So congratulations to Coventry City, the deserved winners of the 1987 FA Cup! Onwards and upwards for a club that has finally come of age as a top-flight concern. Next season’s kit, a gorgeous sky-blue take on Denmark’s beloved Hummel number from Mexico 86, looks like a statement of intent to us. As for Spurs ... only those with a heart of stone or a Highbury season ticket will fail to feel for them, after contributing so much to the league and both cups, only to come away with nothing. They’ll be back at Wembley soon enough, just like David Pleat promises. Anyway, thanks for reading this MBM. David Lacey’s report has landed; click below and enjoy. Here’s hoping for more David-Goliath cup drama next year!
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Meanwhile up at Hampden Park, St Mirren held on to beat Dundee United by that Ian Ferguson goal. Here’s Simon McMahon, albeit in heavily edited form: “[Deleted by Family Newspaper Editor] knew it. [Deleted by Family Newspaper Editor] St. Mirren. But at least we’ve got three full days to prepare for the second leg of the Uefa Cup final. [Deleted by Family Newspaper Editor] sakes. I think we all know how this ends, right?”
Glenn Hoddle, having come off very much second best in his tussle with the relentless Lloyd McGrath, is slightly sour. “It is a lot harder to paint a picture than to destroy one,” he harrumphs. Not sure his manager will be having that, not least because Coventry played some very pretty football indeed. In fact, here’s Pleat again: “A couple of our players did not do what they have been doing or are capable of doing. The players who did not quite get to grips with it know who they are.” You don’t have to squint too hard to read between the lines there. Ah well, Hoddle’s almost certainly off anyway, there’s probably no point worrying too much about his feelings.
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David Pleat’s hot take: “We were in a lovely position at half-time. A third goal for us would have killed it. The second goal was absolutely vital for them, they were more convinced than ever that their name was on the cup. In the end I thought they deserved to finish in front. We were stretched and they might have scored more. But we contributed to a fair game. We needed to win something at the end of a season in which we have scored a lot of goals and played a lot of games, but it didn’t work out that way. Now we’ll go and try to keep our heads high. Some of our younger players will be back here.”
John Sillett finally takes the lid of the cup off his head, stops dancing, and speaks! “The longer the game went on, the more certain I was that we were going to win it. Just before extra time I could see some heads dropping. They didn’t relish the prospect of the extra half-hour. I felt that if we continued to do the simple things and make the ball do the work, then this, plus our character and stamina, would make the cup ours. I said to the players at the end of regular time: let’s get at them. But there should be credit all round here. We saw two sides trying to play attacking football as we both showed the best of the English game.” Preach on, Schnozz.
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Some clarification regarding Tottenham’s second goal. It was indeed scored by Mabbutt. He’s claimed it, and Kilcline is more than happy to agree. And it’s been made official. That means Mabbutt joins Charlton Athletic’s Bert Turner (1946) and Manchester City’s Tommy Hutchison (1981) as players who have scored at both ends in an FA Cup final. It’s an exclusive club. Does that make things better or worse? It’s hard to say, isn’t it.
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Brian Kilcline climbs the famous 39 steps to lift Coventry’s first-ever major trophy! He does so in a slightly ginger (yeah, yeah) manner, holding it up below the handles, carefully around the waist. The thigh and ribs must really be hurting. But then one of the photographers shouts “Handles!” in an demand for a more traditional pose. Kilcline, adrenaline acting as an opiate, extends his arms and obliges, hoisting the cup as high as it can go! Meanwhile spare a thought for poor old Spurs: several of their players are laying on the hallowed turf too, but in desolation as opposed to elated exhaustion. David Pleat is wandering around in stunned confusion, while Richard Gough looks close to tears.
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Coventry cavort as you’d expect them to cavort, albeit in a half-kaput fashion. Keith Houchen, one of 12 heroes, responds to the final whistle by quietly shaking hands with Gary Stevens. Dave Bennett, surely the man of the match, sits sprawled on the turf. Cyrille Regis squats next to him, head down, catching his breath. They’ve put everything into this. Not a joule of energy spared. They deserve this. They have been sensational, every last one of them. And it’s wasn’t just a story of graft and effort either: Coventry have won the cup with great flair and style. They’re a fine team, and now they have their place in history.
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COVENTRY CITY HAVE WON THE 1987 FA CUP!!! Coventry City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (aet; 2-2 after 90 mins)
The ref blows the final whistle and a 104-year wait for a major trophy comes to an end for the club formerly known as Singers FC! John Sillett and George Curtis leap into each other’s arms. David Pleat adjusts his cuffs, a coping mechanism of despair. It’s a sorry end to a Homeric season for Spurs. But what joy for Coventry, who finally have something to put in the cupboard! And not only that, they’ve played their part in one of the greatest FA Cup finals of all time. Perhaps the very best! An instant classic.
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ET 30 min +1: Hoddle hooks a hail-mary cross in from the left. It’s nowhere near a team-mate and the ball bounces harmlessly through to Ogrizovic. On the bench, Sillett clenches both fists with a COME ON!!! Curtis performs the universally understood mime for Get Up The Blooming Pitch, Will You. Then Sillett stands up and acts it out as well. Coventry are so close! So close! Sillett sits back down, but four seconds later he springs back up again, because ...
ET 30 min: A Cov cacophony of whistles. Spurs are reduced to knocking it long. No good comes of the tactic. Regis, Bennett and Gynn play a bit of keep ball in midfield. A cheeky Bennett backheel - shades of Leeds versus Southampton in 1972 - elicits cheers of olé! from the Coventry faithful.
ET 29 min: Stevens and Paul Allen combine down the right, sending the latter into acres of space. Allen whips a head-height cross through the box. Neither Hodge nor Claesen can get anything on it. Hodge was an eyebrow away.
ET 28 min: Wonderful keeping by Clemence, mind. Meanwhile Sillett and Curtis continue to have a ball on the Coventry bench. Have any managers ever enjoyed FA Cup final day like these two? Their enthusiasm has been infectious from the first whistle.
ET 27 min: Coventry Should Have Wrapped This Up! (pt. XXXVIII in an ongoing series) Bennett intercepts a dismal Mabbutt pass and pings it straight back down the inside-right channel, releasing Gynn! Stevens tries to get back, but fails, sliding in from behind and missing. Gynn only has to dink over Clemence to wrap it up, but tries to round him on the outside instead. Pushed too far wide right, he slaps a tame shot straight into the sprawling keeper’s midriff. That really should have been that!
ET 26 min: Waddle drops deep to quarterback, but sends an aimless ball straight down Ogrizovic’s throat. Spurs are running out of ideas. Actually, in truth, their well of inspiration ran dry quite a while ago.
ET 25 min: Hoddle dinks a cute first-time wedge down the inside left for Claesen, who enters the box with a view to taking delivery of the pass, then shooting. But Peake is over to bravely head clear as Claesen attempts to trap. An intervention timed nearly as well as his whistle solo on Cov’s 45rpm pop platter.
