I'VE BEEN WAITING 68 YEARS FOR THIS!

Fulham fan Roy was there when Jimmy Hill & Co lost a Cup classic to the Toon

- IAN MURTAGH

LIFELONG Fulham fan Roy Searle has been waiting almost 70 years for his club to exact FA Cup revenge on Newcastle.

Searle was at Craven Cottage in 1956 when the two sides fought out one of the greatest games in Cup history.

The Cottagers, who included Bobby Robson and Johnny Haynes in their line-up, trailed 3-0 inside half an hour.

But they fought back to 3-3 with a hat-trick from Tosh Chamberlain and then took the lead through Jimmy Hill.

Hopes of an astonishing comeback win were dashed when Mapgies forward Vic Keeble scored twice in the last quarter of an hour to seal a 5-4 away win.

But the result was mired in controversy with the burly Keeble shoulder-barging Fulham keeper Ian Black into the back of the net for the equaliser. Searle, now a sprightly 80-year-old, living in Hurst, Berkshire, still recalls the game as if it were yesterday.

And he still bristles at that Toon goal being allowed to stand.