Stoke City against Chelsea, an important cup-tie in London and a long-throw goal that proves vital...we could yet be talking about this Sunday's FA Cup encounter at Stamford Bridge.But this was Wembley in 1972. A murky March day that Stoke will never forget because this was the day when the club won their first trophy.
Apart from the importance of a Rory Delap-style throw, the teams' League Cup Final encounter also threw up other comparisons with the current teams.
Thirty-eight years ago, it was artists v artisans, with Chelsea's stylish, strutting stars featuring self-styled King's Road Swingers such as Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson, who had lifted the FA Cup and the Uefa Cup in the previous two seasons.
They were matched against a far less glamorous Stoke team that included solid professionals in the likes of Denis Smith, Mike Pejic and John Ritchie alongside the experience of George Eastham and Peter Dobing.
The presence of Eastham meant that anybody who was not a Chelsea fan wanted to see a Stoke victory. Eastham, the player who led the crusade against football's contract system in 1959, was now 35 and at the end of an elegant career.
It was a career that had brought him no medals, so Chelsea really should have feared the worst, particularly after Stoke's semi-final success over West Ham.
When Stoke keeper Gordon Banks brilliantly saved a late penalty that would have taken the Hammers to Wembley, it seemed football fate had deemed this was to be Eastham's year.
So it proved, although the final developed as more pragmatic pundits expected. With the drive of John Hollins allied to the elegant probing of Hudson and Cooke in their engine room, Chelsea were expected to dominate the crucial midfield area and that's what happened throughout the game.
But, within five minutes, came evidence that possession cannot guarantee goals. Stoke went ahead with their first attack of the game - and demonstrated that the long throw is not a new weapon.
Peter Bonetti, such an agile keeper who often came to the edge of his area to collect crosses, was obstructed by his own defenders and could only half-clear Peter Dobing's throw from near the corner flag.
Eastham played the ball back into the danger zone and two close-range shots were blocked before Terry Conroy followed up to score - a rare goal from the winger and an even rarer headed one.
Stoke held on until just before half-time when Chelsea deservedly equalised. David Webb headed on Cooke's free-kick and Osgood hooked the ball past Banks.
The England goalkeeper was to emerge as Stoke's star with a series of saves during the second-half before Stoke settled the outcome in the 73rd minute.
The scorer? Well, it just had to be Eastham, who stroked the ball past Bonetti at the end of devastating break by the talented Conroy to become the oldest man to score in a League Cup final. He was about to become the oldest man to receive a winner's medal
There was one last chance for Chelsea , though,when Banks pulled off a magnificent save from Osgood's diving header in the final moments of a game that brought Stoke's first trophy in their 109-year existence.
Stoke manager Tony Waddington was not surprised. He had been so confident that he didn't even discuss the game with his players until just before the kick-off. And then he simply told them they were good enough to beat anybody!
The game was to signify a swing in the fortunes of both clubs. Chelsea, in debt after building a new stand at Stamford Bridge, went into a sharp decline as they sold several of their best players, with Hudson and Osgood departing after disputes with manager Dave Sexton.
Hudson, the Chelsea player nearest to Eastham as he celebrated his winner, headed to Stoke, where he helped them become genuine championship contenders three years after the final that still ranks as the most memorable day in their history.
This is how the teams lined up:
Stoke (4-4-2): Banks; Marsh, Bloor, Smith, Pejic; Conroy, Greenhoff (Mahoney), Bernard, Eastham; Ritchie, Dobing.
Chelsea (4-4-2): Bonetti, Mulligan (Baldwin) , Webb, Dempsey, Harris; Cooke, Hollins, Hudson, Houseman; Osgood, Garland,
