When reflecting upon the early months of 1976, it is hard to conclude anything other than this sceptered isle being gripped by the spectre of strange, disconcerting times.
With inflation climbing to a decade high of 24% sterling was plunged into crisis, although for some the gravest economic statistic was represented by a pint of beer breaking the pre-decimalization figure of six shillings in rising to an average price of 32p.
If that was insufficient in creating dismay then a quick glance at the U.K. album charts in the second week of February offered nothing but bewilderment – ‘The Very Best of Slim Whitman‘ continuing at number one for a third week in denying first ‘Desire‘ (Bob Dylan) and then ‘Station to Station‘ (David Bowie), the coveted top spot.
This curious look to the upper echelons of the L.P. listings was mirrored in how the FA Cup was unfolding, Valentine’s Day 1976 bringing forth the fifth round ties.
Now at the last sixteen stage, there were more teams from outside the top flight than first division sides left in contention and then only two of the top eight – Manchester United (2nd), Derby County (4th) – remained in the field.
Indeed, with the high-flying Old Trafford outfit facing a tricky visit to Division One counterparts Leicester City another from among the elite was sure to fall, while there was nothing to relish on the part of Stoke City, Newcastle United or Wolves as each faced potential embarrassment at the hands of second division opposition.
That said, neither Derby or Norwich City were likely to falter in reaching the sixth round, both enjoying home advantage against their respective third and fourth division visitors.
For achieving their shock fourth round victory over Leeds United, beaten European Cup finalists of the previous season, Crystal Palace of Division Three were rewarded with an away tie against opponents from only one tier above in being sent on a London-derby excursion to Stamford Bridge.
Flamboyant, Fedora-touting manager Malcolm Allison was now plotting the downfall of the other club to contest the 1970 FA Cup Final, winners Chelsea, while now operating in reduced weekly surroundings, eyeing a first quarter-final appearance for three years – the last eight, if not quite guaranteed Division Two representation from this tie, having it ensured by the fifth round pairing of West Brom and Southampton.
Such was the way first division clubs had fallen by the wayside, concurrent to the fifth round fixtures were five first division matches. Victories that same afternoon for Birmingham City (over League Cup Finalists Manchester City) and bottom of the table Sheffield United (against Aston Villa) brought renewed hope in their efforts to beat the drop, while at the other end of the table QPR confirmed their emergence as genuine title contenders with a comfortable White Hart Lane victory over Spurs.
If this had been another challenging week for the Labour government of the day, where lives were being led on a smaller scale breakfast table conversations made mention of figure skater John Curry winning the first ever UK gold medal at a Winter Olympics, while walk to school chat was based around the first episode of a new BBC sitcom entitled ‘Open All Hours.’
Come Saturday night there was a ‘Match of the Day‘ FA Cup goal bonanza of 14 to digest, these gathered from highlights of the ties played at Bolton, Chelsea and Wolves, your genial host at SAMTIMONIOUS.com witnessing those scored at Molineux first hand.
Best of times, worst of times as someone so eloquently once wrote………..
The FA Cup Fifth Round of 1975-76 – Saturday 14th February 1976:
WOLVES 3 CHARLTON ATHLETIC 0 (32,301):
After autumn had brought little to shout about and the festive programme nothing in the way of cheer, these were worrying times in WV1 – third-bottom Wolves the lowest ranked top tier side still the shake-up.
Yet since the turn of the year a team not exactly short on talent and experience had shown something approaching their true capabilities, a seven match unbeaten run (including FA Cup wins over first division counterparts Arsenal and Ipswich Town) brought to an end the previous week with defeat at Loftus Road against a QPR side in rampaging form.
Given there had been an upturn in fortune, it is strange to reflect that for the visit of second division mid-table merchants Charlton, under-fire boss Bill McGarry reacted in kneejerk fashion to the set-back in Shepherd’s Bush, recalling previously out-of-favour winger Dave Wagstaffe from a loan spell at Blackburn.
The 1974 League Cup winner went straight back into the side at the expense of another, striker John Richards – scorer of the Wembley winner two years before, the one-cap England international designated the unaccustomed role of substitute.
By way of irony Wagstaffe left the field injured just as he had done in the League Cup Final victory over Manchester City. Visiting Charlton, themselves unbeaten in seven, had the better of things until the entry of Richards – who made immediate impact by scoring with his first touch just before the half hour mark, having been on the field barely two minutes.
The task confronting the South London outfit became even more difficult when he was on target with a second 11 minutes after half-time and rendered out of the question with Richards pouncing again at the last knockings – in the process becoming the first player to score an FA Cup hat-trick when coming on as a substitute.
