Shakers and Hatters go head to head for Third Round berth

Thursday 04 Dec 2014
The Hatters head north to Bury on 6 December

Two clubs with an FA Cup story to tell will meet in this season’s Second Round Proper at Gigg Lane.

Bury, a League Two club who went out in the First Round at Cambridge United last time, were once a Cup side to be feared. 

They lifted the trophy twice in four years and rattled in ten goals in their two Finals.

They were a minute from defeat in their Semi-Final with Nottingham Forest back in 1900. 

Bury v Luton

FA Cup Second Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 6 December
Gigg Lane, Bury
Winners receive £27,000 from The FA Prize Fund

Then, in a last desperate effort, Jack Pray and Jasper McLuckie netted to change the score from 1-2 to 3-2. 

A Bury team that included six Scots beat Southampton 4-0 in a Final watched by 69,000 at the old Crystal Palace.

Bury finished 12th in Division One in that season and were surprise winners of The Cup.

Three years later the Lancashire outfit won it again without conceding a goal throughout the competition. 

Derby County were missing the legendary Steve Bloomer, out injured, but they still had a strong side on paper. 

Bury crushed them 6-0, again at Crystal Palace, and to this day it remains the record margin of victory in a Final.

The ball used in 1903 was kept at The FA’s offices at Lancaster Gate for many years but is now on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester.

Bury's Gigg Lane Stadium, where the tie will be played

Luton Town have never won The Cup – but they did reach the Wembley Final in 1959. 

Opponents Nottingham Forest were 2-0 up but had lost Roy Dwight, Elton John’s cousin, to injury and Luton were coming more and more into the game.

Ken Hawkes’ hard cross into the goalmouth on 62 minutes eluded several players before Dave Pacey slammed the ball home to reduce Forest’s lead. 

The Hatters stayed on the attack right up to the final whistle but Forest’s ten men stood firm.

Luton have continued to make their mark on The Cup with three Semi-Final appearances in one ten-year period and they made Cup history at Carrow Road on 26 January 2013, becoming the first non-League club to knock out one from the Premier League.

A crowd of 26,521 saw Luton, then in the Conference Premier, beat Norwich 1-0 in a Fourth Round tie that was settled by substitute Scott Rendell’s close-range goal ten minutes from time. 

The Hatters joined a select group of non-Leaguers to have reached Round Five but Millwall ended their dreams 3-0 at Kenilworth Road.

By David Barber FA Historian