We go not to South Wales, but to the midlands for our match to remember ahead of our Easter Monday clash with the Jacks.
And of course, to March 14th 1964, when a place in the FA Cup Final was at stake, with the Lilywhites taking on then Swansea ‘Town’ in the semi-final in front of 68,000 fans at Villa Park.
The Welsh side went into the game confident, having thrashed PNE 5-1 at the Vetch earlier in the campaign, with two division two sides going at it in the final four stage.
Despite the fact a number of league games were postponed that same day, due to torrential downpours, the match went ahead.
Swansea won the toss, and even under the adverse conditions started the stronger team. A professional foul a yard outside the penalty area prevented Keith Todd from putting the Swans a goal up after five minutes, and an offside decision stopped them from capitalising on their bright opening.
However, their fast open play and first half dominance over their Lancashire opponents prevailed on the brink of half-time when Northern Irish striker Jim McLaughlin swivelled superbly and hit a low shot into the far corner beyond Alan Kelly.
The Swans had the impetus going into half-time, but their superiority was short-lived after the interval as North End came out a much stronger, more organised and more attacking team.
They were awarded a penalty 53 minutes into the game and the ‘Black Prince’ Alex Dawson stepped up and fired Jimmy Milne’s PNE level and with 15 minutes left on the clock they went ahead in the tie for the first time with a goal from over 40 yards from centre half Tony Singleton – a very rare sight in his career.
As the game drew to a close, Swansea’s attempts at a comeback proved futile as PNE locked and barred the door and nothing could get through and they set up a final tie against Bobby Moore and his great West Ham United side at Wembley.
PNE line-up: Kelly, Ross, Donnelly, Lawton, Singleton, Davidson, Wilson, Ashworth, Dawson, Spavin, Holden.
Swansea Town line-up: Dwyer, Evans, Hughes, Johnson, Purcell, Williams, Jones, Draper, Thomas, Todd, McLaughlin.
Referee: Mr J E Carr (Sheffield)
Attendance: 68,000
For our trip to the Liberty Stadium, Jonathan Breeze and former PNE full back Rob Edwards will be on commentary duties on Easter Monday, brining you all the action exclusively from around 2.30pm. Click here now to sign up for an iFollow PNE match pass.