Sir Stanley of Bowles

from todays Guardian, buy that man a pint now

"A friend told me recently that in the mid-70s, the new victors were displaying the FA Cup during a match and the referee blew the whistle for the game to start, only for an opposition player to kick the football, full-bloodedly, at the trophy and knock it flying," writes Gavin Ward. "If this is true, can you please explain how it exactly happened?"
Well, Gavin, it turns out your friend's story is not garbage, and allows the Knowledge to don its most snug-fitting statto anorak. The match in question featured Sunderland and QPR, and the incident involved the notorious Hoops midfielder Stan Bowles. The teams met in the old Division Two on May 9 1973, only four days after Sunderland had won the FA Cup, and the Mackems decided to parade the trophy around their ground, then Roker Park.

After the parade, the trophy was placed on a table at the side of the pitch, before Bowles ... well, let's hear it straight from the horse's mouth: "There were a couple of us who had a bet on who could knock it off the table with the ball first," he recalls. "With the ball at my feet I tear off straight across the park. Everyone on the pitch is just staring at me - and then, bang! The FA Cup goes shooting up in the air.

"The whole ground knew that I'd done it on purpose - then the Sunderland fans go ape. They want my balls in their sandwiches. I wound up their fans even more by scoring a couple of goals and in the end there was a pitch invasion. At least I got my tenner, and my picture on News at Ten. And all because I was just having a bit of a laugh."

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Posted By: double hipness, Nov 8, 11:25:41