Given there was a hosepipe ban in place across much of the country, it seems somehow inappropriate to describe the long, hot summer of 1976 as a watershed moment – but in viewing the 70s through the prism of football and rock music, just as everything changed so some things were about to stay the same.
During the sun scorched days since the end of the 1975-76 season, those who spent the late hours listening to BBC DJ John Peel became aware of a young New York rock band, (quickly given the epithet ‘punk’), named The Ramones – whose abrasive sound made early singles by The Kinks and The Who sound like Mantovani in comparison.
Indeed, through week after week of incessant high temperatures, the West Indies cricket team gave their English counterparts a comprehensive hammering, their battery of fast bowlers and heavy-duty batting artillery making the test series hopelessly one-sided long before parched outfields turned from green to beige.
Their dominance over everyone else in international cricket had a parallel in topflight English football with Liverpool, who were also beginning an era of comparable supremacy – standing as they were on the cusp of a season where they became the first club in almost twenty years to retain the league title, while also advancing to the first of three European Cup successes they would achieve in the next five seasons.
In fact they entered the final fortnight of the 1976-77 campaign chasing an unprecedented treble, but an FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester United, left them merely with the laurels of being champions of England and Europe – discounting that is the Charity Shield and respective manager and player of the year awards for Bob Paisley and Emlyn Hughes.
Punk rock band The Clash may have proclaimed ‘Complete Control‘ on a memorable 45 of the time, but it was Anfield that exuded it.
Lifting the FA Cup was just reward for three seasons’ worth of exciting, expansive football Manchester United had produced. But glory in winning the competition for the first time since the pre–George Best era dimmed when popular manager Tommy Docherty departed Old Trafford just six weeks later – his extra-marital affair with wife of club physio Laurie Brown causing him to be sacked by the United board.
In regard to Best, he returned to the domestic game since his messy Old Trafford exit of two years before, the defining figure of 60s English football making a comeback with Fulham – where alongside former England internationals Rodney Marsh and World Cup winning skipper Bobby Moore, they became something akin to a Division Two pantomime act.
Their knockabout football comedy was hugely entertaining when the opposition were prepared to play the role of straight-man, yet much less effective when those they faced turned up with serious intent – Fulham surviving by a whisker as sides coveting the top spots went in search of victories rather than vaudeville.
One way or another, however, Fulham rarely failed to provide entertainment, which was more than could be said for England, the reign of Don Revie, already debilitated by failure to qualify for the 1976 European Championship finals, continuing to unfold in a withering, wearisome way.
Qualification for the 1978 World Cup soon took the appearance of an uphill struggle, but just as dispiriting were Wembley defeats in the space of three months to Holland and Scotland, that showed just how far England were off the pace in terms of aptitude and attitude – the Dutch far superior in regard to technical ability, the Scots in application.
Every indication was that something had to give, in other words the manager would have to jump or be pushed. In the event Revie, behind the backs of his employers, negotiated a lucrative escape route in agreeing to take charge of the United Arab Emirates national team, this while the FA were already sounding out possible replacements.
Neither party emerged from the affair with any credit, Revie having the first and last word by selling the story of his dash for the desert in July 1977 to the Daily Mail – this before informing the denizens of Lancaster Gate of his intentions.
As figures of national outrage Johnny Rotten and his Sex Pistol chums now had Revie for company, the Pistols inducing widespread indignation when they swore (repeatedly) at interviewer Bill Grundy on late-afternoon television the previous autumn. Creating a generational gap, they infuriated the old while invigorating a swathe of the young, many of whom formed punk bands or became ‘punks’ on the strength of the Sex Pistols’ posturing.
Through the early months of 1977 the Sex Pistols created front page tabloid headlines while Liverpool dominated the back pages. By way of irony, in the wake of Revie’s abrupt departure it was the governing body who, to quote a hit of messrs Rotten, Cook Jones and Matlock, were made to look ‘pretty vacant‘ – which is possibly the first and quite likely the last time, the FA and the Sex Pistols have been referenced in the same sentence.
