I WAS lucky enough to win two FA Cup medals and I know where they both are but I haven’t seen them for years.

They’ll go to my sons, but I’ve already said if they want to sell them, they can.

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Speaking of mementoes, we didn’t often get to keep our shirts either; but the club made an exception for the 1983 FA Cup Final and somehow we also ended up with a Brighton shirt each too.

Both teams, I think, had a set of each other’s. We left them at Old Trafford and Norman Davies locked up as he always did – the club was broken into that night and all the shirts got nicked!

After that, the club got our shirts remade, but not the Brighton ones. Four hundred games and the only shirts I’ve got are a replica of the 1983 FA Cup Final and my 1985 FA Cup Final shirt.

Have I spoiled what comes next? Going back to the point about us not taking Brighton lightly, there was certainly no chance of that.

We hadn’t scored against them in the league that year and when Gordon Smith scored early on in the final, we were aware of just how tough it was going to be.

We didn’t start great but came back into it and were probably the better side for most of the game – for a period in the second half we made our dominance pay when Frank Stapleton equalised and then quarter of an hour later, Ray Wilkins scored a goal not too dissimilar to the one Ronnie Whelan scored against us.

Ray wasn’t prolific but that was a beauty and he certainly enjoyed celebrating it. He was over the hoardings and on to the greyhound track as quick as anything!

Gary Stevens scored with just three minutes remaining and in extra time, Smith famously missed an opportunity to win the game for them.

n n n I was pleased that I was able to make a contribution in the final as it was my ball in that Frank got our equaliser from. I’d combined with Alan Davies, a young Welsh player, in the build-up for the goal, and Alan had only got his place in the team because of the forced retirement of Stevie Coppell earlier in the campaign.

As exhausted as I’d been at the end of extra time there was no way I wouldn’t be featuring in the replay.

We were unchanged, but Brighton made a selection gamble – Steve Foster was their captain, an iconic figure who wore a sweatband on his head.

He’d missed the first game and Gary Stevens, who’d played in the centre in his place, put in a marvellous performance.

Foster was recalled despite not really being fit. It was a sentimental decision that meant Stevens was moved out of position and it backfired for them quite spectacularly.

n n n With Brighton misshapen, from the off, we were on it and by half-time we’d blown them away – our semi-final heroes Robson and Whiteside scoring again, and just before the break Bryan scored once more to seal the result.

We had to guard against the kind of complacency that we’d showed temporarily in the first Arsenal semi-final but at half-time I couldn’t help but feel there was a lack of impetus left in the occasion.

There’s a little bit of uncertainty; you know the game isn’t won after 45 minutes but with it not being quite as competitive as the second half, the final whistle wasn’t quite as euphoric as it might have been if the game had been a little tighter.

We scored a fourth in the second half when Arnie Muhren converted from the penalty spot. With Bryan on a hat-trick, it was strange he didn’t take it.

It didn’t quite sink in that we’d won the cup until I was walking up the stairs to collect my medal and hold the trophy; we went straight back to Manchester following the game and the celebrations continued into the night.

n n n Thoughts turned to the FA Cup (in 1985 against Everton) and we’d proven we could match anyone on their day.

In my first absence from the team, we’d been battered 5-0 at Goodison Park, and Everton had knocked us out of the League Cup, but even though they were nailed on to win the league, we were still confident of getting the right result.

My immediate concern, though, was to try and get back in to the team. And if not the team, try and make a convincing argument for myself to be considered as the substitute.

Hard to imagine, but there was still only one sub in those days.

Bryan was missing from the team in the build-up to the final and I was surprised to get the nod in the number seven shirt in his absence but there was no way I was going to be wearing his shirt on FA Cup Final day.

When it got down to the last training session before the final I was more or less aware it was down to me or Alan Brazil who would get the nod as substitute.

On Friday afternoon, Ron came over to me and told me that I’d be sub. I know that Alan was told some time later and I kept my news to myself – I think he was told on the coach that he wouldn’t be included and he took it as a massive, massive disappointment.

It put it into some perspective for me that I was grateful to at least be in the squad but it was still a huge disappointment given the fact I’d started in the last final.

Everyone wants to be in the starting 11 in a final. You don’t wish ill of your team-mates but you’re hoping to get on as early as the first minute.

I didn’t, and neither manager appeared ready to make a change as the game remained very tense and closely fought. Then Kevin Moran was sent off with 12 minutes left.

Still, Ron made only a tactical shift and didn’t bring me on – it wasn’t until the full-time whistle with the score at 0-0, and Arthur struggling with an injury, that I was brought on at left-back.

I’d missed the majority of the game but I was delighted to be on the field when Norman struck that beautiful goal in the second period of extra time that decided things.

n n n I took part in the celebrations afterwards and it was great to win a second FA Cup but it didn’t feel the same as the first time if I’m being honest.

The spark wasn’t quite the same for me as I’d been marginalised from the squad for the last few weeks and I couldn’t just forget that disappointment.

  • The autobiography of Mick Duxbury: It’s Mick, Not Mike (ISBN 9781785310492, published by Pitch Publishing) is available now from Amazon, Waterstones and WHSmith.