SOUTH WEST FA CUP FINALISTS 1990’s & 2000’s
St Austell born goalkeeper Nigel Martyn had already created history before he lined up for Crystal Palace against Manchester United in the 1990 FA Cup final after he became Britain’s first £1million keeper when he moved to Selhurst Park from Bristol Rovers.
He has originally joined the Pirates after being spotted by the Rovers’ tea lady who had been holidaying in Cornwall and tipped up the then Pirates boss Gerry Francis of his abilities.
Also in the Eagles’ side that day was midfielder Alan Pardew who had arrived at Selhurst Park in 1987 from Yeovil Town, where he had combined playing for the Glovers’ with working as Glazier. He had also scored the decisive goal in the Eagles’ 4-3 win over Liverpool in the Semi-Finals.
However, there was to be no fairy tale story in the final as, after a creditable 3-3 draw with the Red Devils, they lost the replay 1-0 courtesy of a Lee Martin strike, against a Manchester United side that included former Plymouth Argyle loanee Les Sealey, who was selected ahead of Jim Leighton for the replay.
1994, 1995 & 1996 Lee Sharpe (Manchester United)
After making his breakthrough into professional football as a teenager with Torquay United during the 1987-88 season, Lee Sharpe earned himself a dream move to Manchester United after making 19 appearances and scoring three goals for the Gulls.
Sharpe figured in the Red Devils side as they replaced Liverpool as the dominant force in the English game and was involved in three of United’s cup final appearances of the 1990’s, before injuries, illness and the emergence of Ryan Giggs saw him become a bit part player at Old Trafford
He played in their 1994 and 1995 appearances, which saw them defeat Chelsea 4-0 and lose 1-0 to Everton respectively. Lee was a non-playing substitute in their 1996 final victory over Liverpool before joining Leeds United in the following summer.
Moves to Sampdoria, Bradford City and Portsmouth before Lee made a brief return to Devon to sign for Exeter City in 2002, with the final game of his short stay at St James’ Park coming against Torquay.
1995 Neville Southall (Everton)
Nine years after his last cup final appearance with the Toffees, Neville Southall was back at Wembley as Everton faced Manchester United in the 1995 final.
The Red Devils went into the game as reigning holders and favourites, but it was the Toffees who got their hands on the trophy as they won 1-0 thanks to a Paul Rideout header. The game also saw Neville pull off a number of outstanding saves that saw him clinch the Man of the Match award as Everton lifted their last piece of major silverware to date.
Just over three years later, he would be plying his trade at Plainmoor after moving to Torquay United after a brief spell with Stoke City. He won the Gulls’ Player of the Year award for the 1998-99 season before leaving Plainmoor in January 2000.
1997 Ben Roberts (Middlesbrough)
Former Yeovil Town goalkeeper coach Ben Roberts appeared for Middlesbrough in the 1997 cup final against Chelsea as a replacement for Mark Schwarzer.
Unfortunately for Ben, one of his first acts of the afternoon was to pick the ball out of the net after Roberto Di Matteo scored the second fastest FA Cup final goal of all-time after 42 seconds, as Boro went on to lose the final 2-0.
Spells at a number of clubs followed including Charlton Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion followed before Ben became goalkeeping coach with Yeovil Town in 2009.
Ben remained at Huish Park until midway through the 2010-11 season when he returned to the Valley to take up a similar position with Charlton. He managed one solitary appearance with the Glovers’ in a 3-3 draw with Swindon Town as a substitute for the injured Stephen Henderson.
2006 Carl Fletcher, Matthew Etherington and Alan Pardew (West Ham United)
The 2006 final, which was the last final to be staged at the Millennium Stadium Cardiff, whilst Wembley was being redeveloped, saw three figures with South West connections involved for West Ham.
Current Plymouth Argyle skipper Carl Fletcher started the game for the Hammers and was replaced by Christian Dailly on 77 minutes.
Truro born winger Matt Etherington also featured for West Ham who were managed by Alan Pardew.
Despite leading the match 3-1 at one stage, Liverpool came back into the game to draw 3-3, courtesy of two Steven Gerrard strikes, after normal time before going on to win 3-1 on penalties.
2008 Tony Capaldi (Cardiff City)
After appearing for Northern Ireland in their 2006 World Cup qualifier win over England in 2005, whilst still a Plymouth Argyle player, Tony Capaldi found himself involved in another big occasion after helping Cardiff reach the 2008 final where they faced Portsmouth.
The Bluebirds became the first team from outside the top-flight to reach the final since 1992, but their dreams of lifting the cup were dashed as Portsmouth won 1-0 through a Nwankwo Kanu effort.
2009 Dan Gosling (Everton)
Brixham born teenager Dan Gosling had already written his name into Everton folklore when he scored the winner in the Toffees’ fourth round victory over Liverpool.
Unfortunately for Dan, who had started his career with Plymouth Argyle, he was unable to repeat those heroics in the final as Everton were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea.