Penalty!

There have been surprisingly few penalties in FA Cup Finals.

In 138 matches, which include 14 replays, there have been just 15 spot-kicks. That's not counting the two shootouts in Cardiff in 2004-05 and 2005-06.

A lot of people think that Liverpool's John Aldridge was the first player to miss with a penalty in a Final. But he was only the first to miss at Wembley.

It happened in 1988 when that year's League Champions went down to a shock defeat to Wimbledon, a club which had only been in the League for eleven years. As legendary commentator John Motson put it at the time, the "Crazy Gang" had beaten the "Culture Club".

But the Reds had looked set for a 61st-minute equaliser after Aldridge himself was adjudged to have been brought down by Dons defender Clive Goodyear. Then big Dave Beasant guessed right, diving full-length to his left to beat away Aldo's firmly-struck shot.

The first player to miss in any Final was actually Charlie Wallace of Aston Villa, against Sunderland way back in 1913 . No wonder no one remembers that!

A colossal crowd of more than 120,000 was packed into the old Crystal Palace to see a genuine 'Clash of the Giants', with many fans hardly catching a glimpse of the ball for the whole match. For the first time The Cup Final featured the clubs who had finished first and second in the League.

Wallace, a right-winger from County Durham, missed the target with his early spot-kick - but he did take the 75th-minute corner from which Tommy Barber headed Villa's winner.

Of course The Cup had been going for 20 years before the penalty-kick was even invented!