UTD Podcast: Lee Martin on being the FA Cup hero

United’s first FA Cup win since 1985, and our seventh in total at the time, was a cause for celebration. Indeed, so much so that it got uncomfortable for the matchwinner.

“All the lads just came over [when I scored] and jumped on top of me,” Martin says in the UTD Podcast. 

“I said to Robbo ‘you’ve got to get off me, I’ve got cramp here’, I was in absolute agony. Robbo slapped me in the face. He got up and he had a little talk to me saying ‘keep going, you’ll be alright, we’ll keep an eye on you.’ I was rubbish after that, I could hardly run. They played a few balls in over my head. Wrighty [Ian Wright] must have noticed I was struggling.”

Martin managed to stay on in the closing stages as Ferguson’s men held on to secure a precious victory.

“When the final whistle went, all the lads came running on the pitch,” the former full-back remembers.

“The manager put his arm around us, saying ‘well done’. The manager, with his watch and his phone, was thrown in the bath, it was just brilliant. It was a brilliant occasion.

”You look back now and think what a great time but the buzz of actually winning the FA Cup final was the best thing I ever did. Not so much scoring the winner, I never thought I was scoring the winning goal but when you win a cup final, lift the trophy, being a part of all that, it’s just amazing.“