Phil SumblerThe FA Cup Third Round. For the romanticists amongst us it was always one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures on the footballing calendar. As a fan of a club outside of the top two divisions you spend your time hoping that your presence will be rewarded with a tie against one of the big clubs.
For the Swans it is no different and we have had many memorable third round ties. As we build up towards the home tie against Southampton this weekend we have five different third round ties to look back on so tune back in every day to take part in our trips down memory lane.
In the third of our five trips down memory lane we go back to 2007 and the destroying of the Blades at Bramall Lane
FA Cup Third Round Classics – Sheffield United 2007
Even before the Swans had go to the 3rd Round, the 2006/7 campaign had been an interesting one for us. The First Round saw us drawn away with a short trip up the M4 to Newport which was ‘eventful’ to say the least. The Swans were 2-0 up inside half hour thanks to Trundle and Iriekpen before Peter Beadle (the Newport manager) was sent off and a coin aimed from the crowd struck the assistant official who ended up spending the night in hospital. Newport and Beadle were charged and fined but it was the Swans who progressed to a second round tie against Darlington.
FIRST ROUND HIGHLIGHTS
The second Round saw us travel into the North East where we overcame Darlington 3-1 to progress to the 3rd Round.
SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS (From around 1:00 onwards)
06 January 2007
Sheffield United 0 Swansea City 3
Bramall Lane, Sheffield
The Swans went into the 3rd Round at Bramall Lane missing some key players, most notably Lee Trundle (suspension) and Andy Robinson (injury) but three goals in 15 second half minutes created one of the shocks of the year’s competition as Kenny Jackett.
The home side were facing a relegation battle from the Premiership and were 16th in the league when they went into the game and Neil Warnock opted to make changes of his own for the match as more than 4,500 Jacks made the trip to South Yorkshire to back the team.
The Planet Swans Match Report
The magic of the FA Cup. Some say that it has lost the magic that it used to have but you try telling that to the 4,500 plus Jacks that made the trip to Sheffield today. To hear those Jacks in full voice after their side humbled a Premiership team in their own back yard tells you that the magic of the FA Cup is very much alive. Well it is in Swansea at this moment in time anyway.
I suspect that there were a few disappointed faces when the name of Sheffield United was drawn to play the Swans but as we take our place in the fourth round of the competition, I suspect that there were even less people who could have predicted that we would leave Sheffield with a three goal victory into the bargain.
The onsite bookies coupons had a 3-0 Swansea win priced at 100-1 and Tom Butler was 33-1 to score the first goal of the game. Now imagine pairing those two together on a nice scorecast. Hands up if you did it. I know I didn’t!
And I guess if you factored in the loss of Trundle, Pratley, Craney, Robinson, Painter and anyone else you care to mention then you would probably have said that those 100-1 odds may have been just a little bit on the tight side. But hey, bookies are wrong from time to time – especially on occasions like today.
So who did Jackett send out of his walking wounded? As reported beforehand, Robinson and Painter both missed out leaving us with fewer options again then we would have hoped and although the line up screamed 4-4-2 it appeared to turn rapidly into a 4-5-1 with Bayo ploughing a sole presence up front – and a very effective one at that
Big Willy
Amankwaah Lawrence Austin Williams
Britts KOL Rory Tatey Lord Tom Of Swansea
Bayo
Subs: Izzy, Watt, Jones and two more whose names escape me
I shall say at the very front end of this report that I have not yet seen the goals back so what I talk about will be from what I remember – there are newspapers if you want more accurate reporting (!)
Anyway, it could have been a dream start with Fallon forcing a very early save from Gerrard in the Blades goal. It was a good move, a neat shot but just not to be for Rory. I say a dream start I suppose the dream start was the travelling Jack Army completely drowning out the rendition of “greasy chip butty” – how many times has that happened at the Lane in recent years?
That aside, Swansea were very much on a par with the Blades in the first half and in truth other than one save at Hurst’s feet there was little for Willy to do – and other than Fallon’s early shot there was little for Gerrard to do. Butler had a free kick deflected just over and we were forced into a change when Izzy came on for the injured Amankwaah
With a goal less first half, the Swans were halfway to my prediction of a replay at the Liberty but I don’t think anyone envisaged what we would produce in the second forty five minutes. The indications were there when Butler forced a neat save from Gerrard early on and the Blades themselves had a couple of half chances that they failed to convert.
And then came the first moment that we wanted. Britts sent KOL free on the right wing – his low cross was well met by Bayo who saw his half effort scrambled away but only as far as Butler who drilled a low shot under Gerrard into the back of the net. Complete bedlam in the Swansea end – we led at Bramall Lane.
And whilst we maybe fancied holding onto that the players wanted more. Another ball into the box, more nuisance from Bayo and again Butler drilled home under Gerrard. 2-0 – this was fantasy stuff
The Blades were beaten by this point and the Swans got the space we probably never expected on the day. Butler burst into the box and was upended – penalty said D’Urso leaving the cue for three or four of ours to argue over who was taking it. Britton drew the short card (what a surprise!) and beat Gerrard with ease with his penalty. It was three frigging nil and I don’t think we had broken sweat by this point. Well, we had by it honestly didn’t seem that way
The remaining half hour pretty much passed in a motion of endless singing from the Jack end – a couple of half chances more but the work had been done and on Monday it is the name of Swansea City that will be drawn in the fourth round whilst Sheffield United will embark on trying to secure their Premiership safety.
A fantastic game, a fantastic performance in front of some fantastic fans. Its days like this that make you realise why you are a football fan.
WHO ARE WE?
Kenny Jackett – “Our commitment is always good, we have a good bunch of players, they are whole-hearted with a strong desire to do well,
“We’ve got a long way to go in both Cup and League this season and perhaps set some standards today
“Some 5000 supporters followed us here and made a hell of a lot of noise which really helped us”
Tom Butler – “It was fantastic to come to Bramall Lane, play Premiership opposition and get a result.
“Personally I was delighted to get the two goals, but we pushed on to get the third as well.
“We started off with a new 4-1-4-1 formation and it worked quite well against them, their full-backs were pushed right on and when we got the ball and broke we caused a lot of problems.”
Blades manager Neil Warnock – “We were quite humiliated in the second half.
“I have no regrets about leaving a few out because they had little injuries and struggled with tiredness and we did have a couple of suspensions.
“But certain things happened in the second half that make me feel embarrassed to be a supporter and that doesn’t happen very often.
“I feel disappointed and let down by players who should have been good enough to give a decent account of themselves against Swansea.
“Players whose careers I have resurrected have let me down, with only one or two of them giving their all to the end.”
The Swans involvement in that season’s competition ended in the next round with a defeat at Ipswich whilst the Blades were relegated from the Premier League on the last day amongst controversy after Carlos Tevez scored the goal to keep Man Utd out before it was found out he was ineligible to play. An arbitration panel found in favour of Sheffield United but the relegation stood and the two teams settled out of court. It would be 12 years before they returned to the Premier League when they won promotion in 2018/19.
