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?
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.