“You must’ve cheated” “I didn’t” “Yeah, don’t give me that. You’ve changed
the database to add some big players who wouldn’t ever join your club” “No, no I didn’t.Here, have a look
at my squad. All these players are those who weren’t wanted by other clubs” “Ok, well then you must’ve manipulated the
scores. Each time you went behind you turned it off and started again” “Well…..we were hardly ever behind so I didn’t need to”
“Ok, well bless you, you enjoy your fantasy.It would never happen in real life”
This is a scenario that’s gone on around the world for any
of us who’ve played Football Manager and published blogs of our progress.One of the ultimate addictive facets to the
game is the ability to take control of a ‘little club’ and guide them to glory,
dreaming of press conferences, awards and team talks where you get to pit your
wits against Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
What we have just witnessed in English football is an
achievement of Football Manager proportions.These things weren’t supposed to come true, in these days of clubs as behemoths
burning more money than some countries GDP, football looked for all the world
as though without money no club could hope to succeed.Maybe in cup competitions the minnows could
progress, mainly through luck of the draw as the bigger sides knock each other
out, and maybe through the luck of timing.A little club could come up against a big side who field a side to
protect their stars as they are days away from a crucial European match.Plus, cup competitions may only require you
to negotiate six or seven matches.But a
league competition?Surely that goes on
too long for a lesser side to prevail?
But Leicester City has defied all the odds and overturned
considered convention.
There are plenty of reasons, or maybe even excuses, clubs
can identify to suggest why they’re not currently winning titles.Maybe they don’t have enough money to buy the
quality of player to win trophies, their ground isn’t big enough to bring in
enough revenue to afford these players’ wages.They’ve given youth players a go but they’re struggling to come to terms
with the higher standard of play.All their
best players get poached by bigger clubs.They need a quality goalscorer, or a quality centre-half or a talented
goalkeeper.All those cost money and
none of those players are interested in playing for clubs who don’t compete in
European competitions.
Leicester has just blown all those excuses out of the
water.They ripped up the rulebook and laughed
in the face of “it cannot be done”.Of
course there are a number of factors which have helped them achieve this,
mainly the abject performances of other clubs who really should’ve won a league
title when only 77 points were required for success.
It’s not just the big boys who’ve had their noses put out of
joint and given homework for the summer to work out how they take on Leicester,
but clubs who were above The Foxes in early 2015 are all now going to reassess
their goals and aspirations.
DREAM BIG
There is a story often given by positive speakers about
fleas in a jar.If you put fleas in a
jar and put the lid on, the fleas will jump up and hit their heads on the
lid.They keep doing this for a while
until they work out that if they jump just below the level of the lid then they
don’t get a headache.They condition
themselves so well they keep on doing this.If you then remove the lid what happens?The fleas keep jumping to the level of just below the lid as they’re not
aware the lid has been removed.You can
keep them in that jar with the lid off for ages as they’ve been conditioned to
believe that jumping any higher will bring them pain.
This is where many clubs who would consider themselves on a
par with Leicester, now find themselves.The lid has been lifted but have they got the ability to realise or the
dreams to be able to jump higher?
Some clubs appeared to start the season with acceptance of a
relegation battle.They only really got
to work once the drop was a very real possibility and suddenly they put in big
enough performances to get them out of the mire.
Leicester’s success isn’t a fluke.Although it is true this should give many
people confidence in aiming to achieve the impossible, you can’t just turn up
with a group of players, run around a lot and hope to win the league.Leicester’s success may actually have been a
perfect storm.
Will there be another season when Arsenal, Manchester City,
Manchester United and Chelsea all lose a total of 38 matches between them?Compare that with last season when they lost
a total of 25 between them.That is not
to belittle Leicester’s achievement, it’s not their fault those big four clubs
all had a meltdown at the same time.One
of the benefits for Leicester for next season is the panic which now pervades
the boardrooms of all four clubs to try and work out how to re-arrange their
business plans.Already two of them have
announced new management, with another one rumoured to, and the fourth
resisting the urge for now.
There is no single factor which has contributed to Leicester’s
stunning title win and in a way what this has proven is that money alone cannot
win you a title, but then Manchester City are evidence you need a little more
than just money to win league titles.The fact Leicester staved off relegation last season from a seemingly
desperate position will have gone someway for them believing they could achieve
anything.
Leicester fell to the bottom of the Premier League at the
end of November 2014 when they lost 2-3 at QPR.It was their seventh defeat in the first thirteen matches of the season,
and began a run of six straight defeats.They ended it by beating Hull City but on New Year’s Day they were still
bottom of the pile
The table on New Year’s Day morning makes interesting
reading.Leicester were bottom, with
Burnley and then Crystal Palace three points above them.The fortunes of those bottom three eighteen
months on is interesting.Leicester are
now Premier League Champions, Crystal Palace are in the FA Cup Final and
Burnley have just won the Championship title.
When Leicester lost at Tottenham in late March they were
seven points from safety with just nine matches to go.The proceeded to lose just one of those nine,
at home to the eventual champions Chelsea, and drew at Sunderland.All the rest they won.Back-to-back wins against West Ham and West Brom
saw them finally drag themselves from the bottom of the table in
mid-April.Those remaining seven matches
are enlightening when looking back now.They only conceded in two of those matches, the Chelsea defeat and the
final game 5-1 thrashing of QPR.Fast
forward to this season and they have kept fifteen clean-sheets.More tellingly twelve of these have come in
the second half of the season.Between
the Boxing Day defeat at Anfield and the 2-2 draw at home to West Ham in
mid-April, they played fifteen matches and only conceded in four.They lost just once, at Arsenal and the
consistency is one huge reason for their success.