It proved the only time that season the often lethal forward was seen in the old gold number 12 shirt – but not the last he would leave Molineux with the match ball before 1975-76 was out.
BOLTON WANDERERS 3 NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 (46,584):
If the country to all intents and purposes was going to hell in a handcart – or perhaps more pertinently to The International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a begging bowl – then The FA Cup was still providing superb value for money, as anyone who witnessed this enthralling Burnden Park encounter would testify.
The portents were there for an entertaining afternoon, Bolton pushing hard for a return to Division One (they would eventually miss out on promotion by a point), the visitors unbeaten in 11 that included third and fourth round replay victories over top-flight bedfellows QPR and Coventry – Newcastle chasing honours on two fronts having already reached the League Cup Final.
Few, however, would have foreseen such a thrilling 90 minutes coming to pass, the tone set after just five minutes when Bolton centre-back Sam Allardyce, who would go on to manage both clubs, put the hosts ahead with a neat header.
But on a day when English football for all its ’70s travails, appeared determined to show just how compelling it could be, the visitors were ahead by the break by virtue of two stunning strikes from England striker Malcolm MacDonald, the second of which, a fierce dipping shot from 20 yards, being breathtaking in its execution.
As the tie continued in its ebb and flow fashion, Bolton drew level when Garry Jones was on hand to score with the visiting defence in a tangle of their making, only for Newcastle to regain the lead with eight minutes left – Alan Gowling, on his way to 30 goals for the season, firing home at the end of a sweeping move where Gordon’s Lee side, clad in their Brazil-styled yellow/blue strip, looked more like visitors from South America than St James’ Park.
It was not enough, however, to secure immediate passage to the sixth round, Bolton finding the energy to muster an equaliser with just 90 seconds left, central defender Peter Jones flying higher than the Magpies rearguard in levelling with a powerful header.
Replay (1) NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 BOLTON WANDERERS 0 (18/2/76 – 52,760): Replay (2) NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 BOLTON WANDERERS 1 (24/2/76 – 43,448) – played at Elland Road, Leeds:
In front of their biggest home gate of the season, Newcastle to a large extent dominated the replay without being able to convert pressure into anything tangible and with both defences in less accommodating mood than four days before, the deadlock necessitated a second replay.
Reconvening at Elland Road on Tuesday 24 February, three days after both had suffered defeats on the road (Newcastle at Anfield, Bolton on their visit to Carlisle), yet the first division entity were quickly a goal to the good, Micky Burns finishing smartly after good work from winger Stewart Barraclough.
Leading the attack without injured strike partner MacDonald, Gowling netted with a glancing header 14 minutes after the break to extend the lead. But any notion of Newcastle having a comfortable ride through the remaining half hour were dispelled when Garry Jones (64) reduced the deficit with a fine individual goal to ensure things remained tense to the final whistle – their Elland Road exertions believed by some of black and white persuasion a contributing factor in a weary League Cup Final showing four days later.
As a statistic the defeat of a second division club by one from the first is not remarkable – but a combined attendance figure of over 140,000 for the three ties between these sides is nothing short of extraordinary.
STOKE CITY 0 SUNDERLAND 0 (41,171):
In reaching round five, Sunderland had already won more FA Cup ties this term than they had in two seasons since winning the trophy in remarkable and unexpected circumstances back in 1973.
Still plying their trade in Division Two, there were clear signs this could well be the campaign that brought end to a lengthening absence from the top level of English football – ‘messiah’ manager Bob Stokoe, after bringing cup glory to Wearside, now in a strong position to scratch the seven-year promotion itch.
While an away tie against tough Division One opposition still represented a tall order, Stoke were not quite the proposition they were pre-Christmas – the Potters’ form stuttering at best since onset of the festive programme with just one league win in seven. But their obvious pedigree had been shown to far better effect in accounting for Spurs and Manchester City in the FA Cup, these wins achieved while slipping from the fringes of the title-race to mid-table.
Backed by huge travelling support Sunderland were always in with a shout although it required first-half goal line clearances from Tony Towers and ’73 cup winner Dick Malone to keep Stoke at bay, the hosts holding sway to such a degree those who travelled down from the north east were kept waiting until the 80th minute before Stokoe’s men managed a worthwhile effort on goal.
With the 90 minutes all but up there was still time for goalkeeper Jimmy Montgomery to earn himself more FA Cup accolades, his full-length diving stop to thwart a low drive from Stoke midfielder man Geoff Salmons while not inducing the incredulity of his 1973 FA Cup Final double-save, ensuring ‘Monty’ had another clean sheet to his name.
