JOSE Mourinho would do well to learn the lessons of history and not wind City up beforehand.

Just ask John Bond, whose Norwich side paid the price for his mouthing off in the Bantams' last odds-defying FA Cup run 39 years ago.

City, then a bottom-half Fourth Division team, made it all the way to the quarter-finals before succumbing to a controversial goal against eventual winners Southampton.

The highlight of that run was a sensational win at Carrow Road against the Canaries, who were then flying high in the top flight.

Like tomorrow, nobody gave the visitors a prayer – even more so when a bout of illness hit Bobby Kennedy's small squad.

The game was put back three days to midweek to allow the players to recover and that's when flamboyant Canaries boss Bond decided to wade in to the argument.

"Bond said if we couldn't put a team out then we shouldn't be in the competition," recalled winger Don Hutchins, who played such a key part of City's progress to that fifth-round encounter.

"That really wound the lads up. We didn't have a big squad and for him to say that just got us going even more.

"They had players like Martin Peters and Ted MacDougall, really big names, but we didn't need stirring up any more after what Bond had said."

City's cup run had begun in low-key fashion, with Hutchins – "it was the furthest header I ever scored" – netting the only goal against Chesterfield.

Eyebrows started to be raised in the second round with a 3-0 win at Third Division opponents Rotherham. Hutchins remembered it as the best he had seen from the team, saying: "We played like we were Real Madrid."

Further wins followed over Shrewsbury and non-League outfit Tooting & Mitcham and suddenly the Bantams were through to the last 16. But nobody gave them a prayer at Carrow Road.

After half an hour of one-way traffic, the unthinkable happened. Hutchins latched on to a loose pass from full back Dave Jones, avoided an attempted trip from the defender and beat keeper Kevin Keelan with a swerving shot from the edge of the area.

City's joy lasted only two minutes before Peters levelled matters with a clever back header. Once again, the visitors were pinned in their own half.

Hutchins recalled: "We were under the cosh even more but we just battled hard defensively. We didn't have the biggest lads at the back, our centre halves John Middleton and Dave Fretwell were probably only about 5ft 9in or so, but we managed to keep them out."

Then another Norwich mistake from Dave Stringer let in Billy McGinley with three minutes left. His first shot hit Keelan but the rebound fell nicely for the 21-year-old to fire through the keeper's legs.

"It was a classic case of one team attacking and then the other breaks and scores," said Hutchins.

"Billy broke on the right-hand side and was on his own against Keelan. But he should have passed to Gerry Ingram, who would have had a tap-in right in front of goal.

"Luckily it hit the keeper and came back out to him and he scored second time.

"The celebrations afterwards were fantastic. We all went out to a nightclub and didn't get to bed until just before five.

"Then we were up again at eight to read about it in the papers. Nobody could sleep because we were on such a high.

"I remember that game vividly and a lot of supporters still want to talk about it. I know most of them came back blotto!

"Norwich had just beaten Arsenal a couple of weeks earlier and here we were winning at Carrow Road in front of 27,000 people. It was very special."

City fell at the next hurdle to Saints, although their winner at Valley Parade would have been outlawed now because of the illegal method of the free-kick. But Hutchins felt the cup success had a knock-on effect.

He said: "It set us off believing in ourselves. It was the catalyst for the following season when we never lost at home and won promotion."

Phil Parkinson's side are the first since 1976 to have won through three FA Cup rounds. Can Hutchins see them matching those achievements and pulling off the unthinkable at Stamford Bridge?

He said: "Norwich were a good team but they weren't a Chelsea. The game has moved on vastly now. It's a lot faster and pitches are a lot better.

"(Jose) Mourinho goes for it in every competition and while he may not play Costa up front, he'll have somebody like Remy or Drogba, so City will be up against it.

"But don't be overawed. They've just got to look back at what they did against Wigan, Aston Villa and Arsenal the other season – and battle like we did.

"If you look through history, there have always been cup shocks. You can go back to Hereford beating Newcastle with that Ronnie Radford goal.

"Chelsea are probably the best team in Europe but City must not be overawed by anything. Go down and enjoy it – and it would be nice if they could emulate us!"