TWENTY GREAT GAMES – of 1976-77:
CHELSEA 3 WOLVES 3 – (11/12/1976): With just over a week having passed since the Sex Pistols uttered their profanities on national television, managers’ Eddie McCreadie and Sammy Chung may have directed some expletives at their respective defenders following this hugely entertaining top of the table second division encounter.
Contested by two sides who would finish the season champions and runners-up, the attacking enterprise is cause for wonder on what both sides are doing in these reduced circumstances (Chelsea midway through a second season outside the topflight, Wolves having been relegated the previous May). But defensive frailties go a long way to answering the question – the comedy of errors in the visitor’s rearguard when Chelsea level at 1-1 would have made far lesser players embarrassed to show their faces in the pub following a Sunday morning game.
Following a heavy overnight London frost, counteracted by deposits of sand that turned the pitch into a concoction of rutted field and unkempt beach, the unpredictable surface is unable to deter positive intentions from talents such as Ray Wilkins and Kenny Hibbitt – whose deft touch paves the way for John Richards to open the scoring with typical aplomb, Wilkins the beneficiary when the Wolves defence looks more sandcastle than fortress.
The quick thinking evident in the forward play is replicated in commentary when a shot of Henry Kissinger sitting in the Directors Box prompts Brian Moore to say the services of the US Peace Envoy might be required to quell a disturbance on the terraces – the attention of the Chelsea back four seemingly elsewhere when Bobby Gould heads Wolves back in front shortly before half-time.
When an unmarked Richards puts Wolves further ahead on the hour the issue appears settled – but from a done and dusted away win, things develop to game of the season proportion, Ian Britton reducing the arrears before a fully roused Stamford Bridge rises to acclaim a late Steve Finnieston leveller.
LIVERPOOL 3 ST ETIENNE 1 – European Cup quarter-final second leg (16/3/1977): By this stage of the decade, English football had the dual phenomenon of the maverick player and Liverpool. The wizardry of such performers such as Stan Bowles, Alan Hudson and Tony Currie is rightly extolled, yet such individual artistry was something Liverpool obviously felt they could do without – although having players like Ray Clemence, Jimmy Case, Ian Callaghan, Steve Heighway and Ray Kennedy doing the basics to a very high standard was an art in itself.
The case, no pun intended, was never more exemplified than in this absorbing clash, when a blend of ability and bloody-minded application saw Liverpool overcome a first-leg deficit and topple a very talented side, the fixture often cited as the greatest European night Anfield has ever staged.
Going into the match on the back of a 1-0 defeat in France two weeks earlier, delirium takes hold when Kevin Keegan levels the aggregate after barely two minutes. Despite Clemence making a series of exceptional saves, just after the break he can do nothing to prevent a majestic twenty-five yarder from Dominique Bathanay screaming into the net to change the complexion of the tie.
But with unrelenting purpose and belief in their collective reliability Liverpool stay on the front foot and regain the lead through Ray Kennedy, yet it remains advantage St Etienne by virtue of their away goal. There is, however, a sense of inevitability about David Fairclough being on hand to score the winner (‘Super sub strikes again‘ shouts commentator Gerald Sinstadt over the monumental roar that acclaims the goal), man of the match Clemence later reflecting:
‘That was a special night. We won the European Cup in Rome, but the win over St Etienne gave us the belief we could win it.’
ENGLAND 0 HOLLAND 2 – (9/2/1977): Context as they say is everything, in which case England suffering a first home reversal in almost four years may not, in other circumstances, have prompted much soul searching – but in this instance there was nothing to mask the proportion of defeat.
Coming on the heels of a costly World Cup qualifying loss in Rome two months before, when baffling selections and fatal lack of strategy left England without any semblance of method, the sub-title of this friendly could have been complete chaos meets total football – manager Don Revie again plumping for a disjointed, almost unfathomable line-up which Dutch masters such as Krol, Neeskens, Rep, Rensenbrink and the great man Cruyff himself easily exploit.
