Leeds quarter-final was day at the beach for Wigan Athletic boss!

John Sheridan heads into his first FA Cup tie with Wigan Athletic this weekend desperately hoping to stave off the underdog – just as he did here 34 years ago.
John Sheridan in action for Leeds against Latics at Springfield Park in 1987.John Sheridan in action for Leeds against Latics at Springfield Park in 1987.
John Sheridan in action for Leeds against Latics at Springfield Park in 1987.

As Latics prepare to host non-league Chorley at the DW, Sheridan is hoping to evoke memories of Leeds United’s quarter-final trip to Springfield Park in 1986-87.

The visitors saw off Ray Mathias’ giantkillers 2-0, thanks to goals from John Stiles and Micky Adams.

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A result which left Sheridan – who anchored the Leeds engine room that day – with fond memories of his previous cup tie on Wigan soil...or should that be sand!

“The only memory I have of that day is there was no grass on that pitch,” the LaticFs boss laughed.

“I don’t know if you remember the pitch that day, but every time you kicked the ball a big wave of dust flew up...we all needed goggles to see anything! It was a boiling hot day, Springfield Park was bone dry, not one blade of grass... unbelievable really.

“Wigan had done brilliantly to get to that stage, and they played really well on the day as well.

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“We were quite lucky to get through, it was just that little bit of experience got us over the line. That saw us through to the semi-final, where we lost to Coventry, who eventually went on to win the cup that year.”

This time of course the boot is on the other foot, with League One Latics favourites to see off near-neighbours Chorley in front of the BBC cameras.

But the non-leaguers will have to do it on the Crucible-standard playing surface at the DW – as opposed to the classic pitches of yesteryear.

“Not so much now, but back then you knew that when you went down the leagues, they’d put sand on it, or they wouldn’t treat it beforehand, let the grass grow, whatever, to try and level it up,” Sheridan added.

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“All you wanted to do as the big team was get the result, get through, get back on the bus and get home.

“And that’s why you saw so many upsets back in the day.

“When you’re a big team, you just want to get a home draw, and we need to take advantage of that this weekend.”

Sunday’s game kicks off at 12.45pm and is live on the BBC iPlayer and online via the BBC App.

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