Saints v Spurs 1978

Some (especially those from the Brighton area) say this game was fixed so both Saints and Spurs would go up. It did feel a bit strange watching it and when Funnell hit the post in the last few minutes it seemed he had to score but here is some footage shot from the Spurs end which I have not seen before, plus if you scroll down some more photos. Might stir a few memories and good to see those chocolate boxes

http://www.ohwhenthespurs.co.uk/#/soton-v-thfc/4542136173

That is class, thanks for posting the link. Not enough of that sort of footage from back then.

That is class, thanks for posting the link. Not enough of that sort of footage from back then.

Cheers I thought it was interesting seeing the view of the Milton from the Archers

Thanks for the memories Duncan, I was in the Milton with my old man and uncle. Had we won we would have been Champions by a single point if memory serves, the club and city was very much still in forward momentum after the cup win at that point. Bridesmaids again that year...

Was that the first time fences were used at the Dell? Not that they did a lot - got kicked through virtually straight away if memory serves.

I remember it well and yes the fences were erected Before that match. mike pickering was ever present that season apart from this game then was sold which i found odd.

I remember it well and yes the fences were erected Before that match. mike pickering was ever present that season apart from this game then was sold which i found odd.

Yes, at the time it seemed very strange to sell him as I think we had high expectations that he'd make it in Division One.

There was a rumour that he left after being involved in a car accident and losing a bit of the desire to stay down south. Great shame as his career went nowhere after he left.

On the other hand it may be that Lawrie did not think he'd cut it in the first division.

Tony Funnell was another one who did the job asked of him, then disappeared off the scene.

Great find. I was in the Milton End too. Lots of fans both Saints and Spurs climbing in the ground for free. Ground was packed solid. Great pitch invasion too at end. I think Saints were fav to win and as I recall the better team too.

Got the programme somewhere so must dig it out. Those were the days, cheap entrance, free away trains as just get a platform ticket, 1,0000 of saints away fans at most game too. I went to quite a few and half our form at school got detentions for being spotted at Winchester station on route to London for games!!

Wasn't Mark Lawrenson playing for Brighton at the time!!

Some supporters on that footage will be seriously embarrassed by their hairstyles and fashion of the day !

That game v Spurs was a bit of an anti-climax really, as we'd secured promotion midweek at Orient ( at the time proud to say I was there when the wall collapsed). Would have been good to go up as champions, and deprive spurs of promotion at the same time. Didn't particularly like spurs then, and nothing has changed since.

I thought Funnell hit the post in the first half rather than late on.

It was a very tame match if my memory serves me right. It wouldn't surprise me if there was indeed an 'agreement.' I think my biggest recollection was the behavior of the Spurs fans - real North London thugs. They spent the whole match demolishing the newly erected fence. It was a bit of an anti-climax after Orient away, but I guess the players were still hung over after that momentous night.

Great memories; thanks for posting.

I remember the Spurs fans making threats about smashing up the city if they lost that game, and there was quite a hostile atmosphere before and during the match. Like you Duncan, I found the match itself a little strange, and suspected both teams of being happy to play out the draw.

[quote=The Majestic Channon;2022164

]I remember it well and yes the fences were erected Before that match. mike pickering was ever present that season apart from this game then was sold which i found odd.

that would have been 1977-78 . Mike Pickering did not play in the final game that season 0-0 v. Spuds. Both sides were promoted (together with Bolton) back up to Division 1 (as Prem.was known as then).

Have read several accounts as to why he left...He played the first game of the following season, but promptly lost his place to the up-and-coming Malcolm Waldron (a type of left-sided Calum Chambers, as memory serves, and who had gone through the youth system - let's not call it Academy).....and who did a fine job in defence for several seasons thereafter.

As for Pickering.....Sheff Wed. (then managed by Jack Charlton) made a bid for him, and Lawrie Mac. decided to let him go...and he had several good seasons at Wednesday, and a number of other northern-based league clubs. MP did well in his one and only season, but perhaps the top level was a bit beyond him. In the end it was a win-win situation.

was at the game, but can remember absolutely nothing about it.

