Monty to carry the cup for tribute to 'Messiah'

The FA have agreed to give Sunderland the FA Cup to have at the Stadium of Light for the day of our 5th round tie.

And Sunderland icon Jimmy Montgomery will carry the Cup onto the Stadium of Light pitch before the game against Birmingham, as part of a tribute to the late, great Bob Stokoe.

Monty will join the current squad around the centre circle prior to next Saturday's home game, carrying the Cup, and will also take part in the two minutes' silence to remember Stokoe, who passed away on Sunday aged 73.

The former Sunderland keeper, now goalkeeping coach at Scarborough FC, was part of the cup-winning squad of '73 and pulled off a spectacular double save to prevent Leeds from scoring an equaliser in the final on 5th May 1973.

Many other members of the 1973 squad will be guests of the Club on the day of the game.

Edited highlights of the club's famous Cup win will be shown in the concourse around the Stadium of Light on February 14 - and there will be special commentary from the loud-speaker system, courtesy of the BBC. There will also be a special commemorative pull-out in Red and White - the official matchday programme of Sunderland AFC.

The kickoff time for the Birmingham match has been put back from 3pm to 5.35pm, to enable the match to be covered live on BBC TV. The move will see the club receive £265,000 for the television rights.