From Ricky Villa to Dave Beasant

Matt Eastley

Description

From Ricky Villa to Dave Beasant is the third and final installment in Matthew Eastley's Cup Final series. It tells the story of the 1980s, when it wasn't just the giants of the game who enjoyed Cup success, but also clubs such as West Ham, Coventry City, and Wimbledon. It tells the stories of Wembley heroes-Houchen, Sanchez, Brooking-recounts great performances and recalls the joy of first-time finalists such as QPR and Watford. But most important are the amazing first-hand stories of the fans inside Wembley. Who were they, and how do they look back on those halcyon days? Here are gripping tales of soccer, social change, love, and kinship-all played out against a backdrop of pop music, films, and contemporary news. For this was the decade which saw an ominous increase in live televised football, and ended in tragedy at an FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing
• Date de parution: 24 avril 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785310812
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2015
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Matthew Eastley, 2015
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Print ISBN 978 1 78531 023 2
eBook ISBN: 978-1-78531-081-2
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
Arsenal v West Ham United Saturday 10 May
Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 9 May and Thursday 14 May 1981
Queens Park Rangers v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 22 May and Thursday 27 May 1982
Brighton Hove Albion v Manchester United Saturday 21 May and Thursday 26 May 1983
Everton v Watford Saturday 19 May 1984
Everton v Manchester United Saturday 18 May 1985
Everton v Liverpool Saturday 10 May 1986
Coventry City v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 16 May 1987
Liverpool v Wimbledon Saturday 14 May 1988
Everton v Liverpool Saturday 20 May 1989
Photographs
Acknowledgements
O VER the years, hundreds of football fans have been kind enough to share their FA Cup memories with me for, not just this book, but also its predecessors, From Barry Stobart to Neil Young and From Ronnie Radford to Roger Osborne. I am extremely grateful to them all. The following people have either shared their memories with me, or have helped me find people to do so. They are:
Gary Lawrence; Peter Hamersley; Terry Roper; Grant Leslie; Alan Budgen; Gary Humphrey; Richard Davis; Stephen Smith; Alan Budgen; John Wardle; Emilio Zorlakki; Roger Haigh; Jeremy Poynton; Raymond Ashton; Alex Channon; Charles Webster; Daphne Edwards; Ian Robertson; Martin Cloake; Lee Burman; Chris Andrews; Keith Palmer; Chris Guy; Cornelius Hanrahan; Gareth Evans; Pat Harrison; John Dean; Simon Muir; Austin Penn; Ron Lewis; Clive Whittingham; Bob Scott; Tony Sparks; Jim Duggan; Wayne Richardson; Deb Exley; Julie Ryan; Sean Fourniss; Robin Forman; Paul Waghorn; Bruce Lindfield; Nick Catt; Paul Woodrow; Neale Phillips; Robin Miller; Simon Todd; Ray Harrington; Jack Hammond; Chris Summers; David Charlesworth; Jonathan Cawthra; David Goodwin; Russ Bravo; Chris Bolsover; Mike Boult; David Trenner; Nick Archer; Tim Carder; Sarah Watts; John Kirkland; Richard Travers; John Clay; Tony Ryan; John Lunn; Nigel Astell; Ian Brunton; Matt Traynor; Chris Wood; Paul Griffin; Denny Gill; Dave Walsh; Joe Baker; Peter Beigan; Ray Roche; Tony Holding; John Hands; Jim Weedon; Fran Hickey; Keith Horan; Jerry Ladell; Peter Morgan; Richard Walker; Maureen Rickett; Steve Scott; Chris Collins; Darren Simpson; Brendan Parkinson; Steven Langley; Peter Hargreaves; Rick Welch; Stephen Blank; Andrew Burton; Jim Smith; Peter Darby; Michael Hoban; Ron Schofield; Matthew Selby; Colin Barden; Julie Kelley; Dean Nelson; Steve Phelps; Harry Bragginton; Ray Armfield; Ivor Heller; Stephen Crabtree; Simon Bath; Philip Watkin; Chris Slavin; Ian Johnston; Dave Bandell.
I would like to say a special thanks to Steve Gordos who has been of immeasurable help. His expert sub-editing skills and deep footballing knowledge have been indispensable.
Likewise, Liverpool fan Chris Wood, who saw his first FA Cup Final in 1971, provided a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Big thanks to Chris.
Thanks also to Jane and Paul at Pitch Publishing for running with this project and the lovely people at BBC Radio Kent, John Warnett, Maggie Doyle and Matt Davison for their frequent invitations on to their breakfast show, giving me a chance to talk about my favourite subject - the FA Cup!
Finally, thanks to Lisa and Alice for bearing with me while this labour of love was accomplished.
Foreword
Dave Beasant, former Wimbledon captain and goalkeeper, and FA Cup winner in 1988
L IKE thousands of youngsters in this country, I spent a lot of my childhood dreaming that I would become a professional footballer. If I achieved that ambition, the one thing I wanted to win above all others was the FA Cup.
As a young lad growing up in Willesden - which is not too far from Wembley - FA Cup Final day was absolutely huge. I remember in the late 1960s, when most people still had black and white televisions, going across the road to watch the match in someone s house because they had a colour set. It was the 1969 FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Leicester and I remember Man City playing in that black and white striped away kit.