I remember being there and at Leyton Orient. Fantastic days! I remember waiting for the Spurs fans on their way down to the station (which was normal back then) and they had a leader called Sammy. Yellow Harrington on. My understanding was that Dougal ( for those that can remember ) beat the granny out of him. Welcome to Southampton!

Have I missed something in the photos? Can't see any pictures of the Choccy Boxes - only Archers Road.

I remember being there and at Leyton Orient. Fantastic days! I remember waiting for the Spurs fans on their way down to the station (which was normal back then) and they had a leader called Sammy. Yellow Harrington on. My understanding was that Dougal ( for those that can remember ) beat the granny out of him. Welcome to Southampton!

 

Have I missed something in the photos? Can't see any pictures of the Choccy Boxes - only Archers Road.

In the film clip! You would laugh if you knew what Dougal was up to now, but he still follows Saints from afar

In the film clip! You would laugh if you knew what Dougal was up to now, but he still follows Saints from afar

That comment and clip has brought a smile to my face Duncan as I exchange emails with JT on a regular basis.

I was at the Dell that day boring match especacially after the Leyton O one but remember seeing Glen Hoddle for the first time

I remember the result and the fences being ripped up but little of the match. The fences were very flimsy. Coincidentally a couple of articles in the Observer today about the "golden age" of football in the seventies.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/10/were-seventies-footballs-golden-age-of-innocence-book

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/aug/10/footballs-glory-days-in-pictures

It's now 2047 and I didn't even realise we were playing tonight.

I remember being there and at Leyton Orient. Fantastic days! I remember waiting for the Spurs fans on their way down to the station (which was normal back then) and they had a leader called Sammy. Yellow Harrington on. My understanding was that Dougal ( for those that can remember ) beat the granny out of him. Welcome to Southampton!

I may well be wrong, but I thought the Dougal V Sammy battles were more late 60's early 70's era. I can remember as a wee ankle biter, seeing mayhem at White Hart Lane during the game, and on the way to the tube and at Waterloo after a League Cup quarter finals in about 68 or 69. In those less PC orientated days, one of the songs was about the ethnic background of Sammy. ;-(

The 0-0 draw was a bit of a limp ending to a fantastic last few weeks of the season with around 10000 away fans at Fulham, Luton and Orient during the run in.

I may well be wrong, but I thought the Dougal V Sammy battles were more late 60's early 70's era. I can remember as a wee ankle biter, seeing mayhem at White Hart Lane during the game, and on the way to the tube and at Waterloo after a League Cup quarter finals in about 68 or 69. In those less PC orientated days, one of the songs was about the ethnic background of Sammy. ;-(

 

The 0-0 draw was a bit of a limp ending to a fantastic last few weeks of the season with around 10000 away fans at Fulham, Luton and Orient during the run in.

think your right Eric, i remember because i got a bit of a spanking under main stand at Tottenham,

saw ever game in 77/78 along with 83/84 , two great seasons

Ah yes, Mike Pickering, one of many Saints’ players over the years who did a very fine job for us, only to be discarded as we moved on to bigger and better things. Perhaps this is the other side of the sentiment and loyalty coin so many of our departing players have tossed us this summer as they too have moved on to what they deem to be bigger and better things?

Anyway, enough of that nonsense; a far more significant change – at least from the point of view of English football in general – occurred that summer within the opposing team: Spurs acquisition of Ossie Ardiles and Rickie Villa initiated the first trickle of the steady stream and eventual flood of foreign imports into our game. So, in that respect, the above footage captures the end of an era: no longer would the English leagues comprise teams fielding almost exclusively British and Irish home-grown players.

Incidentally, for those blaming foreign imports for the sorry state of the present day England team, it’s worth remembering that Ardiles and Villa first came to world-wide attention – along with Mario Kempes, confetti and ridiculously tight shorts – during that summer’s World Cup finals; the second tournament in succession for which England had failed to qualify.

Also, for those harbouring suspicions concerning the 1978 Saints 0-0 Spurs result, it’s also worth noting that those suspicions are as nothing compared with those surrounding some of the games in that year’s World Cup finals, particularly Argentina 6-0 Peru when the hosts needed to win by 4 goals to reach the finals.

