LONDON CALLING – Twenty great games of 1978-1979

[email protected] November 17, 2022

Given domestic football in the 1970s often felt like one long narrative stretching from the extraordinary to the unforeseen – the sublime and ridiculous found somewhere in-between – it should have been no surprise the last chapter came with an astonishing final twist.

On the field it had for the most part (pitch invasions and overspilling terrace violence notwithstanding), been a decade remarkable for its excitement and drama. Excellent club teams advanced to win trophies on heavy pitches with squads’ light in number but not on ability or application. Gifted individuals had brought illumination to many a gloomy Saturday afternoon with their dazzling array of skills and even if these virtuoso talents failed to win the confidence of those with responsibility for picking the national team, they won admiration from anyone with an eye for an imaginative pass or audacious body swerve.

There is a sense English football began the ’70s feeling quite pleased with itself. England still reigned as World Champions, Everton had won the league title playing in stylish manner while Chelsea and Leeds United produced an FA Cup Final and replay full of intensity and incident. As the seasons then began to come and go, while each new turn in the road brought fresh intrigue, few could see where the journey was actually heading.

Some, by and large, travelled well. Liverpool once finding a course headed to a trophy stratosphere nobody else could reach, Arsenal and Manchester City the only other teams to win silverware in both the first and second half of the decade. Things improved noticeably at Highbury as the 70s drew to a close following some lean mid-decade years, although City were on the cusp of strange times that would eventually lead to an early 80s relegation.

Elsewhere the road had been even more undulating. Derby, champions in 1972 and 1975, had not yet suffered the indignity of going down but it was in the post, Spurs after opening the 1970s with three cup triumphs in as many seasons would begin the last full campaign of the 70s back in the topflight after a one term Division Two stay.

Early decade trophies on the home and European front for Chelsea had also counted for nothing when they experienced two years of second division football before a regaining a first division berth – although their tenuous grip on such was about to be snapped again.

For Leeds and Everton, the 70s had become a cul-de-sac it would take differing amounts of time to emerge from, while one cup wonders such as Stoke City, Wolves and West Ham (leaving aside shock FA Cup triumphs for Sunderland and Southampton), were further testament to the fascinating unpredictability of the times as they raised a trophy and were relegated through the duration. With hindsight, the League and FA Cup successes of Aston Villa and Ipswich Town, can be viewed through the prism of meaningful progress rather than variations of the boom/bust theme.

At the same late-70s juncture that popular music was shaken by the emergence of angry and dynamic young punk rock bands, so English football received a sudden and massive shake up when Nottingham Forest, on being promoted from Division Two, took Division One by such storm as to win the title by seven points. Their feat in ending the 1977-78 campaign as league champions was shaped by the astute management of Brian Clough and his sidekick Peter Taylor, shrewd moves in the transfer market – and a style of play that was disciplined, intelligent and topped by a formidable collective unity.

Unlike the new wave rock acts suddenly making their mark, Forest were not belligerent or antagonistic although similarities were evident in regard to self-assurance and flashes of brilliance.

How far such traits could carry the team on their first European Cup campaign was open to question but as 1978 gave way to a year that would end with The Clash, (a magnificent rock band whose rise had mirrored that of Clough’s side), affirming their greatness with the monumental ‘London Calling‘ album, there seemed little likelihood of Forest falling – the City Ground side marching triumphantly on to conquer Europe just two years after playing second division football.

Through the bleak days of industrial strife and atrocious weather, the ‘Winter of Discontent‘ appeared to be taking place everywhere other than Anfield. Liverpool bamboozled most of the opposition with some astounding football while sending statisticians into a state of apoplexy as they smashed nearly every record in creation on regaining the title.

If Bob Paisley’s men were unrelenting throughout, then the strangest twist of fate, (and most far-reaching), occurred on the eve of the season at White Hart Lane, where Spurs on climbing back into Division One signed Argentinian pair Osvaldo Ardilles and Ricardo Villa – each a World Cup winner with the host nation a few weeks before in the summer of 1978.

The signings heralded the widespread arrival of footballers from overseas into the English game – and to think when they last won a trophy five years before an Englishman, Irishman, Welshman and Scotsman were among the celebrating Spurs players who walked into a bar……………

TWENTY GREAT GAMES of 1978-1979

LIVERPOOL 7 SPURS 0 (2/9/1978): On putting pen to paper to sign for Spurs, a club official might have said to recruited Argentinian duo Ardiles and Villa, ‘The good news is the Lane crowd will love your skills. The bad news is we go to Liverpool early on and usually get a shellacking there – but that might change with you lads in the team.’

