CITY legend Terry Allcock says he's delighted with the replica shirt worn by the Canaries of 1958-59 which commemorates the 50th anniversary of Norwich's cup run success.

Speaking at the launch of the limited edition shirt Allcock said the 2008-09 replica, which the Canaries will wear in the third round of the FA Cup (colour permitting), was a fantastic testiment to the achievements of the 59ers.

He said: "It brings back some marvellous memories, and I'm surprised at the material - I think ours' was a little thicker than that! It's a great replica and it's going to be interesting to see the reaction from the public.  I think it's an excellent idea and obviously I'm sure the Club is grateful to the FA and to Aviva for giving them permission to reproduce it.

"I only hope we have a good draw and we don't draw Wolverhampton or Blackpool, someone who we have to change colours for."

Allcock was asked whether he could believe that it had been half a century since the event. He replied: "Not really, but I wish it wasn't! It's a marvellous occasion and we had the 40th anniversary and now we have the 50th, but unfortunately one or two of my colleagues have passed on since that time.

"Being one of the younger members of the team, it's nice to still be about and see the present generation play. I've seen most of them periodically over the years at reunions and I'm sure we'll see more to come in February. It was immense and all concentrated into a four-month period, but what many people don't realise is it's still a record for the amount of FA Cup games played in one season. We had four replays and we entered the competition in the first round, being a third division side, so it was immense at the time.

"The local press was outweighed by the nationals, the national sports writers all turned up and booked into the Royal hotel, and I think they lived there for four months. We had a great rapport with them and it was a marvellous period."

The 15th of November will see 50 years since Norwich played host to Ilford in the first round of the FA cup. Allcock said he didn't know that City would go on to do battle against some of the biggest clubs in the country, including Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United: "We thought Ilford would be a reasonably easy fixture and in reflection it was probably one of the harder ones. The whole scenario, with regards to the support and national publicity didn't really start until we beat Manchester United, that was the lift-off.

"Manchester were massive and it was following the Munich air disaster and I lost two very close colleagues who I roomed with as a schoolboy footballer. It was a difficult day, it was a snow-covered pitch which they wouldn't play on nowadays, and we finished 3-0 which was a superb result and it set the whole city off and livened it up completely. It was a complete sell-out every game, and when we travelled from away games and arrived back at Thorpe station by steam engine there were 5,000 to 6,000 people waiting to wheel us on the luggage trolley down the path - it was a super time.

Allcock was asked what he thought set the City team of 1959 apart from those who have since managed FA Cup success. He replied: "I think first and foremost the Club was in financial difficulty, and that cup run obviously levelled the Club out to what was going to be the next era. From a supporters' point of view, I'm sure that was a major factor, but the whole enviroment of the city was lifted. You can't explain to people who weren't there but if you speak to anyone who was, everyone has the same opinion.

"I think four or five of us had just joined Norwich in the previous six or nine months, all from first division clubs, and with (Ron) Ashman and (Ken) Nethercott who had been at Norwich for many years and who had great experience, the blend of the team was absolutely perfect. There was Bobby Brennan, a superb Irish international and a father figure along with Ashman, and everybody blended in.  The team work and the enjoyment of each other's company all accumulated to give us the success that we had, and we could play a bit as well!"

Adding that it would be a proud moment to see the present day Canaries wear the commorative shirt in the third round, Allcock commented: "It will be very enjoyable, there'll be a little bit of sadness thrown in as well wishing that you were doing it alongside them."