gives an update on the futures of Amad and Edouard Michut
- Tony Mowbray gives an injury update ahead of Sunderland's crucial last-day trip to Preston
Preston dealt blow for Sunderland visit after Ryan Lowe decision
- Tony Mowbray on the challenge of coaching 'natural talent' Patrick Roberts - and how he can improve
- Five memorable final days for Sunderland as they home in on play-off place
