This is a wonderful piece courtesy of our own Goonersince54. Clive, thank you for sharing such an evocative and memorable piece of your, and the Arsenal’s, history.
The Arsenal’s first match in the 1970-71 FA Cup was a 3rd Round tie away to Yeovil. This game was sandwiched between the Boxing Day 0-0 draw at home to Southampton and the 2-0 win at home against the Hammers on the 9th Jan.
I was working in retail at the time and as Saturday was always the busiest shopping day of the week, I couldn’t attend the game. Moreover, it being the January sales, I wouldn’t have had time to scratch myself, so I wouldn’t have known the result until after closing time. We won 3-0 with a goal from Ray Kennedy and two goals from John Radford.
The 4th Round tie away to Portsmouth on Jan 23rd was a big test as we were coming off the back of a shock 2-0 loss in the league away to Huddersfield. This game was a real nail biter with a 40,000 crowd, packed into Fratton Park in pouring rain. We were ahead 1-0 at halftime from a Peter Storey penalty, and just when it looked as if we were going to see out the game for a hard-earned win, Pompey salvaged a draw with a last-minute goal to earn a replay at Highbury.
I was working again that day, it being a Saturday, but was sneaking off to keep up with the game on a radio I had brought into work. To say I was gutted by the very late equaliser would be an understatement.
The replay was another fraught night, coming just 48hrs after another damaging league defeat away to Liverpool 2-0. Like the first game, it was played in pouring rain, and we were like drowned rats standing in our usual position near the dugout. I was at the game with Dad, and our hearts sank when Pompey scored very early, but Charlie George soon equalised, and ‘Simmo’ scored with a great header to give us the lead. Credit to Pompey though, they never gave up and when they equalised for a 2nd time, I remember saying to Dad that I thought we were headed for extra time. Then big Raddy got taken out in the penalty area, and ‘Mr Cool’ stepped up to score from the spot and seal the 3-2 victory.
It was quite a spiteful match with Pompey trying to unsettle us by getting really stuck in and I think they had a player sent off near the end.
However, we were through to the 5th round though the knowledge that we had to play Man City away at Maine Road did not fill me with any great confidence. The tie should have been played on Saturday 13th February but for the life of me I cannot remember why it wasn’t. Maybe it was inclement weather? Can you remember?
Anyway, it was played the following Wednesday, the 17th, and Charlie George who had missed a large chunk of the season with injury, scored 2 crackers and the team surprised most supporters including me, by coming away with a 2 –1 win.
The 6th Round away tie against Second Division high flyers Leicester on Saturday 6th March, came on the back of a good 3-0 league win over Wolves at Highbury, but again, I was reduced to trying to follow the game on the radio while working, making for a very fraught afternoon.
We were totally outplayed on a typical early spring heavy pitch and, but for some outstanding defensive work and top goalkeeping by Bob, we would have lost and history would never have been made. The game ended 0-0.
Dad and I were at the Highbury replay which had to be deferred for 10 days to Monday 15th as we were still in the Fairs Cup and had a home game against Cologne on Wednesday the 9th. The replay was almost as fraught as the first game, a very nervy/tight/tense game with so much at stake for both clubs. Dad was like a cat on a hot tin roof which inevitably transferred itself to me! We were packed in like sardines and you couldn’t have fallen over if you tried. We were all, to a man, devastated when it looked as if Leicester had taken the lead in the first half and at the time, we had absolutely no idea why the goal was eventually disallowed. We later found out that it was chalked off for a push on Pat Rice, spotted by the linesman. That saved our bacon.
Then just before the interval, we got the breakthrough via a pinpoint Geordie Armstrong corner that Charlie rose up in the night sky to just beat the Leicester keeper Peter Shilton to it, and head us into the lead. I spent most of the 2nd half looking at the clock, willing it to go faster, as it seemed to take an age to tick round to 9.15pm and the final whistle. Cue absolute joy among the fans, hugging everyone within reach at the prospect of a semi-final appearance and one more game to get through for a potential Wembley final. It’s worth pointing out that Leicester were a very good side and they were unlucky to lose. Their consolation was winning the Second Division title and promotion to the First Division.
As for the semi-final against Stoke on Saturday March 27th, the omens weren’t good. We were coming off a very dispiriting 1- 0 loss away to Cologne in midweek which knocked us out of the Fairs Cup on the away goals rule and to say we started off looking very heavy-legged and low on confidence, was an understatement. Stoke just blew us away, and in truth, could have scored 3 or 4 with a bit more luck. Of course, I was working as usual and here I have to make a confession. I had my radio out the back in the stockroom off the sales floor and kept nipping out to check the progress.
After going 0-2 down, we had pulled one back through Peter Storey very early in the 2nd half to make it 2-1, but try as we might we just couldn’t create much and the clock wound down to the 90 minutes. With about a minute to go, I grumpily turned the radio off, convinced that we were out.
I was working at the Wimbledon Woolworth store as Assistant manager at the time and to say it was an Arsenal fan free zone would be putting it mildly. So, I was oblivious to the fact that we had scored in the last minute through a Peter Storey penalty to take the game to a replay. I only found out on the train going home after work that night when I saw the back page of the evening paper that a man sitting opposite me was reading!!
As for the replay, Dad somehow managed to get 2 tickets through an Arsenal mate for the game at Villa Park on the following Wednesday. He knocked off work early and I got the nod from the Store Manager to do the same and we went up on a train full of hopeful and optimistic Gooners. It was a fantastic night with a hard fought 2-0 victory through goals from George Graham and Ray Kennedy. We returned on the train full of the same, this time very happy, singing, and heavily inebriated supporters.
