On This Day – 3rd April
In 1993, the two FA Cup Semi Finals were hosted at Wembley for the first time in the history of the FA Cup. They were played on both days of the first weekend of April and were two derby matches. The first was between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday and the following day was the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.
The Steel City Derby between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday took place on Saturday 3rd April. It looked as if the whole city of Sheffield had arrived en masse to Wembley, half in the red and white for United and the other half n the blue and white for City.
Wednesday had played at Wembley two years earlier when they had beaten Manchester United in the Rumbelows Cup Final. United hadn’t visited the Twin Towers since 1936, when they lost in the FA Cup Final to Arsenal.
Wednesday took the lead with a little over two minutes played. Chris Waddle powered in a free-kick from over 30 yards, giving United goalkeeper Alan Kelly no chance.
Alan Cork scored an equaliser for United to force extra time. Cork was sporting a long straggly beard, after refusing to shave whilst United were still in the Cup. It had been over three months since the first game in their Cup run, a 2-2 draw at home to Burnley and Cork looked quite bedraggled.
The game went into extra-time and Mark Bright scored Wednesday’s winner three minutes into the start of the second half. Wednesday returned to Wembley just two weeks later for the Coca Cola Cup Final against Arsenal. but would lose that 2-1.
Arsenal beat Tottenham in the other semi final the following day to set up a repeat of the Coca Cola Cup Final. The Final ended 1-1 after extra time and went to a replay, which Arsenal won 2-1 (again after extra time).
Despite losing the final of both competitions, at least the Wednesday fans still had the memories of beating their bitter rivals at the national stadium.
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