ET 24 min: Stevens crosses from the right. Clive Allen traps, his back to goal on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He spins. If he curls one towards the bottom left, Ogrizovic’s feet are planted and Spurs are surely level. But McGrath pressures him, and Allen is only able to dribble a lame effort towards the bottom right and into the keeper’s hands.
ET 23 min: Incidentally, there’s a similar story unfolding at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final, where it’s bad news for Po’ Simon McMahon. Hot favourites Dundee United have fallen behind. Ian Ferguson has broken the deadlock for unfancied St Mirren! Shocks both sides of the border are on!
ET 22 min: Downs has a batter. It’s straight at Stevens, who was suspiciously closer than ten yards. Coventry recycle possession, and Gynn sashays in from the left, before fizzing a shot inches wide of the left-hand post. Not sure Clemence would have got to one planted in the bottom corner.
ET 21 min: Rodger strides up the middle, once again channelling his inner Bobby Moore. He nearly releases Houchen on the right, but the pass is blocked. Bennett picks up possession and dribbles at the raggedy Spurs back line. Mabbutt comes crunching in to concede a free kick, just to the right of the D.
ET 20 min: Before Spurs take their corner, Houchen is given a good talking-to by the referee. He’s obviously been running his mouth off, and Neil Midgley points theatrically to the tunnel, making it quite clear that one more word and he’ll be joining Manchester United’s Kevin Moran on the surprisingly short FA Cup final roll of shame. Zip it! Hoddle’s corner is punched clear with great authority by Ogrizovic. Bennett wanders off upfield, the clock his and Coventry’s friend.
ET 19 min: But Spurs aren’t done quite yet. Hoddle lumps a pass down the right for Paul Allen to chase. It’s overhit, but the midfielder does well to reach the byline before the ball goes out, and clanks it against Downs for a corner. “If Coventry pull this off, next week is going to be absolute hell,” worries 12-year-old James Wrout. “I desperately need some validation in the harsh world of the first year of big school. I’m really tempted to just stay at home all week instead.”
ET 17 min: A slow start to the final period of this extra time. Spurs need to up their game if we’re to come back later this week for a replay.
And we’re off again! Coventry get the ball rolling for the second period of extra time. They’ve were the best side in the first period by some distance. Spurs look knackered, their long season catching up with them at the very end. Can they somehow gather themselves for one last haul? “It’s extra time at Hampden too,” reports Simon McMahon. “Still no goals, though Dundee United have had one (rather dubiously) chalked off for offside. Can’t they check these things on video these days? I’m starting to think this might not be our day, or week.” Or month or even year? If it all goes the shape of a pear, we’ll be there for you, Simon.
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Coventry City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur
The Sky Blues are 15 minutes away from glory. Tottenham have 15 minutes to salvage their 100 percent record in FA Cup finals.
ET 15 min: From the resulting throw, Waddle crosses and Rodger heads away from danger. Spurs come again, Hoddle attempting to magic-wand a chipped pass down the inside right for Waddle, but it flies harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.
ET 14 min: Bennett teases Thomas down the right for the umpteenth time. He finds Phillips on the overlap again. Phillips lays off to Houchen, who dribbles towards the corner flag before abruptly turning and flicking a pass back inside for Bennett, on the edge of the area. And this is a sheer delight: a first-time flick through the legs of Thomas. For a brief moment, this could be another cup-final goal for the ages! But just as Bennett prepares to shoot and deliver the killer blow, Gough slides in to block bravely. Spurs break through Paul Allen, but Rodger ushers the ball out of play down the right.
ET 13 min: Bennett drives at the Tottenham back line. He sends a pass wide right for Phillips, who has time to cause trouble, but balloons a cross behind for a goal kick. Over on the Spurs bench, David Pleat waves an encouraging fist at his players. Come on lads. But he’s currently perched at the polar opposite of the enjoyment spectrum to Sillett and Curtis. A season that promised so much looks like ending in abject trophy-free disappointment. Spurs certainly don’t look like a team capable of turning this around. Plenty of time left yet to prove us wrong, of course.
ET 12 min: This is all Coventry. Spurs look out for the count. On the bench, John Sillett and George Curtis are a textbook study of elation. Clapping their hands, waving their arms, smiling and laughing, Coventry’s managerial duo are clearly determined to enjoy their big day, just as their players look in the mood to seize it! Fun: it’s a simple concept, unfashionable perhaps. But they’re having it! Wonderful to see.
ET 11 min: Bennett takes up possession down the right as Thomas and Gough faff around in the exhausted, nervous and incompetent style. He feeds Houchen , who is afforded way too much time and space just inside the area. Houchen tries to thread one into the bottom left, but it’s gathered by Clemence and always curling away in any case. Coventry are racking up the chances to put this one beyond doubt. Will they live to regret their generosity?
ET 10 min: But it’s still a free kick just to the right of the D. A quick tap to the right, and Phillips bangs a dismal effort straight into the wall. A chance to warm Clemence’s hands - or possibly put this final out of Tottenham’s reach - is spurned.
ET 9 min: Nope! Downs and Houchen combine down the left and suddenly Bennett is racing into the Spurs half, with Gynn free in acres down the middle. Bennett delays the pass a little, and though he finds Gynn, he’s allowed Gough to get back and cover. Still, all Gough can do is cynically check Gynn as the Coventry livewire prepares to turn on the jets and zip past him down the inside-right channel and into the box. A tired and desperate hanging out of the leg, with no attempt to play the ball. He should go in the book, but we know what sort of mood Neil Midgley is in, so it’s just a chat and a finger-wag. Both sides have got away with one.
ET 8 min: Claesen immediately busies himself down the right and earns a free kick off Downs. Hoddle’s delivery isn’t all that, and it’s cleared by Rodger. Hoddle gets another go, but his right-wing cross is hooked clear by Peake. Will this turn into attack versus defence, as Coventry City, 104 years young and without any major silverware to their name, sail nervously into uncharted territory?
ET 7 min: Spurs respond by sacrificing Hughton for the Belgian striker Claesen.
OWN GOAL!!! Coventry City 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Mabbutt 96 og)
The substitute Rodger intercepts a long pass intended for Clive Allen and strides upfield in homage to Bobby Moore. He calmly enters the Spurs half, takes a look around, and sprays a pinpoint pass to McGrath on the right touchline. Thomas is nowhere near him. McGrath makes it all the way to the edge of the Spurs box, level with the six-yard line. He looks for Pickering in the middle, but Mabbutt, desperately tracking back, sticks out his left leg in the hope of blocking and bundling out for a corner. He had to attempt the interception, but it doesn’t work out. The ball slices off his left kneecap and sails along a perplexing parabola, looping over the helpless Clemence and into the top left! What an absurd stroke of bad luck for Mabbutt and Tottenham ... though Coventry were playing delightfully, pushing hard and this is their reward!