Anyway, back on topic: I seem to recall reading on here a few years ago that the legendary Dougal was now breeding English sheepdogs, or perhaps I read that on the Magic Roundabout forum … or the Magic something forum?

It looked dodgy from the moment LawrieMac and Keith Burkinshaw strolled round the pitch hand-in-hand before KO, espeically as a Saints win would have kept Spurs in League One.

Some supporters on that footage will be seriously embarrassed by their hairstyles and fashion of the day !

 

That game v Spurs was a bit of an anti-climax really, as we'd secured promotion midweek at Orient ( at the time proud to say I was there when the wall collapsed). Would have been good to go up as champions, and deprive spurs of promotion at the same time. Didn't particularly like spurs then, and nothing has changed since.

 

I thought Funnell hit the post in the first half rather than late on.

I was right at the front and just before the wall collapsed I ended up on the side of the pitch as the crush was so great. A WPC tried to get me back in but it was to compact and at that point the wall gave way. Scary! I ended up walkiing off the pitch with the players. Happy days.

Camera phones wernt no good in them days.

Couldn't get a ticket for that game but I listened to it on the Radio

And I recorded the commentary on a cassette which I still have today

I was right at the front and just before the wall collapsed I ended up on the side of the pitch as the crush was so great. A WPC tried to get me back in but it was to compact and at that point the wall gave way. Scary! I ended up walkiing off the pitch with the players. Happy days.

I don't think we "hit the post in the dying minutes" as the Spurs fanzine says. I don't think either side had an attack worth mentioning in the entire 2nd half.

I remember Tony Funnell's shot that hit the post in the first half, when we were attacking the Archers end and Bally went up and cuffed him round the head. We took it at the time that it was for nearly ruining the "agreed" 0-0 result.

 

I thought Funnell hit the post in the first half rather than late on.

I don't think we "hit the post in the dying minutes" as the Spurs fanzine says. I don't think either side had an attack worth mentioning in the entire 2nd half.

 

I remember Tony Funnell's shot that hit the post in the first half, when we were attacking the Archers end and Bally went up and cuffed him round the head. We took it at the time that it was for nearly ruining the "agreed" 0-0 result.

Excellent, someone else who supports my version of events, and gives me hope it wasn't senility setting in.

Definitely at the Archers Rd end as well where he hit the post.

I don't think we "hit the post in the dying minutes" as the Spurs fanzine says. I don't think either side had an attack worth mentioning in the entire 2nd half.

 

I remember Tony Funnell's shot that hit the post in the first half, when we were attacking the Archers end and Bally went up and cuffed him round the head. We took it at the time that it was for nearly ruining the "agreed" 0-0 result.

I was in the Milton Road end and Funnel hit the right hand post (my left) right in front of me towards the end of the game - fact

It looked dodgy from the moment LawrieMac and Keith Burkinshaw strolled round the pitch hand-in-hand before KO, espeically as a Saints win would have kept Spurs in League One.

Eh??

First three went up.....Bolton , SAINTS and Spuds.

Brighton finished 4th, with same points as Spuds, but inferior goal diff. BHA were livid about it, as I recall. Had we won that game... Brighton would have been promoted instead of Spuds.

First three went up.....Bolton , SAINTS and Spuds.

 

Brighton finished 4th, with same points as Spuds, but inferior goal diff. BHA were livid about it, as I recall. Had we won that game... Brighton would have been promoted instead of Spuds.

First three went up.....Bolton , SAINTS and Spuds.

 

Brighton finished 4th, with same points as Spuds, but inferior goal diff. BHA were livid about it, as I recall. Had we won that game... Brighton would have been promoted instead of Spuds.

And to this day BHA still hate us for not beating Spuds.

First three went up.....Bolton , SAINTS and Spuds.

 

Brighton finished 4th, with same points as Spuds, but inferior goal diff. BHA were livid about it, as I recall. Had we won that game... Brighton would have been promoted instead of Spuds.

I was in the Milton Road end and Funnel hit the right hand post (my left) right in front of me towards the end of the game - fact

Nah, he didn't. 1st half, left hand post. Badger knows I'm right.

