Meet the man who remembers Sheffield United's last FA Cup final appearance, as they face Man City in the semi-finals

But with his beloved Sheffield United about to face Manchester City for the right to appear in this season’s FA Cup final, The Blades’ last appearance in the competition’s showpiece seems like a good place to start. It came 87 years ago, when they met Arsenal at Wembley. And Ashton, who turned 100 earlier this month, was among the 93,384 crowd there.

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“I can still picture it now, being on the train going down to the game, like it was yesterday,” he remembers, before taking a sip of tea from a small china mug and continuing his tale. “There were two tables of four and I was by the window sitting next to dad. Across the aisle, some chaps were playing Pontoon and before we arrived at our destination, one of them gave up the game because he said he’d lost too much money and so dad joined in. He did really well and towards the end of the journey was sharing the winnings with one of their group. The man asked if they wanted to cut for the whole lot and dad ended up winning enough to cover the price of our fares and entrance.”

The world, let alone Planet Football, was a very different place when Ashton accompanied his father John to the national stadium. The old one, with its iconic twin towers, which used to dominate the skyline in that corner of north London. World War Two was on the horizon, with Hitler consolidating his grip over Germany after introducing the despicable Nuremberg Laws. Ashton, who would later go on to serve his country in the conflict, also wrote to United in order to secure his tickets for the meeting which saw George Allison’s side lift the trophy courtesy of Ted Drake’s second-half goal.

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“We were so surprised, and delighted of course, when we got the tickets back through the post,” Ashton says, speaking to The Star from his home in Sheffield’s eastern suburbs. “I actually wrote a letter to the club to see if we could get them, because that’s what you did back in those days. You can imagine how happy we were when they got delivered. I was 13 at the time.

“They put special carriages on to take us straight through to Wembley. We walked from home to the London Midland Station, as it used to be called, and when we got there we just wandered around and took everything in before going into the ground. Because Arsenal played in the same colours as us, it was just a sea of red and white. Like a kingdom of people from Sheffield. All the scarfs and bowler hats. I’d never been to London before and we took a flask of tea and sandwiches with us.”

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Unfortunately for United and their followers including Ashton, the match did not turn out as they hoped with Arsenal, then on top of the old First Division, claiming the silverware. With Teddy Davison’s men competing a tier below, the challenge they faced was similar to the one confronting United now as they prepare to lock horns with the most expensively assembled squad in the game right now.

“We played very well and we were all very supportive of the players,” Ashton continues, revealing he can recall the moment United’s captain Harry Hooper lost his balance which allowed Cliff Bastin to set up Drake. “It was an amazing feeling to be there because, in those days, everything stopped for the FA Cup final. And that was the first one to have radio commentary as well. People had cards with the pitch marked out in squares on and the BBC would tell them where the ball was. ‘Back to square one,’ that’s where the phrase came from.”

“We walked home when we arrived in Sheffield,” he adds. “That journey wasn’t as enjoyable of course but one thing sticks out. We saw a fox on Eyre Street, which was very unusual there.”

Jack Smith, who kept goal for United that day, was one of Ashton’s childhood heroes along with Ernest Jackson and Jock Dodds. Jimmy Hagan and Tony Currie, now United’s ambassador, would go on to become his all-time favourites.

“I went to Springfield School and we used to live, all the family, on Monmouth Street in Broomhall. Dad was a window cleaner, he belonged to the master window cleaners’ association, and on a Saturday morning we would go and collect his money with him from customers and then go to Bramall Lane. I used to go through the turnstile with him and then get passed down and sit on the railings. There was one game, against Coventry City a year after the cup final, on Christmas Day and it was very foggy. We won but couldn’t see the Kop end goal and Jack would come around the back of the net and tell us when we’d scored. I used to love those Christmas Day and Boxing Day games.”

Ashton, a former Senior Blades committee member, was guest of honour at United’s recent win over Wigan Athletic to celebrate his landmark birthday. Although personal reasons prevent him from attending Saturday’s contest, he remains fiercely proud of both his club and his city.

“When we win, and we shall win, I would love to be there for the final. United is my team and I’m going to be backing them all the way. I’m privileged to be from Sheffield too, we’re a wonderful city and it always annoys me when I see other places getting the recognition that we should. We’re honest and hard-working people and that’s why it should mean a lot to everyone that our side is the same.”

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