Being acclaimed in their homeland after winning the World Cup two months before must have felt like scenes from an alternative universe in the face of this Anfield annihilation. Had they arrived with the rest of Argentina’s all conquering side it is still likely Liverpool would have won the game such is their sense of purpose and finishing prowess – Spurs having no answer to a side who have the firepower of a destroyer and thrust of a supertanker.

Due to goals from Kenny Dalglish (2), David Johnson (2), Ray Kennedy and Phil Neal (penalty), the contest has long since been a rout, but the seventh is a wonder of age. Incorporating the intent of 50s Wolves, skill of the Busby Babes and flair of Spurs’ 61 double side into a gloriously sweeping move that ends in a headed goal for Terry McDermott, this Liverpool team stake a claim for being the finest so far seen in post war English football.

MIDDLESBROUGH 7 CHELSEA 2 (16/12/1978): While Liverpool were setting new standards at the summit, down in bottom place Chelsea began creating dubious distinctions. The mid-winter had already turned bleak before they arrived for this Awesome Park pummeling – a false dawn of mirage proportion occurring when Peter Osgood, the homecoming ‘King of Stamford Bridge‘ puts them ahead on his return to the club.

But such is their current state of joylessness by the 40th minute they are trailing 3-1 as Mark Proctor and a brace from Micky Burns emphasises the gulf that exists between the foot and middle of the table. Seven minutes after the restart David Armstrong cannot fail in punishing more woeful defensive work and although John Bumstead pulls one back on the hour, the task facing newly appointed Chelsea boss Danny Blanchflower is made abundantly clear when Burns completes his hat-trick – the only ‘double’ now on the mind of former Spurs great Blanchflower is whether the home side will reach double figures, further goals from Terry Cochrane and a fourth for Burns eventually seeing them declare on seven.

Haunted by years of financial strife, a Chelsea side comprised of willing youngsters and venerable veterans are just not equipped to escape the predicament they face – the portents already pointing to a huge number in their goals against column, the Stamford Bridge outfit ultimately becoming the first top division side of the decade to be breached over ninety times.

ENGLAND 3 SCOTLAND 1 Home International (26/5/1979): The last 1970s meeting of the oldest rivals in international football is in some ways the hardest to dissect. For an hour Scotland are the better side, only for England to coast through the last twenty minutes as comfortable winners.

Going ahead through John Wark in the 21st minute is due reward for the enterprise Scotland have shown in their forward play, Messrs. Dalglish and Souness to the fore as the visitors look fluid on a sodden Wembley surface – England indebted to their Anfield team-mate Ray Clemence whose excellent goalkeeping saves his side from sinking altogether.

But the Scotsman having the most lasting impact on the first half is the pitch invader who causes a delay that serves to break the visitors momentum in a way England had not looked likely to do – the home side roused from their own stupor to level with a skidding shot from winger Peter Barnes on the stroke of half-time.

After the break Scotland continue to enjoy a greater share of possession but England cruise home by virtue of taking the chances to come their way, Steve Coppell on hand to score at close range on the hour when Scots ‘keeper George Wood mishandles.

The outcome is decided when recently named European Footballer of the Year Kevin Keegan exchanges passes with Trevor Brooking, England captain Keegan advancing to score the last and best goal seen in the fixture during the decade.

MANCHESTER CITY 2 CHELSEA 3 (20/1/1979): If during the early years of the 70s the decline in fortunes of Everton created something of a mystery then at the other end of the decade the sudden drop-off of Manchester City was equally baffling.

Marked by League Cup success and a second and fourth place finish in the previous three seasons, 1978-79 brought indication the plot had suddenly gone missing from Maine Road – borne out by this bungling home defeat against bottom of the pile Chelsea.

An accomplished home side, who on paper at least look top six material, take the lead with an early Paul Power goal and look set to make light of a snowbound surface and soporific visiting defence. But asleep on duty is Joe Corrigan, the City goalkeeper caught out by a Duncan Mackenzie free kick as Chelsea restore level terms, yet when the hosts regain the lead go ahead with a Paul Futcher strike seven minutes before half-time, an overdue league victory looks on the cards, Tony Book’s side winless in their last twelve Division One outings despite progress in the FA and UEFA Cups – although interest in both would shortly end.