That night, along with the Final itself, were the two best times Dad and I had together during the Cup run, given the adversity we had to overcome to finally get our hands on the trophy.
You’ll no doubt have read about the Final already. If you haven’t, check the ‘Fan Memories’ post from 10th May or hear Bob and Pat’s recollections on the video to which there is a link below.
THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE TWO
And again…the second part of the conversation, and the second part of our Double Celebration!
GHF.com are pleased to release this, especially considering the Arsenal events of these past couple weeks. Lift your spirits by watching the second episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year, on the 50th Anniversary of our FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley. Remember to donate to Willow, or bid on the GHF.com Auction!
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run”
Or, watch here: “Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is open for bids through 23 May! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
Tonight we beat Chelsea in the league for the second time this season. I think that is something to be pleased with!
And yet, I’ve gotta say that it hurts how little that actually matters…
When the fixture list came out, perhaps a few of us looked at this game, so close to the end of the season, and wondered what might be riding on it? The answer is not a lot. Chelsea themselves still look good for 4th place and guaranteed Champions League football. They also have the FA Cup final and the Champions League Final to look towards.
We have an outside chance of playing in a new European Competition that is for teams who have not proven themselves good enough for the Europa League *cue Mr. Burns-style shudder*
However, results against lesser lights have been our downfall in a season when we have been the masters of our own mediocrity.
The funny thing is that after Jorginho gifted us a goal I actually felt quite confident we would win. Or at least I think I did – perhaps I just did not care very much if we lost?
The Portuguese made an awful backpass that Kepa just managed to paw off the line. However, it went to Auba who squared for ESR to bobble one in. The SKY team were desperate to give Andre Marriner credit for not giving an indirect free kick for a backpass. I am no expert, but Kepa looked well within his rights to make a goal-line save, and if that was what was the backpass rule was meant to prevent then I’ll drink a beer.
*two minute pause*
Well, perhaps that was what the backpass rule was meant to prevent, as I am bravely drinking a penance beer.
Apart from being given a goal, we were not great (although I should point out that our high-press was effective in forcing an error, even if we were fortunate that it was such a calamitous one). Saka was out of the game as a right wing back. Holding, Mari and Gabriel played in a three at the back with KT on the left. Elneny and Partey played central. Auba floated about ineffectively up top (no service and he does nothing if you don’t feed him) with ESR and Odegaard behind him on the left and right, respectively. It was a bit of a mishmash of a team and a formation, and perhaps it was a judgement on the players in our current squad that the manager felt it was his best option. Or perhaps it was just a shot in the dark to try to get a performance from us?
Who knows?
At this point in the season it is hard to suggest that we have any revelations about the team heading our way.
So, what else did we learn, if anything?
Partey needs a proper partner before we judge him, but he has not convinced anyone yet… Apart from me. He has convinced me that, whatever aspirations he has to play further forward, he should be the deep-lying midfielder. He was harshly given a yellow in injury time when he went down asking for a penalty. That would have been a soft decision, but I thought he might be busting a gut to get a shot away for his first Arsenal goal. Apparently not. He made a great run and then allowed himself to be funnelled safely into the channel. If only the chance had fallen to Elneny – he would have put his foot through it!
Chelsea actually put in a performance quite reminiscent of us this season. They controlled possession, were the better side, created some decent chances, missed those chances, gave away a needless goal, and could not find a way back into the match against a determined side who defended deep.
They were unlucky to hit the bar twice in ten seconds at the end. Apparently, there are some Gooners who do not consider hitting the woodwork twice to be a sign of nearly scoring a goal because these efforts do not count as shots on target. Personally, I do not see it like that, and when Giroud volleyed a lovely effort into the bar after Leno pushed Zouma’s header against it, I thought Chelsea were unlucky not to score. Which made me quite happy.
Then again, early in the game Mari hesitated to step onto a Gabriel pass to allow Havertz (whose face seems to have too much bone but not enough flesh – I bet he is a mean vampire at Halloween) to run through at Leno and, luckily for us, Lacazette his one-on-one chance over the bar. (Bit harsh on Laca, I know, but he has missed a few this year.)
The team in blue also had a goal rightly disallowed for an offside after a ball was flicked on from a corner. Before VAR intervened, the sound system belted out The Fratellis’ ‘Chelsea Dagger’. If only the disallowed goal had been a dagger to their hearts, instead of just a minor frustration in the least important match they will play anytime soon.
Whoever our set-piece coach is he needs to take a long look in the mirror. We do not look secure defending corners. Our own short corners are woeful. Our corner takers consistently take corners that do not provide anyone a chance to attack them. When anyone attacks one of our corners they never seem to have any conviction that they will score. All of which means we score very little from corners. It is such a basic area to improve and the fact that we have a bloke who is supposed to specialise in this rubs salt into the wound. As does the fact that Bellerin cannot take a legal throw-in.
Speaking of Hector, he came on and had a shot on target after our best move of the night before injuring himself as he stretched to clear a lofted ball. Soon after he was replaced by Chambers. Personally, I have no idea who our first choice right-back is, so I wanted Cedric to come on for Chambers, so we got a look at all of them in the same game!
There was a first half moment when Holding blocked a shot after a move that was partly excellent from Chelsea and partly us ball-watching. I am pretty sure he blocked it with his hand but we won this evening’s VAR lottery and no penalty was awarded.