WORK ETHIC
They have a work ethic, as so many have identified, and this
where they work so hard for each other.They swarm all over sides.They don’t
need to worry about possession of the ball as they’ve proved their ability to
retrieve possession, they lead the league in interceptions, and then counter
attack at pace.They possess a striker,
Jamie Vardy, who never stops running and has scored 24 goals.He also broke the Premier League record for
consecutive games scored in.They’ve
identified their strengths and worked them thoroughly.Not worry about not having the ball as long
as they can nick it when their opponents are pushing forward, get it up the
pitch quickly and then have a striker who can convert more often than not.Largely Vardy has made the same run time and
again every game, all season and yet sides have still to combat it.They have a greater conversion rate of
chances than any other club in the league.
There is also a fascinating synergy between the last two
seasons.They’ve been crowned Champions
after 139 days at the top of the table.Last season they were at the bottom for 140 days.
Claudio Ranieri deserves all the plaudits heading his way,
so do the owners for choosing him against others better judgement.But the groundwork within the club set up by
the backroom staff and Nigel Pearson last season, is what has gone a long, long
way towards their success.The medical
staff have found a way of preparing and looking after players who have been
able to survive the rigours of a 38-game season without a soft-tissue injury
anywhere.Many felt sorry for him when a
re-financed Chelsea ditched him for Mourinho in 2004.Leicester is his sixth club appointment since
then and he came from a less than auspicious experience as manager of
Greece.He was not to know of the
turmoil behind the scenes within the Greek FA and was only in charge for four
matches.In nearly thirty years of
management this is his first league title.Few begrudge him that.
Have they been lucky? I think they have, but then again they’ve
seized on an opportunity and run with it.They’ve lost three games all season, with only two clubs ever getting
the better of them (Arsenal, twice, Liverpool, once).Chelsea lost just three last season, which
puts that into perspective.They have
been clear of injuries, but then as has just been mentioned, they have created
their own luck in that department.They didn’t
seem to suffer from any contentious decisions by officials, possibly until the
Vardy sending off against West Ham.They
didn’t have many goals chalked off or many goals given against them where
replays suggested otherwise.
What Leicester has proved is that there is no substitute for
hard work, planning and preparation.Ranieri didn’t make too many adjustments to the 2014-15 side but the
changes he did make were crucial.There
are all sorts of stats about how little they’ve spent compared to the bigger
clubs in English football, but what they have generated is a fantastic team
spirit where the players are prepared to sacrifice themselves for each
other.There are no huge egos at the
club, no big names.At the end of last
year I read a comment from someone about how Leicester would struggle to keep
hold of players like Vardy and Mahrez.Now I’m sure the club is looking forward to barging in on their rivals
transfer negotiations, saying “don’t go there, they haven’t got Champions
League football”.
PREDICTIONS ARE
USELESS
I tweeted towards the end of November about the incredibly
tough run of fixtures they had coming up.They’d just won at Newcastle and gone to the top of the table after thirteen
games.Their run was Manchester United
(h), Swansea (a), Chelsea (h), Everton (a), Liverpool (a), Manchester City (h).My argument was they’d gained a lot of points
against weaker opposition.They’d only
picked up two points from games against Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United.I, like many others, expected them to fall
away.I expected them to find the going
tough, players would pick up injuries, etc, etc..Most
people were likely to have agreed with me about Leicester’s chances, although there
was one chap who reckoned they’d get “12 points there easy”.Take a bow Ross Bell (@RossBell1984), you
were almost on the money.They picked up
thirteen points, winning three, drawing two and losing just one of those six
matches, at Liverpool.
When they lost at The Emirates in mid-February many people
expected Arsenal to go on and take the title.They were two points behind Leicester and with a supposedly far superior
squad and a manager who’d experienced a title win.But from there Leicester really hit a rhythm,
gaining nineteen points from a possible twenty-one over the next seven games,
conceding in just one.A series of 1-0
wins took them further ahead of the pack.In contrast, Arsenal’s seven matches earned them just nine points.In the days of George Graham at Arsenal the
fans frequently sang “one-nil to the Arsenal”.All these years later they’d been “out Arsenal-ed” by Leicester
City.58,000 is the average attendance
at Arsenal, whereas Champions Leicester only house 32,000 every week.Even Aston Villa command a higher average
attendance.
NO COMPARISON
Was this the ‘greatest story ever told’ in football?There have been a couple of contenders to
challenge this.Ipswich winning the
title in 1962 a year after winning the Second Division title.Nottingham Forest won the league in 1978 a
year after finishing third in the Second Division.They then went onto win back-to-back European
Cups.The Forest side is a decent
comparison with Leicester in that they didn’t have any superstars, until Brian
Clough signed one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Peter Shilton.But other than that they had a lot of players
who inidividually weren’t necessarily anything special, but collectively were
very hard to beat.Liverpool had just
won back-to-back league titles and also the European Cup, a year after the UEFA
Cup.They contained internationals such
as Clemence, Neal, Hughes, Hansen, Thompson, Souness, Dalglish, McDermott and
Ray Kennedy.They won the league by
seven points which is the equivalent of ten points today.
In the sixties the league was won by eight different
teams.In the seventies six different
clubs won the First Division.In the
last ten years just three different clubs have won the title.This is not to denigrate either Ipswich or
Forest’s achievements but money has changed everything, especially
expectations.
