The biggest away following in FA Cup history, five Everton injuries, and 67 minutes to break the deadlock.
The last time Everton played non-league opposition in the FA Cup 5th round was a day of records and history.
In fact, Boreham Wood’s romantic run which has led them to Goodison Park, is just the 10th time a non-league side has reached this stage of the competition.
Despite the magnitude of The Wood achievement, it will not be the Toffees’ first encounter with a team positioned so low at this stage.
In February 1985, in the middle of Everton’s golden era, minnows Telford United rocked up at Goodison, with the support of 11,000 travelling fans.
That figure remains the biggest away attendance in FA Cup history.
Howard Kendall’s Everton were in the midst of the club’s most successful ever season.
That campaign, the Blues would go onto lift the league trophy and the European Cup Winners’ Cup, as well as reaching the final of the FA Cup.
Oh, and Everton were also the FA Cup holders after their 1984 triumph,
The gulf between the two teams couldn’t have been much bigger on the day, but for a while, it looked as if the biggest FA Cup shock of all time could have been on the cards.
It took 67 minutes and a huge slice of luck for the cup holders to break the deadlock.
Gary Stevens’ low strike inadvertently deflected off of Peter Reid and left keeper Kevin Charlton with no chance.
The breaking of Telford’s resistance allowed Everton to flex their muscles and their quality began to shine through.
A Kevin Sheedy penalty and a Trevor Steven special completed the scoring.
The football on the pitch was not the main talking point however.
Despite Telford’s efforts, the Goodison crowd turned on the away side due to a number of strong tackles, which rendered five Everton players to be injured.
One of whom, Graeme Sharp, Everton’s top scorer, who left the stadium on crutches.
The Everton fans felt Telford had been too rough in their approach.
The Telford players were booed off the Goodison pitch, and there was multiple arrests made as coins rained down from the stands towards Telford players.
In total, 31 fans were thrown out the stadium.
Prior to the match, a visit to holders Everton would have been the best possible draw for Telford, but the relationship between the two clubs, four leagues apart in the English pyramid, felt soured.
Telford manager Stan Storton had defended his players approach, and argued that Everton were elbowing his players in aerial duels.
He also said Andy Gray was “the biggest moaner my lads have ever played against”.
The Goodison pitch, which was the first in England to have undersoil heating, was the only reason why the eagerly anticipated fixture was able to go ahead that weekend.
‘The big freeze’ had swept over the UK – below Celsius temperatures and artic-like winds meant just two FA Cup fixtures went ahead that weekend.
The hotly contested 5th round tie helped warm supporters.
(Images courtesy of Everton FC)