Mikel Arteta was bullish after the game in his interview. He was extremely angry with the way some of his comments in his last presser had been construed, and it is hard not to believe a bloke so visibly furious at stories in the papers that he had thrown any of his players under a bus. Which is fair enough. How would you feel if the national press said that you were like Jose Mourinho?
Yeah. Pretty angry, right?
In such circumstances then well might you, too, look like a human velociraptor as it readies itself to go in for the kill. All eyeballs and tight skin and the menace of hidden incisors.
What? It was only me that got that impression? Nah, you lot are lying.
One thing I think we must take serious note of is how hard our players worked and how much they wanted to win. In a match that will probably prove a dead rubber there can be no doubt that they gave their manager everything tonight, and I think that is another reason to be encouraged ahead of next season. Elneny got MOTM and fair play to him. I also thought ESR worked his balls off.
Right, I have started on a high and ended on a high. As this awful season limps to a close you could not ask me for more than that!
I hope we manage two more wins to end on as much of a high as we can.
Until next time, have a good one, Holics.
THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE TWO
And again…the second part of the conversation, and the second part of our Double Celebration!
GHF.com are pleased to release this, especially considering the Arsenal events of these past couple weeks. Lift your spirits by watching the second episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year, on the 50th Anniversary of our FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley. Remember to donate to Willow, or bid on the GHF.com Auction!
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run”
Or, watch here: “Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is now open for bids! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
Hello again everyone and welcome to a quick preview of our antepenultimate game of the season – a trip, as the image above suggests, to a bus stop in Fulham. Fresh from two wins in a row against Newcastle and West Brom we now face a step up in class – or of course a step down depending on how you interpret class – against a Chelsea side which I must, through gritted teeth, say have done ok since Tuchel arrived to replace the pleasingly mediocre Lumpard. Having mentioned Tuchel, I suppose at this early point in the preview I should acknowledge that some of my fellow Gooners will no doubt see parallels there with our own current situation, however, to me the fundamental difference of our not being willing to spend 200 million quid or whatever it was in a summer makes the comparison meaningless. Without going into tedious detail, I am, for myself, perfectly happy to give Mikel and our youngsters another season to develop without the distractions of second-rate European midweek games and see where we stand at the end of next season. Disagree? One of the very best things about this bar is that you are free to do so in the comments below and I sincerely hope we always remain a broad church.
Back then, to tonight’s game and when asked what he wants from the final three games of the season MA said “I think it is the pride in the shirt that we wear, and that we want to win”. That I think is a sentiment that we can all agree on and one I hope to see fully demonstrated by whatever XI is selected. We have already beaten Chelsea once this season, a 3-1 win in December that promised briefly to turn our league form around and so another win tonight would give us a first double over them since the 2003/04 season – far too long. Talking of too long, it also now nearly 10 years since we won at the bus stop a 5-3 win of happy memory in which a certain Mikel Arteta got an assist for Van Persie to put the cherry on top in the final minute. Though it would almost certainly be largely meaningless in terms of our league position, a win in a London derby is always welcome.
The Opposition
I will deal briefly with Chelsea as we all know who they, what they are and who they represent – in my opinion an odious ownership, a largely shameless and shameful support, and the exploitative values of a sad-faced cutthroat.
They will pick a team with one eye on other games I expect but will also want to win tonight. It will be up to us to put whatever dent we can into their confidence going forwards. Given the probability of an unfamiliar line-up it is quite possible there will be a few goals in the game tonight even though Chelsea have been accumulating clean sheets at home over the last couple of months – who then are the men to get them for The Arsenal?
The Line Up
As has been the case recently it is again very difficult to know who will start.
I do know Luiz is definitely out and that fitness doubts surround Xhaka, ESR, Auba and Mari as far as I am aware at this stage. I believe Auba was just rested for WBA and I expect to see his return for this one. Short of an injury update from the club your guess is as good as mine for the others.
For what it’s worth I’m expecting a few changes for this one and an XI something like to the team below…
Leno
Chambers – Holding – Gabriel – Tierney
Thomas – Elneny
Saka – Odegaard – Pepe
Auba
A fairly experienced side in other words and with a midfield designed to offer added protection in defence rather than attack. It is not the XI I would pick at this stage of the season and if Xhaka is fit it will not be the one that MA picks either. With that proviso I think it is fairly close, and also that we will attempt to hit their still suspect defence on the counter using Pepe, Auba and Saka’s pace.
The Holic Pound
Having grown up in South London I have always enjoyed beating Chelsea and few things would give me greater pleasure than nailing the score with the Holic Pound this time. Tempting as it is go with a 10th anniversary 5-3 to The Arsenal, that score does not grow on trees and in the circumstances I will go even further back for a Kanuuuu inspired 3-2 win for the good guys at the highly lucrative odds of 66-1.
I wish all of us all the best for the game and will finish with COYGs!!!!!!
THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE TWO
And again…the second part of the conversation, and the second part of our Double Celebration!
GHF.com are pleased to release this, especially considering the Arsenal events of these past couple weeks. Lift your spirits by watching the second episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year, on the 50th Anniversary of our FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley. Remember to donate to Willow, or bid on the GHF.com Auction!
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run”
Or, watch here: “Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is now open for bids! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
Having clinched the league title on a remarkable night at White Hart Lane, Arsenal travelled to Wembley five days later to meet Liverpool in their first FA Cup Final for eighteen years, a repeat of the 1950 final against Liverpool. Arsenal prepared for their sixty-fourth game of a tumultuous season knowing that victory would give them the second Double of the modern era. Tickets were very hard to come by for a game all Arsenal fans wanted to see. These accounts come from some lucky enough to be there and others swept up in the excitement and euphoria that engulfed North London during that remarkable week in May.
