When Darlington were 'lucky losers' against Aston Villa in the FA Cup

Most Darlington fans will tell you they never have much luck in the FA Cup. But that was very much not the case 25 years ago today when they were infamously ‘lucky losers’.

They had seemingly endured their customary early exit when losing 3-1 at Gillingham in the November of the 1999-2000 season, meaning Quakers had not reached the third round in nine out of ten seasons.

But Manchester United’s controversial decision, as FA Cup holders, to pull out of the competition in order to take part in the first Club World Championship in Brazil caused nationwide consternation and created a vacancy in round three.

And that’s where Darlington came up trumps.

The third-round draw had taken place as normal with Aston Villa the last of 63 teams out of the hat. To engineer an opponent, the 20 sides which lost in the second round were entered into another draw.

Ball number 14 came out - that was Darlington, so they were handed a remarkable reprieve and a trip to Villa Park.

Chairman George Reynolds said: “Not many people know this, but I have a direct line with Him upstairs. He’s ex-directory so it's no good anyone else trying.”

Reynolds was new to football having bought Darlington seven months previously and at this stage retained the support of the club’s fans, who enjoyed seeing their team push for promotion from Division Three (now known as League Two).

David Hodgson built a side that were third in the table by the time of the Villa trip, with talented players such as Marco Gabbiadini, Neil Aspin, Craig Liddle and Neil Heaney playing key roles in an attractive side.

By contrast, John Gregory’s Villa were struggling. Before facing Darlington, they had not won in nine successive Premier League games, so Quakers fancied their chances.

Hodgson said of under-pressure Gregory: “If he had been drawn against another Premiership side and lost, it wouldn't be too bad, but he’s facing the lucky losers who happen to be the best footballing side in our division.”

There was animosity between Hodgson and Gregory – more on that later – and the Darlington manager added: “We play the game the way it should be played by passing the ball around. We're not a typical Third Division side who smack it up the pitch and gamble.

“If we play Aston Villa ten times, they would win seven or eight. There would be a couple of draws and we would win one - this might be the one. My hope is that we can go to Villa and give a good account of ourselves.”

Around 4,500 Darlington supporters made the trip 25 years ago today for an unexpected day out, hoping Quakers could overturn their 9-1 odds against the Premier League side, which had several internationals in their starting XI: David James, Gareth Southgate, Ugo Ehiogu, Gareth Barry, Dion Dublin and Paul Merson.

Yet Darlington, despite being without the suspended Gabbiadini, matched Villa for much of the game.

Ultimately, two flashes of quality separated the teams, Darlington suffering a 2-1 defeat in front of an attendance of 22,101, with classy goals by Benito Carbone and Dublin winning the contest.

Villa scored after 43 minutes from a route one goal. Dublin flicked on a long clearance from James for Benito Carbone to chest down and hit a dipping volley over Mark Samways. And they made it 2-0 after 63 minutes, when Dublin headed in an Alan Thompson corner.

But when Darlington’s Paul Heckingbottom scored from a rebound after Peter Duffield's penalty had been saved by James, there was a real chance Quakers could salvage a replay.

Hodgson was delighted with his team’s performance.

"Aston Villa allowed us to play. I enjoyed the first half, because our passing and movement were very good. Maybe we could have been more adventurous, but that was easy for me to say from the bench.

“We did everything right, and we stopped their system. Over the 90 minutes, we did everything possible, and every player gave total commitment.

"When we were walking off at the end, I heard Paul Merson and Dion Dublin paying our lads compliments, and the players can take pride in that.

"I'm proud of them, and I hope the players are proud of our support, because they were magnificent."

The final whistle saw the Darlington fans cheering the players loudly, and it was a fully-deserved ovation for the lucky losers, who had lost in the FA Cup for the second time in three weeks.

However, old wounds reopened at the end of a game when under-fire Gregory, claimed: “It should have been easier; it should have been four or five. I felt the scoreline flattered them.”

Clearly angered by Gregory's far from magnanimous assessment, Hodgson retorted: "Perhaps that's the reason why Aston Villa are where they are in the table.

"He might do better to talk to the Villa fans and ask what they think - perhaps he will get a truer picture. Only 18,000 of them bothered to come to this game. Perhaps that should tell him something.”

Gregory had headed back to the changing room shortly before full-time, and chose not to shake Hodgson’s hand.

Hodgson added: “Perhaps he left the touchline early to avoid having to shake hands with me.”

And as if the point needed making any clearer Hodgson added: “I'm not interested in John Gregory's opinion anyway. I don't like the bloke, I never have.”

Manchester United’s decision to snub the tournament was the subject of discussion in national sports media for weeks.

The Monday after Darlington played at Villa, the Daily Mirror, then edited by Piers Morgan, printed a black page as a protest, explaining it was where Man United’s report would have been had they not pulled out.

While Quakers were at Villa, Gillingham were handed Walsall away in the third round. But they went onto the reach the quarter-finals where they lost 5-0 to eventual winners Chelsea. Chelsea’s opponents at Wembley? Aston Villa.

Darlington also ended the season at Wembley, losing 1-0 to Peterborough United in the play-off final on a wet Friday night in the rain, when they were unlucky losers.

Referee: Phil Richards

Attendance: 22,101

Aston Villa: James, Delaney, Ehiogu, Southgate, Wright, Taylor, Barry, Merson, Thompson (Stone 80), Dublin, Carbone (Joachim 82). Subs not used: Cutler, Vassell, Calderwood

Darlington: Samways, Heckingbottom, Liddle, Tutill, Aspin, Gray (Reed 90), Oliver, Heaney, Atkinson (Brumwell 65), Duffield, Nogan (Hjorth 69). Subs not used: Finch, Leah