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ET 6 min: Spurs wobble a little. Phillips attempts a cross from the right. It’s blocked. He has another go. In the centre, Gough heads weakly straight up into the air. Regis beats Hughton to the second ball, dropping on the penalty spot, and guides a header left for Pickering. The bounce isn’t Pickering’s friend, and he’s forced a little wide, where he has to hook across goal. Bennett, on the far post, tries to head down for Houchen, but Hodge does enough to put the striker off and Thomas skelps clear. But Coventry come straight back at Spurs, and ...
ET 5 min: Hodge drifts in from the left, a run that momentarily threatens to open up the backpedalling Coventry defence. But just as it appears the space for a shot is opening up, Downs arrives on the scene to block.
ET 4 min: Mabbutt exchanges passes with Stevens and tries to burst through the middle of the Cov defence but the door slams shut. Coventry break through Pickering, McGrath and Bennett, the latter skating down the right and winning a corner off Hodge. The set piece is taken short, and Bennett dribbles along the byline before ballooning an excitable cross high over everyone in the box. Another promising position comes to nought.
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ET 3 min: Bennett rides a weak Stevens tackle in midfield and sets off upfield. He finds Gynn, who has options: Pickering to his left, McGrath and Houchen to his right, and there’s only Gough and Mabbutt guarding the back gate for Spurs. Gynn’s eventual pass left, intended for Pickering, hits Gough on the heel and a fine break crumbles.
ET 2 min: A slow start to extra time. Coventry fans amuse themselves with a rendition of their cup final song, Go For It City. Sky Blues, shooting to win! Not a peep of Hot Shot Tottenham yet. “My dad has gone to Wembley today to watch the cup final with my uncle – without taking me,” cries Jonny Weeks. The tears are fair enough, because he’s only four years old. “My mum’s not even put the game on the tele ffs! This MBM’s all I’ve got. Got a funny feeling our name’s on the cup today. I don’t care how we do it – via someone arse or knee in extra time for all I care. I swear we’ll name a fanzine after whoever wins it for us. Play Up Sky Blues!” That’s pretty darn erudite for a pre-schooler! What an extremely smart young lad. He’ll go places when he grows up, I’ll be bound.
And we’re off again! Again! Spurs get extra time underway. They’ve made a change, with the cramp-bound Ardiles replaced by Stevens. “As a Cov fan, my nerves are shredded already,” begins Malcolm. “Not sure I can take extra time. My Spurs mate feels the same. He says he doesn’t care how they win, he’d take another scrappy goal off Mabbutt’s leg.”
Extra time follows after the break ... during which Germany beat England 12-0 in an advert for Holsten Pils. (They deserve a little shout-out, given the Spurs shirt fiasco.)
FULL TIME: Coventry City 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
This has been a superb final, an instant classic ... and we’re going to get more of it! Another 30 minutes! Thank you, o football gods! And if nothing gets decided during extra time, to a replay we will go.
90 min +2: Some time has been added for the stoppage after the Kilcline-Mabbutt incident. Only now do both teams look like they’ve settled for extra time.
90 min: Bennett wanders up the right wing and is brought down by a knackered Hodge. From the resulting free kick, Bennett is found in plenty of space down the right, but with time running out he panics and snatches at his cross, sending it high and wide.
89 min: Kilcline, who has been limping since bodychecking Mabbutt, can’t continue. He’s jiggered his thigh, and maybe his ribs too. Coventry’s captain is forced to make way for Graham Rodger. He departs to a disapproving chorus from the Spurs choir. Rodger is immediately in the thick of it, winning a clearing header from the corner.
88 min: Waddle twists and turns, 25 yards out, desperate to shoot. But Gynn won’t give an inch. Coventry hold their shape. But then the ball’s slipped wide for Hughton, who curls low towards the near post. Clive Allen is sniffing, nips in ahead of Phillips on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box, swivels and flips a shot on target from the tight angle. Ogrizovic, at his near post, contorts at great speed to kick off the line and out for a corner. Allen so close to goal number 50 for the season, and what surely would have been the winner! That split second will have seemed like minutes for everyone involved with Coventry City, their once-in-a-lifetime dreams very nearly extinguished at the death!
87 min: Waddle takes the resulting free kick. Kilcline heads it powerfully back upfield. Regis bursts down the middle on the counter, feeding Gynn on the left. Gynn twinkles his toes, but can’t get past Ardiles and soon enough Spurs are on the counter-counter! Thomas and Clive Allen combine crisply down the inside left, the former nearly breaking into a world of space just in front of the Coventry area. But Downs and Pickering swarm and bundle the ball back to Ogrizovic. There’s never been a sign of anyone settling for extra time.
86 min: Kilcline really should be booked for that, but referee Neil Midgley - who to be fair has refereed this free-flowing game marvellously, and without pomp or ego either - settles for a stern chat. The Spurs support don’t like it, but what can you do, and it’s in keeping with the mood of the day.
85 min: Mabbutt romps down the inside-left channel at full pelt and flicks inside for Clive Allen. As he does so, Kilcline cynically steps into his road. Chas ‘n’ Dave have a song about that. Wallop! He’s gone down! A huge bone-juddering clatter. Actually, Mabbutt’s back up quickly, while Kilcline’s come off the worst. Only fair, all considered.
84 min: Waddle turns on the jets and launches a direct sortie down the inside-right channel. He knocks the ball forward and instigates a foot race. For a second it looks as though he’ll win it, but Downs comes across to shepherd the ball back to Ogrizovic.
83 min: Ardiles doesn’t get up. He’s got cramp. Sportingly, he rolls off the field to let play continue, and allow the physio to do his thing. What a gentleman.
82 min: Regis nearly opens Tottenham up with a boisterous run! Ogrizovic launches a long goal kick towards Houchen, who flicks on. Regis takes up possession and makes good down the inside-left channel. Hughton should deny him entry to the penalty box, but Regis ignores the challenge and simply barges past him. He flick goalwards from a tight angle, but there’s little power in his effort - the ball was caught between his feet - and a combination of the lunging Ardiles and Clemence stops the shot. The ball breaks back to Regis, almost on the byline. He attempts to stab the ball across the face of goal, but again can’t get any purchase, allowing Mabbutt to step in and shepherd the ball back to Clemence. Spurs breathe a sigh of relief.
81 min: Waddle strides down the middle in his trademark insouciant manner, and has a crack from distance. The ball nicks off Gynn, standing just in front of him, and flies harmlessly wide left. Ogrizovic probably had that covered had it not taken a deflection and stayed on target. The resulting corner is a non-event.
80 min: Bennett embarks on another skitter down the right and feeds Phillips on the overlap. Phillips gets over-excited and hoicks his cross miles behind the goal.
79 min: Hodge spins down the inside-right channel and tugs one back for Clive Allen, who connects with a shot six yards out. He’s surely got to hit the target, at the very least, but he’s under pressure from Kilcline and welts high and wide.
78 min: The pace has dropped since we took the break for Waddle’s nap. Downs clinks Waddle near the right-hand corner flag, and this is a free kick in a dangerous position. Hoddle’s delivery isn’t all that, and Kilcline clears easily. The ball comes back at Coventry, and for a second it looks like Paul Allen has time and space to shoot in the box. But he hasn’t. He’s closed down and the ball squeaks through to Ogrizovic.