Did you manage to get a ticket for the Final? If so how did you come by it? If not, where did you watch it? What were your memories of the day and the occasion?
TTG: Gutted not to have got into White Hart Lane, I had failed to collect enough programme coupons to qualify for a Cup Final ticket. On the Wednesday afternoon that week, I was at work when I took a phone call from the bloke who captained the office football team. As the season had ended I hadn’t expected to hear from him.
He told me a senior inspector in the Manchester branch of Commercial Union had been given a ticket for his work as a referee in one of the Northern Leagues. He couldn’t use it and set out to find an Arsenal fan as being a Mancunian he wasn’t going to give it to a Scouser! I phoned him, he agreed to send it to me for face value and it was on my doormat the next day. Serendipity had played a massive part! I had tried so hard to get to Tottenham because I wasn’t going to be able to get to Wembley. And then everything reversed!
I had attended the two recent League Cup Finals one of which was anti-climactic and the other profoundly depressing. This was a completely different occasion. There was Community Singing led by a man who mounted a huge platform. ‘Abide with me’ was sung to the echo. I had shared the tube with hundreds of very good-natured Scallies, none of whom had tickets and all of whom intended to get in. I stood at the Arsenal end at the opposite end to the tunnel where there was a wonderful atmosphere, heavy with tension but celebratory. As the team ran towards us we chanted, “Champions! Champions!” and it was true, not just a chant of encouragement! You were aware that this was a truly historic moment in the history of our club. I just hoped the players wanted to win as much as I did. I need not have worried.
TW: My Cup Final ticket arrived the day after the title win. I was a couple of programme coupons short so I bought them in the Arsenal shop in Avenell Road but they had an ‘invalid’ stamp on the coupons. My science teacher showed me how to get the ‘invalid’ stamp off without harming the coupon with Milton …best science lesson ever!!
North Bank Ned: Raucous, as to be expected from a room full of undergraduates and post-grads next to an unclosed bar. Liverpool supporters were a majority, followed by supporters of other northern clubs who were cheering for us because they didn’t want Liverpool to win, followed by supporters of other London clubs who were cheering for Liverpool because they didn’t want us to win and then there was me!
Clock End Rider: Main memories of the day are the shouts from all around the flats where we lived at the end. And then all the kids in the flats playing football and everyone being Charlie George.
Bodrum Gooneress: I watched live on the TV. I recall it was a hot sunny day as curiously most Cup Final days seem to be.
From arsenal.com
What were your strongest memories of the match? Did you abandon hope when we went behind? What can you remember of Charlie George’s goal?
North Bank Ned: It was a surprisingly good game of football, given what was at stake. You never want to go behind in any game but extra time in a Cup Final might be the one exception. The old Wembley pitch was huge, and as legs tire the spaces open up even more. Charlie George found himself a massive one. Of course, the abiding memory is of him on his back after scoring but it looked a goal from the moment Raddy played him in.
TTG: It wasn’t a classic Final but we were so much better than them. We had dominated the play with George Graham playing elegantly in midfield. Arsenal attacked towards us in the first half and Ray Kennedy almost scored early on. I remember Bob Wilson making a good double save from their left-back, Alec Lindsay, from a free-kick just before half-time. In the second half we came close several times and Ray Kennedy hit the post and missed a couple of sitters. The game went to extra time with us well on top and then I remember Heighway getting wide and beating Bob at the near post just in front of the Arsenal hordes. Bob had not made a mistake all season but that was definitely one that he would have expected to save. Two minutes later Brian Hall, was clean through and ‘had to score’ but Bob smothered the ball. Redemption didn’t take long! I was reconciling myself to defeat when George Graham chased a speculative ball forward and seemed to stroke it past Clemence. We had no clue that it was really Eddie Kelly’s goal. Hope soared and as the second half went on we got stronger as they seemed to fade.
From gunnerstown.com
Then THE goal. Radford passed to Charlie and I remember standing behind the goal as he took aim and drilled it past Clemence. It was a split-second but that moment when it was clear that it was scorching past Clemence, who never got near it, is etched in my memory even now. It was a sensational way to win a match like that.
The last few minutes were both tense and glorious in equal measure. Our fans sang, “We shall not be moved” and you were aware that the mood seemed to transmit itself to the team. That Arsenal team were such tough competitors they would not be denied. I was watching the referee Norman Burtenshaw at the end. As he blew his whistle he sank exhausted to the turf and raised his arms in triumph. Nowadays social media would have annihilated him.
Bodrum Gooneress: I recall it was a hot sunny day (and ever since I always associate Cup Final days with glorious May sunshine) and the French windows were open on to the garden. I remember the run up to the Final with Jimmy Hill launching a campaign to find a song for the Arsenal team to counter Liverpool’s ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and coming up with the song ‘Good Old Arsenal’. I remember sensing embarrassment that Jimmy Hill, who had no association with ‘my’ club, Arsenal, came up with the rather soulless ditty of ‘Good Old Arsenal’. In fairness, it has persisted until this day but how we could have done with the latter-day celebration of ‘She Wore’ back in those days.
Gooner since 54: It was a really hot and humid day, and the liquid consumption levels prior to the game were astronomical. Some of our more enterprising mates had brought along small containers which everyone used to pee in. These were then taken down to the front of the terraces and emptied into the gutter!