The Cup Final was so special. Not only was the day of the game really exciting, the whole build-up was incredible as well. It would start almost as soon as the semi-finals were over and the week leading up to the match was amazing. It seemed the talk was of only one thing and everyone wanted to watch it.
The classic 1970 FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Leeds was a really big one for me. When I was young, I used to watch Chelsea one week and QPR the next. So to see all those great Chelsea like Peter Osgood, Charlie Cooke and Peter Bonetti playing at Wembley was very special.
Years later, when I was lucky enough to play in the FA Cup Final myself with Wimbledon, it was incredible to experience that build-up and excitement first-hand.
My second son, Sam, was born on 8 April 1988, just before our semi-final match against Luton. I was in hospital until 4am on Friday morning. I remember Bobby Gould changed the training until the afternoon and then we went straight to our hotel to prepare for the game.
As soon as we beat Luton, the anticipation started. It felt like a massive achievement to be going to Wembley. Unfortunately, it was such a big thing that our league form fell away and we struggled to win another game because our minds were so focused on this huge match.
It definitely took the edge off us a bit because in those days the FA Cup Final was the biggest game of the lot.
I remember Wimbledon played Manchester United on the Monday night before the Final and, I can honestly say, it was the first time we let ourselves be physically intimidated by another team because the United players were saying: So you want to play in the FA Cup Final do you? Well, I wouldn t go in too hard then. We ended up losing 2-1 because clearly the focus was elsewhere.
Before the final we did practise penalties. John Fashanu took them and I would ask him to take them as John Aldridge would and I d try and move at the last second rather than anticipate.
It was an amazing honour to be captain of that Wimbledon side. Like everyone else, I d watch the Cup Final year in, year out and see the winning captain climb up those steps to lift the trophy. Having the privilege of then doing it myself was a tremendous thing.
I received the trophy from Princess Diana which was another very special moment. She was the royal that many of us could relate to because she was nearer our age. Because she s no longer here you do look back and think how special and poignant that was.
My eldest son, Nick, was two at the time and he was with my brother in the tunnel before the game and that is another amazing memory for me.
People have since asked me if saving the penalty in the match was the highlight of my career but I say no . The highlight was actually winning the cup because that meant everything to me. If I d have let the penalty in and we d have won 2-1 I would have been just as happy. I certainly didn t go into the game thinking that if I saved a penalty it would be the first time it had ever been done. I didn t even realise that was the case.
The FA Cup has changed a lot since that magical day in May 1988. I think it did lose a lot of its sparkle, especially when it left Wembley for a time and then there was the year when Manchester United did not even take part. However, I see encouraging signs that the competition might be coming back. Even though all the money these days is in the Premiership, there is still a huge amount of affection for the competition which is cherished and loved around the world.
I was delighted to write the foreword for this book. The FA Cup has meant so many things to millions of people down the years and none more so than the fans themselves. Wimbledon may not have been the best-supported club but we had some marvellous fans, many of whom are still following AFC Wimbledon today.
It s great that the stories of so many supporters are included in not just this book but Matt Eastley s two previous books focusing on the 1960s and the 1970s, a period when the FA Cup Final was the biggest show in town. I m genuinely delighted to have been able to carve my own piece of history in this wonderful old competition. I hope you enjoy the book.
Introduction
T HIS is the third and final book about that most magnificent of competitions, the FA Cup, and specifically the FA Cup Final itself. I was moved to write these books because I was saddened and frustrated to see the gradual decline of a competition which was such a fundamental part of football s fabric. I was born in the mid-1960s and my formative years were spent sitting wide-eyed in front of the television set, with colour pictures still a novelty, watching the likes of Ian Porterfield, Bobby Stokes, Roger Osborne and Alan Sunderland carving their names into footballing history.
Despite valiant attempts in recent years to breathe life back into the competition, I believe irreparable damage was done, chiefly during the 1990s, when it was mismanaged, under-marketed and devalued.
It s fair to say