WHAT NEXT?
Leicester may do quite well in Europe, particularly as their
brand of football should be very difficult for foreign teams to contend with as
they rarely come up against it.The key
could be to keep the same group of players.It will be important for them to recruit well, paying particular
attention to attitude and temperament.All the talk coming out of the King Power Stadium is they intend to do
just that.What remains for them next
season is anybody’s guess.So many,
including their own supporters, got this season wrong so it seems churlish to
try and predict anything further of this wonderful story.Personally, I’m going to just sit back and
enjoy it.One of the most popular
successes for many a year.Let’s hope
that success doesn’t ruin the players or the team spirit.
What’s the record for the most FA Cup matches played by one
club to reach a Final?11, set by Fulham
in 1974-75.They fell just short of
winning the trophy for the first time in their history.Their performance during that campaign
remains their best ever in the competition.
They provided one of the most romantic stories for an FA Cup
Final as England’s World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore lead Fulham out at
Wembley against West Ham, the club he’d lifted the tophy for in 1964.He was joined by another former England
international, Alan Mullery, who himself had been an FA Cup winner with
Tottenham in 1967.
Throughout the sixties Fulham had enjoyed First Division
status, but back-to-back relegations saw them begin the 1969-70 season in the
Third Division.Two years later they
were back in the second tier of English football.In March 1974 Moore was allowed to leave West
Ham, where he had set an appearance record (later to be overtaken by Billy
Bonds) and played with utter distinction in an auspicious career spanning
sixteen years.Mullery had begun his
career at Fulham in 1958, the same year Moore made his professional debut, and
moved to Tottenham in 1964 where he won FA, League and UEFA Cup winners
medals.By 1972 he was back at Craven
Cottage.
1974-75 became famous for the year Manchester United played
in the Second Division.They were top of
the table at the turn of the year, with Fulham sitting smack bang in
mid-table.For the Third Round they’d
been drawn against the side immediately above them, Hull City.This is where our story begins
SQUAD
GOALKEEPER
PETER MELLOR (age
27, 12 apps)-Began his career at Burnley in 1969.Joined Fulham in 1972.Played in every game of the 1974-75
season.Stayed at the club until 1977
when the emergence of Gerry Peyton reduced his first team appearances. He moved
to Hereford for a year and then settled at Portsmouth for the remaining years
of his career in England.He became a
firm favourite with Fratton Park supporters who voted him Player of the Season
in 1979
DEFENDERS
JOHN CUTBUSH (age
25, 9 apps)-Born in Malta he started his professional
career at Tottenham in 1966, but moved to Fulham six years later having never
gained a first team appearance.Spent
five years at Craven Cottage before moving to Sheffield United.He made almost as many appearances at Bramall
Lane as he did for Fulham and in 1981 he moved to United States for take part
in indoor soccer.
JOHN FRASER (age
21, 4 apps)-Joined Fulham’s youth system in 1971.He was never a regular first choice at
full-back, but stepped in whenever injuries occurred.During the 1974-75 season he came in when
Cutbush was injured and then when Les Strong was going to miss the FA Cup
Final, Fraser came in at left-back.
LES STRONG (age 22,
11 apps)-A local lad, he joined the youth team at
Fulham and spent the majority of his professional career at Craven Cottage.Was an ever-present in all matches during the
1974-75 season until he picked up an injury just two weeks before the FA Cup
Final.He remained at the club until
1983 making 372 league appearances.
JOHN LACY (age
24, 11 apps)-Born in Liverpool, Lacy was recommended to
Fulham by former player, George Cohen.Played in all but one of Fulham’s FA Cup matches, missing one of the
replays against Hull City.He developed
a good partnership with Bobby Moore, and earned a transfer to Tottenham in
1978.Eventually he moved onto Crystal
Palace for a season in 1983.
BOBBY MOORE (age
34, 12 apps)-The most famous player at the club and at the
time was possibly one of the most famous players throughout the world.Captained England to the World Cup win in 1966
whilst also captaining West Ham to several honours in the mid-sixties.He was allowed to leave Upton Park and chose
to move across London to Fulham.Missed
just one league game during 1974-75 and played in every FA Cup match.Played his final game for the club in May
1977 and moved to America to play in the NASL.In February 1993, Moore died from bowel and liver cancer.He was one of the most decorated players
England has ever produced.
ERNIE HOWE (age
22, 1 app)-Joined Fulham’s youth ranks in 1973 often
deputising when defenders were injured.Made just three league appearances in 1974-75 and replaced John Lacy in
one of the FA Cup replays against Hull City.Moved to QPR in 1977 spending five years there before moving to
Portsmouth.
MIDFIELD
ALAN MULLERY (age
33, 12 apps)-Began his career at Fulham in 1958, taking
over from Johnny Haynes as captain before moving to Tottenham in 1964.Was capped by England in March 1964 but
missed out on the 1966 World Cup.Earned
infamy as the first England international to be sent-off in a full match.Played an important part of England’s World
Cup team in 1970.Won FA, League and
UEFA Cups with Tottenham and was club captain, before moving back to Fulham in
1972.Captained Fulham throughout their
cup run.Gave up playing in 1976 to
embark on a fairly successful career at manager.
ALAN SLOUGH (age
28, 12 apps, 2 goals)-Began his career at his local club, Luton
Town, in 1965.Moved to Fulham in 1973
and became an important part of their midfield. Played in all but the last two league games in
the 1974-75 season but played in every FA Cup game.Left Fulham for Peterborough in 1977 before
finishing his career at Millwall.