The game itself was very tense. We were definitely the better team overall against a Liverpool side in a rebuilding phase, but it was difficult to tell how much the exertions and subsequent celebrations of the title-winning match at Spurs the previous Monday were having on us. The longer the game went on with no score, I could sense the tension building in my Dad. I knew how much winning and celebrating with me meant to him, and I have to admit some of that anxiety transferred to me.
There was definitely a sombre air among us when the game ended scoreless and extra time beckoned. All the Gunners round us had suffered the misery of 68/69, and the loss in extra time to Swindon was foremost in all our minds. Would the boys’ legs last another thirty minutes? It was a hot muggy day, they must be out on their feet?
Liverpool had had a relaxing week with only the Cup to focus on. These were among the worries being voiced as we waited for extra-time to begin. No sooner had we gathered our collective spirits for the final half hour, when as if in slow motion Steve Heighway broke down the wing right in front of us, got close to the byline and fizzed a shot through the smallest of gaps at Bob Wilson’s near post to put Liverpool one-nil in front. It was like a knife to the heart. All around us, people were completely stunned. All our worst fears were being realized.
Was this to be our 3rd Wembley defeat in a row? My Dad stood completely motionless his face drained of all colour, his hands shaking. I put my arms around him and I clearly remember saying, “There’s still plenty of time left Dad, it’s not over yet”. To this day I don’t know whether I truly believed that or whether I was just saying it to give him comfort.
From gettyimages.co.uk
After the shock of the goal, someone rallied the troops and we all began cheering again, but it has to be said, talking to all our mates after the game they all admitted it was more in hope than expectation. But then joy of joys! Suddenly we had equalized. It took us a few seconds to realise it because it was at the opposite end to where we were standing and it was such a messy goal. We didn’t even know who had scored, just a shot through a jumble of bodies and as if in slow motion the ball ended up in the net. Well, did we go berserk or what? There were bodies going every which way, shouting/screaming at the top of our lungs, hats/scarves flying through the air. It was absolute bedlam. I thought Dad was going to have a heart attack!
What you have to remember is that about 90% of the people around us were shut out of the Lane on the previous Monday night, all stranded somewhere en route due to the almighty traffic problems, so they missed seeing their beloved team win the title on that momentous night. This Cup Final was their final shot at seeing history being made. Not only winning the Cup, but completing the Double, which would put us in the records books for ever. And we would all be able to say, “We were there!”
They say that supporters can win matches for their team by sheer force of will and what I can only describe as ‘vocal bedlam’. The noise levels after we equalized seemed to me to have gone up several notches. You could not hear yourself think. All around us was just noise like you had never heard before, people screaming themselves hoarse, roaring the team on. It was an incredible experience to be in the centre of that incredible ‘force’.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that, notwithstanding the lift the team got from the equalizer, the noise we generated carried them home to victory. I swear time stood still for a second as, in the second half of extra time, right in front of us, Charlie arrowed his shot at the Liverpool goal. When the ball hit the back of the net, cue more bedlam on the terraces as history was about to happen.
From colorsport.co.uk
When the final whistle went grown men were reduced to tears, complete strangers were hugging each other. It was a sea of pure joy, and a father weeping unashamedly finally got to embrace his son on the Wembley terraces where he had stood alone 21 years before.
TW: What a game at Wembley Charlie, Charlie, born is the king of Highbury!!! I went to Trafalgar Square after Wembley to get in the fountains …brilliant, brilliant memories!!
From arsenalfctransfernewsnow.blogspot.com
RC: The Cup Final itself came at the wrong time in my life as I was booked to work when the game was being played. I was working on the railway and had only been in the job for two months so had no holiday entitlement and I was too afraid to go sick. So, I resigned myself to missing the game. Not only was I not to be at Wembley, but it would also be the first F.A. Cup final that I would miss on TV since 1957. A small transistor radio about my person was the only solution and I listened intently as the captains, Frank McLintock and Tommy Smith, proudly led their teams out onto the pitch accompanied by the match officials led by referee Norman Burtenshaw! What? I always knew the powers that be had it in for us!
My driver on our locomotive, looked at me as I if I was possessed by demons. I offered a garbled explanation, but he didn’t follow football and I had decided probably preferred flower arranging. Although he was probably married with seven kids, to my mind any bloke that didn’t follow football was devoid of a normal persona. As the game progressed Peter Jones, one of the BBC radio commentators described to me and Mr. Disinterested the events as they unfolded. All along I was bemoaning the fact that I had to listen on this tinny, little yellow transistor radio. Mr. D assured me he would have gone sick if it was that important. I told him he wasn’t helping. The game lingered on goalless, but with many exciting moments as both teams had come close on several occasions.
Even Mr. D was taking notice now as we shunted from one side of the station to another. We moved trains out of the arrivals platforms to make way for trains coming in as we heard of close shots and great saves. Then, just to make things that little bit worse my nemesis, Norman from Great Yarmouth, had clearly and deliberately contrived an extra thirty minutes of suffering only to compound the misery further with a goal for Liverpool. I could envisage him smirking at me as Steve Heighway, who had arrived to sensational effect at the start of the season, but seemed to have remained hidden until the moment he threaded the ball between Bob Wilson and his near post to put us a goal down. But when George Graham miskicked the ball from Eddie Kelly’s foot to equalize, my jumping and shouting on the shunting engine was only heard by Mr. D who didn’t seem to appreciate it at all. In between train movements we would be sent into the headshunt at the north end of the station to await our next call. Most people remember where they heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot or when they heard that Diana had been killed or the planes crashed into the World Trade Centre. Charlie George’s famous pile driver for me was celebrated in the headshunt at Kings Cross Station only half a mile from Charlie’s home down the Caledonian Road. It was the following day before I actually saw it on TV but who could ever forget the moment that sealed the double?