Scoring twice through Jan Peters before half-time, after the break Holland treat the 90,000 in attendance to an exhibition of economic passing, creating the impression winning at Wembley is no big deal after all. Playing a brand of meticulous, modern football, in contrast England look outdated and old hat – and not the sort of outfit who would go another four years without losing at home.
ENGLAND 1 SCOTLAND 2 – (4/6/1977): Three days after Wales recorded a first ever win beneath the Twin Towers, Scotland scored their first Wembley triumph for ten years, the margin of victory far more comfortable than the score line suggests.
Goals either side of half-time from Gordon McQueen and Kenny Dalglish were just reward for the overall control Scotland exerted, the only blemish on an otherwise disciplined display being a late loss of focus that saw England pull one back through a Mick Channon penalty.
The victorious vandalism of celebrating Scotland supporters afterwards on the Wembley pitch distracted from another poor England performance – a fourth defeat in six games accelerating the circumstances under which manager Revie would shortly depart.
FULHAM 4 HEREFORD UNITED 1 – (25/9/1976): If you liked your football with a touch of tomfoolery then in the early weeks of 1976-77 Craven Cottage was the place to be – this the prime example of the ‘Carry on Football‘ Fulham had begun to indulge in, Best and Marsh adding hilarity to individual skill levels that remained impressively high.
True, Hereford are a touch too accommodating for their own good, but that is not to decry all the flicks, feints, not to say fancy dan finishing on the part of Rodney – the repertoire of Marsh and Best going as far to tackle each other in order to be first with the next trick.
The comedic capers even stretch to the Hereford goal that reduces the deficit after Alan Slough and John Evanson have given the hosts a 2-0 lead – Fulham central defender Ernie Howe heading an own goal of rolling-in-the-aisle proportion.
Marsh scores his two goals with the panache he could summon at will throughout his career, but while such an afternoon had them laughing all the way along this bank of the Thames, seven days later Fulham, or the Hammersmith Globetrotters if you prefer, became south coast canon fodder in losing 4-1 at Southampton, the pattern thus established for the next seven months.
MANCHESTER UNITED 2 LEEDS UNITED 1 – FA Cup semi-final (23/4/1977): Meeting at the same venue where they contested FA Cup semi-finals in 1965 and 1970, this Silver Jubilee year showdown falls somewhere between ‘All Our Yesterday’s‘ and ‘Tomorrow’s World.’
While goalkeeper Alex Stepney is the sole Manchester United survivor from seven years before, Leeds have five, one of whom, full-back Paul Reaney, played in the 1965 encounter. With so many other established names on the team-sheet (McQueen, Cherry, Jordan, Frankie Gray), such is the familiarity it is a surprise not to find Hunter, Bremner and Giles in the line-up.
For Manchester United the days of Best, Law and Charlton are long gone, but they have bounced back positively from the indignity of relegation in 1974. Playing in a dynamic style with young wingers Gordon Hill and Steve Coppell providing penetration out wide, they are reestablished as a major force – although a surprise loss to second division Southampton in the 1976 final still leaves them needing a major trophy to cement their renaissance.
Even before early goals from Jimmy Greenhoff and Coppell put Tommy Docherty’s side firmly in command, Leeds appear to have been wrong-footed – opting to play in their all-yellow change strip and with Manchester United supporters in the majority, there is a sense of ‘home’ and ‘away’ team rather than neutral ground status, former boss Don Revie unlikely to have countenanced anything other than Leeds playing in their traditional white kit.
Despite now having the majestic Tony Currie in their ranks, Leeds struggle to impose themselves and produce little to unduly worry the opposition, who are made to feel uncomfortable about a number of missed chances when former England striker Allan Clarke reduces the deficit with a 70th minute penalty – yet for all their late endeavors the Elland Road old-guard cannot save the day and the end of an era beckons.
In advancing to win the FA Cup and then reaching the final again in 1979 Manchester United play in three of the four finals that close decade – and with one triumph to their name mirror the record of Leeds, who played in three of the four finals that began the 70s.