JIMMY CONWAY
(age28, 10 apps, 1 goal)-Born in Dublin he began his career with
Bohemians in 1964 before moving to England and Fulham in 1966.Played as a winger or inside-left and made
over 300 appearances for the club before he moved to Man City in 1976 and then
eventually onto Portland Timbers in America.
JOHN CONWAY (age
23, 2 apps)-Brother of Jimmy, he also started his career
with Bohemians and moved to Fulham in 1971.Only played seven league games of the 1974-75 season and only twice in
the FA Cup run.During his four years at
Craven Cottage he only made a total of 38 appearances and moved to Switzerland
in 1976.
BARRY LLOYD (age 26,
3 apps)-Started as an apprentice at Chelsea before he
moved to Fulham in 1969.Made over 250
appearances for the club.Began the
1974-75 season as a regular in the number ten shirt for the first twenty games
and then only made a handful of appearances after that.Was substitute in the FA Cup Final but never
came on.
STRIKERS
JOHN DOWIE (age
29, 8 apps, 1 goal)-Born in Hamilton, Scotland and was a
schoolboy at Rangers but never made the grade at the club.Moved to Fulham in 1973.Never really established himself in the team
although started most of the last 15 league games during the 1974-75
season.Missed the Third Round matches
against Hull City but played in the following FA Cup matches.Made way for Jimmy Conway in the Final.
VIV BUSBY (age
26, 12 apps, 6 goals)-Began his career at Wycombe in 1966 before
moving to Luton Town four years later.In August 1973 he signed for Fulham and became a firm favourite at
Craven Cottage.During the 1974-75
season he scored 18 goals, including 6 in the cup run.He left a year later to join Norwich before
moving again a year after that to Stoke City.
LES BARRETT (age
27, 12 apps, 1 goal)-Only two other players have made more
appearances for Fulham than Barrett.He
joined in 1965 and stayed until 1977.He
was top scorer during their Third Division promotion push in 1970-71.Missed just one match during the 1974-75
season and moved to Millwall in 1977 before moving to America to play for
California Surf a year later.
JOHN MITCHELL
(age 23, 6 apps, 2 goals)-Born in St.Albans he started his career with
his local club before moving to Fulham in 1972.Played 170 games, scoring 57 goals during a six year career.Made as many sub appearances as starts in the
league in 1974-75 but two goals against Norwich in the league earned him a
place in the Semi-Final games against Birmingham, where he scored both goals
and then scored another double against Portsmouth back in the league.He left Fulham in 1978 to join Millwall.
The two had met in the league almost two months earlier at
Boothferry Park where Hull ran out 2-1 winners.Going into the game Fulham had just played three 0-0 draws over the
Christmas period, and had only scored one goal in their previous five matches.Despite this lack of success in front of
goal, they were unbeaten in their last seven matches.Hull, in comparison had suffered back-to-back
defeats against Nottingham Forest and York City.They hadn’t won in their last five matches
which had seen them slip from fifth to tenth.
Dubliner, Jimmy Conway, had scored three times in the first
five games of the season but had not found the net since.He chose the ideal moment to end his drought
by giving Fulham as first half lead.Hull’s top scorer, Ken Wagstaff, then levelled in the second half before
he aggravated a knee injury and had to go off.Unfortunately, for the Wagstaff and Hull City they would not see him
again all season.The game ended 1-1 and
so a replay for set four days later
One eleven ties which went to a replay as the two teams
travelled up North to try and settle things.The first half was goalless, but just after the hour mark Viv Busby put
the visitors ahead.Fulham’s left-back,
Les Strong, then made an error with a backpass and Peter Fletcher equalised for
Hull.The tie was level after ninety
minutes so extra time was required.Stuart Croft put Hull in front for the first time in the tie, but Busby
was again on hand to score for Fulham and take the game to a third meeting.
13th January 1975, Filbert Street, Leicester,
4,929
This match was played just two days after league matches for
both clubs.Fulham had lost 0-1 at home
to a Barry Butlin goal for Nottingham Forest, who had just installed Brian
Clough as manager, whereas Chris Galvin’s goal gave Hull a 1-0 win at home to
Oxford United.Neutral grounds were
chosen for second replays and the two travelled to Leicester’s Filbert Street
to try and find a winner.The game was
decided by a solitary goal in the first half when Viv Busby broke clear just
inside his own half and then slid the ball to Alan Slough who fired it
home.Fulham had eventually won and were
through to the next round.
OTHER MATCHES
Cup holders, Liverpool,
went through comfortably as Steve Heighway and Kevin Keegan were on target to
give them a 2-0
win at home to Stoke City.League leaders, Ipswich Town, came from behind to win 2-1 at Wolves, with goals from Colin Viljoen and David Johnson.There were shocks as non-league Leatherhead won at Brighton (then of the Third Division).But the biggest was Wimbledon (also a non-league side then) beating First Division Burnley 1-0
at Turf Moor.Altrincham, also a non-league side, pulled off a shock themselves
by taking Everton to a replay as a
Kenny Clements penalty had saved the First Division side’s blushes in the first
match at Goodison, only for Joe Royle and Mick Lyons to see them through in a
replay which was held at Old Trafford to accommodate a larger crowd.Stafford
forced Rotherham to a replay and
beat them 2-0
away from home.Manchester United, recently relegated to the Second Division, were
held at home to a goalless draw by Walsall
who then put them out 3-2 in the replay after extra time.Future Walsall manager, Alan Buckley, scored
twice.