Bodrum Gooneress: I recall the feeling of despair when Steve Heighway managed to squeeze his shot past Bob Wilson’s near post. I also recall feeling devastated for Frank McLintock. Much had been made in the days and weeks building up to the Final about how he had been on the losing side at Wembley four times. Poor me and poor Frank! Was it to be a case of fifth time unlucky? I was in a slightly better position than Frank – this was to be my first FA Cup Final other than recalling watching Chelsea v Leeds on TV the previous year. I’d almost managed to feel sorry for Leeds’ loss in the Replay until family loyalties and good sense prevailed.
From arsenal.com
What were your feelings at the end? Did you manage to lord it over friends and opposition fans for long afterwards?
TTG: I looked for Frank McLintock after the whistle and saw everyone running towards him. His Wembley jinx had been overcome in glorious fashion. I felt so incredibly pleased for him but also immensely proud to be a supporter of a club not just this good but this hard and durable and able to win whatever confronted them.
A memory of that summer was training in a park with some friends and watching groups of kids playing. Everyone who scored threw themselves on the floor like Charlie – the ultimate iconic celebration of a special goal!
North Bank Ned: It was joyous. The final had been played in a great spirit, and everyone watching it where we were — including the Scousers — was in good heart. More beer was consumed, I recall, lots more beer! The other plus was that you could tell any friends who had the misfortune of supporting the neighbours that there was no longer anything special about them doing the double.
Bodrum Gooneress: I will never forget the elation I felt at Charlie George’s goal and his celebration. I dashed out of the living room, through the French windows to celebrate with a lap of honour around the garden shouting and shrieking with delight. Nobody had ever celebrated a goal in the way my hero Charlie George (one of my many heroes) had and we, and I, the lone female football player in the school playground, emulated it many times over.
Both my primary and secondary schools were based in Wood Green, probably equidistant between White Hart Lane and Highbury. Most kids in those days favoured Spurs due to them winning the Double in 1961. Even then, I couldn’t quite understand what was wrong with them and how on earth they could support that dreadful lot in Tottenham. Others since have labelled it as a form of ‘child abuse’.
My mother who had put up all forms of resistance to me going to the Arsenal and indeed had banned me from going to the 1969 League Cup Final despite my brother getting a ticket for me (hindsight shows she was just protecting me!), took me along to the open top bus parade in Islington where seemingly more than 200,000 fans lined the streets to celebrate and get a view of the Cups and the team. I think it just about made up for not having been at either of the matches. The colour and the spectacle seemed to turn my mother as well. She always did like a good day out and the jubilation of that day seemed to break her final resistance to her tomboy daughter being an Arsenal fan resulting in her taking me to the odd match herself in the following years.
Looking back what were the strengths of that side? Has history treated them kindly?
North Bank Ned: The 70-71 double team was a team that found its moment. For one glorious season, it was so much more than just the sum of its parts, as good as many of those parts became. Arguably, it underperformed ahead of the double and was broken up too quickly after it. In answer to an earlier question, I said we did not start the season with the best player in the league in any position but one of the top five in every position. By the end of the season, it would be fair to say we had one of the top two or three in every position on form, and in Frank McLintock an indisputable number one at centre-half. Alongside the underrated Peter Simpson (like Geordie Armstrong, criminally overlooked by England), Frank McLintock was the heart of a defence that was the team’s foundation: 29 goals conceded in 42 league matches speaks for itself. Peter Storey provided the midfield muscle with more skill than he was given credit. Yet it was Bertie Mee converting George Graham from a centre-forward to an inside-left and switching Raddy from the wing to the middle and bringing through the up and coming youngsters Charlie George and a Saka-aged Ray Kennedy that made the team gell.
This had been several years in the making, and arguably two losing League Cups finals and a string of mid-table finishes in the league represented underperformance, even if the Fairs Cup win in 1970 gave a glimpse of the potential — and will to win. Regardless, in the double-winning year, it all came together, a crowning glory for a team that was not just difficult to score against but took the club back to English football’s top table after a long period away and we could dream of more titles and trophies. To quote Walt Whitman, “Oh, to be alive in such an age, when miracles are everywhere, and every inch of common air throbs a tremendous prophecy, of greater marvels yet to be”.
Bodrum Gooneress: Of course, we have celebrated winning two doubles since but nothing quite compares with the first one. When I look at that side now I look at it through my child’s tinted glasses. They were all my heroes and I loved every single one of those players in a way I have never loved an Arsenal side quite as unconditionally since. The strengths of that side were that they were all fighters and never gave up. I’m not sure any of them were stars as such but, of course, Charlie George was special as it was often alluded to how he stepped down from the terraces to play for his local boyhood team. A dream for all children. And probably most adults.
At last the spectre of the Spurs’ Double winning side had been put to rest. At last, I could walk past the house in a neighbouring road with a big smile on my face where a certain Cliff Jones lived. Cliff Jones, who I was repeatedly being told was a member of the ‘double winning side’. At least, we had corrected that piece of history and we were the latest club (and the second only ever) to have won The Double!
