Indelibly imprinted in memory Jan to May 76. From Hughies last minute saver against Villa, through Paul Bennett's pile driver against Blackpool, an aborted trip to The Hawthorns ended by a broken radiator and the excitement on the Milton as we made short order of West Brom in the replay. There we were two games from Wembley pinching ourselves that we were up against a 4th Division team in Bradford. The days when the excitement wasn't just on the pitch. Twas a lively day on the terraces. Jim McCalliog's goal and the reaction from the Bradford fans gives you a taste of the atmosphere. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc49wdiFXYA Then it was the semi-final. Palace under Malcolm Allison with his feckin stupid Fedora, but I wasn't there that day. Cheers BWS, Salisbury for organising an A Level Geography field week in North Wales. We even manged to make the best of that. Atop Cader Idris we listened to the faint radio broadcast of Rag Trade winning the National' before descending into a radio black hole back to Llyn Cau, only at the bottom to be able to pick up the Radio 2 commentary of Man U v Derby. The afternoon erupted and no more fieldwork was done when the broadcast cut to Stamford Bridge to say we were two up. We didn't even know we were one up. Some of you may read this and have been there, stuck in North Wales the following day trying in vain to find somewhere we could see 'The Big Match'.
And so to the day itself, a coach from Whiteparish because it was cheap and half way between Salisbury and Romsey. Getting to Wembley and it swarming with MU fans like some kind of Zombie apocalypse. Getting in the ground and waiting while Lawrie Mac and the team came out. The game began and almost immediately our worst fears were almost realised as Ian Turner flapped like a demented bird just managing to put something in the way of a Coppell shot with Macari and Stuart Pearson way to close to comfort in the first minute. In the end Macari's feet were high and a free kick was given. Turner spilled another from a shot on the turn by Pearson and batted the ball away shortly after and by the time he saved again from Gordon Hill when he was clean through you began to feel that at least we might be in with a fighting chance. Saints might not have shown too much as a threat but Bobby Stokes and Mick Channon made the runs and all of a sudden we were containing 'the bright, young' Man U side rather than being under the cosh. It wasn't pretty, we broke the game up, stopping United sweeping fluid game with fouls that would have resulted in yellows these day. The second half started pretty much as the first ended. Saint's defending resolutely without being stretched with the only moment of panic being when an in swinging near post corner was headed on to Sammy McIlroy who nodded it on to the bar. Hearts in mouth time. We'd just played the game so well that far it would have been an injustice if we'd gone one down then. The moment Gordon Hill was substituted was a plus in the afternoon. He'd terrorised Division 1 defences the whole season and with him out the way and Saints coming more and more into the game you began to sense something was on the cards. It was a heavy, humid and very warm day and United were beginning to flag as our more experienced heads took control.
The run up to the goal is lost to time. Man U weren't looking like scoring and we really didn't pose much of a threat going forward and I think a lot of us were thinking of extra-time. I've looked back on those last ten minutes on YouTube to see if anything really stood out but it is all a blur. Even now all I can see is Bobby with a march on Brian Greenhoff hitting a left foot shot across Stepney which he was never getting to. Anyone that was near to where I was could see the moment that the ball left his foot it was in. Euphoria, disbelief even before the ball hit the back of the net. Offside! Not a bit of it Martin Buchan was playing him on. I can remember that the crazy celebrations on Wembley's Tunnel End upper tier were cut short as United went close, but those last seven or eight minutes are just lost. Nothing registers apart from the nervous anticipation I felt as the minutes ticked away. Suffice to say it just seemed to drag. We knew it was done when United were offside in the last minute and again in injury time, that much I do remember. Then the whistle went!!!!