FOURTH ROUND
In between the victory over Hull and the next round of the
cup, Fulham’s league form continued on its withering slump.They were beaten 0-1 at Blackpool, extending
their run of league games without a goal to five, with just one goal in their
previous seven matches.Torrential rain
meant the game, originally scheduled for Saturday 25th January,
couldn’t be played until the following Tuesday
Forest had only played twice since Clough took over, including
their win at Fulham and were the more dominant of the sides.They included players such as John Robertson,
Martin O’Neill, Ian Bowyer, Barry Butlin and John Middleton, all of whom would
have roles to play, with varying success, in the club’s rise to the top of
European football by the end of the decade.Peter Mellor kept the home side in the game with some important saves
and the match ended goalless.
This would be Fulham’s eighth match of the year and six of
them had been against either Hull City or Nottingham Forest, as Fulham’s league
match before this cup replay was another meeting with Hull.They finally scored as John Dowie ended their
drought in a 1-1 draw.
The cup replay saw Fulham take the lead in the first half as
Busby found Dowie who beat Middleton.Forest had lost at Oldham in their league match before this replay, but
managed to fight back when Neil Martin equalised in the second half, to take
the game into extra time.No further
goals could separate the two teams and for the second successive round,
Fulham’s cup tie would go into a third game.
As was the case back in those days, replays would often be
scheduled within a few days of the previous match, and this one was no
different.Just two days after the draw
in Nottingham, the two teams donned their gear again for another go back at the
Cottage.Fulham were again the first team
to score when Alan Slough pounced on a poor clearance from Bob Chapman and the
home side lead at the break.But a
brilliant free-kick from John Robertson levelled things in the second half and
once again a period of an extra half an hour couldn’t split them, and a fourth
meeting was necessary.
As if two cup games in a week wasn’t enough, Fulham had a
league fixture to fulfil at the weekend when they travelled to Villa Park to
take on an Aston Villa side pushing for promotion.Viv Busby put Fulham in front but Chris
Nicholl equalised and Fulham fans had yet another draw to endure.Forest weren’t so fortunate, ending up on the
wrong side of a five-goal thriller at Bolton.
Two days later the two sides met for a fourth time to try
and sort out a result, with the next round of scheduled for the coming
weekend.For the third game running,
Fulham took the lead in the first half as Viv Busby converted Jimmy Conway’s
cross.Busby then grabbed his second in
the second half when Mullery played a brilliant through-ball and the striker
rounded Middleton to slide the ball into the empty net.Chapman got one back for the home side but at
last we had a winner, and for Fulham they could now looked forward to a trip to
Goodison Park.
OTHER MATCHES
The Fourth Round saw the end of Liverpool’s defence of the cup as they were beaten 0-1 at Ipswich Town.Ipswich, who were second in the First
Division at the time, won thanks to a Mick Mills strike.League leaders Everton, who’d been taken to a replay by Altrincham in the previous
round, won at Plymouth with Mick
Lyons grabbing a double.Lyons was now
being employed as Bob Latchford’s strike partner owing to an injury to Joe
Royle.West Ham were held at home by Swindon
and were behind in the replay before goals from Brooking and Holland took them
through.
The shock of the round came at Fellows Park where Third
Division Walsall put out First Division Newcastle United. They’d knocked out
Manchester United in the previous round so they were gaining a reputation.Lowest ranked club Leatherhead chose to host
their home tie against Leicester City at Filbert Street and were rewarded by a
crowd of over 32,000.Amazingly they
were 2-0 up at half-time but Sammels, Earle and Weller got the ‘home’ side out
of the mire for Leicester to progress 3-2.The other non-league side, Stafford, also chose an away ground for their
home tie against Peterborough and 31,000 watched them get narrowly beaten 2-3
at Stoke.
FIFTH ROUND
Fulham’s reward for finally seeing off Nottingham Forest was
a trip to league leaders Everton.It
normally takes a club six matches to reach a Final and Fulham had already
played seven games.
Everton lead the First Division on goal average in a season
littered with draws. Everton were top but had drawn more games than they’d won.Fulham should feel proud the attendance was
the second highest at Goodison all season, bettered only for the visit of
Liverpool back in November.Fulham again
went in front after a strange mistake between goalkeeper Dai Davies and Roger
Kenyon.During the build-up play Busby
and Jimmy Conway set Barrett away down the left and his ball across the six
yard box looked to have eluded Conway at the near post, but as Davies went down
to smother the ball Kenyon, who’d been tracking Busby back, collided with his
keeper and appeared to knock the ball out of his hands. As the keeper and the
defender lay on the ground Busby cooly tapped the ball over the line to give
the Second Division club a first half lead.Fulham were unlucky not to go further ahead when after a corner, the
ball into the box appeared to come off John Hurst and Conway put the ball into
the net.Conway was clearly offside but
only if the ball had come from his own player.Everton were given a reprieve by Clive Thomas, the referee, who would earn
more infamous notoriety from Evertonians for his cup decisions a couple of
years later.