From https://twitter.com/touchofpowder/status/1380448918127972357?s=11
TTG: Nobody can believe nowadays that a squad of seventeen players played 64 games that season and landed two trophies. I loved that side because I trusted them, I had faith in them. I look at our current team and I expect us to self-destruct. You never expected that team to self- destruct or to lose heart or to let you down. The defence was brilliantly drilled but all of the defenders were footballers. The midfield was as hard as nails but you had great flair in Charlie George and George Graham and incredible industry and skill in Geordie Armstrong – surely the finest player never to play for England – and then upfront John Radford and Ray Kennedy who scored all season long and terrorised teams on the ground and in the air.
I have had the privilege of getting to know several members of that side. Everyone I have got to know has embodied the things that make me proud to be associated with our great club. They are all gentlemen, people of character and integrity but in everyone I’ve met there is also an inner steel and resolve and the sort of toughness that you find in elite and successful sportsmen.
Has history treated them well? Not as well as I think it should but I’m outrageously biased. There was little build up to that success, no second or third league placings in past seasons and no great expectation of glory but it was a team for those times. Ironically through most of the sixties the press had criticised their soft centre and slipshod defending. Don Howe changed that. Arsenal had a discipline and organisation that made them formidable opponents. They met very hard, tough opponents who they played on poor pitches with very lenient referees. It was a team good enough to live with, and finish above, an exceptional Leeds team and with enough belief to weather those moments, particularly in the first semi-final against Stoke, when it seemed they were facing certain defeat.
In our preparation for this celebration I asked Bob Wilson if there was a temptation to let the preparation for the Final slip because they’d clinched the League. That’s a very 2021 thought isn’t it? He looked incredulous at the suggestion. It simply never crossed their minds. That’s why that magnificent side were Double winners!
From upthearsenal.com
My concerns that those newly-crowned champions running towards us before the match would not want to commit every sinew to trying to win the FA Cup on a glorious sunny afternoon at Wembley did them a huge disservice. Arsenal Football Club have had many wonderful teams for which we are eternally thankful. But Arsenal has never had a team more committed to winning than the team that took the field that day. They had multiple motivations: to erase the four-time heartbreak of Frank McLintock, their beloved captain, to equal (and we would say surpass!) the Double by our noisy neighbours and to fight with every fibre of their being for fans who had been starved of success until twelve months earlier.
Above all that team discovered, in that very special season, the way to win, the way to ensure that whatever difficulty, whatever adversity, whatever bad luck came their way they could overcome it. For those of us who were involved in that extraordinary week in May 1971 the final whistle at Wembley bestowed on The Arsenal Football Club a status that lifted our spirits in a very special way just as it still lifts us all now. It was a very special time and a very special achievement.
And again…the second part of the conversation, and the second part of our Double Celebration!
GHF.com are pleased to release this, especially considering the Arsenal events of these past couple weeks. Lift your spirits by watching the second episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year, on the 50th Anniversary of our FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley. Remember to donate to Willow, or bid on the GHF.com Auction!
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run”
Or, watch here: “Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is now open for bids! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
The compressed time schedule we developed because of the Double features meant that I was required to produce this report shortly after the match. So in the interests of expedition I decided to think before the game about the issues that would probably concern us after the game…if we could bother to be concerned at all.
The apathy post-Thursday night has been almost tangible.
It was not a good week to celebrate a huge past achievement which has served for many of us to highlight the difference between a heroic past and a very problematic present and future. 50 years ago today a crowd of around 750,000 people thronged Islington Town Hall celebrating a huge achievement of skill and resilience.
That sort of joy seemed a world away tonight as an almost audible groan echoed across the Goonerverse when the Arsenal team was announced. A midfield two of Ceballos and Elneny with Willian wide presaged little but at least Martinelli started upfront through the centre. Saka returned to left back.
My musings pre-match were along the following lines.
How engaged were the team after a massive disappointment, at the end of a ghastly season in an empty ground against a team we thrashed 4-0 just after Christmas? They were likely to be much more motivated than us. Could we play positive front-foot football, something which has largely eluded us this season? In the end we could, but only for about fifteen minutes, and tonight it was enough.
Could we relegate the odious Fat Sam Allardyce, a man who in the past has presided over several assaults on Arsenal teams, most notably at Bolton in 2003 when three Arsenal players were kicked off the pitch in twenty minutes, arguably costing us the league title? That would be some scant consolation. I vowed never to watch an England game when he was made the national coach but thankfully his naivety and keenness to supplement his income led to his early demise. We did indeed send Sam down, and it was a cause of some celebration for most right-thinking Gooners.
Finally could the team ignite some passion among an understandably apathetic fanbase? I feel, and I know a number of you do too, that there is a potentially exciting nucleus here, young players that could presage a better future. Could we end the season on an upbeat note starting today? Tonight we saw the immense potential of Saka, the drive of ESR and they showed up in stark contrast to an otherwise pedestrian display although Pépé, as ever, played in flashes.
About an hour before kick off a scurrilous rumour circulated, spread by Countryman that the teams were in the bar. Maybe, I thought, the managers are looking to relax the teams prior to kick-off?
The report from here was written in real time and reflected my thoughts as the game unfolded.
