28 March 2006
VIDEO: FA Cup 'Team of Heroes'

We bring you a compilation video of some of the magical moments from The FA Cup to help you choose your 'Team of Heroes'.

It's the 125th season of The FA Cup, the world's greatest domestic cup competition, and our search for the All-Time FA Cup Team of Heroes is gathering pace.

We continue our detailed look into the contenders to help you decide just who you want in your team - remember the decision about who makes the team is down to you, the fans. You can choose your team by clicking here

Gary Stevens was nominated for The FA Cup Team of Heroes by Brighton & Hove Albion. An elegant defender, Steven starred for the unfancied Seagulls as they held Manchester United to a 2-2 draw in the 1983 Final.

He scored the late equaliser three minutes from the end of normal time, forcing the Final to a replay which United won 4-0. He later went on to play for Spurs and Portsmouth and won seven England caps. 

Speaking to TheFA.com about how it feels to be nominated for such an award he said: "I am delighted.

"It was my first ever Cup Final as a player and it was a fantastic day at Wembley on the Saturday and the replay attracted another 80,000 on the Thursday night when we lost 4-0.

"I scored a goal in the first game to make it 2-2 and force extra-time and the replay, so it was a great occasion not only for the club but for me personally." 

Despite the time that has passed since the game, and the immense pressure that comes with playing in The FA Cup Final, Stevens stills recalls it vividly.

He said : "I remember all of it, let me tell you! You don't forget that sort of thing! I hadn't scored all season for Brighton and I didn't normally go forward for corners.

"But because it was late in the Cup Final, I glanced across to the bench and our manager Jimmy Melia was waving his arms frantically telling me to get up there. Jimmy Case scuffed the corner in a little bit, although he might claim he tried to pick out Tony Grealish who helped the ball on.

"It broke to me 12 yards out maybe and I took a good first touch. I'm not going to say that I smashed it and hoped, because I didn't! It was a case of the right technique, keeping it down, putting plenty of power behind the strike and I rifled it past Gary Bailey. 

"We had a great chance in all truthfulness late on. Michael Robinson had a good game and he broke away. He rolled the ball to Gordon Smith, who had a touch in the box and was one-on-one.

"Gordon was crucified by a lot of fans because he should have scored in their opinion, but it was an excellent save by Gary Bailey. He came out really quickly to block the ball. I don't think Gordon minds too much because he almost lives off the back of it these days!"

Nowadays you can find Gary Stevens working at Talksport regularly co-presenting a Saturday afternoon show called ‘Football First’ between 12 noon and 5pm. He is also regularly in the studio one night a week between 7pm and 10pm.

It's now down to you, the fans. You can pick your own Team of Heroes from our final list in a 4-3-3 formation until the closing date of midnight on Monday 24 April 2006.

To select your team, click here. You'll need a special FANcode to be able to enter the competition for a chance to win our amazing prize.

Members of englandfans and users of our Video Vault will already have a FANcode, so you can simply log in. If you haven't done so yet, you can register for a code here.