Match programme: York City v Sunderland, FA Cup 4th round replay (1 February 1956)

About this match programme

By Richard Snowball

Following their F.A.Cup exploits in the previous season when they took Newcastle United to a semi-final replay, York continued to surprise their supporters in the 1955-56 season by reaching the 4th round.

They had disposed of Division 3 (North) sides Rochdale and Mansfield Town in the first two rounds and pulled off a 2-1 away victory against the high flying Division 2 side Swansea Town, who fielded a team containing eight Welsh international players, thus enhancing their "Happy Wanderers" nickname.

They were drawn at home to Division One team Sunderland in the 4th round, who like York had reached the semi-final stage the previous season losing to Manchester City who were beaten by York's conquerors Newcastle United 3-1 in the final at Wembley.

An all ticket crowd of 21,000 saw the York players put in another epic performance and were unlucky not to win with the match finishing 0-0.

The replay the following Wednesday at Roker Park was played on an icy pitch in front of a crowd of 43,928 and defences were generally on top, but York fell behind just before half-time when goalkeeper Tommy Forgan misjudged a ball and punched it into his own net, a rare mistake for such a reliable player.

York battled on and equalised through Billy Fenton and were still in the match until Sunderland grabbed a late winner.

Roker Park was proving an unlucky ground for City as they had lost the semi-final replay there the previous season.

There is an interesting article in the programme highlighting York City's F.A.Cup record since joining the Football League in 1929, which makes quite remarkable reading of how far they had come in just over 25 years.

Acknowledgement

This facsimile of the match programme was created by the publisher of There’s Only One Arthur Bottom, the daily email newsletter for fans of York City FC.

www.tooab.com