We started kicking towards the North End. We have started really slowly in most home games, and we weren’t exactly quickly out of the blocks tonight. We took five minutes to get into their half and then Pépé fired wildly over. The early play was fairly moribund with West Brom looking the more assured side, and a Pereira drive on 12 minutes was narrowly wide of Leno’s left-hand post. Robinson was adjudged offside when hitting the bar minutes later. Pereira then speared another longshot wide. Saka was thwarted by a brilliant tackle by Furlong, and was looking our best attacking weapon. Diagne then failed to turn home a low Pereira cross as West Brom attacked with an incisiveness Arsenal only showed when Saka was on the ball. Willian continued to look utterly pedestrian, possibly the slowest wide player in the Premier League. Whatever possessed us to sign him on a three year contract? A swap with the excellent Pereira seems a deal worth doing.
Then on twenty nine minutes a more penetrative move saw Saka get to the byline and cut the ball back for ESR to produce a beautiful volley for his first Premier League goal. It was beautifully worked and completely at odds with what had gone before.
Arsenal 1 (Smith Rowe 29) West Brom 0
Ceballos was growing into the game and we then saw the brilliance of Pépé, who on 34 minutes cut in from the right and hit a beautiful left-footed drive into the top lefthand corner.
Arsenal 2 (Pépé 34) West Brom 0
Martinelli was dropping deeper to receive the ball and had not figured until on 38 minutes he hit a dipping shot narrowly over. West Brom could not handle the runs of Saka on the left and he threatened danger every time we attacked. Fat Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat. It was good to see. The seat may have been too small. That must happen to him a lot.
Willian then set up Chambers on 41 minutes for a fierce drive over the bar. Willian then put in Saka yet again, and his near-post drive was blocked by Johnstone in the West Brom goal. The half ended with Arsenal completely in control and Fat Sam with one foot and one of his very large buttocks sliding through the trapdoor into the Championship.
Half-Time – Arsenal 2 West Brom 0
The second half began with Pépé testing the keeper with a low snorter, and then ESR hitting a swerving drive at Johnstone. Martinelli was looking a little lost through the centre partly because Arsenal tend to move the ball wide at every opportunity.
Twelve minutes into the half we survived a series of corners but on 59 minutes we broke slickly again through Saka, but Martinelli and ESR failed to turn it home. It was Martinelli’s last action as he was hauled off to be replaced by Lacazette, a frustrating night for the young Brazilian who failed to grasp the opportunity he was given as a striker. Kieran Tierney arrived on 62 minutes as ESR was subbed off after a fine display. Saka moved into ESR’s role. Lacazette’s first action was to fail to touch home another brilliant Saka cross, although he was judged offside.
Arsenal seemed to find it hard to connect with a series of left-wing crosses, and then they were punished: Pereira carried the ball from his own half and drilled the ball past Leno in off the far post. The ease with which he made ground was ominous. That swap deal looks increasingly attractive.
Arsenal 2 West Brom 1 (Pereira 66)
Arsenal’s inability to control midfield was starting to cost them and give hope to West Brom. Fat Sam flashed a smile, not a pretty sight, but evidence that we weren’t able to dominate the game as we had in the latter stages of the first half. Furlong headed wide on 73 minutes and I made a note that Partey for Willian might be a good idea. Arteta heard me but took off Ceballos, who had a decent game. One wonders if Willian has a minimum minutes to be played clause in his contract? He had started slowly and faded. After 78 minutes Willian went down and required treatment but came back on – cue sighs from Gooners everywhere.
The feeling was that West Brom’s substitutions were significantly more effective than Arsenal’s who had lost all rhythm. A better left-wing move saw the ball sit up for Chambers who blazed over on 84 minutes. Fat Sam masticated in the stand but the camera mercifully panned away rapidly.
Then on 89 minutes the brilliant Willian, so vilified by so many cruel Gooners, fired a superb free-kick into the top lefthand corner to settle the argument and restore a two goal lead. Arsenal haven’t scored three at home very often this season and all three tonight were excellent strikes.
Arsenal 3 (Willian 88) West Brom 1
I’ve nothing against West Brom except that I intensely dislike their manager and he looked unhappy as the realisation of relegation started to dawn on him. That soothed my mood like a nice glass of Merlot as the referee blew time on Albion’s Premier League campaign.
A strange game in which we played sublimely for around ten minutes but otherwise showed all the frailties and insecurities that have plagued our season.
Final Score – Arsenal 3 West Brom 1
THE CONVERSATION: EPISODE TWO
And again…the second part of the conversation, and the second part of our Double Celebration!
GHF.com are pleased to release this, especially considering the Arsenal events of these past couple weeks. Lift your spirits by watching the second episode of two video conversations with Bob Wilson and Pat Rice about Arsenal’s 1970-71 Double year, on the 50th Anniversary of our FA Cup win over Liverpool at Wembley. Remember to donate to Willow, or bid on the GHF.com Auction!
Click on the image below (or on the Youtube link below that) to watch
“Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run”
Or, watch here: “Episode Two: Double Glory — The 1971 FA Cup Run“ (on Youtube). This is especially helpful if you’re having any loading issues with the link to the one the site is serving above.
Let us know what you think in the “drinks” section below!
THE AUCTION: NOW ACCEPTING BIDS
We are also pleased to remind you that our auction of signed 1970-71 Double memorabilia is now open for bids! For full information, please visit The Double/Willow Auction tab above.
Just a taste…the lots offered are as follows:
Lot 1: A 1971 Cup Final replica shirt signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 2: A 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 3: A second 1971 Cup Final programme signed by Bob Wilson, Pat Rice, Frank McLintock, George Graham & Charlie George.
Lot 4: Bob Wilson’s autobiography, ‘Behind the Network’ signed by Bob Wilson & Arsène Wenger.
All proceeds from the auction go to the Willow Foundation.