After the break City make a concerted effort to secure two points for the first time since mid-October – but in the way they stare blankly at one another when Peter Osgood bundles home 75th minute leveler, it appears they thought the job had been done.

Faced with the prospect of having to wait longer in tasting victory, for City it becomes panic stations – only for the defence to leave their stations when Clive Walker dashes clear to secure Chelsea a late and rare triumph.

For the visitors it would prove their last away victory of a wretched campaign and in finishing rooted to the foot of the table would only win twice more. City managed to take maximum points from their next league outing – but before that loomed a fourth round FA Cup visit to third division Shrewsbury Town…………

SHREWSBURY TOWN 2 MANCHESTER CITY 0 FA Cup fourth round (27/1/1979): Take two teams. One full of seasoned international performers but hopelessly out of form, the other a group of hardworking lower division players in the form of their lives. Throw in a surface made testing by sharp overnight frost and the confines of small ground with narrow terracing where not one shout goes to waste, chances are, despite the imponderables, you would still back the vaunted visitors to win.

City boss Tony Book complained bitterly about frozen areas of the pitch and was adamant the tie should not proceed – a week a long time in football, as seven days earlier his side had faced Chelsea at Maine Road in conditions no less treacherous underfoot.

While not suggesting for a minute the visitors were making prior excuses, but only nine had passed when their hesitancy was punished – Scottish winger Paul Maguire breaking free to put Shrewsbury ahead. Attending the game, your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com recalls City having plenty of the ball without producing much in the way of goal threat. In this respect the underdog opposition played with much more intent, extending their lead six minutes after half-time when Sammy Chapman headed home an in-swinging near post corner of the variety they would profit from often during the season.

With the outcome of this fixture and to an extent the season going west, City pressed hard during a twenty-minute second half salvage operation, but never came up with anything Shrewsbury could not cope with – the direction of travel for each side resulting in a meeting on equal second division footing just four years later.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2 LIVERPOOL 0 European Cup first round first-leg (13/9/1978): With designs on winning the European Cup for the third season in a row, years later Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes would describe the holders being paired with reigning league champions Nottingham Forest as ‘The worst draw we could have had. They were the only team in England at that time capable of giving us a game.’

By no means was Hughes exaggerating. Rarely had Liverpool played a side with such regularity and failed to win a single encounter, but the previous season the league meetings between them had been drawn, likewise a Wembley League Cup Final with Forest winning the Old Trafford replay – all this on the way to becoming league champions and denying Liverpool a third successive title.

When the teams convened at the City Ground in mid-September, neither had so far lost a game, (Liverpool yet to drop a point) and despite the competition circumstances this was very much a domestic dust-up – exemplified by no half measure tackling and fouls that brought yellow cards for Graeme Souness and Larry Lloyd, the Austrian referee acquitting himself well in a blood and thunder setting.

After being on the back foot during the opening stages it is Forest who make the breakthrough, young centre-forward Gary Birtles on target with his first senior goal when they take a 26th minute lead.

As the second half unfolds Liverpool appear determined to force the issue. In different surroundings they may have taken a single goal defeat on board with an Anfield return to come but continue to play as if there is a score to settle. Three minutes from time they are punished for a rare lack of positional discipline when Forest counter to score through the unlikely figure of full-back Colin Barrett – the Merseyside second leg now taking on a far different complexion.

EVERTON 1 LIVERPOOL 0 (28/10/1978): After seven years and fifteen matches had passed since they last tasted victory in the fixture, while not exactly thinking ‘we can’t just not turn up‘ Everton would certainly have viewed the first Mersey derby of the season with a degree of trepidation – those from the other side of Stanley Park arriving at Goodison top of the league and so far, unbeaten.

Despite the grim statistics attached to meetings with their nearest and jeerest during the 70s, Everton, while wary of what the visitors were capable of, also had undefeated status going into the game – thus to the outsider (and populous of Evertonia) occurred perhaps the most absorbing Scouse-land showdown of the decade.

Having four derby debutants in the team is no hinderance to the hosts who gain the initiative during a breathless first half which they rarely look likely to relinquish. Close range headers from Bob Latchford and Martin Dobson take Everton closest to scoring, a rasping Graeme Souness shot the pick of what Liverpool respond with.

