10 Times Sunderland Defied All Footballing Logic

10. The 1973 FA Cup Final

5/5/1973, Wembley Stadium. Second division Sunderland had defied all odds by reaching the FA Cup final, and in spite of earning a trip to Wembley, the game looked like a one-way stream. Their opponents that day were Leeds United - an outfit who were obliterating teams both domestically and in Europe.

With around half-an-hour on the clock, Sunderland found themselves 1-0 up thanks to Ian Porterfield, who was able to fire the ball into the goal following a well-worked corner. It didn't matter that Sunderland had taken the lead though, because a side of Leeds' great pedigree would surely outscore the Wearsiders in the hour of football that followed?

Wrong. Sunderland managed to see the game out, and the game became famous for not only being one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of all time, but also for possibly one of the greatest saves ever seen. Jim Montgomery managed to firstly get his hands to a shot from Trevor Cherry, before somehow recovering to force Peter Lorimer's rebound effort onto the crossbar from point-blank range.

The iconic image of Sunderland manager Bob Stokoe enthusiastically sprinting to celebrate has also been captured in the form of a statue outside of the Stadium Of Light.