Sunday 30 November 2008 is a date that will live long in the memory of one West Ham United Season Ticket Holder.
It was then that Matt Langston, who sits in Block 141 at London Stadium with his sons George and Ben, wrote his name into FA Cup folklore by scoring the winning goal for non-league Histon in their shock 1-0 second-round win over Sunday’s third-round visitors Leeds United.
A centre-back, Langston rose high above the Leeds defence to head in Gareth Gwillim’s corner and set the Blue Square Premier (now National League) high-fliers on course for a stunning victory over a Leeds team that included Robert Snodgrass and Fabian Delph and was managed by Gary McAllister.
With Cambridgeshire-based Histon a part-time club, Langston, who started his career as a young professional with Watford, split his time between three training sessions each week and his day job as a postman in St Albans.
🗣 "The postman delivers the opening goal for Histon!"
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) November 30, 2021
📆 13 years ago today, @HistonFC knocked out Leeds United in the #EmiratesFACup Second Round. pic.twitter.com/gcGKjzcVGT
Managed by the legendary former Cambridge United manager John Beck, Histon were enjoying the best period in their history, reaching the fifth-tier play-offs before being edged out by Torquay United in May 2009.
Thirteen years on, Langston, now 40, was forced to retire through injury and is now assistant manager at Southern League club AFC Dunstable, but he will never tire of talking about the afternoon he made the headlines in the world’s most-famous cup competition.
“We had a great result (a 1-0 win) against Swindon Town in the first round, who had a strong team at the time [with Simon Cox, Billy Paynter and Hal Robson-Kanu in attack], and hit a really good run of form before Christmas,” recalled Langston, who became a West Ham fan when he was bought a Claret and Blue kit at the age of five.
“We drew Leeds at home and ITV sent the cameras down to film the game [at Histon's Bridge Road stadium]. Snodgrass, Delph and [Luciano] Becchio all played, but the big bonus was that their striker Jermaine Beckford was out injured.
“We gave it everything we had and were really good in the first half, when I scored, then rode our luck in the second.
“For my goal, Gareth, who is still a good mate of mine, took the corner, I got in front of my defender and got my head on it and thankfully it went in.
“They were in League One at the time but still a very experienced team and were managed by Gary McAllister, who came into our dressing room and said ‘Well done’ to us afterwards, which was class.
“We went on to lose to Swansea City in the third round, but we’ll never forget that day against Leeds!”
While his hopes of appearing in an FA Cup final himself have gone, Langston would love nothing more than to follow his beloved Hammers to Wembley.
“I was born in ‘81 so missed our FA Cup final win over Arsenal by a year, although obviously I know all about it,” confirmed Langston, whose son George is a young defender at Watford. “I’m from Sussex but my Dad started taking me up to Upton Park quite a bit as a kid and it’s stuck with me from there
“I went to the Play-Off finals with my sons – 2012 at Wembley was brilliant and I just dream of seeing West Ham win something in my lifetime!”