While the excellent wing play of Dave Thomas poses a constant threat to the visitors defence, the decisive contribution when it arrives comes from front and centre – midfielder Andy King scoring with a superb 58th minute strike that is heralded by most of the ground not just for taking the lead sake, but for being the first goal Everton have scored in a Goodison derby since November 1971.

During a thrilling last act David Johnson (ironically the scorer of that Toffees’ winner six years earlier), has a leveler for his present club ruled out due to an offside flag, while Thomas beats Ray Clemence with a low drive only to see it cleared off the line by Alan Hansen. Everton duly hold their nerve in recording the most celebrated win of a pleasing campaign that ends in a commendable fourth-place finish – and with the satisfaction of not losing to the eventual champions, taking a point from Anfield later in the season.

Regaining the title with a record low tally of goals against, of the miserly sixteen Liverpool conceded none would have irked more than King’s Goodison derby decider.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 3 SOUTHAMPTON 2 Football League Cup Final (17/9/1979): Let’s face it, after two goalless and frankly tedious affairs in 1977 and 1978, the League Cup was due some drama – and although not quite a humdinger, this one at least produced some scoring and stimulus.

Aiming to become the first side to retain the trophy, Forest had by now surrendered the league title to a Liverpool side smarting from having it taken from them to begin with (not to mention that European Cup business), but the cup element of their season was shaping up nicely, the City Ground bracing itself for more League Cup glory with the European Cup also a going concern.

But if they were harboring hopes of a trophy double such thoughts looked in jeopardy when Southampton, prompted by the great Alan Ball using all his big match guile, take a 16th minute lead through full-back David Peach.

Instilled into Forest, however, was impressive and unswerving belief that no cause was lost – hard taskmasters Clough and Taylor surely approving of the way their side build steady pressure and when Saints finally succumb Birtles (twice) and Woodcock are on hand to ensure the trophy will be returning with them up the M1 – a late Nick Holmes strike while admirable, proving academic.

WOLVES 1 SHREWSBURY TOWN 1 FA Cup Six Round (10/3/1979): Many years later when talking about this fixture, someone involved in the conversation recalled when hearing news our hometown had equalised, a radio reporter describing the 12,000 celebrating Shrewsbury supporters as ‘coming down from their homesteads and hamlets‘ – making a small town in Shropshire (for years the smallest with a Football League club), sounding like somewhere in South Dakota.

Those around me acclaiming the Ian Atkins penalty that had just hit the back of the net while not dwellers of a homestead or hamlet were, with just four minutes left, now thinking of a home match replay in three days’ time.

In truth the third division visitors might well have maneuvered their way off the Molineux mid-heap and into the last four, Shrewsbury creating most of the melees occurring in two quagmire goalmouths.

From one such outbreak of penalty area pinball striker Billy Rafferty broke the deadlock eleven minutes from time in giving Wolves the lead, but with time running out winger Paul Maquire was upended in the box, centre-forward Atkins stepping forward to convert the 86th minute spot-kick to earn the draw which was the least Shrewsbury deserved for their efforts.

At Gay Meadow the following Tuesday Wolves showed their topflight pedigree in recording a comfortable 3-1 win – although in hindsight the Shrews’ might have given Arsenal a better game than John Barnwell’s side managed in their semi-final no-show at Villa Park a month later.

SPURS 0 ARSENAL 5 (23/12/1978): Assessing where the teams stood in relation to one another going into the first North London derby for twenty months would be to conclude Arsenal were a couple of seasons further on in their trophy winning capabilities – an impression quickly reinforced by this one-sided contest.

Indeed, within no time the gap looks light years, Alan Sunderland quickly taking advantage of defensive frailties that would put a crimp in festive feelings along the Tottenham High Road, Spurs doling out chances like Christmas presents conceding to Sunderland again before the break.

With Liam Brady in irrepressible form, for Arsenal the second half is joyful and triumphant. Frank Stapleton heads in a third, Sunderland rounds things off by completing his hat-trick while in-between Brady had dispatched a brilliant left foot drive into the Spurs net, a goal befitting his outstanding individual display.

After losing in the final 12 months before, come May 1979 Arsenal would return to Wembley and win the FA Cup although a seventh-place league finish seems somewhat inadequate given the number of good players on the books at Highbury.