I may well be wrong, but I thought the Dougal V Sammy battles were more late 60's early 70's era. I can remember as a wee ankle biter, seeing mayhem at White Hart Lane during the game, and on the way to the tube and at Waterloo after a League Cup quarter finals in about 68 or 69. In those less PC orientated days, one of the songs was about the ethnic background of Sammy. ;-(

 

The 0-0 draw was a bit of a limp ending to a fantastic last few weeks of the season with around 10000 away fans at Fulham,

Luton and Orient during the run in.

You're right that there were, of course, battles in the late sixties onwards between Dougal and Sammy but this one happened in Burlington Road.

I can clearly recall Saints fans blocking the road waiting for the Spurs fans who came en-masse across the whole width of the road and rushed our fans, who, surprisingly held their ground. (Apart from a hard-core few most never really took part, other than gobbling off) the Spurs fans were then blocked from behind by the 'big boys' (much older than me at that time) who waded in from behind. Sammy, I'm sure, was at the front in a yellow and white Harrington (a diminutive guy really, which surprised me) and got steamrollered by Dougal's crew.

Have I got the right guy?

I will listen to the commentary later and see if there is anythin about hitting the post in the secind half

I was disappinted we dint win it as I wanted us to go up as champions

Nah, he didn't. 1st half, left hand post. Badger knows I'm right.

'Fraid not. He may have hit the post in the first half - can't remember. But the post incident in the second half was at the Milton end - as correctly referred to in the Spurs article.

First post for years , it was Newcombe Road not Burlington Road we squared up to Spurs who turned and ran , we caught them at Watts Park , great days . Also the League cup quarters at WHL in 68/9 Mike mentioned , remember hemmed in a tube station after the match when Dougal battered someone ( Sammy? ) with his yellow safety hat , hilarious .

I can only remember a first half post hitting as well. Although standing under West Stand Archers corner spent most of the second half watching Doc Martens coming through our brand new security fence so may have missed one near the end. Guess we'll never know if it was a genuine fix but definitely neither side seemed interested in winning.

If memory serves me right even if we had won Brighton still had to win 5-0 to go up .

Ah yes - football violence, great days indeed

'Fraid not. He may have hit the post in the first half - can't remember. But the post incident in the second half was at the Milton end - as correctly referred to in the Spurs article.

I'm fairly certain it was the Archers end, left hand post. The spurs fans wouldn't know which end was called in those days.

There is no way Lawrie would have sanctioned match fixing ffs ! We had some great games against spurs back then , i remember one of those bank holidfay 11.30 kick offs at the dell v them, we were 3 up at half time and it finished 3-3 with ardiles and villa playing for spurs.. it kicked off majorly in the Archers that day and hill lane after was a sea of harrington's and dm's.

I'm certain it was the Archers end. The spurs fans wouldn't know which end.

Of course they wouldn't - but they didn't mention an end. They just said it was in the last minute (but it wasn't). We were kicking towards to Milton Road end in the second half, and it was a fair bit through the second half when it happened. As I said, we may also have hit the post in the first half - but the Tony Funnell effort was at the Milton end.

The Echo report does little to settle the debate: http://thegoldstonewrap.com/2014/04/29/view-from-the-dell/ apart from some Alan Ball effort hitting the bar allegedly.

I remember queuing up for hours so I could get right behind the goal. For the game I remember nothing but always stuck with me as an agreed 0-0.

There is no way Lawrie would have sanctioned match fixing ffs ! We had some great games against spurs back then , i remember one of those bank holidfay 11.30 kick offs at the dell v them, we were 3 up at half time and it finished 3-3 with ardiles and villa playing for spurs.. it kicked off majorly in the Archers that day and hill lane after was a sea of harrington's and dm's.

Isn't that the game where one of their strikers went round our goalie in injury time and then turned away to celebrate an unlikely 4-3 comeback win, only for the ball to hit the post and roll back to the keeper? Chris Jones I think.

Isn't that the game where one of their strikers went round our goalie in injury time and then turned away to celebrate an unlikely 4-3 comeback win, only for the ball to hit the post and roll back to the keeper? Chris Jones I think.

Yes, think it was an Easter Monday fixture.

April the 29th and my 15th birthday. Got stabbed in the shoulder by the church in Archers Rd, with of all things a nitting needle!