In the second half Everton pressed for an equaliser and
finally got their reward when a left-wing corner curled in right-footed into
the six-yard box by Jones, was headed in by Roger Kenyon.As the game got stretched towards the end it
opened up and Everton’s right-back, Bernard found space down the right near the
bye-line. His high cross saw Lyons challenge the Fulham keeper, Mellor. He
headed it against Lacy on the line and then put in the rebound, but Thomas blew
for a foul on Mellor. Replays would suggest Everton were unlucky but maybe that
evened things up from the earlier refereeing howler.Within minutes, though, Fulham scored a goal
which wasn’t chalked off. Conway again
found himself clear on the left-hand edge of the area and his ball across found
Busby on the penalty area.The big
Fulham striker had time to turn and shoot left-footed past Davies and Fulham
had pulled off a famous win.Manager
Alec Stock would later claim it to be “our finest hour”.After needing seven attempts to get past the
first two rounds, they must’ve been relieved to do this at the first time of
asking.
OTHER MATCHES
The lowest ranked side still left in the competition, Mansfield Town, were top of the Fourth
Division when they played host to Carlisle
United who were enjoying their only ever season as a First Division club.Carlisle managed to put away their relegation
concerns as Bobby Owen scored the only goal of the game to give the Cumbrians
their first ever FA Cup Quarter-Final appearance.
Third Division side, Walsall’s
cup run finally came to an end as they went down 1-2 to Birmingham at St. Andrews.Goals from Bob Hatton and Kenny Burns gave the home side the win,
despite a goal from Brian Taylor for the visitors.Peterborough,
also of the Third Division, took First Division Middlesbro to a replay but were beaten in the end.West
Ham beat QPR at Upton Park with
goals from Pat Holland and Pop Robson giving them a 2-1 win.Ipswich,
just one point off the lead in the league, strengthened their claim as
favourites to lift the trophy as they saw off Aston Villa at Portman Road.Bryan Hamilton came off the bench to score twice in a 3-2 win.
The two all-First Division clashes saw Arsenal needing three attempts to beat Leicester when John Radford scored in extra time in the third
game.A David Nish own goal gave Leeds United a 1-0 win at Derby County.
SIXTH ROUND
Fulham were drawn against Carlisle United for the
Quarter-Finals.Carlisle were enjoying
their most successful period in their history having won promotion to the First
Division last season for the one and only time.In the same season they were now into the FA Cup Quarter-Finals for
their first time ever too.By the time
of the game Carlisle were in awful league form having lost their last five and
eight of their last nine.Fulham’s
league form had finally changed for the better with them registering their
first wins since mid-December as they beat Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday
in successive weeks.
Peter Mellor had another inspired day in goal for Fulham and
was largely responsible for a memorable performance from the team.Sixty-eight minutes in with the game still
goalless, substitute Barry Lloyd made a fine run down the right-wing taking on
future England Assistant Manager, John Gorman, and his cross into the area
looked likely to be gathered by Carlisle keeper, Alan Ross.But as Peter Carr ran in trying to shepherd
Viv Busby away from the ball, Ross decided to go for the ball with his feet and
proceeded to knock it into the path of Les Barrett who put the ball into the
empty net.Fulham had only beaten
Carlisle once in their eight previous meetings but this one put them into the
Semi-Finals for the sixth time in their history.
OTHER MATCHES
The four Quarter-Final ties only brought four goals but
along with Fulham, West Ham booked
their place in the Semis when two Alan Taylor goals gave them a win over Arsenal at Highbury.Bob Hatton scored the only goal of the game
to help Birmingham beat Middlesbrough.Ipswich
and Leeds United played out a 0-0 draw
at Portman Road.The two were on the
same number of points in the top seven in the First Division and there was no
separating them in the cup either.Three
days later they drew again, 1-1.The
second replay wasn’t possible until the end of March and was another draw, 0-0 at
Filbert Street before the tie was finally settled back at Leicester two days
later.Trevor Whymark, Bryan Hamilton
and Clive Woods scored the goals to beat Leeds 3-2.
SEMI-FINALS
Three First Division clubs and a Second Division club in the
semis.Ipswich, the tournament
favourites since they knocked out the holders Liverpool in the Fourth Round,
were up against the next best ranked side, West Ham at Villa Park.Birmingham, down in sixteenth in the First
Division would take on Fulham at Hillsborough.
The Birmingham side Fulham were up against included Howard
Kendall, future Everton manager, Gordon Taylor, future Chairman of the PFA,
Kenny Burns, future European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest and Trevor
Francis, who was going to become the first million pound footballer in England.These accolades may all have been impressive
but of course Fulham had a World Cup winning captain in their starting
line-up.
Going into the game Fulham’s form was so much better than it
had been when they began this amazing cup run.They had lost just once in their previous eleven league games and were
scoring regularly.They were up to
eighth in the table, although promotion was probably out of reach.Birmingham had just lost to Liverpool and
Ipswich which ended a run of five games unbeaten. They were sixteenth in the
table but only four points above the relegation zone.
A huge crowd created a wonderful atmosphere which made for a
breathless match with Fulham certainly not being overawed in any way.The first half was goalless with Busby
looking the most dangerous for the underdogs.Five minutes into the second half and Fulham pressed the Birmingham
goal.Howard Kendall’s misplaced pass
saw Les Barrett run at Joe Gallagher and forced a corner, which he took.The corner was half cleared but Bobby Moore
got the move going again down the right as he clipped the ball inside to Alan
Mullery, who in turn flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot to
Alan Slough on the edge of the ‘d’. With his back to goal, he knocked it first
time to his left to John Mitchell. Mitchell flicked the ball up with his left
foot and then volleyed it into the top corner from twenty yards out.It was a stunning strike.Mitchell had only made four starts all season
before he got the nod against Norwich in the week before this game, and he
crowned it with two goals.It earned him
a place in the Semi-Finals and will go down in history with one of the best goals
in an FA Cup Semi-Final.