76 min: Some space for Thomas down the left. He fizzes a ball along the corridor of uncertainty, but the flag’s gone up for offside. Thomas has looked bright in attack this afternoon, less sure of himself at the back. “I think we can safely say that this is a slightly better game than the one at Hampden,” reports Simon McMahon. “It’s still 0-0 between Dundee United and St Mirren, and looking like the first goal will win it. Possibly after extra time. United are still on course for glory, though!”
74 min: Waddle is clipped from behind by McGrath. There’s not much in it, but the Spurs star decides to roll about for a while anyway. On comes the physio. A fair chance Waddle was just after a rest. And who could blame him? This match has been played at 101 miles per second from the off.
73 min: Paul Allen cuts in from the left and, from a great distance, flays a dismal effort towards the top-right corner of Wembley Stadium. As a West Ham player, Allen was infamously brought down by Arsenal cynic Willie Young when through on goal in the 1980 final. He’s probably owed one, but he was asking for too much karmic payback there. Ambitious, to put it mildly.
72 min: ... Regis sends a weak header straight down Clemence’s throat from 12 yards. On the bench, Schnozz Sillett emits a passionate bellow of COME ON!!! There’s not a hint of aggression in it; a huge grin is spread all across his face. The childlike enthusiasm of a man who knows he’s watching a great cup final; the sheer excitement of a man who knows this could just become one of the greatest days in his life.
71 min: Bennett is in the zone right now. A couple of Garrinchaesque skitters down the right in quick succession, testing Thomas to his limits. Classic cup-final wingplay. Stanley Matthews or Tom Finney would be proud of this performance. The second run wins a corner. From which ...
70 min: Phillips crosses from Bennett Country on the right. Houchen rises high over Hodge, and plants a firm header down, towards the bottom-right corner. Clemence does magnificently well to get down, stop and smother. For a second, that looked like it was flying in! That’s some goalkeeping from the 38-year-old, who played in his first FA Cup final back in 1971 for Liverpool.
69 min: Hoddle threads a clever ball down the inside right for Paul Allen, who enters the area and cracks a shot towards Ogrizovic at the near post. It’s an easy one for the keeper.
68 min: Spurs launch a rare attack. Ardiles and Thomas combine well down the inside-left channel to win a corner, but once again Hoddle’s delivery isn’t up to his usual standard. Spurs try to go again, but Waddle yanks a dismal shot miles wide right from distance.
67 min: Wembley is lost in music, caught in a trap. What an atmosphere! Both sets of fans giving it plenty. And suddenly Houchen is through on goal! Out of nothing! Hoddle was dozing in the midfield, allowing McGrath to extend a leg from behind and flick a pass down the right channel. Houchen should probably shoot upon stepping inside the box, but he wants to get closer and is well marshalled by Thomas, who gains ground, sticks to his side, and forces him to drift right. What he eventually delivers is neither a shot nor a cross, the ball dropping softly into Clemence’s grateful arms.
66 min: Waddle drifts in from the right and curls a cross towards Thomas, bombing in from the other flank. Bennett, creator turned destroyer, flicks a header away from danger, out for a corner that leads to nowt.
65 min: Houchen was a Scunthorpe United player last season. According to Motty on the BBC, this time last year he was watching the final in a local working men’s club. And now, thanks to his work of art, the Coventry tails are up. Regis and Kilcline rise to compete for a deep right-wing cross, confusing each other and sending the ball harmlessly out of play for a goal kick. Spurs need to gather themselves and quickly.
64 min: Houchen flew through the air like a comic-book hero to meet that! I wonder if Clive Allen’s antics sparked something in his subconscious?! What acrobatics! And it was aesthetic perfection, the whole move a masterclass of timing. Houchen leaps over the hoardings, uncatchable, capering around with the giddy abandon of someone who knows something special has just happened, but he’s not quite able to process or contextualise it yet. He’ll have plenty of time to do so later, because he’s just scored a goal that will be remembered for a very long time indeed. It was such a thing of wonder, given time his name might come to define the spectacular diving header. If so, let the record state: Keith Houchen has just scored a Keith Houchen.
WHAT A GOAL! Coventry City 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Houchen 63)
Ogrizovic sends a drop kick long. Regis rises above Mabbutt and flicks it on for Houchen, who spreads the ball right for Bennett. Houchen spins and makes a run into the box. Meanwhile Bennett takes three delicate touches to make just enough room to whip the ball past Thomas. His cross, bent with geometric grace around the full back, drops perfectly for Houchen, who meets it six yards out with a stunning diving header, planting the ball into the bottom-left corner at maximum velocity! What a bullet header! Colour this hyperbole, but that might well be the best goal ever scored in an FA Cup final!
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62 min: The cameos just keep on coming. Kilcline, never the most silky of defenders, channels his inner Beckenbauer. Just outside his own area, he’s faced with Clive Allen and Hoddle, right up in his grille. There looks to be no way out, but he shovels a dainty flick over the pair, the ball dropping at the feet of McGrath, in space upfield. That’s a delicious touch of delicate skill from the big man. Hoddle will have enjoyed watching that. He’d have been proud of the pass himself.
61 min: It’s been a friendly affair - no need yet for the referee to wag a finger, less so brandish a card. That’s amply illustrated here, as Clive Allen tries to beat Peake with another dragback and spin, but this time Peake refuses to give ground. The tussle ends with Allen clambering all over Peake’s back, ending up horizontal in mid-air, posing in the Superman position as his opponent keeps hold of him with a smile. They spin round so everyone can get the joke before Peake plops him softly back down to earth. A couple of friendly pats are exchanged, and we’re on our way again. That’s a genuinely amusing, warm and sportsmanlike moment, in the middle of a very tense cup final. The crowd respond accordingly, breaking into a loud round of applause in celebration of some fine slapstick, a bravura comedic performance.
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60 min: On the hour, and for the first time today, the match descends into a lull as the pace drops. Nobody will complain: it’s sunny, the big Wembley pitch is notoriously hard to cover for 90 minutes, and it’s not as though we haven’t had plenty of bang for our buck so far.
58 min: Downs sends a long free kick into the Spurs box. Houchen wins the first header, Kilcline the second. Clemence claims, but Coventry have been the bosses of Spurs in the air all afternoon and Spurs really need to get a handle on this.
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57 min: A corner on the right leads to a corner on the left. Hoddle takes the latter. It’s way too deep, and easily headed clear by Kilcline. And suddenly Coventry are on the counter, first through Houchen, then with Gynn on the left. He’s got three team-mates in acres to his right, but doesn’t see them and eventually runs into Mabbutt. The match has now settled back into its wildly entertaining first-half pattern, a box-to-box hoot for the ages. Marvellous. Thank you one and all.