Replay – SUNDERLAND 2 STOKE CITY 1 (17/2/76 – 47,853):
Given the aura surrounding fifth round FA Cup replays in this neck of the woods, (the 3-1 defeat of Manchester City en route to lifting the trophy in 1973 routinely described as the greatest night in Roker Park history), the atmosphere was thick with passion and portents – first division opposition again having a wall of sound to contend with.
Having lifted the cup of behalf of his team-mates three years before, skipper Bobby Kerr was instrumental when the deadlock was finally broken, hoisting a 77th minute corner to the near post where it was met by striker Mel Holden who diverted the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
But the ensuing celebrations had barely started when Stoke defender Denis Smith (a future Sunderland manager) was on target with a near instant equaliser. The bewilderment then became a celebratory crescendo when Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson saw his shot deflect beyond Shilton and into the net – the final goal in a bewildering three in four minute spell being the one that settled the outcome on another rousing Roker Park occasion.
DERBY COUNTY 1 SOUTHEND 0 (31,918):
While their league form was prone to inconsistency, hampering any realistic chance of retaining the title, champions Derby still had capacity to produce a purposeful performance when the mood arose – evident in FA Cup successes against Mersey-pair Everton and Liverpool in the past six weeks, a period when they had only broken even from four first division games.
After two such demanding ties in rounds three and four, The Rams again enjoyed home advantage in what appeared a less strenuous test of their capabilities. Visiting Southend not only operated well down the league ladder in the lower reaches of Division Three, but two recent FA Cup wins aside, were struggling for consistency themselves.
In the event Derby again prevailed by a one goal margin, the defining moment of a nervy, often ragged encounter coming in the 33rd minute when Scottish international midfielder Bruce Rioch fired past Shrimpers ‘keeper Malcolm Webster to ultimately decide the contest.
For the Rams victory ensured they would be contesting only their second FA Cup quarter-final since 1950, but for Southend this spirited display was not transmitted into subsequent league games and with only four wins from their remaining 21 fixtures finished third bottom and dropped into Division Four.
NORWICH CITY 1 BRADFORD CITY 2 (Played 23/2/76 – 27,689);
The two clubs separated by the widest gap in league standings, The Canaries 14th in Division One entertaining seventh-bottom fourth division side Bradford City, eventually met on a cold, Carrow Road night – this tie subject to a nine-day delay due to the visitors being hit by a flu bug prior to the scheduled fifth round date.
Ebullient Norwich boss John Bond had not taken kindly to the rearrangement and made public his displeasure with The FA and their lowly, lurgy-stricken opposition – only for an ill-wind to spread through East Anglia as The Bantams turned status on its head.
Despite needing two attempts to overcome fourth division Rochdale in round three, Norwich with three wins and a draw from their last five outings, looked to be motoring along nicely, the fifth round draw, despite the frustration of not playing on the due day, providing the most favourable fixture they could have hoped for.
Yet after dominating for the opening half hour, the hosts found themselves trailing in the 33rd minute when Bradford scored with their first effort of note, winger Don Hutchins catching out Kevin Keelan with a shot that beat the long-serving Norwich ‘keeper at his near post.
What euphoria there was for the visitors lasted barely three minutes, The Canaries level when Martin Peters, a player who knew a thing or two about cup football, netted with a pinpoint header.
Despite a second half onslaught the hosts were unable to break a defiant rearguard action and with just four minutes remaining it was Bond’s Norwich who caught a cold – Scottish front man Billy McGinley driving the ball home after Keelan had blocked his initial effort, the visitors not only securing the shock victory that clinched a quarter-final place, but also the win which proved a catalyst for their promotion success of the following season.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 SOUTHAMPTON 1 (36,634):
While Division Two promotion hopefuls West Brom would not have been dismayed with a fifth round home draw against another of their second division collective, they would likely have preferred someone other than Southampton – The Saints, while so-so from week-to-week, having already completed a league double over The Hawthorns side.
There was possibility of those two defeats being avenged when prolific marksman Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown gave Albion a first half lead, but that was cancelled out after the break by Southampton winger Bobby Stokes, who not for the last time during the season scored a second half FA Cup goal – this one leading to a replay at The Dell rather than ever-lasting glory………
Replay – SOUTHAMPTON 4 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 (17/2/76 – 27,614):
The superiority Saints had held over Johnny Giles’ men in two league meetings quickly came to the fore when the teams reengaged on the South Coast – the home side three goals to the good before the half-hour mark as Mick Channon (9, 29) and Paul Gilchrist (14) soon had the tie done and dusted.
Midway through the second half Channon (a current England striker playing in the second tier, how novel that seems today), completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot, converting after being fouled by Albion defender John Wile – and while fortunes contrasted on this night at The Dell, both were destined for end of season celebrations, these for West Brom based on their return to Division One.
