The Night Tony Hazell sent the FA Cup Flying. (Not Stan Bowles)
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.”