Fines, fury & framed shirts: The story of Sheffield United's infamous Arsenal FA Cup clash, on this day in 1999

By his own admission David Holdsworth is not a collector of memorabilia from his playing days but the sight of one particular shirt, up on a wall on his home, never fails to raise a wry smile on the former Sheffield United captain's face. The jersey in particular was worn by Arsenal star Marc Overmars on one of the most infamous days in the FA Cup's long history, on this day 25 years ago.

It was February 13, 1999 and a quarter-final clash between Arsenal and the Blades, then a second-tier club looking to cause an upset at one of English football's grandest venues. The omens weren't the best - Arsene Wenger's side were reigning league and cup champions, and United were mid table in Division One - but United made a fist of the challenge and drew level at 1-1 early in the second half when Marcelo glanced home.

United, in their luminous away kit, were emboldened and Lee Morris forced a good save from David Seaman as they sensed an opportunity to reach the semi-final stage. Wenger responded by bringing on new signing Nwankwo Kanu, fresh from Inter Milan, and from then on all hell broke loose.

For the uninitiated, the game's flashpoint came when Morris went down injured and United goalkeeper Alan Kelly put the ball out of play so he could receive treatment. Football custom dictates that, in situations such as that, the ball is returned and Ray Parlour duly attempted to hand possession back to United. But Kanu had not read the script and raced onto the throw-in, before squaring for Marc Overmars to tap home.

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If Kanu had the excuse of being new to English football, Overmars did not and United, frankly, were furious. Then-boss Steve Bruce briefly threatened to take his players off the pitch, before being talked out of it by Holdsworth and fellow experienced professional Graham Stuart, and play eventually continued, with referee Peter Jones unable to do a great deal about the situation. What Overmars did was immoral but not illegal and United couldn't get back into the game again, going on to lose 2-1.

“There was no doubt about it, we thought we were going to get that ball back,” Holdsworth told Goal. “You could say our reaction was a little bit intense. I was so angry because we had spoken to their players and we all thought they were sending the ball back. So for that to happen and for them to go on and score, it was very hard for us to keep our heads.

"It was a unique situation. At the time I was furious with Kanu. He didn’t really get a chance to explain himself, to be honest, because we were a bit aggressive towards him. But he has apologised since, we’ve shook hands and he’s a good guy.”

The Nigerian striker described the situation as “an unfortunate misunderstanding" and while Bruce and his players raged on the Highbury pitch, the wheels were already in motion for an unprecedented replay. The instigator was David Dein, the Gunners vice-chairman who described himself as "horrified" at the situation in his autobiography. "Arsenal Football Club could not win a game like this,” he wrote.

Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, agreed with Dein's idea, as did the rest of the club's directors and later manager Wenger, who revealed the offer to the media in his post-match press conference. Recollections of the gesture vary. Holdsworth remembers the replay offer - at Highbury - as "absolute class.” Paul Devlin, his teammate on the day, sees it differently. "I still think we were cheated a bit," he said.

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"The offer to replay it was fair enough. But even so, it was going to be down at their place and we knew we’d have had a much better chance, on a cold night under the lights, at Bramall Lane in front of our own fans. I think that’s where it should have been staged. They were flying at the time, and we’d done really well to hold them. I was raging and later on, I tried to leave a bit on Overmars, but I couldn’t get anywhere near him. I couldn’t catch him. He was too fast.”

Kanu had already wound up Devlin and Co. on the morning of the game. Somehow ending up in the same hotel as the travelling United players after his move to England, Kanu's music had kept several fellow guests up late and then started up early on the morning of the game. In the aftermath boss Bruce threatened to fine his players two week's wages if they spoke about the furore in the media, but described it himself as "at the time, perhaps the most sickening moment of my entire career" and a goal "he will never forget, as long as I live."

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Bruce and his players made the trek back down to London 10 days later for the rematch, which again finished 2-1 to Arsenal. Overmars was on target again, this time more legitimately, and Arsenal lost to eventual winners Manchester United in the semi-final thanks to Ryan Giggs' extra-time winner that sparked his iconic hairy-chest celebration.

“What Arsene did afterwards was quite amazing,” Holdsworth added.” And, to be fair to Marc Overmars, he came into the players' lounge after the game. I think he knew my son was mascot that day and he gave him his shirt and signed it. We’ve still got it nicely presented in one of our rooms in the house. Whenever I look at it now, it makes me smile. I’m not someone who has a lot of memorabilia, I tend to give a lot away, but that shirt always makes me reflect on that incredible day.”