It’s such a Worthy cup

Worthington played in two of the showpieces – or, more specifically, one and a replay – when Sheffield Wednesday lost a heartbreaker to Arsenal at the old Wembley 20 years ago.

The Owls were fated to lose twice to George Graham’s Gunners at the Twin Towers that season – Steve Morrow’s goal meaning they were also runners-up in the League Cup (a day made more memorable by the fact Morrow dislocated a shoulder amid overzealous celebration with skipper Tony Adams).

But it was the replay of the FA Cup final, and the way in which it finished, which still has people talking about the game two decades on.

After the first match had finished 1-1, David Hirst equalising 15 minutes into the second period after Ian Wright had given Arsenal a first-half lead, it seemed the replay was heading the same way.

The rain-soaked game had already been delayed by half an hour because of an accident on the M1, and it looked like it was going to be the first final to be decided by penalties after Worthington’s side had once again rallied with a deflected equaliser from Chris Waddle following another first-half strike from Wright.

“We had two ding-dongs with Arsenal who, at that time, were very, very strong,” the City chief remembers.

“You had your Dixons, Adams, Keowns, Winterburns and so on. Seaman in goal. It was against a top-quality side.

“For us there was Viv Anderson, Danny Wilson, Chris Woods, Chris Waddle, John Sheridan – it was a great side.

“I remember the first game was very even. I think the draw was a fair result. There was nothing in the game itself – and equally so in the second game. It was right up until the last kick of the ball in extra time.”

Or more precisely, the last header of the ball.

Former Leeds defender Andy Linighan, playing with a broken nose after a first-half collision with Mark Bright, outflanked the striker from Paul Merson’s corner and planted his header goalwards.

Woods, in the Wednesday goal, could only palm it up into the air and into the net. Game over.

“The corner came in and Linighan headed the ball in over Woods,” said Worthington. “That’s it. Time’s up, it’s gone.

“It was majorly disappointing but to get two bites of the cherry, against a fantastic side of that time, was very pleasing.”

He continued: “I was fortunate to play at Wembley a number of times.

“They are wonderful events in anybody’s career – just to get to these things. To win is even better.

“You get fantastic memories and when you get something like the FA Cup, where there is so much tradition to it, it’s great.

“The numbers that watch the final around the world are absolutely phenomenal. It’s like no other cup final.

“I think that speaks volumes for the trophy itself.”

Wednesday’s run had seen them beat Cambridge United, Sunderland, Southend and Derby en route to a titanic semi-final against derby rivals Sheffield United and a 2-1 win in extra-time – “a fantastic game where Waddle decided to turn it on”.

“It’s always nice to say you played in an FA Cup final and we are at the start (of the journey),” the City chief added, turning his attention to the Minstermen’s first-round clash at Bristol Rovers on Friday night.

“It’s not an easy game, but it’s a game that’s winnable, and we have got to look at it once we are within the week of the game and focus on it and get on with the job.”

Most of all, stretching his memory back two decades to his own FA Cup highlights while also recalling managerial triumphs with Norwich, Worthington said he had stressed to the players the importance of taking these sorts of opportunities when they came along.

“We stayed in Cardiff the other week when we went to Newport and we were opposite Celtic Manor,” he said. “We’d stayed there prior to the play-off final with Norwich, against Birmingham, in 2002.

“I went for a walk on the Saturday morning and I saw the sign for the hotel and remembered that it was 11 years ago.

“You think, ‘that seemed like last week’. It goes in the blink of an eye, and this is what I say to the players – that they have got to go and do it now.

“They can’t leave it for tomorrow, or the next game. It’s here and now that counts where you go and perform and do yourself proud.

“That’s what football is all about.”

Ryan continues on the rise but Josh takes prize

RYAN BROBBEL’S heroics against Scunthorpe United in midweek might not have been enough to bag him a second consecutive The Press Player of the Month award but they did see him draw level in the standings for The Press Player of the Year.

His three-point haul, helped by two spectacular goals, means he was our standout player from the 4-1 destruction of the Iron and sees him stand proud at the summit with Josh Carson, who was our second highest rated player and scooped two points.

That was enough to make former Ipswich winger Carson October’s Player of the Month by three points from Luke O’Neill.

Wes Fletcher was our third best player at Bootham Crescent on Tuesday and he picked up the final solitary point on offer.

The Press Player of the Year latest standings for October: Carson 11 pts, Brobbel 11, Oyebanjo 9, McGurk 7, Montrose 7, Smith 7, Fletcher 7, Jarvis 6, O’Neill 6, Parslow 6, Chambers 5, Clay 4, Ingham 4, Puri 2, Whitehouse 2, Bowman 1, Davies 1.

The Press Player of the Month final standings: Carson 12, O’Neill 9, Brobbel 9, Fletcher 5, Parslow 4, Ingham 2, Whitehouse 2, Bowman 1, Chambers 1, Montrose 1.

Goals: Jarvis 7, Fletcher 4, Brobbel 3, Carson 2, McGurk 1, Montrose 1, O’Neill 1.

Assists: Carson 3, Bowman 2, Brobbel 2, Clay 2, Jarvis 2, Cresswell 1, McGurk 1, O’Neill 2, Smith 1, Fletcher 1.

Bad boys: Montrose five yellow cards; Oyebanjo three yellows; Cresswell one red, one yellow; Smith and Whitehouse two yellows; Bowman one red; Carson, Chambers, Clay, Coulson, Davies, Fyfield, Jarvis, McGurk, O’Neill, Parslow, Platt all one yellow.