56 min: Such a lovely move by Spurs! Waddle feeds Hughton down the right. Hughton pulls a low cross back for Clive Allen, who spins, drags back and pirouettes down the channel away from Peake, sliding off to Billy Wright’s wrong fire. For a nanosecond, he’s one on one with Ogrizovic, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. But Downs nips in from behind to take the ball off his toe and send it out of play. Marvellous last-ditch defending. That would have been one of the great FA Cup final goals, and some way to bring up his personal half century. As it is, it’s just a corner.
55 min: Kilcline creams a simple long pass down the right and Gynn nearly zips free. As he enters the box, Gough slides in to limit the damage to a corner, from which Phillips lands a shot on Wembley’s rickety roof. That rush of blood to the head must have felt real good at the time.
54 min: Waddle sashays past Peake with great ease down the right. He’s so good to watch, despite that lumbering gait. Actually, it’s because of that lumbering gait. How can something so ostensibly ungainly be so beautiful? A conundrum for the ages. His cross isn’t all that, mind, easy meat for Ogrizovic with Clive Allen lurking.
53 min: ... and as a result their fans are in the middle of a rousing chorus of Jimmy Hill’s bespoke tinkering of the Eton Boating Song. Wembley has been a cauldron on a rolling boil all day.
52 min: Bennett nearly skins Thomas down the right, but the full back wins out. However he only skelps his clearance straight back up the flank to Phillips, who clips a slide-rule pass down the channel and nearly releases Houchen. Mabbutt comes over to bash clear, but there were a few murmurs of concern from the Spurs support as their heroes struggled to get out of their final third. Coventry haven’t forced Clemence into action since the restart, but they’re beginning to ask a few questions.
51 min: Coventry are beginning to find their feet again. Gough and Mabbutt get in each other’s way and allow a basic pass through the middle by Downs to reach Regis, who instigates a move that ends with Bennett dinking a cross in from the right. Houchen gets a head on the ball, but can only send it high into the air with no direction, and Spurs clear. Mabbutt may or may not be on the scoresheet, but even so, it’s not been a banner day for the Tottenham centre-back pairing. They’ve looked uncomfortable from the get-go.
49 min: Gynn scampers down the right in the Stanley Matthews manner. He beats Thomas and finds Houchen at the near post with his cross, but the striker can’t control, six yards out. That’s much better from Coventry ... although then, up the other end, they nearly concede a worldy, as Clive Allen cuts in from the right and aims for the top left. It’s not very far away at all, and I’m not convinced Ogrizovic was getting there had it been on target.
47 min: Coventry haven’t seen much second-half ball yet. Regis and Gynn try to combine down the right, but it doesn’t quite work out, and Regis’s frown is enough to transmit his opinion of the move.
46 min: Ardiles rolls a ball down the right for Hughton, who barges his way past Downs and makes for the box along the byline. He looks to have been tripped from behind by Downs, just before he enters the penalty area, but it’s no foul, and Ogrizovic claims. On second look, that was a good decision by the referee, there was little or no contact and Hughton merely tripped over his own feet. Not sure why he didn’t then have a word with Hodge, who slid in on Ogrizovic at full pace for a ball he was never going to get. Big Oggy is a placid fellow, and doesn’t make a big deal of it.
And we’re off again! The BBC are wavering over their award of Tottenham’s second to Mabbutt, having fallen hard for replays suggesting the ball pinged off Kilcline during the break. “I think we’ve given Gary Mabbutt that goal perhaps a little prematurely,” their commentator John Motson announces. “It would appear that it did go in off Brian Kilcline, so it may end up being credited as an own goal.” Let’s wait for the official line before worrying about that. Coventry get the ball rolling for the second half.
Half-time advertising break ... featuring Withnail driving a Vauxhall Astra! Making time, presumably. Turns out he didn’t need that cigar commercial after all.
HALF TIME: Coventry City 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
And so a wonderful half of to-and-fro attacking football comes to an end. As expected, the favourites Spurs are leading, but Coventry are giving them one hell of a game. They came from behind at half-time to beat Spurs at Highfield Road in December; can they repeat the trick on the biggest day in the club’s history? David Pleat’s fine side will be pleased enough, but they’ll know this is far from over.
45 min: Kilcline launches long. Mabbutt’s clearing header is useless. Regis intercepts on the edge of the D and makes a nuisance of himself, the ball breaking to Pickering who takes a touch to the left and, falling backwards a la Bennett, goes for goal. But he can’t get enough whip on the shot, allowing Gough to make an excellent sliding block. Clemence gathers.
44 min: Ardiles forces a corner off Downs. The same man swings one in from the right but it’s easily claimed by Ogrizovic.
43 min: Hoddle chips down the right for Waddle, who can’t quite get the better of McGrath on the edge of the box. Then Hughton has a probe, but he’s forced to turn tail as well under pressure from Downs. Both of the Tottenham goals have originated from this flank, and yet the Coventry left-back Downs has been one of the best players on the pitch. Funny old game, as one of Tottenham’s old strikers likes to point out.
42 min: Coventry kick off again, and soon lose possession. Spurs stroke it around in the continental fashion. Coventry have probably been the better side so far, yet look at the scoreline. That’s understandably taken a bit of puff out of the Sky Blue sail.
GOAL! Coventry City 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (Mabbutt 41)
Paul Allen scampers down the right. He’s flipped into the air by Pickering, and this is a chance for Hoddle to send a free kick into the Coventry area. He swishes an outswinger into the mixer. Ogrizovic comes to claim and gets nowhere near. Neither do Peake and McGrath, occupied by Gough. The ball drops to Kilcline and Mabbutt, both facing the empty net, eight yards out. Mabbutt sticks out a leg and diverts it home! Or did that come off the shin of Kilcline, attempting to nick it clear? Replays, shown from several angles, aren’t exactly conclusive. Let’s go with the BBC’s assessment. Mabbutt’s it is!
40 min: Phillips breathes a huge sigh of relief as nothing comes of the resulting corner. But Spurs are soon roaring back at Coventry, and ...
39 min: Waddle teases Pickering out on the right wing, but Pickering does just enough to stop him scampering down the touchline. Waddle opts to check back, then sprays a low diagonal pass into the area from a deep position. There are no Spurs players anywhere near the ball, but Phillips takes a heavy touch in attempting to cushion it back to Ogrizovic, and clumsily sends the ball out for a corner on the left. A groan from the Coventry faithful. That’s extremely careless.
38 min: Spurs aren’t dealing with high balls very well this afternoon. Here they get themselves in another almighty pickle when Downs launches a long free kick into the box. Houchen wins the first header. Of course he does. Then Pickering, to his left, swivels, spins Hughton, and sends a bobbler into the arms of Clemence from ten yards. He should have given Clemence a real problem there. Spurs need to up their game at the back.
37 min: Hodge dribbles down the left and sends a shot-cum-cross towards the top corner. Ogrizovic is forced to fingertip over the bar with great uncertainty. A look of panicked relief washes over his face. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
36 min: Waddle cuts in from the right, drops a shoulder, and sends the ball off towards Hanger Lane. “This might be a day of firsts,” suggests Simon McMahon. “We might not have the glamour of Wembley, or indeed Chas n Dave, but this week could be the greatest in the history of Dundee United. Like Coventry and the famous old trophy, we’re looking to claim our first ever Scottish Cup (currently 0-0 v St. Mirren at Hampden), and on Wednesday it’s the second leg of the UEFA Cup final v Gothenburg at Tannadice. Immortality beckons!” Good luck with that, Simon, our fingers are crossed for you.
