No Welsh Teams in the FA Cup this weekend – but Wrexham Fan Still Recalls Celebrated Arsenal FA Cup Upset Almost 30 Years On
This Saturday will see Chelsea v Leicester battle it out in the FA Cup Final – while no Welsh team made it to the final this year, many fans will be recalling former glories in the Cups, long match history.
The FA Cup is cherished for its upsets – and few have been greater than when lowly Wrexham AFC triumphed over Arsenal almost 30 years ago.
It has gone down in FA Cup history as one of the greatest giant-killings of all time.
And as the tournament enters its final rounds, one long-standing Wrexham supporter recalls going to the Racecourse to witness the Red Dragons score two goals in the final 10 minutes, beating Arsenal 2-1.
Diane was one of a number of fans who shared their FA Cup memories with heycar, the official sponsor of the Emirates FA Cup coverage on BT Sports.
It’s part of heycar’s mission to bring the magic of the cup into supporters’ homes and connect fans through collective nostalgia while they’re unable to cheer on their favourite teams from the sidelines.
Wrexham supporter Diane Williams, who can see the football ground from her house, walked with her family to witness the match on January 4th, 1992.
“I went with my husband and also my brother in law and his dad who were very big Arsenal fans at the time, so we were sporting rivals,” she says.
Diane says the best moment of the game was when Wrexham’s Mickey Thomas scored the equaliser from a free kick in the 82nd minute. Two minutes later Steve Watkin fired across David Seaman to give the Fourth Division side victory.
“Everybody went mad because we were the underdogs weren’t we? The way the goal went in was brilliant.
“The whole stadium went wild – all those that weren’t Arsenal fans anyway.
“It was a fabulous win for our little Welsh club. Never to be forgotten.”
Diane says the whole day was a “grand day out”.
“We walked to the Racecourse with a lot of other fans and there was a lot of comradery.”
“We’d usually go for a drink afterwards, but on this particular occasion my mum and dad were babysitting our sons so we came back straight from the game and they had made our tea for us and we all sat together for celebratory chicken and chips.
“We didn’t rub it in too much to my brother-in-law!”
Diane says she’s hoping to see Wrexham make more appearances against high-league clubs, such as Arsenal.
“We’re in the news a lot at the moment because of the takeover from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. So let’s hope the glory days are back.”