For the Sunderland fans that had made the pilgrimage from the north-east to Vale Park, the clock had gone back all day. After arriving in the Potteries, the supporters crammed into cafes and pubs and spoke of 1937 and 1973, when their club enjoyed some of their greatest days under the Wembley sun.
But there was no Jimmy Montgomery or Bob Stokoe to save the day this time. Instead, the Black Cats were dragged back to the not-so-distant days when they themselves were languishing in League One, and fell to a stunning defeat at the hands of third-tier basement boys Port Vale.
Not only was the ignominy of being knocked out by Vale bad enough for Regis Le Bris’ side, the deciding goal came from Ben Waine, the headband-wearing New Zealander who supports Sunderland’s bitter rivals Newcastle. He was not shy in paying tribute to Alan Shearer in celebration.
Sunderland never quite recovered. And, despite attempts from Le Bris to bring on the superstars that have already guaranteed him Premier League safety, the Valiants lived up to their nickname with a hard-fought victory to sensationally book their place in the FA Cup quarter-final.
And now, their fans can dream. Vale are now one match away from the last four of the competition for the first time since 1954, when they last reached the quarter-final stage, too. Then, it was the Boys from Burslem who led them there. Now, it could be Waine from Wellington.
There is little doubt that Le Bris’ men struggled on the ragged, torn-up surface at Vale Park. But this was a side assembled with more than £150 million of signings this season alone, knocked out by a team largely made up of free agents and rooted to the bottom of League One all season. It surely must sit among the great FA Cup upsets.
This was the first time since 1997 that Vale had beaten Sunderland, their last victory over the Black Cats coming when the two sides met in the old Division One. They had tried and failed on six occasions since to end that run, until this special afternoon.
They certainly learned from the mistakes of old, too. When Sunderland visited Vale Park for an FA Cup tie in 2018, they had taken the lead within 40 seconds before going on to win 2-1. This time, Vale threw their bodies on the line in an exhilarating defensive performance.
The first of the heroics came through captain Kyle John, who put his head where it hurts to block a goal-bound header from Eliezer Mayenda which also crashed off the post after three minutes.
Luke O’Nien, the only remaining member of the Sunderland squad that won at Vale Park more than seven years ago, then forced his goalkeeper Melker Ellborg into producing an astonishing save with his head, after almost lobbing the Swede when trying to play the ball back to him.
With that, the home crowd began to believe an upset was possible, and minutes later Vale took the lead through Waine. The 24-year-old, who scored the winning goal in extra-time against Bristol City to book Vale’s place in the fifth-round, reacted quickest to nod a header beyond Ellborg in net.
Sunderland had moments of their own before the half was out. First, when Habib Diarra, knocked an effort wide after trying to lift his shot over the goalkeeper, before Diarra again flashed the ball across the face of goal shortly before half-time.
They tried again after the restart but, even when Dan Ballard flashed a couple of headers over the bar, and Joe Gauci was forced into a sharp save from Nelson Angulo with around 10 minutes to play, it was the side 57 places below them in the English football pyramid who deserved to win the game.