35 min: So having said that ... Waddle dribbles down the right and falls over beside the D, but he’s not getting the free kick he wanted. Clean challenges by both Peake and Pickering. Then the ball’s humped into the centre circle. Gough should deal with it, but lets Regis spin away from him far too easily. Regis eats up the turf. He’s got Bennett to his right, but opts instead to thread a delicious pass between the hastily backtracking Mabbutt and Hughton, setting Gynn free! Gynn enters the box and whistles a shot towards the bottom left. It’s a good effort, but not a great one, a little bit too close to the keeper. It allows Clemence to make a fine stop, and Mabbutt whacks clear.
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34 min: Waddle has another crack from distance. It’s straight at Ogrizovic. Spurs are beginning to assert themselves for the first time in this final.
33 min: The carefree end-to-end nonsense continues apace. Phillips launches a long free kick into the Spurs box. Regis knocks down towards Bennett, in a perfect position to replicate his goal, but Hodge is alive this time and heads away acrobatically. Hoddle sets Spurs off on the counter. Waddle drops a shoulder out on the right and rasps a rising shot towards the near post from a tight angle. Ogrizovic refuses to be beaten like that, though he makes a meal of parrying and gathering, and nearly spills the ball out for a corner. Soon enough, Spurs are coming at Coventry again, Mabbutt channelling his inner Beckenbauer with a glorious run down the middle. He attempts a full-tilt one-two with Ardiles, but for once the Argentinian maestro’s radar is a little wonky, and a heavy return pass sails straight through to the keeper. Shame for Spurs: a huge gap at the heart of the Coventry defence there.
32 min: Waddle opens his legs and grooves down the middle of the park, before whipping a low and fierce shot straight at Ogrizovic. Fortunately for Coventry, the keeper has managed to screw his previously loose head back on tight, and this time deals with the situation without unnecessary drama or emotional tumult.
31 min: I’m really not sure how this is still only 1-1. This can’t end 1-1.
30 min: Gynn dribbles down the middle of the park, but not for the first time this afternoon, Ardiles assumes control with candy-divestment ease. Such a well-timed challenge. He rolls a pass up the centre for Hoddle, who spins and draws his man, before flicking the ball past him for Ardiles, who has kept running and is now in a lot of space. He’s got Paul Allen to his right, and a flick inside will send the midfielder clear on goal. Peake sticks out a boot, it’s all he can do. And he manages to deflect the ball away from Allen and back to Ogrizovic. What an interception! And that should be the end of that, but Coventry, attempting to play out from the back in the continental style, nearly concede in farcical circumstances! Ogrizovic, taking reception of a backpass, decides to go on a C64 International Soccer style dribble upfield! He eventually clanks a dreadful pass straight to Hoddle, who attempts to dispatch it into the unguarded net from 40 yards. Fortunately for the keeper, Peake has read the danger and is back covering. He blocks and taps the ball to the right, assuming his keeper will flop on it when he gets back to his box. But Ogrizovic somehow overruns it, and Peake’s lay off isn’t perfect either, and Clive Allen scampers away with the ball! The net’s still unguarded, but Allen is forced wide by Peake and lashes the ball into the side netting. Coventry dodged a bullet there. Had that resulted in a goal, it would without question be the stupidest ever conceded in an FA Cup final.
29 min: Spurs go straight back up the other end, Hodge skedaddling down the left and winning a corner. Hoddle wands it in, but Ogrizovic races off his line and claims with great certainty.
28 min: Gynn’s corner is headed behind by Gough. Pickering to take this next one from the left. He sends it in deep. Houchen wins a header at the far post, but can’t get any direction or power on it.
27 min: ... Hoddle finds Gough, ten yards out. The defender powers a header goalwards, but it’s deflected into the sky by pop-single flautist Peake, and Ogrizovic plucks from the middle of a melee, under severe pressure from both Clive Allen and Hodge. Then the keeper sends Bennett gliding down the right with a quicksilver throw. Spurs are light at the back, and thankful that Thomas puts in a fine tackle to block Bennett, just as the winger dropped a shoulder with a view to scooting past and romping clear. Gynn picks up the loose ball and continues down the right himself, winning a corner for the Sky Blues. This is end-to-end football at its finest!
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26 min: This is much better from Tottenham, who are beginning to regroup. Regis, at full pelt down the inside left, is stopped unceremoniously by a fine Ardiles tackle. Ardiles strides upfield and fizzes a pass down the right for Waddle, and suddenly Coventry are on the back foot. Waddle, Hoddle and Paul Allen combine to win a corner. From which ...
24 min: Nothing much is coming off for Spurs up front. Waddle sends Hodge scampering down the left, but there’s only Clive Allen in the middle and Hodge is unable to find him with a speculative cross. Coventry will be much the happier team right now.
22 min: Ardiles takes a quick free kick in midfield and sends Waddle off on the right. Waddle shuttles the ball inside for Hodge, who looks for Clive Allen in the middle, but the flag goes up for offside. This is breathless. Both teams are piling forward, with little thought to hang about in midfield. And what’s this? Coventry have the ball in the net! Philips sends a long throw into the Spurs box from the right. Houchen flicks on, then with a deft brush of the eyebrow, Regis steers a gentle header towards the bottom left, past Clemence and in. That’s such a tidy finish! But the flag goes up, because Houchen had shoved Thomas in the back to win the first header. Nobody bothers complaining too much, but you’ve seen teams get away with those. It was a sly little shove, and far from obvious.
21 min: Downs fires a flat diagonal free kick towards Kilcline, who heads back across goal for Pickering. Shame that didn’t fall to either Regis or Houchen, because Pickering sends a very weak header straight at Clemence. That was a well-worked free kick and an extremely good chance.
20 min: Downs hassles Paul Allen out on the left wing, near the corner flag, and strips him of possession. He hooks into the box. Ardiles heads clear. Pickering lobs it back in. Mabbutt heads out powerfully, Hodge helping it away. But then Allen again comes off second best in a tussle with Downs, conceding a free kick out on the left with a clumsy aerial challenge.
19 min: Ardiles dummies to allow Waddle to blooter the free kick goalwards. It clears the wall but also the crossbar. Not a million miles away, but always clearly too high and an easy call for Ogrizovic.
18 min: Hoddle and Hodge combine down the left to win a corner. Hoddle takes it himself, but it’s a bit of a non-event. Coventry half clear, and Spurs come again, Hoddle and Ardiles probing down the left, Waddle crossing far too deep. But now it’s Coventry who can’t get out of their final third, and Pickering comes clattering into Hoddle in the ungainly fashion. This’ll be a free kick, 30 yards out, in a central position.