CHELSEA 2 CRYSTAL PALACE 3 (54,407):
The biggest attendance of the day was registered in SW6 where a pulsating fixture was played out against a backdrop combining present day problems with the good old days.
That such a vast crowd should converge on the Bridge was testament to the support Chelsea could attract when the going suddenly looked good, (less than 16,000 turning up for their previous home game).
Not since the dazzling days of Ossie, Huddy, Hutch and Cookie had a Stamford Bridge encounter been so anticipated, those silverware bearing seasons now fond if increasingly far back memories, Chelsea at present a desultory, deep in debt second division ensemble.
Yet through those tumultuous turn of the decade times, Chelsea had been outgunned in the honours game by a dynamic Manchester City side coached by the charismatic figure that was Malcolm Allison, whose innovations were often at odds with recognised tactical thinking of the era.
Rarely reluctant to be outspoken, Allison was once summed up by former West Ham team-mate, the aforementioned John Bond (when manager of Shrewsbury Town) in this quote given to your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com, ‘Malcolm’s trouble has always been he thinks he’s the only person on earth who understands football‘ – yet watching his third division Crystal Palace charges pop the ball around like a South London version of the Harlem Globetrotters, Allison seemingly had more grasp than most of how to play with positivity and purpose.
Those who gathered to witness Chelsea overcome inferior opponents in reaching the last eight, had not bargained for visitors who were astute in possession while firing out passes with the outstep of their boot – one such delivery from midfielder Nicky Chatterton sending gifted England U-23 winger Peter Taylor away down the right flank.
Cutting inside his fierce rising shot struck the bar, but Chatterton following up was on hand to give Palace a 37th minute lead.
Three minutes later arrived the type of stylish goal not witnessed in these parts since the departures of Osgood and Hudson – although now it was Chatterton and Taylor turning on the style, their deft interchange of passes on the edge of the Chelsea box resulting in the latter scoring with a low, left-foot drive.
While it had become a busy afternoon for those in blue (constables from the Met having their hands full in dealing with the depressing spectre of terrace disturbances/the Chelsea defence at full-stretch to prevent Palace from extending their lead), the home side eventually made some headway of their own, 19 year-old captain Ray Wilkins volleying home in the 63rd minute to reduce the deficit.
With the Palace back four coming under increasing pressure, goalkeeper Paul Hammond twice came to the rescue, only to be left exposed when young central defender Steve Wicks brought Chelsea level with a powerful header.
Now looking the likely winners as befitting their higher division standing Chelsea continued to press, but 13 minutes from time were compressed once and for all, Taylor settling the issue with a superbly flighted free-kick, the game, shown later on ‘Match of the Day‘ also challenging for ‘match of the season’ plaudits.
Up in the Stamford Bridge Directors Box, at the final whistle Allison raised his now trademark Fedora in celebration, his football philosophy still more new age than old hat.
LEICESTER CITY 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 (34,000):
In terms of league position and current form there was little surprise attached to Manchester United emerging as the bookies’ favourites to win the FA Cup – a 12-match unbeaten run and second in the table standing making them the most likely in the eyes of many.
Not since the increasingly distant anos miribilis of 1968 had United entered spring with such realistic hopes of landing honours – Old Trafford once again exultant in having a side that not only looked capable of lifting silverware, but doing so in style.
Which is not to say the predominantly young, attack-minded team assembled by boss Tommy Docherty could expect a comfortable afternoon in the East Midlands. The Foxes, currently enjoying their best spell of the campaign (six unbeaten in climbing to 13th), having also held United to a goalless October draw in front of the Stretford End.
But playing with the pace and dynamism that had become their forte the visitors were quickly on the front foot. The lead was established after just eight minutes through Scot Lou Macari, then extended 12 minutes before half-time when Republic of Ireland midfield player Gerry Daly worked himself a shooting chance inside the Leicester penalty area – his low shot into the bottom corner offering no chance to City goalkeeper Mark Wallington.
But with Filbert Street favourite Frank Worthington posing a constant threat there was no scope for relaxation on the behalf of the visitors, who found themselves pegged back in the 68th minute – young Leicester striker Bob Lee, who in deflecting a Worthington free-kick past United ‘keeper Alex Stepney, scored for the sixth match in a row.
During a frantic final quarter play swung from goalmouth to goalmouth, United relieved to hear the final whistle being indebted to the acrobatics of ’68 European Cup winning ‘keeper Stepney in booking a quarter-final berth at the first time of asking.
Their arrival in the last eight came during the same week veteran American pop band the Four Seasons had a U.K. number one hit single with ‘December 1963‘ (Oh What a Night), the year referenced in the title causing great excitement among Old Trafford omen theorists – being of course the last time Manchester United had won the FA Cup…………..