When a legendary figure like Pat Jennings says none of the other 1,097 matches in his career was comparable with the 1979 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United, you know it was something special. Forever known as Wembley's 'five-minute final', Arsenal threw away and then regained the trophy in an incredible late sequence that saw them squander a 2-0 lead going into the 86th minute before winning 3-2 in the final moments with a goal that put Alan Sunderland's name in FA Cup folklore. It created a superstar in Arsenal's man-of-the-match Liam Brady and broke the career of Manchester United manager Dave Sexton. Pat Jennings (left) and Pat Rice pose with the FA Cup after the dramatic Wembley final of 1979 . Jennings reacts after conceding a goal as Manchester United fought back to level the scores at 2-2 . But Alan Sunderland scored the winning goal for Arsenal to write his name into cup folklore . Victorious captain Pat Rice was so drained and overcome with emotion as he climbed the famous 39 steps to finally lift the trophy, he delivered an unwitting snub to the famous royal guest of honour. Rice recalls: 'Prince Charles was there to present the trophy. He said, 'Congratulations' as we shook hands but as soon as I saw the cup, I turned around to lift it up to the Arsenal fans. 'I didn't realise he was still waiting to give me my medal. It was only when I turned back, I saw him with it in his hand. It must have looked insulting but it wasn't meant like that. Eager is the polite way of putting it. Just a couple of minutes before I'd been out on the pitch thinking 'f***, we've blown it'.' Sammy McIlroy, who had scored United's dramatic equaliser on a baking hot May afternoon, says the impact of the game has not diminished with time. 'It's 36 years on and people still ask me about it every week,' he adds ruefully. 'They always want to know about that final rather than the one we won against Liverpool two years earlier.' United and Arsenal meet again in the FA Cup on Monday in a quarter-final at Old Trafford but it is impossible that Wayne Rooney and Alexis Sanchez will grip the nation like their predecessors did. 'There has not been a final before or since with the twists and turns of that game,' says Brady, who helped set up the winning goal when Arsenal were on their knees reeling from McIlroy's equaliser. 'I played two short of 1,100 games and I have never known four minutes like that,' adds Jennings, a gentle giant of a goalkeeper who otherwise stayed unflappable in a 23-year career with Watford, Spurs, Arsenal and Northern Ireland. Sammy McIlroy (left) scored United's equaliser against Arsenal in the dramatic 79 cup final . Alexis Sanchez (left) of Arsenal and Wayne Rooney (right) of Manchester United will lock horns on Monday . The 1979 showpiece took place eight days after Margaret Thatcher had been elected Great Britain's first female Prime Minister and given the prestige of the FA Cup final in those days, the two events seemed equally important at the time. A full house of 100,000 and a TV audience of 15 million was guaranteed. United travelled to their team hotel a full three days before the match to fulfil the insatiable demands of the press, photographers and television cameras, with BBC and ITV planning their entire Saturday schedules around the final. Then, as now, Arsenal and United were big clubs in transition. Arsenal had not won a trophy for eight years, while United were rebuilding after the glory days of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton. They had been relegated to the Second Division five years earlier. Both sets of supporters flocked down Wembley Way convinced good times were about to return for their club. For 85 minutes, the match appeared routine, with Brian Talbot scoring for Arsenal after 12 minutes and Frank Stapleton adding to it with a 43rd-minute header. The only talking point was over who should be credited with the opening goal — Talbot or Sunderland, who appeared to connect at the same time. 'I know it was mine. I've got a picture on my trophy cabinet showing me kicking the ball and Alan kicking my boot,' says Talbot. With Arsenal leading 2-0 going into the final minutes, complacency crept in. 'It was unprofessional but I met eyes with Liam as if to say, 'Yes, we've won it',' says Graham Rix. 'We were coasting, comfortable,' adds Talbot. Even the experienced Jennings says: 'I was imagining myself going up the steps.' Brian Talbot (right) opened the scoring for Arsenal after only 12 minutes in the cup final against United . Gordon McQueen (fifth left) pulled a goal back in the 86th minute to give United hope . Then, with just five minutes left, Arsenal boss Terry Neill decided to send on substitute Steve Walford for David Price as a thank-you for his performances in earlier rounds. It backfired disastrously. Out of nowhere, in the 86th minute, Gordon McQueen drove in a loose ball from a set piece to make it 2-1. Just 106 second later, McIlroy jinked past David O'Leary and Walford before toepoking past an onrushing Jennings to equalise. Pandemonium ensued in the stadium as Arsenal fell apart. 'I knew the cameras were on me so I put on my best acting, trying to look concerned but not terribly worried,' says Neill. 'In reality, my insides were going up and down.' Reflecting now, McIlroy says: 'The Arsenal boys were gone, on their knees. If we'd taken it into extra-time, we would have won. 'I went crazy, I could have run out of Wembley and back in again after that goal. After the game, Bob Bishop [the scout from Northern Ireland who discovered both McIlroy and Best] told me we'd celebrated too long, we should have gone back to the halfway line and concentrated. 'He was probably right but it was not what we wanted to hear after throwing it away.' At 2-2, United were now red-hot favourites but what happened from the restart is part of FA Cup legend. Brady surged into the United half past Mickey Thomas, then past Lou Macari, and slipped a ball to Rix on the left. Frank Stapleton in possession for Arsenal in the cup final against United at Wembley in 1979 . Liam Brady (left), Frank Stapleton (centre) and David O'Leary (right) were in Arsenal's winning squad . Rix, a 21-year-old from a south Yorkshire pit village, delivered a cross that arced away from United goalkeeper Gary Bailey, leaving Sunderland the chance to score from close-range. The picture of the bouffant-haired forward running away in total ecstasy chased by the most-relieved substitute in history, Walford, remains an iconic image. 'When I picked up the ball, I was initially just trying to get the ball away from our goal,' says Brady. 'I went past one challenge, two challenges and I was in the final third and I saw Graham outside me.' Rix takes up the story. 'I didn't know Sunderland was at the far post, my only thought was to take the cross away from the goalkeeper. It was something I'd trained on with [coach] Don Howe all those wet and windy Wednesday nights: keep it out of the keeper's grasp.' Sunderland says: 'I went into auto-pilot and when the ball went it, the pent-up emotion came out.' Just two minutes, 59 seconds had elapsed between the three goals and history had been made. More than 250,000 Arsenal fans greeted the team's heroes in Islington the following day. The Arsenal players collected bonuses nearly three times their £1,000-a-week wages but for some the long-term rewards turned out to be far greater. Brady's performances against Juventus in the following season's European Cup-Winners' Cup persuaded the Italian giants to sign him and he blazed a trail for many other First Division stars like Ray Wilkins and Paul Gascoigne to go to Serie A. For United, being a runner-up was not good enough and Sexton was sacked within two years. 'He was unlucky, if we'd won the final, he would have been given more time,' says Thomas, a comment that will be of interest to Louis van Gaal. More than 250,000 supporters came out to greet Arsenal the day after their FA Cup triumph . Arsenal parade the trophy around Wembley after securing a dramatic victory over United . Arsenal's Class of '79 still meet up for reunions at the Emirates and Rice will be at Old Trafford tomorrow with the club's board of directors. 'I still remember the elation,' says the former Arsenal captain. 'When Sundy scored, I thought, 'Right, we're not going to bloody lose this again'.' If Monday's tie produces just a quarter of the late drama of '79, it will be a thriller.
Pat Jennings feels the 1979 FA Cup final was the best game of his career . Arsenal won 3-2 but lost a two goal lead in the 86th and 88th minute . Alan Sunderland then scored Arsenal's winner in the 89th minute .