Houchen's header: Coventry, Wembley, 1987

May 1987, FA Cup final, Coventry City against Tottenham. Coventry had never won a major trophy. Spurs had never lost a cup final. By five o'clock both of those facts were gone.

The goal

Spurs went ahead inside two minutes through Clive Allen. Dave Bennett equalised. Gary Mabbutt put Spurs back in front. Then, just after the hour, Bennett got to the byline on the right and clipped a cross into the box, and Keith Houchen threw himself at it.

Full-length dive, horizontal, header into the bottom corner. 2-2. It won Goal of the Season and it's still the first thing anyone shows you when they're explaining what Coventry City means.

Mabbutt's own goal in extra time won it 3-2, and Coventry went up the Wembley steps as FA Cup winners for the first and only time.

Why it's the moment

Every club has one day that everything else gets measured against. For Coventry it's 16 May 1987, and Houchen's header is the image of it. He wasn't the biggest name in the side. He'd come from Scunthorpe via York and Hartlepool. That's probably why Sky Blues fans love him so much: an ordinary footballer who did one extraordinary thing at exactly the right time.

The design

The Legends in Thread Houchen design is an embroidered outline of the dive, horizontal, arms back, head forward, on the chest of a tee, hoodie or beanie. No crest, no sponsor, nothing official. If you're a Coventry fan you'll know it from across the street. If you're not, it's a nice bit of sky blue.

Embroidered, because a moment that's lasted forty years deserves stitching that lasts too.

Get one

Choose the organic cotton tee, the hoodie or the FA Cup 87 beanie. Made to order in the UK.

The rest of the Houchen range and the Coventry City collection, including Play Up Sky Blues and the minimalist badge, are on the site.

Chris