Fulham, having had the better of the chances, were rampant,
especially Les Barrett down the left.Within minutes of the goal Barrett charged down the left again and
combined with Busby to square the ball for Slough to hit a ferocious strike
which Roberts managed to deflect over his own bar.It could easily have been 2-0 and game
over.Birmingham gradually fought back
into it and Campbell should’ve finished after he pounced on a loose ball in the
six yard box but dragged his shot wide.As Birmingham pushed men forward, Page floated the ball into the box
where Fulham failed to clear and Joe Gallagher turned and shot past Mellor to
equalise.Then in the dying minutes
Busby found some space for a shot in the area but it deflected wide for another
corner.Lacy also had a chance when he
got up above the defence but his header was straight into Latchford’s hands
when if he’d put it either side the keeper wouldn’t have reached it.The game ended 1-1 and Fulham were heading
for their sixth replay of the competition.
The following Wednesday the two sides moved to Maine Road,
Manchester.Both sides made one
change.John Dowie started for Fulham
replacing Jim Conway and for Birmingham Steve Bryant came into defence in place
of John Roberts.This was a tense
affair, without any of the drama of the first meeting.The game was goalless after ninety minutes
and so extra time loomed.As time moved
towards the end of the extra thirty minutes, suddenly there was a
breakthrough.Alan Slough crossed the
ball from the right into the area where Dowie got up first to head the ball
down.John Mitchell was running in but his
shot seemed to hit the keeper in the face, came back to Mitchell where it bounced
off him and into the net.It was a
thrilling finish to the game and seemed to sum up their cup run.They’d dominated the first match and were a
little unlucky not to be successful then, but in the end they got their rewards
– their first ever FA Cup Final appearance.
OTHER SEMI-FINAL
West Ham were up against the cup favourites, Ipswich, who
were fifth in the First Division but just one point behind the leaders,
Liverpool.The two met at Villa Park and
played out a goalless draw.The replay,
on the same night as the other one, was at Stamford Bridge.Our old friend, Clive Thomas refereed this
one and not surprisingly there were goals scored which he disallowed.Unfortunately, for Ipswich both of them were
theirs.Alan Taylor put West Ham in front
in the first half, heading in at the far post from a left wing cross by
Brooking.Ipswich then drew level when
Billy Jennings sliced his kick at the near post from a corner and the ball flew
past Mervyn Day.With just ten minutes
to go Alan Taylor was on hand again to put West Ham in front.A free-kick from the left wing by Lampard was
headed to Taylor by an Ipswich defender and he fired past Sivell.West Ham wouldn’t be denied this time and
they were through to their first FA Cup Final since Bobby Moore led them out in
1964.
WEST HAM UNITED(1)2(A. Taylor 2) IPSWICH TOWN(1)1(Jennings o.g.)
WEST HAM: Day;
McDowell, Bonds, T. Taylor, Lampard; Jennings (Holland), Lock, Brooking, Gould;
Paddon, A. Taylor IPSWICH: Sivell; Burley, Beattie,
Wark, Mills; Viljoen, Hamilton, Talbot; Lambert, Whymark, Woods
FA CUP FINAL 1975
There were so many stories in the run-up to the Final it
seemed as if things had been set up.The
last time West Ham were at Wembley was back in 1964, when they were lead out by
Bobby Moore.Eleven years later Moore
would again be leading a team out but this time he would be on the opposite
side as captain of Fulham.Moore left
West Ham in March 1974, in September of that year John Lyall replaced Ron
Greenwood as manager of the club.Two
months later he signed a 21 year old from Fourth Division Rochdale, Alan
Taylor.Taylor made his first full debut
in a defeat at Stoke at the end of December and by the time of the Sixth Round
cup match at Arsenal that was his only starting place thus far.He scored twice at Highbury and then twice to
beat Ipswich in the Semi-Finals and his was another of the fascinating stories
of this FA Cup Final.
On the morning of the Final there was a High Court verdict
denying Bobby Moore and one or two other Fulham players from showing
advertising logos on their boots.Can
you imagine that today?
Fulham were managed by Alec Stock, who’d spent over 30 years
in management in the game yet was making his first appearance at Wembley.In contrast, West Ham were managed by John Lyall,
who was also making his first appearance at the home of football, but he’d only
been in management for nine months.Lyall had played for West Ham but a serious knee injury ended his career
a year before their FA Cup win in 1964.
The two clubs had met in the League Cup back in October when
Fulham won 2-1 at Craven Cottage thanks to goals from Alan Mullery and Alan
Slough after Trevor Brooking gave West Ham a first half lead.
On the playing side, Fulham had Moore and Mullery who’d both
captained their country.Moore was
making his 47th , and as it turned out his final, appearance at
Wembley.West Ham had Mervyn Day in goal
who at nineteen was the youngest keeper in FA Cup Final history.
You had to feel sorry for Fulham’s usual left-back, Les
Strong.He had played every game of the
season until he picked up an injury at home to Portsmouth towards the end of
April.He’d played 40 league games and
all eleven of the FA Cup matches, yet agonisingly missed out on the big one.John Fraser took his place
Fulham had the better of the early stages in the game and the
first shot on target came when Alan Slough hit one from outside the area but it
was straight at the young Hammers keeper.Fulham were certainly the first out of the traps and West Ham looked
very shaky to begin with.Fulham were
awarded a free-kick about 30 yards out in the inside-left position which Moore
stepped up to take.If you can remember
England’s first goal in the 1966 World Cup Final then you’ll be able to picture
this.Moore floated the ball left-footed
into the area and John Mitchell lost his marker, rose to glance the header but
it didn’t trouble Day’s far post.West
Ham eventually settled into the game but Fulham certainly weren’t prepared to
be overawed.
