‘It wasn’t meant to be but no one can take those occasions away’
“So I dropped back but they never wanted to take out the fact that I could dribble and run out from the back.
“So all those aspects from midfield helped me in defence.
“I had that advantage in being something different as a centre-back.
“To go past Gary Pallister, a player who had cost a lot of money and been a record signing, to then find that composure to finish it off, you just think ‘gosh, was that real?’.
“It’s just one of those moments no one can ever take away.
“You can always say ‘I scored the winner against Manchester United’.”
Sunderland XI: Norman; Kay, Hardyman, Bennett, Agboola; Ball, Owers, Bracewell, Armstrong; Gabbiadini, Davenport. Subs: Brady, Hauser. Goals: Owers, McClair, Bennett.
“We had to win and hope that other results went our way,” he said.
“It had been an exciting season but we didn’t get the results our performances deserved.
“We played some attractive football, we just didn’t know how to shut up shop.
“But for me, this was just the day that summed Sunderland up as a club.
“It was the last game of the season but we took 17,000 down to Maine Road.
“At the end of the game, Man City were applauding Sunderland supporters.
“They couldn’t believe it, given the position we were in.
“We’d heard during the week about how many supporters were supposed to be travelling but no one was quite sure.
“We lost 3-2, Marco scored and I ended up scoring as well, which was obviously special for me to score at a ground that I had such a connection with.
“My Mam and Dad were there behind the goal when I scored.
“At the end of the game, seeing those supporters and that loyalty, to be able to go round and appreciate what they did for us, it was really special.
“Even now, you go round the country with Sunderland and you see the shock at other clubs with the sheer numbers you bring. “It’s a highlight for them.” Sunderland XI: Norman; Kay, Hardyman, Bennett, Ord; Pascoe, Owers, Bracewell, Hawke; Davenport, Gabbiadini. Subs: Brady, Hauser. Goals: Quinn (x2), White, Gabbiadini, Bennett. coming into the game, what do you want to do?
“Get into the team, play as many games as you can, play at the highest level you can… and play at Wembley.
“OK, we didn’t win, but at the end of the day, you got there.
“Against Norwich, we hit the post, Clive Walker missed a penalty, it was a game that could have gone either way.
“In 1992, John Byrne scored in every round, we had a couple of chances early on in the final that we didn’t take and the rest is history.
“It was a fantastic occasion, not just for myself and my family, but for the football club.
“The FA Cup, for me growing up, it just took over.
“You would watch the whole build-up. The hotels, the suits, cameras following them on and off the bus. It was just fantastic. “It was a player’s dream. “The semi-final at Roker Park, Gordon Armstrong’s header, just a fantastic goal from him.
“You look back on that run and it was just about belief.
“Yes, we had a bit of luck but it’s not like we didn’t beat everybody. Chelsea, West Ham United…
“It goes and you start to get that belief.
“We went to Hillsborough for the semi-final and what an occasion...the back of the goal in those days went right up into the sky and was full of Sunderland supporters. Byrne scored again.
“Liverpool weren’t having the best of times that season and people wondered if it might be a bit like 1973 again.
“It wasn’t meant to be but you can’t take those occasions away.”
Sunderland XI (v Norwich): Turner, Pickering, Bennett, Corner, Chisholm, Daniel, Wallace, Hodgson, Berry, Walker. Subs: Gayle. Goal: Chisholm OG
Sunderland XI (v Liverpool): Norman, Ball, Bennett, Rogan, Owers, Rush, Bracewell, Armstrong, Atkinson, Davenport, Byrne. Subs: Hardyman, Hawke. Goals: Thomas, Rush