LIVERPOOL 2 EVERTON 2 – FA Cup semi-final (23/4/1977): Right away let us deal with the elephant in the room. With less than five minutes remaining of this Merseyside derby of an FA Cup semi-final, Bryan Hamilton deflects a Ronny Goodlass cross past Ray Clemence to give Everton a 3-2 lead that in all-likelihood secures a place in the FA Cup Final.
But unconfined joy in the land of Evertonia is quickly curtailed, the Maine Road air turning blue amongst the travelling Goodison hordes when they realise Welsh referee Clive Thomas has disallowed the goal. The perceived ‘infringement’ is no more decipherable today than it was back then – an absence of appeals from red-shirted defenders or raised flag of a linesman giving the impression it was the latest arbitrary decision in the career of the Treorchy whistler, based on what he guessed happened rather than what actually did.
Until the point Thomas made his illogical intervention, Everton had responded through Duncan Mackenzie and Bruce Rioch to Liverpool twice taking the lead by virtue of goals from Terry McDermott and Jimmy Case. The acknowledgement of Anfield skipper Emlyn Hughes many years later of, ‘Everton played really well on the day and should have beaten us,’ of no consolation to those on the blue side of Stanley Park – particularly in light of Liverpool cruising to a 3-0 victory in the replay four days later.
LIVERPOOL 1 MANCHESTER UNITED 2 – FA Cup Final (21/5/1977): Considered something of a let down at the time due to so many top-class players failing to produce a better match, compared to the tedious 1996 FA Cup Final between the same two clubs, history should perhaps be kinder to the ’77 encounter.
With Liverpool seeking to complete their first league and FA Cup ‘double’ (championship already in the bag with a European Cup Final still to come) and Manchester United keen to make amends for their shock defeat against Southampton at the same stage 12 months earlier, the fierce rivalry between the finalists, combined with the kudos still attached to winning the FA Cup, made it the most anticipated final for a number of years.
After an even, if somewhat uneventful first half, the match caught fire in five second half minutes. Stuart Pearson put United ahead with a low drive, the lead lasting until Jimmy Case replied 80 seconds later – things ultimately decided by a 55th minute goal from Jimmy Greenhoff, who deflected home a drive from team-mate Lou Macari.
Collecting their first significant prize since 1968, skipper Martin Buchan hoisted aloft the FA Cup on the same spot where Bobby Charlton lifted the European Cup, the last major honour won by United, nine years before.
LIVERPOOL 3 BORUSSIA MUNCHENGLADBACH 1 – European Cup Final (25/5/1977): Similar to the England rugby team in the period 2001-2003, there was a growing sense Liverpool had begun an era where if they played well victory was assured no matter who the opposition.
In their first European Cup Final they travelled to Rome in order to face the side they had overcome in the 1973 UEFA Cup Final (winning the two-leg affair 6-5 on aggregate), the West German champions boasting four 1974 World Cup winners with the national team, who lined up alongside gifted Danish attacker Alan Simonsen – whose goal six minutes into the second half cancelled out a 25th minute Terry McDermott strike.
Yet even with the West Germans back on level terms and looking dangerous there remained the feeling Liverpool would prevail, the lead regained twelve minutes later from the unlikely source of veteran defender Tommy Smith.
The outcome was put beyond any doubt when the merry dance Kevin Keegan (playing what proved his last game for Liverpool before a summer transfer to Hamburg), had led the Borussia defence resulted in him being tripped by World Cup winner Berti Vogts – full-back Phil Neal slotting home the ensuing 82nd minute penalty to ensure Liverpool became the second English club to become European champions, Bob Paisley the first manager to win the UEFA and European Cup in successive seasons.
LIVERPOOL 3 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 1 – (11/12/1976): On a dank Merseyside afternoon, 90 minutes of fluid, purposeful football was just the thing to lift the mid-winter gloom, the hosts having to work hard in overcoming the side they just pipped to the league title back in May.
