Profiles

Celebrating the win over Shrewsbury

There was a time when Blyth Spartans were the most famous non-league football team in the world.

In 1978 they reached the fifth round of the FA Cup.

With a quarter-final tie against Arsenal awaiting the winners, they were denied victory at Wrexham when a twice-taken corner kick in stoppage time resulted in the Welsh team grabbing an equaliser and earning a replay.

Battling against Shrewsbury

It was decided to play the replay at St James' Park, the home of Newcastle United, and 40,000 fans filled the stadium to see brave Blyth beaten.

Their epic run had captured the imaginations of football fans the world over.

It was the stuff of schoolboy derring-do, epitomising the giant-killing traditions which helped to make the FA Cup the greatest knockout competition in the world.

You can listen to some of the highlights from the 1978 game against Wrexham, recorded by Radio Newcastle, using the links below.

Daring to hope

Blyth's place in cup history was secure but in some respects the glorious adventure of 1977-78 was to become a millstone around the necks of subsequent Spartans teams, and the club's success in the ensuing years has been minimal - until now.

Blyth reached the FA Cup First Round proper for the first time in 11 years in October 2008, 30 years since the glory days.

On their way to a 3-1 win

They did so with a 3-1 win over Sheffield, themselves a club with a distinguished claim to fame as the oldest surviving football club in the world.

A home draw against promotion-chasing Shrewsbury Town of League Two was an attractive reward, but frankly a Blyth Spartans team that had lost its last five league matches was given scant chance of pulling off an upset to compare with those great deeds of the past.

2,500 fans crammed into Croft Park for the game on 8 November 2008, more in hope than expectation, but when Shaun Reay's right foot shot found the back of the net with just 30 seconds played they dared to hope.

And when Reay added a second in the 27th minute some of them even began to believe.

Seven minutes into the second half Blyth's Robbie Dale hooked the ball goalwards, a Shrewsbury defender saved it on the line and Andrew Leason scored from close range. Surely the Spartans would win it now? 

Shrewsbury's former Nottingham Forest striker Graham Holt headed a goal for the visitors in the 68th minute, but Blyth's resolution was magnificent and they held out strongly to win 3-1.

Celebrations

Predictably frenzied and delirious celebrations followed as the Blyth fans savoured the moment.

Manager Harry Dunn enjoyed the moment

Manager Harry Dunn acknowledged it as his finest moment in the game.

Jackie Marks, coach to the triumphant 1978 team, looked on with quiet satisfaction and the beaming faces of the Blyth directors reflected a story of delight in victory and the pragmatic satisfaction of £20,000 prize money in the bank.

A night on the town for the team and record takings in the Croft Park clubhouse (where the "turn" was paid off and the bingo cancelled as unnecessary distractions from the serious business of drinking) followed. The celebrations went on long into the night.

So what next?

An away trip to Bournemouth in the second round - this time more in expectation than hope, for the class of 2008 has proved that it, too, can be more than a match for league opposition, and Bournemouth are currently the second bottom club in the Football League.

A repeat of history matching the achievements of 1977-78 may be asking a lot, but this is Blyth. They have done it once and who is to say they can't do it again?

Find out how to listen to commentary of the 2008 FA Cup second round replay Blyth Spartans v Bournemouth: