This preview was written by Brian Judson

The following are our FA Cup results against Leeds United :

1953-54 FAC3  A  3-3  Bennett 2 Walters
        FAC3R H  1-0  Bennett
1971-72 FAC6  A  1-3  Pratt
1981-82 FAC4  H  1-0  Crooks
1998-99 FAC5  A  1-1  Sherwood

Another replay but one which may be more entertaining than some of those dire clashes with Wimbledon have been. After serving for almost twenty years as a roundhead at Highbury, David O'Leary seems to be on the way towards becoming a cavalier, his Leeds United side playing with flair and panache. Provided they continue to make good progress, I can easily see Leeds being champions again in the not too distant future, always assuming, of course, they can keep the predatory European mega clubs at bay. For a player who spent the best part of twenty years playing with one arm permanently in the air and always looking in the direction of the nearest linesman, O'Leary's team eschews the offside trap that used to be the hallmark of a Leeds team. Some of their worst habits, once commonplace under Don Revie and several of his team who also managed Leeds, have been eradicated, making them a much more pleasant side to watch.

As Spurs and Leeds have not played frequently in the Cup, this preview will again take a more general look at 5th Round replays over the years.

There will now be very few who can remember one of the most dramatic Fifth Round replays. Spurs beat Everton 4-3 on 22 February 1937 having drawn 1-1 at Goodison Park two days earlier.

The teams were :

Spurs: Hall; Ward, Whatley; Buckingham, Rowe, Grice; McCormick, Meek, Morrison, Duncan, Miller.

Everton: Sagar; Cook, Jones; Britton, Gee, Mercer; Geldard, Cunliffe, Dean, Lawton, Gillick. (Attendance 46,972).

Spurs had taken the lead at Goodison with only five minutes to go through McCormick but Everton had equalised in the dying seconds of that match to drag the tie to a replay.

The pitch was very heavy after a morning's torrential rain but hard work by the groundstaff made the pitch playable if somewhat greasy. Everton recalled the 17 year old Tommy Lawton to partner Bill "Dixie" Dean up front. Lawton justified his selection by giving Everton the lead after only two minutes when he put Everton ahead. Dean made it 2-0 from a cross by Geldard after 20 minutes.

Yet Spurs were playing well considering they were a mid-table Second Division side playing against an Everton side who were uncomfortably near the relegation zone in the First Division. Morrison pulled a goal back in the 27th minute but Spurs could not score again before half-time.

Early in the second half, Joe Mercer threw the ball in to Dean, who was fouled in the penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty but then spotted the linesman flagging and went to see what he had to say. The linesman told him Mercer had not thrown the ball in correctly so the referee awarded a throw in to Tottenham instead.

Morrison had the ball in the net but the referee decided Sagar had been pushed and disallowed it. Almost immediately after that, Everton went 3-1 ahead, in the 63rd minute. Dean was the scorer and Tottenham looked dead and buried.

Two minutes later, Joe Meek put Morrison clear as Everton appealed for offside and Morrison thumped the ball beyond Sagar's reach.

With five minutes to go and Everton content with their 3-2 lead, Morrison set up Meek with an easy chance and Tottenham had equalised. With two minutes to go, Miller tore down the wing and Morrison headed home his centre to enable Spurs to win an incredible tie, 4-3.

Spurs lost their 6th Round tie at home to Preston, 3-1.

A year later, Spurs drew 2-2 at Chesterfield and won the replay 2-1. The significance of this tie is that in the 6th Round, Spurs were at home to Sunderland. Although we lost 0-1, our attendance that day was an incredible 75,038 spectators. I have been in some fantastic attendances in my time but the mind absolutely boggles as to how Spurs managed to cram 75,038 people into White Hart Lane. It has to be borne in mind that this was largely before the introduction of crush barriers, I think.

Spurs did not have another 5th Round replay until season 1953-54 when they had to replay against Hull City. Spurs drew 1-1 at Hull and won the replay 2-0. The significance of this match was that it was the last of the Cup games in which a significant part of the team were Rowe's team that had held sway from 1949 to 1954. Only Medley of that team was missing.

The next 5th Round replay was in 1958-59 when Spurs scored a late equaliser in the original tie through Cliff Jones to take the tie to a replay at Carrow Road. In those days, Norwich were a Third Division outfit but Spurs could not cope with the conditions at Carrow Road and crashed 0-1.

Spurs did not have another 5th Round replay until 1967-68. This was the very first time that Spurs and Liverpool had ever been drawn against each other in a Cup tie. Greaves had given Spurs an early lead at Tottenham but Liverpool had taken the tie back to Anfield. Tottenham never looked like winning up there, despite a Cliff Jones goal.

Amazingly, Spurs did not have another 5th Round replay until 1994-95. Memories will still be fresh regarding our cup ties against Southampton that season. Klinsmann was our scorer in the original match played at Tottenham but Rosenthal was the hero of the evening, scoring a hat-trick in the 6-2 thrashing of the Saints. Anderton, Barmby and Sheringham were the other scorers.

A year later we had another 5th Round replay. The original tie was abandoned because of a blizzard that swept over Nottingham during the first quarter of an hour, rendering play impossible. The replay of the tie saw Spurs draw 2-2 thanks to two goals by Armstrong. In the replay, we drew 1-1 after extra time, thanks to Sheringham, but we lost on penalties with Fox our only scorer from that dead ball lottery.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) night's game is our first replay since then. We must play a patient game and not allow ourselves to be hustled and bustled by a much younger side. Experience, given patience, should allow Spurs to pit their wits against Leeds. The crux of the game will very much depend on which team scores the crucial first goal. Hopefully, that will be Tottenham .........

Cheers, Brian

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