For Spurs this derby drubbing was indicative of just how many improvements still needed to be made after returning to the top division. Finishing eleventh was none too shabby for a first season back – steady progress from this point leading toward back-to-back FA Cup successes in the early 80s.

MANCHESTER UNITED 3 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 5 (30/12/1978): After a turbulent first half to the decade, culminating in a one season second division sojourn at the mid-point, Manchester United had returned upstairs playing expansive, enterprising football that made for exciting games, but without finding the week-to-week consistency required for a sustained title challenge – Old Trafford now resigned to the first full decade of post-war football to come and go without the league champions pennant being flown there.

While they rarely failed to entertain, where United were concerned attack was not the best form of defence, those quick on the uptake able to counter against them in decisive fashion. Twelve months before Nottingham Forest had created havoc at Old Trafford with swift breakaways – this dynamic and gifted West Brom side needing no second invitation to do likewise on their visit a year later.

Winning many admirers for the expressive and positive manner in which they played, first under Johnny Giles and now Ron Atkinson, Albion had grafted onto a solid core the power and goalscoring attributes of Cyrille Regis, the drive of Bryan Robson and audacious skill set of Laurie Cunningham – this potent mix taking them to the top of Division One as 1978 drew to a close.

It was a match that promised much but went way beyond expectations to the extent of becoming a defining fixture of the era – encapsulating the wonder and woe of English football as it currently stood.

The first half alone is monumental. Brian Greenhoff fires United into 21st minute lead with a stunning volley, Albion soon level through a typically smart finish from Tony Brown. The slick move that leads to the visitors going ahead on 27 minutes is eye-catching in itself and that is before midfielder Len Cantello lashes home with great aplomb from the edge of the box.

On the half hour Gordon McQueen draws the home side level with a powerful header, United back in front two minutes later when Sammy McIlroy finishes with great composure a chance he creates for himself – but always prone to an error, the United rearguard are punished when Brown scores again seconds before the break.

Audible throughout is racist abuse from the crowd aimed at Brendan Batson, Regis and Cunningham, the trio of black players in the Albion team. Granada TV commentator Gerald Sinstadt to his credit is appalled at what they are subjected to, Old Trafford by no means the only ground in England where such abhorrence could be heard – but rarely had it been so overt in background noise emanating from the terraces.

On the pitch there is plenty to admire as the contest ebbs and flows, United ‘keeper Gary Bailey twice making acrobatic saves to deny Regis, although there is little he can do when West Brom retake the lead 12 minutes from time – glee detectable in the voice of Sinstadt when Cunningham advances to score. An afternoon both awe-inspiring and awful ends in positive fashion, the visitors producing a sublime passage of play that ends with Regis netting with a thunderous shot to seal a resounding victory.

Due to a Division One fixture backlog created by inclement weather through January and February of 1979, Albion were unable to sustain their title challenge (three FA Cup replays not helping in this respect), and when six games in fifteen days through April failed to yield a victory, they fall away to finish third – but playing the most inventive football around had still raised The Hawthorns to its highest league standing for twenty-five years.

United meanwhile would continue to be watchable and wasteful in equal measure, reflected in reaching the FA Cup Final – but finishing ninth convinced nobody the league title would be heading back to Old Trafford anytime soon.

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 LIVERPOOL 2 FA Cup Semi-Final (31/3/1979): ‘What a brilliant semi-final‘ proclaims ITV commentator Brian Moore as this thrilling game moves to a conclusion – United at that moment winning 2-1 and just beginning to play with a sense they day will belong to them.

Responding to Kenny Dalglish scoring a brilliant individual goal on seventeen minutes, United have levelled with a Joe Jordan header and then survived Terry McDermott hitting the post with a penalty (if awarded in front of The Kop few would have been surprised, but in the neutral surroundings of Maine Road it looks a harsh decision when Martin Buchan is adjudged to fouled Dalglish) – the Old Trafford side taking a second half lead when Brian Greenhoff hooks the ball over an advancing Ray Clemence.

With Liverpool defending a sixteen-match unbeaten run and anxious to maintain hopes of a league and cup double, Gary Bailey saves brilliantly from Graeme Souness and Steve Heighway, United skipper Buchan then rescuing his side with a goal line clearance.

But when Bailey can only palm a low cross into the path of Alan Hansen, the Scottish centre-back ensures Liverpool will survive to fight another day – his 87th minute equaliser capping an exceptional cup tie neither side deserved to lose.