16 min: Downs clips Waddle out on the right. Waddle takes the free kick and finds Hoddle, with his back to goal, just to the right of the D. He juggles the ball cleverly with his chest, before spinning like a ballerina and stroking a chip down the channel. But there’s nobody there. Shame, because if he’d have set Ardiles free, as was his intent, that could have been an assist for the ages.
15 min: Regis goes barrelling down the right, free in acres, but he’s adjudged to have unfairly bowled Mabbutt to the ground. Mabbutt gets up looking a little rattled. Spurs have been second best for most of the game so far.
14 min: This is a bit better from Spurs, and again the attack is instigated by Waddle, who wanders down the right before firing a low pass inside for Hoddle. He lays off for Paul Allen. There’s a little space down the channel, but Allen can’t find Hodge with his first-time pass. A neat sequence, though, Tottenham’s first promising move since the opening goal.
13 min: Another Coventry free kick. Spurs can’t get out of their own half. Downs’ delivery isn’t so hot this time. From a central position he launches long for Regis, just inside the box on the left. Regis does well simply to get his eyebrows on it. Goal kick. Spurs go long themselves, Waddle spraying a lovely diagonal ball from the right, nearly springing Hodge clear down the middle. Pickering does well to stand firm and guide the ball back to Ogrizovic.
12 min: The Coventry fans are going large. “We’re gonna win the cup!” At the moment, their team looks equally full of belief. Waddle concedes a free kick out on the Coventry left with a high foot. No malice. Downs takes, and sends another fine ball in from deep. Houchen rises highest in a packed box, and flashes a header wide right. Clemence might have had some work to do had that been on target. Houchen will mark that down as a missed opportunity.
11 min: Coventry are high on life at the minute. Phillips rakes one down the right. For a second, Houchen and Pickering are two-on-one with Thomas. If Houchen plays the correct flick inside, Pickering will be clear in the box. Instead he takes a touch down the flank before looping in a cross that Clemence nearly fumbles over his head and into the top left! Fortunately Hughton is on point to hack clear, with McGrath lurking. This is such good fun ... although I’m not 100 percent sure Clemence is on board with the entertainment that’s being laid on.
10 min: Really, that is no more than Coventry deserve for their response to going behind so early in the biggest match in their history. That was such a composed finish. And what pressure Coventry put Spurs under! It’s been quite the final already, with two goals and two tales of redemption - Allen’s 1982 nightmare and now Bennett’s 1981 misery - ticked off in the first nine minutes! Wembley is banging.
GOAL!!! Coventry City 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (Bennett 9)
Pickering whips the free kick into the mixer. There’s some head tennis. Gough hacks clear, but poorly, only finding Gynn 30 yards out. Gynn slips the ball wide left for Regis who centres for Houchen. Gough manages to only half-clear again. The ball drops to Phillips, who has a dig. That’s blocked, but Coventry come back again. Spurs can’t get out! Kilcline rolls a pass to Downs on the left touchline. Downs one-twos with Regis, then sends a cross in from a deep position. Houchen rises above Ardiles - hardly a fair fight - to flick on. The ball falls perfectly to the feet of Bennett, eight yards out. He nips ahead of a dozing Hodge and rounds the out-rushing Clemence on the left, before flicking the ball into the empty net while falling over backwards. All in one sweet, balletic move. What grace! What a game we have here!
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8 min: Gynn charges down Ardiles, then races after the loose ball. He zips along the right touchline and looks to have the better of Thomas, but just as he prepares to scoot past, he’s upended. Free kick. From which ...
7 min: McGrath strides down the middle before drifting right, nearly completing a cute one-two with Bennett, only for Mabbutt to break it up with a well-timed tackle. This match is being played at 100 miles per hour, and it’s extremely open to boot.
6 min: Gynn takes. It’s not much cop, too deep and wide, and it’s an easy clearance for Gough. Downs tries to rescue the attack by hooking down the left, but Regis, in plenty of space, can’t get the fiercely-hit pass under control. Goal kick.
5 min: “It’s a goal against Coventry,” says former Sky Blue manager, chief executive and chairman Jimmy Hill on BBC Television, “but it might make it a great final, because the other team have to come back. Coventry have to attack now, and so it’s opened it up right at the start, which is probably the best thing that could ever happen in a game at Wembley.” He’s easy to mock, Jimmy Hill, but the man knows a thing or two. And you can hear the excitement dripping from every word, even if his old club haven’t exactly had the perfect start. Good old Jim. Coventry prove him right almost immediately, Bennett and Regis taking turns to dribble down the middle, then laying off to Downs on the left. Downs crosses deep, forcing a slightly out-of-position Clemence into tipping out for a corner on the right.
4 min: Wembley is bouncing! The Spurs fans are doing most of the singing right now, naturally. But the Coventry support will be enthused by their team’s reaction to that early stunner. Pickering makes good down the left and crosses long. For a second it looks like Houchen’s chest down might break to Bennett and send him free into the box down the inside-right channel, but Bennett can’t sort his feet out in time and Spurs swarm.
3 min: That was a fine goal. Wonderful old-fashioned wingplay by Waddle, and a superb diving header by 1987’s poacher supreme. That’s Allen’s 49th strike of the season, and who’d bet against the Footballer of the Year making the half-century now? He’s got plenty of time left to get it, having scored that one after a mere one minute and 49 seconds. Still not a patch on Newcastle United’s Jackie Milburn, who notched after 45 seconds against Manchester City in 1955. A nightmare start for the underdogs, who get the game going again on the front foot, Phillips launching long down the right, Gynn clattering into Clemence who had come out quickly to claim.
GOAL!!! Coventry City 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur (C Allen 2)
Hoddle swings it into the mixer, where Gough is lurking. Houchen rises above the big defender but can only head down to Clive Allen, with his back to goal on the corner of the six-yard box. Allen blocks Peake, who falls to the ground, but the referee sees nothing wrong with it. Gynn toe-pokes it away from Allen but the ball only falls to Waddle on the right. Waddle drops a shoulder, turns Downs inside out and whips a glorious medium-height cross to the near post, where Allen flashes a header into the right-hand side of the net! Ogrizovic had no chance whatsoever. What a start by the favourites!
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1 min 23 sec: McGrath nips away at Hoddle’s heels as Spurs probe down the right. A free kick in a dangerous position. And from it ...
And we’re off! Spurs get the ball rolling, and immediately Hoddle embarks on a direct dribble down the middle. This guy’s good! But he’s no Maradona, and eventually he’s stripped of possession. Houchen has a meander down the right but doesn’t really go anywhere either. Front-foot attacking intent on display from both sides already. Like it.
The weather today really is gorgeous. A sunshine cup-final, the perfect way to start the British summer. The players go through their pre-match routines. We’ll be off very soon!
The teams are out! Abide with me, fast falls the eventide. Coventry are in their blue-and-white striped shirts and dark blue shorts, sponsored by Granada Bingo. Spurs are in pristine white, sponsored by Holsten. At least some of the team are: five players have shirts with no sponsor on them at all! A lovely throwback to the days before football’s dignity took a diving header out the window, but we can’t imagine their sponsor will be raising a glass of unpleasant syrupy ale to that. Apparently a batch of the sponsored shirts were either too tight or too large. They had one job, etc. What a fiasco. Spurs will be hoping their day improves from this point onward.
