It is 36 years to the day that Manchester City's most notorious FA Cup third round match ended in complete and utter ignominy. As the club (now bigger and shinier than ever) prepare themselves for the trip to West Ham to kick off their participation in this season's tournament, they will do well to remember the pitfalls that lurk in this ancient knockout competition.
On Jan. 5 1980, under the tutelage of the great Malcolm Allison, City embarked on a trip across the Pennines to the West Yorkshire outpost of Halifax. The local side, mired at the foot of the old fourth division at the time, infamously outran a City side containing several internationals and a variety of expensive players on an absolute mud-heap of a pitch.