Moore and Mullery came more into the game for the Second
Division side and forced a corner after a quarter of an hour.Conway took it and drove the ball to the far
edge of the six-yard box where Lacy got up unchallenged but again his header
went wide of the post.Within minutes
Fulham won the ball back on their left wing after a McDowell throw and Viv
Busby tested Day with a fizzing shot after he beat a couple of defenders but
his shot was straight at the young Hammers keeper.
For the first twenty-five minutes Fulham seemed to enjoy the
lion’s share of possession.Mullery
orchestrating things in midfield with Conway proving a willing runner.Kevin Lock, who would later move to Craven
Cottage, put in some important tackles.The underdogs were knocking the ball around with ease.But then West Ham had a chance when Brooking
floated a ball, left-footed to the far post where Jennings got up above Fraser
but his header was caught by Mellor just under his crossbar.Brooking was coming more and more into the
game for the First Division side but then we were given another glimpse of
Moore at Wembley ten years before.
He intercepted a pass just inside his own area and calmly
came forward with the ball, when others may have lumped it aimlessly.Then with the vision which had encapsulated
Hurst’s third goal v West Germany in ’66, he played a long ranging pass ahead
of Busby allowing the bearded striker to run at Lock.But unlike nine years earlier, the defender
was equal to the striker and the chance had gone.
Then with ten minutes to go to the break, West Ham had a
free-kick on the left which Paddon took left-footed and Alan Taylor got his
head first to the ball but it looped just over the crossbar.It was probably The Hammers best chance of a
half they were struggling to get hold of.As the half came to an end West Ham came more into things but just
couldn’t break down a determined and dogged Fulham defence.Fulham had looked the more likely to score
and had equipped themselves very well.The half-time score was 0-0 and Fulham had every reason to be the
happier of the two.
Both sides took time to settle in the second half but John
McDowell livened things up with a break into the Fulham half and hit a shot
along the turf from about 30 yards out, but Mellor got down to save it.Although there was a slight concern as the
ball appeared to slip clear of the keeper’s grasp, momentarily but he grabbed
it quick before Taylor could nip in.Then a few minutes later Mitchell turned Lock in the area and fired a
shot which Day parried round the post.It was the first defensive mistake from Lock who’d looked assured all
afternoon.
Then on the hour we finally had a breakthrough.Holland stole the ball on the left wing for
West Ham, turned inside and found Jennings whose shot was only parried by
Mellor, low down to his left and as the ball ran clear there was Alan Taylor to
hit a low shot from a tight angle and it went through Mellor’s legs for the
opening goal
It was tough on Fulham who’d made a game of it, but Mellor
should’ve held onto the shot.Four
minutes later the lead was doubled.Again the move came down the left as Holland clipped the ball inside to
Paddon who fired a low shot, left-footed and once again Mellor stopped it but
couldn’t hold onto it and yet again there was Alan Taylor, who pounced in to
knock the ball into the roof of the net.It was an amazing story for the 21-year old.Two goals in the Sixth Round, two goals in
the Semi-Final and then two goals in the Final.
Back in mid-November, Taylor had scored in what was his
final appearance for Rochdale, in front of 1,600 spectators at Scunthorpe.Six months later he’d scored twice in an FA
Cup Final in front of 100,000 spectators at Wembley.
You had to have some sympathy for Mellor.His saves saw Fulham past Birmingham in the
Semi-Finals and he’d put in some good performances in the earlier rounds but
his mistakes in this game just showed what a fine line there was between hero
and villain, especially for a goalkeeper.
Fulham did their best to fight back but West Ham were happy
to sit back and take any pressure.Lacy
came close with a header from a left-wing corner which Day just pushed away
one-handed.Now it was West Ham who were
looking comfortable and in control, knowing their opponents had to make all the
running.With a quarter of an hour left,
Mitchell finally got clear of Tommy Taylor but his left foot shot bounced off
Mervyn Day and away to safety.
Within the final ten minutes West Ham had another chance
when Lampard joined the attack and fired a right-footed shot from the left-hand
edge of the area but Mellor did well to push it past the post.Mellor’s afternoon may have been remembered
for his two errors but he had made some decent saves.
With just five minutes to go, Les Barrett was finally able
to run at the West Ham defence.One of
the features of their earlier rounds had been Barrett’s runs down the left wing
but in this match he had hardly seen anything of the ball.He picked up the ball in the centre circle
and headed straight towards Day beating Holland for pace.Bonds slid in but couldn’t make contact and
as Barrett got to the ‘D’ John McDowell grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled
him back.It was a cynical challenge, a
professional foul and surprisingly Pat Partridge just awarded a free-kick and
didn’t give McDowell a card.Nothing
came of the free-kick other than West Ham throwing bodies in the way of
everything.
But Fulham weren’t able to make any real impression and
threaten Day’s goal and West Ham won the cup.It was a wonderful occasion for Alan Taylor but Alan Mullery and Bobby
Moore had done as much as they could to help their side but in the end they
didn’t really create enough clear-cut chances to justify the periods where they
were dominant in the game.
It had been a fantastic run and for Fulham it remains the
one and only time they have reached a FA Cup Final.That West Ham side was the last to win an FA
Cup with a full team of English players.
