Monday, March 17, 1986
Having achieved a goalless draw at Anfield in a delayed FA Cup quarter-final six days earlier, Watford faced Liverpool in a replay at Vicarage Road.
A superb trademark John Barnes free-kick gave the Hornets the lead, but with four minutes remaining goalkeeper Tony Coton, who had excelled in the first game, challenged Ian Rush as he entered the box.
Despite appearing to take the ball cleanly Coton was penalised by referee Roger Milford, the same referee whose harsh red card had seen Wilf Rostron suspended for the cup final two seasons previously.
Jan Molby scored the penalty, and Rush secured the victory for the eventual cup winners in extra-time.
Small consolation for the Hornets was provided by record gate receipts of £100,004; the evening's crowd of 28,097 has not been exceeded since at Vicarage Road.
Reproduced by kind permission of Matt Rowson from his book, Watford FC On This Day
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