It was perceived by many as a bye. Another step for the red machine of Liverpool on their quest for an unprecedented quadruple. When the runaway Division One leaders drew rock bottom Brighton at Anfield in the last 16 of the 1983 FA Cup, the Seagulls road to Wembley was expected to hit a dead end.
Brighton's charismatic caretaker manager Jimmy Melia was trying his best to talk up his team's hopes. "There is no way this draw means the end of the line," the former Liverpool player protested. "We were the last side to win at Anfield, in March 1982." Yet not everyone shared his optimism.