LIVERPOOL 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 1 FA Cup Semi-Final replay (4/4/1979): From Maine Road the two sides reconvened on Merseyside, Goodison Park staging a tie reaching the same level of excellence attained four days before.

Goalkeepers Bailey and Clemence distinguish themselves with excellent handling and sharp reflexes, although both are indebted to the cross bar when headers from Jordan and Ray Kennedy leave them stranded. Ultimately it is a header that decides who will progress to meet Arsenal, the Highbury side having dispensed with Wolves the previous weekend – Jimmy Greenhoff seizing on a deft centre from Micky Thomas to nod past Clemence, United securing victory with little more than ten minutes left.

Over the two games Manchester United had shown when the occasion arose, they were a match for anyone – such instances, however, infrequent in the league where United would win only two of their last twelve games.

ARSENAL 3 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 FA Cup Final 12/5/1979): It is fashionable nowadays to become snooty about the 1979 FA Cup Final – mere mention bringing the ‘five minute‘ epithet due to most of the action occurring at the last knockings. True, for 85 minutes it is not a riveting watch – that said two and half minutes of football to set pulses racing would have been a godsend in any number of latter-day FA Cup Finals.

First half goals from Brian Talbot and Frank Stapleton put clear water between Arsenal and opponents Manchester United, whose manager Dave Sexton, in a nice piece of 70s football symmetry, was at Wembley for the first FA Cup Final of the decade when boss of Chelsea – his charges on that occasion twice coming from behind in taking Leeds to a replay.

As the second half unfolds there appears little chance of United restoring parity. Arsenal do not have to play particularly well in keeping Sexton’s men at bay and move quietly toward making amends for losing in the final a year before. All over bar the shouting it would seem as things drift to a conclusion, but if United pulling one back through central defender Gordon McQueen with four minutes left is unforeseen, then a Sammy McIlroy leveler barely 60 seconds later takes matters into the realm of incredulity.

Those watching on television thinking they could have switched off at half-time and not missed anything are now factoring in a cup of tea before extra-time starts – only for events to take one last twist. Suddenly Arsenal sweep down field and when a Graham Rix cross eludes United goalkeeper Gary Bailey, Alan Sunderland is on hand to prod home a last-gasp winner, the Gunners winning in dramatic fashion after seemingly having the match sewn up only minutes before.

Across the nation people return to the living rooms carrying refreshments for extra-time – non-plussed by the sight of Arsenal skipper Pat Rice already holding the trophy aloft.

LIVERPOOL 0 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0 European Cup first round second leg (27/9/1978): After winning the UEFA Cup in 1976 and European Cup in each of the past two seasons, over four years had passed since Liverpool succumbed in Europe – glory nights aplenty following a 1974-75 European Cup Winners’ Cup away goals loss to Hungarian side Ferencvaros.

But through all their forays into Europe after that second round exit in October 1974, there had not been a more dauting task than overturning the two-goal first leg deficit needed to eliminate English rivals Nottingham Forest to maintain hopes of winning a third consecutive European Cup.

Indeed, something extraordinary was needed to win by the required margin against opposition who appeared, given recent meetings between the sides, to have their measure. Based upon a blistering start to the season Liverpool looked to have the capability but securing a place in round two would need a performance of the highest order, a touch of luck and Forest to have an off night or be overwhelmed by a red-hot Anfield atmosphere.

Very little of that actually transpired – and if it did not enough to alter the outcome.

Liverpool, in fact play well, but what flashes of inspiration there are Forest manage to deal with. On a couple of occasions, the home side can bemoan an unlucky bounce of the ball although at the other end they survive strong appeals for a penalty, Phil Thompson handling when under pressure from Viv Anderson. Neither are the visitors intimidated by the sound of The Kop in full cry and when their backline is breached Peter Shilton is alert to the danger, one second half tip over to thwart Kenny Dalglish a save from the top drawer.

In the end Forest see their way to a goalless draw with admirable resolve, the final whistle putting despair on Liverpool faces in knowing the European Cup is lost – the smiles of the Forest players and management suggesting they are thinking the opposite…………..

SHREWSBURY TOWN 4 EXETER CITY 1 (17/5/1979): Permit me an indulgence if you will. At the end of their 29th season as a Football League club, each one spent in either of the bottom two divisions, Shrewsbury Town after a campaign that had already seen them reach the FA Cup sixth round for the first time, won Division Three – an achievement that made Gay Meadow the unlikely setting for second division football.

