The FA Cup final will grab centre-stage in the sporting landscape this weekend with Manchester City and Crystal Palace competing for Wembley glory and the chance to each add a fresh chapter to one of the beautiful game’s grandest honour rolls. Past FA Cup final heroes include the great Milburn and Sammy Smyth, who held the record as the previous Northern Ireland international to play for Liverpool before Conor Bradley’s emergence in recent seasons. Milburn’s cup magic arrived with his beloved Newcastle United three times across the 1950s – with Smyth writing his name in the history books across a 1949 run in which he scored for Wolverhampton Wanderers in every round bar the quarter-finals. Apart from their exploits at Wembley under the famed ‘Twin Towers’ both men also have something else unusual in common – they both played turned out for Woodvale Cricket Club in Belfast. In 1957, Milburn left Newcastle to become player/manager at Linfield – winning nine trophies with the Windsor Park club including the league across both 1959 and 1960, the latter a double-winning campaign as he scored twice in the Irish Cup final against Ards. Milburn finished as the Irish League’s leading goalscorer over two campaigns. Smyth, born on the Woodvale-based Ballygomartin Road, also was a celebrated goalscorer with Distillery, Linfield and Dundela before a 1947 transfer to Wolves for £1,100. Woodvale batsman Keers can recall that Saturday in July when Milburn arrived at the club in search of a game. “There was a general excitement that went about the club because there was a superstar coming to play cricket at Woodvale,” said Keers. “There was always a close affinity between Woodvale Cricket Club and Linfield which sort of stemmed from the Billy McCleery era.” McCleery was a dual international at cricket and football who won multiple trophies with Linfield. At the crease he played in 14 Senior Cup finals, winning nine. “A lot of Linfield supporters would have mitigated from Windsor Park to the Ballygomartin Road to watch Woodvale during the summer time so there was always that affiliation and that is where the idea for Milburn to come and play at Woodvale came from,” said Keers. “It was a surprise that someone you saw in the newspapers and somebody that you saw on the news reels was now coming to play cricket with you at Woodvale, there was just excitement. “The Woodvale players just felt honoured to be in the same dressing room as such a famous and great sportsman. “I used to tell people I played with Jackie Milburn then I would see the disappointment in their faces when I told them it was at cricket. “Word spread that Jackie Milburn was going to be at Woodvale and the crowd just got bigger and bigger, there was a fantastic atmosphere and you just knew that there was somebody famous about the place.” The crowd didn’t see much of Milburn at the crease. He took a single on the 12th ball he faced before being caught off the next delivery. There was a report that stated “while Jackie gave his all and was very competitive it is felt he’ll score more goals than take wickets”. Despite his failure with the bat, Milburn was mobbed at the end of the game. “The thing that always sticks in my head is after the match I couldn’t get into the changing room to get my clothes back on,” said Keers. “The changing room were full of supporters doing two things...advising Jackie on players to look at for Linfield or trying to get autographs off him. “I’m not too sure how many cricketers were in the changing room because they literally couldn’t get in. “I’m not sure if there was ever a plan for Jackie to play at Woodvale again. “All clubs have things that they can point to as unique aspects of the club, but it must be first to have two FA Cup winners to play for a local cricket club and both score in a final. “It is a lovely fact.” During the summer of 1949, Smyth returned home to help Woodvale win the Senior Cup, beating Waringstown by an innings and 10 runs. Wolves had finished third in the old First Division in 1947 but a year later manager Ted Vizard was replaced by his assistant, Stan Cullis, who would ultimately lead the Black Country club to FA Cup success. Wolves’ road to Wembley started with a 6-0 win over Chesterfield and Smyth was on target twice. The Northern Ireland international scored once in a 3-0 fourth-round win at Sheffield United. Smyth bagged another goal in a 3-1 home win over Liverpool to send Wolves into the quarter-finals. A crowd of over 55,000 turned up at Molineux for the derby with West Brom as the home side prevailed 1-0. Wolves met holders Manchester United in the semi-final and Smyth opening the scoring at Hillsborough but a Charlie Mitten equaliser sent the game to a replay. Symth scored the only goal four minutes from full-time in front of a crowd of 72,00 at Goodison Park. Wolves met Leicester City in the final they were leading 2-1 when Smyth scored in the 64th minute to put the game beyond doubt and ensure that captain Billy Wright – the first England player to win 100 caps - lifted the trophy. After a spell at Stoke, Smyth joined Liverpool – scoring 20 goals in 44 appearances. Milburn - a cousin of the Charltons, Bobby and Jackie, was born 15 miles from United’s ground. A statue is now part of the St James’ Park landscape – and also in his hometown of Ashington. Milburn’s love affair with the FA Cup started when he netted against Bury in the third round to start Newcastle’s run to Wembley in 1951. Two Milburn goals helped Newcastle beat Nat Lotfhouse’s Bolton from 2-1 down in the fourth round. He was on target again in the fifth round against Stoke and the quarter-final with Blackburn. In the semi-final against Wolves, Milburn had a goal disallowed across the 0-0 draw but found the net in the 2-1 replay victory Newcastle faced Blackpool in the final and the Seasiders were the bookies’ favourites as they had finished higher in the league and the people’s favourites as the public wanted to see 36-year-old Stanley Matthews lift the cup for the first time. Matthews would win it two years later. ‘Wor’ Jackie – as Milburn was known to the Toon Army – scored two second-half goals in a 2-0 victory to become one of only 12 men to score in every round of the FA Cup. Milburn had a first-half goal ruled out for handball which would have made him the first player to score a hat-trick in an FA Cup final at Wembley. One of his opponents, Stan Mortensen, achieved that piece of history two years later. Milburn had failed to score in the 1952 FA Cup until bagging a hat-trick in the quarter-final against Portsmouth over a 4-2 win. Blackburn were beat in a semi-final replay then Newcastle defeated Arsenal 1-0 in the final to become the first time in the 20th century to retain the cup. In 1955, Newcastle reached Wembley again with Manchester City their opponents. Milburn scored after just 45 seconds – the fastest goal in FA Cup history until Roberto Di Matteo surpassed it in 1997. Newcastle won 3-1 to give Milburn a third winner’s medal. Woodvale have won the NCU (Northern Cricket Union) Senior Cup on 10 occasions. In their 1933 victory, Sammy Walker was vice-captain. Five years later he captained the British Lions and Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa.