Weekend 11th/12th September
Leicester City v Manchester City; Chelsea v Aston Villa
This weekend’s selected fixtures bring back memories of the 1969 FA Cup Final and the legendary manager, Tommy Docherty.
The 1969 Cup Final pitted soon-to-be-relegated Leicester against recent League Champions Man City. Getting relegated and winning the cup is the sort of double that pre-Etihad Man City might well have contemplated, such were their (to neutrals and some supporters) endearingly eccentric ways. They are, after all, the only team to get relegated the year after winning the league. However, in 1969 Man City limited their wayward tendency merely to getting knocked out of the European Cup in the first round, somewhat undermining coach Malcolm Allison’s prediction that they would ‘terrify the cowards of Europe’.
Leicester themselves have also enjoyed a reputation for unpredictability that doesn’t quite match that of the sky blues: after their Premier League triumph, they merely flirted with relegation and sacked the man who’d brought them the unprecedented success. The 1960s saw the Foxes put their fans through the wringer by carelessly losing no fewer than three Cup Finals, to add to another back in the 1949. The first of their 1960s defeats was in 1961 when they were swept away by Spurs who were majestically striding towards the Double. Two years later, Leicester themselves had looked possible Double contenders, but fell away in the League and lost the Cup Final to a Manchester Utd side that had been flirting with relegation.
So there must have been some trepidation on the part of Leicester fans as they resignedly set off for Wembley once more. However, in goal they boasted Peter Shilton, Peter Rodrigues was a solid presence in defence and up front they had Allan Clarke. Frank O’Farrell had been appointed manager in December 1968 and had galvanised the faltering team into a cup run that included a win at Anfield.
On the day, Man City were able to avoid the pratfall that their 2013 counterparts suffered against Wigan as a Summerbee cutback was creamed into the Leicester net by Neil Young. Leicester left empty-handed yet again and a young Gary Lineker cried all the way home. Missing the boost of a trophy, the team were unable to avoid the drop as well, losing to the other Manchester team in the last match of the season.
For Allan Clarke, this would be the first of a remarkable run of 4 final appearances in 5 years; each one memorable for different reasons. 1970 saw him in his new Leeds’ colours losing to Chelsea; after a year off in 71, he was back to head the winner against Arsenal and then in 1973 he was part of the Leeds side that were stunned by Sunderland.
If Clarke had enough of the FA Cup to last a career, 69 would be Peter Shilton’s only final. The nearest he would ever come again were two semi-final defeats in 1974 and 1984 for Leicester again and Southampton respectively. Presumably the dizzying success he enjoyed at home and in Europe with Nottingham Forest would make up for this.
Peter Rodrigues surprisingly found himself back at Wembley 7 years later captaining Southampton to a seismic victory over Manchester United.
United’s manager that day was one Thomas Henderson Docherty. Famously nicknamed ‘The Doc’, he had been a beaten finalist alongside Tom Finney when WBA came from behind to beat Preston in 1954.
If anyone understood the ups and downs of professional football, it was Tommy Docherty. Following the low of 1976, he led his team back to the final in 1977 and sensationally derailed Liverpool’s famous bid for the Treble of League, Cup and European Cup. Shortly after this triumph, Docherty was sacked after details of his affair with the wife of a club employee became public knowledge.
Yet well before his highs and lows with United, Docherty had experienced nearly everything the professional game had to offer. Overcoming the disappointment of not being wanted as a player by his boyhood idols Celtic, he enjoyed a successful career in England before emerging as a bright managerial talent at Chelsea.
His Chelsea side took the 1965 League Cup and, with young, talented players like Peter Osgood and Terry Venables, looked well set to challenge the northern giants from Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds for football pre-eminence. However, Docherty clashed with his players and left the club in the autumn of 1967, having lost that summer’s Cup Final to London rivals Tottenham.
In the winter of 1968 he took over at Aston Villa and hopes were high. The following season saw his team start with 7 defeats and two draws in their opening 9 matches and by January 1970 he was gone.
Docherty was nothing if not a survivor; a durable, street-wise character with a brilliant turn of phrase. By the early 70s he was in charge of the Scotland national side, heading for World Cup qualification. Then Man Utd stepped in with the challenge of being the manager who could lead the club back to the heights of the Busby era. While Docherty didn’t quite manage this, by the time of his departure he had produced an entertaining side brimming with goals and talents like Steve Coppell and Lou Macari.
There were other managerial posts after United, but Docherty’s major management positions pose intriguing ‘what-if?’ questions. What if he’d mended fences and stayed on at Chelsea? Dave Sexton took over from him and led them to FA Cup glory in 1970. What if he’d stayed on at Scotland? Willie Ormond took them to the 1974 World Cup where only goal difference stopped them making the second stage. And Man Utd? They had just won the Cup and as Everton (1984) and Man City (2011) show, that can be the catalyst for league success.
SteveTLooksBack 