Only one defeat in the last eleven matches had capped a momentous season on the banks of the Severn, Shrewsbury clinching promotion in their penultimate fixture – a 3-1 home win over Rotherham – but went into the last match, a Thursday night encounter against visiting Exeter, knowing victory would secure the title by a point from Watford, the Vicarage Road side having completed their fixtures.

In a frantic start to this season finale Shrewsbury skipper Jake King scores twice in the first eight minutes, the full-back on each occasion heading home a corner, although in-between Exeter had briefly levelled through John Delve. Before half-time Ian Atkins slotted home a penalty, the celebrations taken to a higher level still when midfielder David Tong added a fourth twelve minutes from time.

At the final whistle and with jubilation all around, Shrewsbury chairman and local businessman Tim Yates, who had been on the board for twenty-eight years, was informed of a telephone call waiting for him. At the other end of the line was a voice more familiar with ‘Top of the Pops’ than the top of Division Three – rock star Elton John calling to offer his congratulation, a classy gesture from the Watford chairman.

Under the stewardship of Yates Shrewsbury had become the standard bearers of how to run a football club, only spending what they had and never going a penny over budget. For ten years they maintained Division Two status – a feat comparable with any in post-war English football – their late-80s relegation as much a consequence of the changing financial structure of the game (home clubs keeping all the gate money for example), as declining fortunes on the pitch.

What Yates presided over will not be forgotten down Shrewsbury way – and neither will the weighty 1978-79 achievements of player-manager Graham Turner and his combative, committed squad.

BULGARIA 0 ENGLAND 3 European Championship Qualifier (6/6/1979): After a decade of tribulation, both on and off the field, as the 70s moved to a conclusion the England team suddenly entered a period almost unnerving in its stability.

In the wake of Don Revie making an unseemly departure in heading off to coach the United Arab Emirates national team and the subsequent failure of England to qualify for the 1978 World Cup, Ron Greenwood, following a brief period as caretaker boss had been appointed on a full-time basis in December 1977.

Seen as the conservative, pragmatic choice, the football played by England since reflected these traits, this low risk, functional approach proving highly effective – his team arriving in Sofia for the fourth group fixture in the 1980 European Championship qualifying process defending a twelve-match unbeaten record.

Adopting a square peg/square hole policy that was Ramseyesque in sending England onto the pitch with players in their rightful positions (not something the last manager of the national side was renowned for), the balance of the team – shape in modern parlance – taking care of itself while cutting down on uncertainty in formation.

The potential for this tricky fixture to become more difficult is eased on the half hour when Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking reprise their passing interchange from the recent win over Scotland, England profiting again when skipper Keegan scores with a low right foot shot.

Continuing to be well served by a no-frills strategy, in the second half centre-back Dave Watson heads home from a corner, the Bulgarians quickly exposed again when winger Peter Barnes scores with a rare header, the chance put on a plate by Steve Coppell’s pinpoint cross.

Having already conceded the only point they would drop (held to a 1-1 draw in Dublin the previous autumn), England would have qualification done and dusted by the end of the year, this with the luxury of still having a game to play.

BOLTON WANDERERS 2 IPSWICH TOWN 3 (21/4/1979): Loosely speaking there is not a great deal riding on the outcome of this end of the season run out – the two sides virtually destined to a respective bottom six/top six finish.

But rather than go through April formalities, the protagonists suddenly find themselves giving those inside Burnden Park an afternoon they will never forget, serving up an exciting, wide-open game that serves as a swansong for 70s football.

In which case there is no better player to write the epitaph than Frank Worthington. At the forefront of the maverick, artful players who possessed presence but also panache he was the antithesis of football being more important than life and death, Worthington very much among the skill with a smile brigade (he may have been made to think differently had a transfer to Liverpool gone through in 1972 and come under the charge of Bill Shankly, but that’s another story).

After previously playing for Huddersfield Town and Leicester City, he was now plying his pizzazz at Bolton, whose first season back in the topflight had been a struggle but one they had just emerged from with enough space to begin preparing for another – although nobody was prepared, least of all a bewildered Ipswich defence, for what Worthington had in store when he opened the scoring.

