Beyond all the nostalgia of City's win over tonight's opponents Chelsea 20 years ago, and the various Cup ties since, the wonderful Tigers side under Cliff Britton which won the old Third Division title in 1966 have their specific reasons for wanting tonight to go well for City.
It's not about bearing grudges, of course. But the fact remains that Andy Davidson, our record appearance maker, still thinks the referee cheated City out of a penalty which would have won the FA Cup quarter final at Stamford Bridge (assuming it was scored). He has been known to use the actual word "cheat", which is particularly pejorative to this day as the official was Jack Taylor, distinguished 1974 World Cup final referee and still very much alive.
The game ended 2-2, when Ken Wagstaff scored twice, and Chelsea won the replay at Boothferry Park 3-1, thanks largely to the return of the mercurial Peter Osgood, who had been injured for the first game. Chris Simpkin, an unfussy midfielder of the enforcement type, scored City's goal.
Chelsea promptly lost the semi-final to Sheffield Wednesday, who in turn were famously clawed back from 2-0 by Everton, who won the final 3-2. City have only been in the quarter finals once since - losing 3-2 to Stoke in 1971 from 2-0 up, with Waggy again getting both City goals - and even the fifth round hasn't been visited since 1989. It's just as well that we have as reasonable a record in League games against Chelsea as a 20 year gap can supply, as we're plainly useless in accounting for them in any other competition.
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