It would be fair to say that among the many qualities that Roger Osborne provided to Ipswich Town, scoring goals was not one of them.

The local midfielder, who used to take his brother to training with the Tractor Boys and was eventually offered terms himself at the age of 21, found the net just 10 times in a blue shirt.

Yet one of those goals remains arguably the most important in the Suffolk club's history and was scored 37 years ago today.

Bobby Robson's men had made an impression en route to reaching the FA Cup final, but they were considered to be big underdogs against an Arsenal side that contained the likes of Pat Jennings, Liam Brady and Malcolm Macdonald.

While the Gunners had finished the First Division campaign in a healthy fifth position, Ipswich had battled, albeit successfully, against relegation for much of the term. What's more, just a fortnight before their trip to Wembley, they had been thrashed 6-1 by a rampant Aston Villa.

However, from the first whistle Ipswich proved themselves to be more than a match for their opponents on the notoriously heavy Wembley playing surface.

With neither side able to trouble the scoresheet as the encounter headed into the closing stages, extra time seemed inevitable. But, with 13 minutes remaining, Osborne wrote himself into Ipswich folklore.

Youngster David Geddis picked up possession on the right wing and beat Sammy Nelson for pace, before driving towards the byline and drilling a low cross into the Arsenal penalty area.

The ball evaded Arsenal goalkeeper Jennings, but not defender Willie Young, who stuck out his boot. His clearance, though, only went as far as Osborne 10 yards from goal and the midfielder punished the error by drilling his shot inside the near post.

In the celebrations that followed, overcome by emotion, Osborne is said to have fainted and he was consequently replaced by Mick Lambert for the minutes that remained, which Ipswich negotiated their way through without a hiccup.

It meant that when referee Derek Nippard blew the final whistle, Osborne's goal had won Ipswich the FA Cup for the first and only time in their history.

Speaking to the Ipswich Star during the 30th anniversary celebrations of that victory, he recalled: "I don't know whether it ever has really [sunk in].

"I didn't sign as a professional with Ipswich until I was 21, when I joined the club I just wanted to get in the first team, and because I was not one of the better players at the club I always had to play to my maximum to get in the team.

"I could never, ever have imagined when I was 18 that I could do that. I still find it all a little unbelievable myself that I scored the winning goal in the cup final."

Unfortunately for Osborne, his heroics marked the beginning of the end of his stint with Ipswich. Injuries took hold and in 1981 he was sold to Colchester United, where he would spend five years before dropping into non-League football.

Arsenal: Jennings; Rice, O'Leary, Young, Nelson; Price, Sunderland, Brady (Rix), Hudson; Macdonald, Stapleton

Ipswich: Cooper; Burley, Mills, Hunter, Beattie; Talbot, Osborne (Lambert), Wark, Woods; Geddis, Mariner