Queens Park Rangers vs Reading

HOOPS
The celebrations at the final whistle
were immense…
Before the game, I don’t think any
player thinks about what you are
going to do if you win. You are
concentrating so much on the match,
what you need to do on the pitch and
how you are going to play. And then
afterwards if you have won, it is just a
massive release. So there were tears
in the dressing room at Highbury,
laughter and cheers. Everybody was
just so pleased knowing that we had a
huge game coming up at Wembley
Stadium in a few weeks’ time and we
all wanted to play in it. We were just a
young team and ecstatic to be in an
FA Cup final. I was only 21 and I
thought: “If you get this every couple
of years in your career, it’s brilliant!”
However it never, ever happened for
me again after that.
On to the final against Tottenham
Hotspur – in those days, it was the
biggest showpiece occasion in
football, wasn’t it?
Yes, there was a really big build-up on
television from 10 or 11am, showing
the players getting ready at their
hotels and so on. The feeling that we
were going to be playing in the final
and be part of it all was just incredible.
Glenn Hoddle gave Spurs the lead in
that first match before Terry Fenwick
headed our equaliser. It was a truly
pulsating affair and you played your
part, didn’t you?
I started the afternoon on the
substitute’s bench. I was hoping to
get on but really did not expect to play
a major role. Sadly for him, Clive Allen
twisted his ankle after about five
minutes – it was obvious straight away
that he really couldn’t continue much
longer. Clive managed to limp on until
half-time and then Terry Venables
had to substitute him and change the
system around so I went on. It was a
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