If you weren’t already up for the cup, the retro gem that’s just been transmitted during the BBC build-up will have put you in the mood. It must have done. All the goals from every final since Spurs won the double in 1961, with other sporting highlights and a pop classic from each year thrown in! So West Ham’s 1964 win over Preston comes packaged with Mary Rand breaking the long-jump world record at the Tokyo Olympics and Peter and Gordon’s plangent Beatles-penned World Without Love, while Tottenham’s 1967 win pairs Foinavon emerging from the carnage at the 23rd fence to win the Grand National with Sandie Shaw’s Eurovision oompah-stomper Puppet on a String. But the stand-out moment is surely the ever-so-slightly incongruous sight of Princess Anne winning the 1971 European Eventing Championships on Doublet at Burghley to the sensational ska strains of Double Barrel by Dave and Ansell Collins. All together now: she is the magnificent W H-R-H, and she’s still up here again. Hit me one time!
A fantastic atmosphere already at sun-drenched Wembley, all 98,000 inside the grand old stadium giving it plenty. There are a couple of sassy placards in the Spurs end: “Chris Waddle sells more dummies than Mothercare” and “Gough puts the ‘ouch’ in Houchen”. Some big talk there. Let’s hope the lads deliver on those promises.
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There’s a fair chance we could see a few goals this afternoon, if recent history is anything to go by. Let’s go back to late December, when Spurs visited Highfield Road in the First Division. Spurs boss David Pleat recalled that game earlier this week in conversation with our very own David Lacey: “At half-time we were luckily in front, courtesy of Clive Allen. After 20 minutes of the second half Coventry led 3-2, courtesy of Ray Clemence, Richard Gough and Gary Mabbutt. Coventry did not try to sit on their lead. They came at us like lunatics trying to make it 4-2. With six minutes to go, Nico Claesen pulled the score back to 3-3 and our players were convinced we could win the game because we’d had them on the rack for 15 minutes. We went at them as they had gone at us ... and then Cyrille Regis scored their winner.” Well this augurs well. More please, Coventry! More please, Spurs!
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On ITV, John Helm has a word with the aforementioned unfortunate Coventry right-back Brian Borrows. An understandably downbeat interview from his hospital bed in Leamington Spa. But the poor young man rallies to finish strongly, sending the following positive vibes to his team-mates: “I’d like to wish you all the best, lads! I know you’re gonna win it!”
For your auricular pleasure
The cup-final songs are excellent this year. Go For It City features a virtuoso whistle solo by Trevor ‘At His’ Peake ...
... while Chas, Dave and the drummer from Chas ‘n’ Dave celebrate “David Pleat and his blue-and-white army” in their usual vocally dexterous style. A deep cut for those who enjoyed Rabbit.
Both clubs had to make decisions at right-back. Coventry’s Brian Borrows hurt his knee against Southampton last week and as expected misses out. He’s currently in hospital, recovering from an operation. David Phillips moves back from midfield to deputise; Micky Gynn, usually a livewire sub, starts in his place. Spurs go with Chris Hughton; their first choice Gary Stevens is only fit enough to make the bench.
Sky Blues winger Dave Bennett will be hoping it’s second-time lucky in the cup final, having been on the losing side with Manchester City in 1981 against today’s opponents. Tottenham artist-in-residence Glenn Hoddle, who has designs on a move to the continent, will be desperate to sign off with a flourish.
Up front, Clive Allen will be hoping to add to his unreal haul of 48 goals in all competitions this season. He’s Tottenham’s most likely match-winner, and will be hoping for better luck than he had as a QPR player in 1982, when he twisted his ankle very early on and missed both second half and replay.
Coventry will look to their most recognisable name, Cyrille Regis, for heroics. But it should be noted that the much less heralded Keith Houchen is their cup go-to guy this season, having scored the winner at Manchester United, two at Sheffield Wednesday, and another against Leeds in the semi.
The teams
Coventry City: Steve Ogrizovic, David Phillips, Brian Kilcline, Trevor Peake, Greg Downs, Micky Gynn, Nick Pickering, Lloyd McGrath, Dave Bennett, Cyrille Regis, Keith Houchen.
Subs: Graham Rodger, Steve Sedgley.
Tottenham Hotspur: Ray Clemence, Chris Hughton, Richard Gough, Gary Mabbutt, Mitchell Thomas, Paul Allen, Steve Hodge, Ossie Ardiles, Chris Waddle, Glenn Hoddle, Clive Allen.
Subs: Nico Claesen, Gary Stevens.
Referee: Neil Midgley (Manchester).
Preamble
On Tuesday 15 December 1970, the 12th episode of the second series of Monty Python’s Flying Circus aired on BBC1 at 10.10pm. Several sketches destined to become legendary were premiered that evening. Spam, for example, or the one about the Hungarian phrasebook that deliberately mistranslates “Can you direct me to the station?” as “Please fondle my buttocks”. Cutting-edge entertainment that earned a thumbs-up from this very paper: “My hovercraft is full of eels.” “Monty Python gets better and better!”
Also part of that episode: World Forum, with guests Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara and Mao Zedong. Ostensibly a summit meeting of political heavyweights, it quickly transpires that World Forum is in fact a quiz, and most of the questions are about football, stumping the communist intellectuals entirely. Quizmaster Eric Idle asks Guevara: “Coventry City last won the FA Cup in what year?” A look of bewilderment washes across the revolutionary’s face. “I’m not surprised you didn’t get that,” Idle smiles unctuously. “It was in fact a trick question, Coventry City have never won the FA Cup.”
Sixteen-and-a-half years on, Coventry finally have the chance to ruin that particular punchline for eternity. They’ve reached the FA Cup final for the very first time in their 104-year history. In some style, too, winning at Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday, then seeing off Billy Bremner’s resurgent Leeds United in a five-goal thriller at Hillsborough. George Curtis and John Sillett’s team have enlivened this year’s FA Cup from the get-go; only the partial would begrudge them a maiden victory today. They go into this final as underdogs, and as such a fair chunk of the nation will be behind them this afternoon.
Mind you, plenty of neutrals will be behind Tottenham Hotspur as well. David Pleat’s team have been this season’s most entertaining side by some distance, Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle mesmerising, Clive Allen relentless. But much good it’s done them so far. Everton outlasted them in the race for the title, while Arsenal won a Littlewoods Cup semi-final marathon of such rich narrative bedlam that somebody very clever will surely base a book around it some day. In a parallel universe, Spurs are looking to complete an unprecedented domestic treble; back on Planet Reality, they’re searching for that elusive piece of silverware, just one prize to reward their stellar efforts during the season. Most expect them to get the job done today, especially as Tottenham’s record in FA Cup finals is sheer perfection: seven wins out of seven.
But this is the FA Cup, and you just never know. Kick off is at 3pm. It’s on!
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