Midway through the first half he receives the ball with his back to goal on the edge of the visitors penalty area. With the Ipswich rearguard holding a defensive line, he indulges in some keepy-uppy, flips the ball over his head, turns around and before the blue-shirted defenders can react, Worthington has smashed a volley past Paul Cooper – his 25th goal of the season found on YouTube under the heading ‘Frank Worthington wonder goal‘ for which no further comment is necessary.

At the other end Alan Brazil proves himself no slouch as a finisher when he fires Ipswich level and while Worthington is doing the stuff of dreams the Bolton defence is simply dreamy in allowing John Wark to put Ipswich ahead.

Displaying great individual skill Brazil puts Ipswich further ahead early in the second half and despite centre-back and future manager Sam Allardyce reducing the arrears with a powerful header the home side cannot stave off defeat – the eight-game winless run they are embroiled in a portent for their rock bottom finish the following season.

ASTON VILLA 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 2 (30/9/1978): While the end of the season would result in Liverpool breaking all manner of records (biggest points tally (68), best ever home record, highest goals scored to conceded ratio), Nottingham Forest were at it before the campaign was six weeks old – this late September success at Villa Park beating the 34-game unbeaten league match run set by Leeds United in 1968-69.

In becoming league champions the previous season, Forest had not lost a league fixture after November 1977 and when they lifted the title the following April were twenty-seven games down their undefeated road. Starting the new season with six draws and a win, they faced a Villa side making notable headway under the astute stewardship of Ron Saunders – Forest’s record-breaking credentials coming under threat when the home side go ahead through a first half Tommy Craig penalty.

But after not experiencing defeat for so long Forest are unshakeable in their belief and purpose, Tony Woodcock levelling at close range four minutes after the restart, with the contest finally decided by a 79th minute John Robertson penalty.

From here Nottingham Forest would advance through seven more first division games and complete 42 games (the equivalent of a full league season) before succumbing to defeat at Anfield in early December. But those looking on at a rain-soaked Villa Park nine weeks earlier had not only seen a piece of history and plenty of attractive football – they were also privy to two teams, who in these astonishing times, would between them win the European Cup three times in the next four seasons.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 MALMO 0 European Cup Final (30/5/1979): As a ninety-minute, stand-alone football match, agreed this is not a great game – but in the wider scheme of things continuation of an episode that is miraculous even by the standards of English football in the 1970s.

Just two years after being promoted from Division Two, Nottingham Forest immediately became champions of England which in turn allowed them to take their intelligent, disciplined football further afield – which on a wet Munich night results in them conquering Europe.

If their league title success had been epitomised by responsive players playing in the purposeful manner prescribed by the management duo, an extra dimension had been added by paying Birmingham City a million pounds (the first such fee to be paid) for Trevor Francis in February 1979 – the England striker justifying a good portion of the fee by scoring the winning goal.

Making his first European Cup appearance, UEFA rules stipulating a newly signed player must wait three months to be eligible, his diving header in first half injury time decides a low-key contest against willing but limited opposition, Forest winning with more ease than the final score suggests.

In breaking the hold Liverpool had began to exert on the European Cup but extending English dominance, when taking possession of the coveted trophy Forest thoughts might well have strayed back to those first round September meetings against the Anfield side, the competition there for the winning thereafter.

Scottish champions Rangers knocked out two good sides in Juventus and PSV Eindhoven before being ousted by Cologne at the quarter-final stage, the West Germans providing Forest with their sternest test en route in two hard-fought semi-final meetings.

After a 3-3 City Ground draw, the 1-0 second-leg victory that followed was thought by many the best display they had produced on a remarkable journey not yet into its third year.

All of which left Brian Clough as the most significant figure in English football during the 1970s.

Beginning the decade as a talented, if outspoken young manager of a Derby County side on the verge of greatness, his media profile climbed with that of this team who in 1972 secured the league title. His trenchant views on the game and those attached to it denied him a crack at the England job that Clough deserved on merit, while in 1974 he was sacked by Leeds only six weeks after being appointed to a role nobody envisaged for him, this after previously being forthright in his criticism of the club.

In January 1975 his career path led to the City Ground and once joined by longtime wingman Peter Taylor they set out on a road that just kept climbing until unfashionable, unassuming Nottingham Forest could look down on every club side in Europe.

Enjoying the view, they were in no hurry to leave any time soon……………..

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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE’ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.