As soon as Saturday’s match went straight to a replay, no extra-time, no penalties, my thoughts turned to this one – 450 minutes to settle a Third Round tie. Unthinkable these days. Maths check. Make that 540. I’d forgotten extra time in each of the first three replays!
1979 arrived with a cold snap. Of a full list of 3rd Round FA cup ties, only 4 were played on the correct day, the 6th of January. Forest at home to Villa was one of the many casualties. My Dad must have been absolutely desperate for football of any description, because he had the bright idea of heading off to Hillsborough for one of the few surviving fixtures: Wednesday v Arsenal.
Not that Sheffield had escaped the snow; Wednesday had recruited a small army of volunteer fans to help clear the pitch and it was all on. Arsenal were far from happy, but this was one Wednesday would have been keen to get played. Having faced the possibility of the drop to the old 4th Division, the arrival of Jack Charlton had brought about a revival in form and things were looking up.They’d put 4 past Tranmere in a 2nd round replay.
The details of the match escape me and you can read great accounts at the links at the bottom of this post. The afternoon was most memorable for a rather one sided snowball fight – pretty much the entirety of Wednesday’s Kop v Pat Jennings. The second half was held up as Jennings emerged to a bombardment. Jennings retreated to the edge of his box. Big Jack intervened, strolling out to confront the Kop. Surely no one would snowball him? Wrong. Jack was pelted, although it is interesting that one the footage no snowballs seem to hit him, whereas the attack on Jennings was hugely accurate, laser-guided almost. The pounding subsided for a while and Jennings headed back into his goal, rather foolishly perhaps (jokily one assumes) gesturing to the Kop. A wave of submission? Anger? Asking for more? “I’m Pat Jennings me. I’ve got famously huge hands. Is that all you’ve got?” Whatever, Pat got more. The density of the storm of snowballs intensified, subsiding presumably only when there wasn’t enough snow left on the terrace.
At this point, I confess to throwing snowballs at both. As anyone who had seen me play cricket can confirm, I’ve got a famously rubbish arm and neither will have reached, but I was part of the problem, condemned in the TV commentary by a po-faced, self-righteous Martin Tyler. Lighten up mate!
An uncharacteristic Jennings mistake gave Wednesday an equaliser, resulting in one of the most astonishing cup ties of all time. Again, the articles here give full details. For my part, Dad and me didn’t go to Highbury for Replay I, but felt the urge to see this through at Filbert Street. Thus committed, we ended up at all three replays in Leicester and rather sad at the outcome, ultimately a 2-0 win for the Gunners at the 5th attempt.
You can see the highlights from the time here; https://youtu.be/YK0HkGEPmxI. Worth a look in general but, obviously, especially the snowballing (5:00 ish). And Maurice Setters’ magnificent sheepy coat.
Meanwhile, Forest had routinely disposed of Villa (2-0), beaten York City at a snowy City Ground (3-1, highlight a Larry Lloyd screamer, the beauty of which is only enhanced by the white pitch and orange ball!) and went on to face… Arsenal.
Highlights here, Forest at about at about 55:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfmQGt51abo. It’s worth watching more, especially the other snowy matches from about 50:00 onwards. Proof that you can play on snow - see Howard Kendall’s fantastic control in Stoke v Oldham!
The Gunners had beaten Notts County 2-0 in the 4th round and did the Nottingham double, knocking Forest out 1-0 at the City Ground. Ultimately, Arsenal’s run took them to one of the most lively finals, certainly open of the most enjoyable last five minutes, of the period, the famed 3-2 win v Man United. Having been 2-0 up with four minutes to go, Arsenal conceded twice in two minutes before Alan Sunderland’s legendary 89th minute winner.
So to tonight’s replay. Whilst Forest took on Wolves in the EFL Cup, it was to Carlton’s Bill Stokeld Stadium for this one for yours truly. Sorry, but I’m not paying to watch what Forest are serving up at the moment. I’ll do the matches that my season ticket covers, but beyond that they can do one…
A decent sized crowd - I think I heard someone say 124 - turned out for this one, including a decent away support. I met up with Wilf and Garry to exchange greetings and introduce Mrs ZiggerZagger who was at CTFC for the first time. Well, I’d promised her a night out! ;-)
The teams came out to what i now know to be the regular run-out music. Beat Girl by the John Barry Orchestra, possibly the best runout tune I’ve ever encountered: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF0PRzi5vRk And whilst we’re at it, I’m not convinced you‘re very likely to hear The Fall regularly played at too many football grounds either.
Carlton got off to a bright start and went ahead after only 3 minutes. Maltby, however, responded strongly and never looked out of it. There were half chances at either end and the entertainment levels were good without ever hitting the heights of Saturday. Carlton were awarded a (clear) penalty after the MM keeper brought down Aaron Opuku, who stepped up to take the penalty, despite Saturday’s miss. Getting back on the bike and taking responsibility. Can’t fault that. A better penalty this time, at least one target and reasonably well struck, but Miners’keeper Hugo Warhurst went the right way and blocked it well.
At this point, a word about the Linesman on the clubhouse side, who had a blinder! It’s been a while since I’ve heard an official give grief back to the players and this guy was good. My favourite, when challenged from the crowd about a free kick not given was “That’s why I’m on this side and you’re behind that fucking fence.” Fair enough.
With ten or fifteen to go, an incident I’m still not sure I fully understand: With MM on the attack, a scramble in the area, needing only a tap in to finish and CT keeper Jack Steggles fell onto the ball. From a distance, it was hard to make out - we thought a goal had been scored, but all that followed was something of a melee. A card was brandished amongst the argy-bargy, red for an unidentifiable Miner. No goal given. Afterwards, we were told that a player had gone in late and stood on the prone keeper, but apparenbtly not the one who was sent off!
Down to 10 men, Maltby continued to take the game to Carlton and pressed hard for an equaliser. The final roll of the dice was a corner for which the keeper went up and nearly got a header on target. And that was it. A 1-0 win for the Millers, probably deserved, but not really much in it for me.
Carlton go on to travel to Stratford in the next round (Sat September 4th). Best wishes to Maltby Main for the remainder of the season too. I shall be there, all being well, to give my support at Sherwood Colliery next week and I’ll be back to Muglet Lane before long. I’ll be in touch with Commercial Garry to let him know what to put in the programme under the player sponsorship. Thanks to all from there for their warmth, on Saturday and since online, and the kind words about this project. Stick with me guys and I’ll try to keep it worth reading!
Forest? Went down 4-0 to Wolves. Two shots to their 28, none on target. Again. The only possible bright light on the horizon being the return of Man Utd loanee James Garner, who was impressive at times last season. Poor lad.
An operator error has deleted the piece I’d prepared about Wolves, which is a shame as it involved Bruce Lee, Kung-Fu stars, three star jumpers, the catastrophic failure of a pair of cream Oxford Bags and a scorching goal from Terry Curran in a 6-1 win against the Blades (no, I’m not sure how I got to that either!). I’ll see if I can piece it back together tomorrow…
Comments