In taking the lead with an early Peter Eastoe header Rangers expose the Liverpool defence in a way that rarely happened at Anfield – but intense pressure at the other end finally yielded a late in the half equaliser from John Toshack.
While unable to reproduce the excellence on a weekly basis that would have made them worthy champions the previous season, QPR still produce moments that stretch Liverpool to their limits, late goals from Kevin Keegan and Ray Kennedy deciding a high-quality encounter that was in the balance for 80 minutes.
ARSENAL 5 NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 – (4/12/1976): As the 70s unfolded in became harder to put perspective on the fortunes of Newcastle United.
Propelled by the hefty year on year goal returns of talisman striker Malcolm Macdonald, they were losing finalists in both the FA (1974) and League Cup (1976) Finals and usually an attractive watch – more often than not creating the sense a couple more top draw players would have seen them go further in the silverware stakes.
Without the goal scoring contributions of ‘Supermac’ however, they would have floundered, so his big money move to Highbury in the summer of 1976 created a huge void on Tyneside. At the same time, it was a serious statement of intent from Arsenal, who under new manager Terry Neill were anxious to arrest a decline in evidence since 1973.
For the first few months of 1976-77 Newcastle did not appear unduly affected by the loss of Macdonald, motoring along nicely in or around the top six, their former chief marksman in steady rather than spectacular form since swopping the Northeast for North London.
But all that changed on a cold early December afternoon when ‘Supermac’ served reminder he was the most complete centre-forward around in netting a hat-trick against his former club. The pace, power and predatory instincts that account for his goals attributes England boss Don Revie felt the national team could do without – this after a disastrous performance against Italy in Rome a fortnight earlier when the visitors lined up without a recognised striker, let alone anyone to lead the line.
While his tenure at Highbury was blighted by injury, in his first season Macdonald finished joint top Division One scorer with 25 goals and in the one after helped Arsenal reach the FA Cup Final. For their part after an excellent fifth-place finish in 1976-77, Newcastle dropped like a stone and were relegated in 1978 with a meagre points total.
ASTON VILLA 5 LIVERPOOL 1 – (15/12/1976): Few would have batted an eyelid at the ever-dependable Ray Kennedy scoring a first half goal, but fewer still, even in their wildest Holte End hallucinations, would have dreamed the home side scoring five at the other end before half-time.
In the most extraordinary 45 minutes of the season, Villa struck through Andy Gray, John Deehan (twice) and Brian Little before Kennedy scored what was already a consolation – Gray then netting again to complete the rout. Despite losing 3-0 at Anfield five weeks before and even without adding to their tally after the break, the barnstorming first-half display confirmed notions Ron Saunders was developing a noteworthy Villa team.
Afterwards Liverpool boss Bob Paisley bemoaned defensive errors and threatened wholesale changes – which proved reversal phycology so to speak as three of the four defenders who suffered a Villa Park pummeling were still in situ when the European Cup was secured five months later.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4 MANCHESTER UNITED 0 – (16/10/1976): Nothing boosts the morale of a newly promoted side more than a notable early season win to grab the attention of those with whom they now rub shoulders. Seven days prior to the visit of Manchester United, Albion, who under the shrewd guidance of player-manager Johnny Giles reclaimed their topflight status a few months before, had served up a Hawthorns hammering of Spurs to maintain a good start to the campaign – but playing host to a United side in fine form and so far, unbeaten away from Old Trafford was an altogether different proposition.
Yet it proved a challenge Albion met with relish, Giles and Ally Brown on target before the break with Len Cantello and Ray Treacy settling things after half-time. Rather than shut up shop with the game slipping away, the United defence continued to look more open all hours on a day when their come-what-may, all-out attack approach was ruthlessly exposed.
It was not all plain sailing for Albion who during the course of 1976-77 would themselves be thrashed at Ipswich and Sunderland, but in the final analysis these were bumps on the road leading to a seventh placed finish.
