Yes, it was. When you look back at those two FA Cup games before the turn of the century it really does put the passage of time in to context. Given little hope really the swans first secured a draw at Upton Park before taking the hammers back to the vetch field in a memorable night under the west Wales lights. And of course embarrassing West Ham in the FA Cup third round.

The thousands that travelled to the borough of Newham for the first game went with some expectation that a giant killing could be pulled off. The pundits said not. West Ham had a tricky time of it in recent games in the FA Cup. John Hartson was a West Ham regular and their side was littered with stars under the guidance of Harry Redknapp and Frank Lampard Snr. Swansea City were managed by John Hollins, a man who had a proud pedigree in football as a player that was never really repeated as a coach.

Many of us had been at West Ham before, the game back in 1980 in the fifth round of the cup littered with poor refereeing decisions was memorable for its off the field incidents as much as the game itself. But this cold Saturday in 1999 was different. Really the swans should have knocked out the hammers in the first game, a rare mistake by keeper Roger Freestone offering an undeserved draw and a replay at the vetch. That came with just three minutes to go.

The teams lined up for the second game like this.

SWANSEA CITY : Roger Freestone, Steve Jones, Matt Bound, Jason Smith, Michael Howard, Nick Cusack, Jon Coates, Martin Thomas, Stu Roberts, Steve Watkin, Julian Alsop.

WEST HAM: Shaka Hislop, Tim Breacker (Hall, 72), Julian Dicks, Rio Ferdinand, Neil Ruddock, Frank Lampard Jnr, Steve Lomas, Trevor Sinclair, Stan Lazaridis, Emmanuel Omoyinmi (Berkovic, 46),John Hartson.

A crowd of over ten thousand packed into the vetch, a limited capacity back then due to structural issues on the North Bank, but the atmosphere was electric. Neil Ruddock and Julian Dicks, the West Ham hard men had a disastrous time trying to keep tabs on Stuart Roberts, and Rio Ferdinand was so inconspicuous he may have not been there. In the first game Joe Cole, Ian Wright et al struggled with the swans direct attacking flair, Jon Coates playing the game of his life. In the replay referee Stephen Lodge issued eight yellow cards in a bad tempered game which West Ham reduced to a kicking match, their attempts to disrupt the swans failing miserably.

Martin Thomas would break up the hammers midfield on countless occasions but the swans did struggle to make early headway. Roger Freestone kept the swans in the game with several stops one later in the game a world class save, but the recipe for a home win was there on a wet and blustery vetch field night. The swans hit the post from a Martin Thomas free kick then within minutes he put his side one up. His swirling pot shot completely wrong footing Hislop.

The BBC cameras recorded the victory as every neutral in the country enjoyed a traditional cup upset. It’s all a part of our clubs history and in the words of the commentator, ‘ Bedlam, absolute bedlam’ And it was. John Hollins an FA Cuo winner with Chelsea called it his ‘most memorable FA Cup moment’ and that sort of summed up the whole evening.

The FA Cup third round draw is at 7pm tonight on BBC2.

Facts
January 2nd 1999
West Ham United 1 Swansea City 1
Attendance: 26,039

January 13th 1999
Swansea City 1 West Ham United 0
Attendance : 10,116

Watch the game again

Photographs open source