The grandeur and the spectacle of a final is something truly unique. And on May 19 1984, the bar was set. Watford took on Everton in a sold-out Wembley Stadium with 100,000 supporters in attendance at the FA Cup final.

Watford’s meteoric rise under the tutelage of Graham Taylor and Sir Elton John had earned them the special opportunity to walk out at the national stadium, something that wouldn’t be matched until the 2019 edition when the Hornets took on Manchester City in the showpiece event.

GT’s Golden Boys had certainly enjoyed a memorable path to the final. Entering at the third-round stage, the Hornets were drawn against Luton – quite a notable way to start an FA Cup campaign.

    The match was even forced to go to a replay after the sides were unable to be separated during an opening 2-2 draw at Kenilworth Road. At The Vic, Watford came out victors in a seven-goal thriller – a record for the most goals in the derby – as Nigel Callaghan and George Reilly set the stall out in the first half before John Barnes and Mo Johnston’s extra-time effort secured a 4-3 win.

A much more straight-forward affair followed as Watford pushed past Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion in respective 2-0 and 3-1 victories, making it to the sixth round where they faced Birmingham City.

A brace from Barnes, one of which was a Goal of the Season contender, and a goal from Les Taylor at St. Andrew’s secured another 3-1 victory on the way to the final four.

    Matched against Plymouth Argyle at Villa Park, the fixture was a tense affair with both sides yet to have featured at Wembley. The nerves were soon lifted as Reilly headed home within 15 minutes, but Argyle refused to turn over and remained a stern test until the 90th minute when Watford were confirmed finalists.

Facing Everton would never have been an easy task with the Toffees having finished above the Hornets in the First Division that term, and in previous meetings that season the blue side of Merseyside were unbeaten against Watford.

GT’s Golden Boys started the match with great vigour as Barnes went closest within the opening stages. The dynamic winger almost made it one goal to the good soon after, if not for an impressive block from Everton defender Derek Mountfield.

    Despite the early promise, it would be the blue side of Wembley that would be cheering as Graeme Sharp scored just before the break, with Andy Gray somewhat controversially finding their second after the interval.

The striker appeared to head the ball out of the hands of Watford goalkeeper Steve Sherwood. The Hornets continued to press for some sort of consolation as Johnston had a goal ruled out for offside, but on that day the Toffees were the victors.

An open-top bus parade concluded the memorable cup journey as the town of Watford welcomed back their finalists with proud faces lining the street.

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