MANCHESTER CITY 5 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 – (7/5/1977): By the time of this late season encounter the game, to a different extent, was effectively up for both sides; City had seen their title challenge slip away in failing to win three of their previous six games, while for Spurs the season pretty much amounted to failure by degrees – a mauling at Maine Road making relegation a racing if not mathematical certainty.
For an hour or so it appears a competitive contest and although separated by a Tommy Booth header, the evident class of a young Glenn Hoddle keeps Tottenham in with a shout – but a Dennis Tueart goal starts the visitors foundations wobbling, the roof falling in around them as Peter Barnes, Asa Hartford and Brian Kidd all find the target.
For each the game is virtually a microcosm of the season – City formidable when the mood takes them, Spurs prone to crumble in the face of adversity.
ASTON VILLA 3 EVERTON 2 – League Cup Final second replay (13/4/1977): As a member of a generation who lament the fact England no longer produces players in the mold of Alan Ball and Martin Peters, we should also be saddened managers such as Ron Saunders no longer exist.
Cussed, calm and clear-minded, Saunders talked about football in language everybody understood, his approach one of doing and saying just what was needed with no flimflam – much the same as how his Villa charges went about their business.
Since taking charge barely three years before he had guided Villa to a promotion and League Cup double in 1974-75 and brought them back respect as a top division outfit. His third full season at the helm saw advancement to another League Cup Final, Saunders involved in the fixture for the fourth time in five seasons after previous (losing) visits with Norwich and Manchester City.
Even with his history in this competition the latest was beginning to feel more endurance test than cup final, the third installment taking place a month after the initial goalless Wembley encounter, a 1-1 Hillsborough stalemate coming in between. The last of the three-test series was undoubtedly the best, Everton rewarded for their early dominance with a 38th minute Bob Latchford goal, a lead they held until ten minutes from time, pegged back by a scarcely believable 30-yard rocket shot from Villa centre-back Chris Nicholl.
During the next three minutes fortunes swung back and forth, Brian Little scoring from close range to put Villa ahead, Mike Lyons closer still when he restored parity with a header in taking the match to extra-time.
With just 90 seconds of the additional half hour remaining Little seized on tiredness in the Everton rearguard to settle the issue – the notion of Villa becoming league champions four years later may have appeared fanciful even at this point, although those with an active imagination might like to conjure the image of Ron Saunders-reincarnate taking charge of training at a Premiership club for an hour today.
SUNDERLAND 6 WEST HAM UNITED 0 – (5/3/1977): It is fair to say Kenneth Wolstenholme watched a good deal of football in his lifetime, so when he says in commentary, ‘I’ve never seen a defence so wide open as this one of West Ham‘ you automatically think it is a remark worth noting.
Having scored ten in their previous two home games, Sunderland are clearly enjoying a purple patch in front of the red and white masses inside Roker Park – and despite a troublesome return to the top division that brought the autumn resignation of ’73 FA Cup winning boss Bob Stokoe, the spectre of instantly returning to Division Two has begun to lift during a remarkable goal scoring spree.
Mel Holden (twice) and Gary Rowell only have to do the minimum required in establishing a 3-0 half-time lead – the Hammers back four soon to be at fives and sixes as Bobby Kerr, Rowell and Rob Lee make it a comprehensive clumping for a side who appear complete strangers to one another (‘how effective would Trevor Brooking be in a good team‘ opines Wolstenholme), rather than team-mates who reached FA Cup and European finals together.
Short term the story ended badly for both – Sunderland suffered an agonizing last day demotion and although West Ham survived to fight another topflight season, despite a poor second half to this campaign, the relegation notice of 1977-78 was already in the post.
ARSENAL 2 WEST HAM UNITED 3 – (19/2/1977): In the early spring of 1977 you would have been hard pressed to find two sides so out of form as these London rivals – who between them could claim only one win in their last eleven league matches.
What ensued was an entertaining, if at times chaotic affair, in which neither side seem entirely sure what to do with themselves, let alone the opposition and while it doesn’t exactly deteriorate into hoof-ball, it often appears first division football on the hoof.
