Up until Liverpool met Merseyside neighbors Everton in the tragic 1989 Hillsborough FA Cup Final, the most emotional event ever held at Wembley Stadium was without doubt the Manchester United clash with Bolton Wanderers in the 1958 Final – for very obvious reasons. Greg Struthers of The Sunday Times remembered the occasion fifty years later.
Four 6-0 defeats in just 20 Premier League matches! So what’s going on? Could there have been such a yawning gap created between the top and bottom of the league? Manchester United could have easily made it five 6-0 scorelines had they taken even half the hatful of chances that went begging in the 3-0 defeat of Newcastle in their opening game. Yet the newly promoted Magpies came back themselves to inflict a six goal hammering of Aston Villa a few days later.
In the eyes of most football fans, Manchester United’s Premier League visit to Fulham on Sunday is by no means a blockbuster yet there was a time 52 years ago when two meetings between the clubs had the whole nation gripped by their drama. “The Cottagers” were a second division club which finished the 1957-58 season in fifth position while United was still struggling with the tragedy which had decimated their team just six weeks earlier. Yet they produced 12 goals between them in two pulsating FA Cup semi final meetings.
