1979 FA Cup final

1979 FA Cup final
	Match programme cover
Event	1978–79 FA Cup
Date	12 May 1979
Venue	Wembley Stadium, London
Referee	Ron Challis (Kent)
Attendance	99,219
	← 1978 1980 →

The 1979 FA Cup final was a football match played on 12 May 1979 at Wembley Stadium. The match was contested by Arsenal and Manchester United. It is regarded as one of the greatest-ever finishes in an FA Cup final.^[1]^[2] For over 85 minutes the game had been unremarkable, with Arsenal taking a 2–0 half time lead through goals from Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton. In the 86th minute, however, Gordon McQueen scored following a set-piece, and two minutes later Sammy McIlroy dribbled past two Arsenal players to score a dramatic equaliser. With the game poised for extra time, United's celebrations proved short-lived, as Alan Sunderland scored a last-minute winner, making the final result Arsenal 3–2 Manchester United. This match is often referred to as the "Five-minute Final".

The 1979 FA Cup was the only major trophy that Arsenal won during the seven-year management of Terry Neill, who was appointed in 1976 after Bertie Mee's retirement. He was dismissed in 1983.

It was also the only cup final that Manchester United reached under the management of Dave Sexton, who had been appointed as manager in 1977 and remained there until 1981 when he was sacked having failed to bring a major trophy to the club.

Match details[edit]

12 May 1979

Arsenal	3–2	Manchester United
Talbot 12' Stapleton 43' Sunderland 89'	Report	McQueen 86' McIlroy 88'

Wembley, London

Attendance: 99,219

Referee: Ron Challis (Kent)

Arsenal

Manchester United


GK	1	Pat Jennings
RB	2	Pat Rice (c)
LB	3	Sammy Nelson
CM	4	Brian Talbot
CB	5	David O'Leary
CB	6	Willie Young
RM	7	Liam Brady
CF	8	Alan Sunderland
CF	9	Frank Stapleton
CM	10	David Price	83'
LM	11	Graham Rix
Substitute:
DF	12	Steve Walford	83'
Manager:
Terry Neill


GK	1	Gary Bailey
RB	2	Jimmy Nicholl
LB	3	Arthur Albiston
CM	4	Sammy McIlroy
CB	5	Gordon McQueen
CB	6	Martin Buchan (c)
RM	7	Steve Coppell
CF	8	Jimmy Greenhoff
CF	9	Joe Jordan
CM	10	Lou Macari
LM	11	Mickey Thomas
Substitute:
DF	12	Brian Greenhoff
Manager:
Dave Sexton

References[edit]

^ "1979 FA Cup Final". BBC Manchester. 13 May 2005. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
^ "What a finish!". TheFA.com. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

External links[edit]

Match Report

[1] "1979 FA Cup Final". BBC Manchester. 13 May 2005. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

[2] "What a finish!". TheFA.com. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

[1]

[2]

v t e FA Cup
Seasons	1871–72 1872–73 1873–74 1874–75 1875–76 1876–77 1877–78 1878–79 1879–80 1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Qualifying rounds	1888–89 1889–90 1890–91 1891–92 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Finals	1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
History Trophy List of finals Semi-finals Final referees Winning managers Non-English clubs Scottish clubs Non-League clubs in the 5th Round Giant-Killing Award