The point is made in circumstances surrounding the opening goal, Liam Brady after impressing with a superb array of passing puts Arsenal ahead following a messy goalmouth scramble. Trevor Brooking then finds his range with a delightful pass that allows Alan Taylor to slot home the equaliser.
Neither defence emerges with any distinction as Billy Jennings puts West Ham ahead, his far post header cancelled out by a Frank Stapleton strike – the match decided on the hour by the best worked goal of the five, reacting first to a Frank Lampard cross Taylor heads smartly home, thus scoring another brace on the ground where he netted twice in an FA Cup quarter-final two years before.
Both clubs were to continue on through the remainder of the season in more miss than hit fashion, Arsenal at least having an FA Cup fifth round tie to be excited about………….
MIDDLESBROUGH 4 ARSENAL 1 – (26/2/1977): It would not be beyond the realms of possibility to have heard Middlesbrough described as a ‘good outside bet for the cup‘ on comprehensively accounting for Arsenal at Ayresome Park – full of dash and drive, ‘Boro a team to avoid when the sixth round was made.
From the off they are far too direct for a quickly creaking Arsenal defence, David Mills on hand to score twice in the opening 13 minutes. Malcolm Macdonald reduces the arrears with a late first half header, but in Graeme Souness Boro have the best player on show – his superbly weighted pass leaving David Armstrong with a straightforward task in restoring the two-goal margin. With a season to salvage Arsenal go for broke but the woodwork denies them a lifeline, their resistance broken for good when Mills completes his hat-trick in the final seconds.
While few would have relished a sixth-round trip to Ayresome Park, nobody in their right mind was hoping for an away tie at Liverpool – Boro and their FA Cup dreams coming to grief at Anfield three weeks later.
DERBY COUNTY 4 MANCHESTER CITY 0 – (30/4/1977): Front and centre of this late April contest is the sight of referee Yates and a member of the Derby ground staff, (armed with tape measure and paint pot) restoring the penalty spot to a mud bound goalmouth in order for Derby to take a late spot-kick under the correct auspices.
Up until the moment emulsion was required it had been City suffering a whitewash, second half goals from Archie Gemmill, Peter Daniel and Kevin Hector belying the fact Derby had only recorded one win in their previous seven outings – thus reflecting a tumultuous season at the Baseball Ground, during which Dave Mackay was sacked only 18 months after guiding The Rams to their second league title of the decade.
From the reconstituted penalty spot Gerry Daly put the gloss on a victory that banished any lingering relegation fears, City on the other hand left to rue 90 minutes when their title aspirations had been painted into a corner.
BOLTON WANDERERS 0 WOLVES 1 – (14/5/1977): There is nothing in public record of Brian Clough having a particular affinity with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but during the 70s he had cause to thank Wolves on a couple of occasions.
In 1971-72 their last game of the season win over Leeds enabled Clough’s Derby County side to become league champions – and now, five years later, he was beholden to the Molineux outfit winning at Bolton, which provided his Nottingham Forest side won their last game of the campaign, would enable them to pip the Burnden Park team to the third Division Two promotion place.
Having already secured the second division title Wolves travelled up the M6 reveling in their immediate return to Division One – this ebullience personified in an audacious free-kick routine between Willie Carr and Kenny Hibbitt that bewilders the Bolton defence to the extent of Hibbitt being unmarked when he puts Wolves ahead.
They spend virtually the next 70 minutes on the defensive as Bolton, led by the incisive crossing of Willie Morgan, pursue an equaliser (a draw enough to keep their promotion hopes alive as they still had one more fixture to play), Sam Allardyce sending a header inches over while Neil Whatmore has an apparent leveller ruled out for offside.
Drama ensues right to the end, Wolves playing the last couple of minutes with striker Bobby Gould (already on as a substitute) in goal after Gary Pierce has left the pitch through injury. But even then, Bolton cannot force a breakthrough – the course of English and European football changed irrevocably for the next few years when in overcoming Millwall at the City Ground Nottingham Forest seize the moment, something they would often do in the seasons ahead……………….
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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.