On This Day – 31st January
A crowd of 34,748 turned up at Old Trafford on this day in 1953 expecting the home side Manchester United to score a hatful of goals against non-league opponents Walthamstow Avenue.
Avenue plied their trade in the amateur Isthmian League side at the time and United were a decent First Division side. Instead of being on the receiving end of an absolute hammering, the non-leaguers pulled off a great Cup shock by coming away with a 1-1 draw.
The visitors had won the FA Amateur Cup at Wembley the previous season and so were used to the big occasions. They held out for the first 40 minutes before United’s Eddie Lewis headed home from close range, before Walthamstow’s Jim Lewis equalised late on to take the tie to a replay.
The replay was held at Arsenal’s Highbury because Walthamstow’s ground was too small. 49,119 fans watched on hoping to see a giantkilling, but were left disappointed as Manchester United won the match 5-2.
About Author
2 thoughts on “On This Day – 31st January”
Comments are closed.