For March 15th I'm once again going back 34 years to 1987 and another FA Cup Quarter Final. This time it's Wimbledon against Tottenham Hotspur.
"Eyes that freeze like ice. Cold electric blue those diamond lights. You were hard as stone. Solid stone, for me." It doesn't get any better I'm afraid. Hands up all of you who recognised these poptastic lyrics as sung by Tottenham's scorers on this date. Yes Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle released the song on 1st April 1987 (some mistake surely?) a little over 2 weeks after they secured Tottenham's place in the FA Cup Semi-Finals. Heady days indeed that were to be accompanied by an appearance on Top of the Pops!
Make no mistake about it, these two sides were fairly evenly matched that season. Wimbledon finished 6th in the league just five points and three places behind Spurs who were denied their place in Europe thanks to the ban on English clubs following the previous year's Heysel Stadium disaster. Wimbledon held home advantage at Plough Lane (see my earlier blog for full details of Wimbledon's wanderings) and with the likes of Dave Beasant, Nigel Winterburn, Vincent Jones, Dennis Wise and John Fashanu in their side, the Dons were well fancied to progress.
However Wimbledon reckoned without Spurs who were having a monumental (and sadly typical trophyless) season reaching the FA Cup Final and League Cup Semi-Final as well as 3rd place in the league. Firstly a trademark jinking run from the Waddler ended up with him scoring from an almost impossible angle, one that Beasant must have been "disappointed" not to stop (as the expert goalkeeping analysts always seem to say when the keeper is beaten at their near post). Then, following a near-assault on the flying Waddle by Andy Thorn, up stepped the King of White Hart Lane to secure safe passage for Spurs into the Semi-Finals. With Arsenal losing their Quarter-Final just the day before, this was a wonderful weekend to be a Spurs Supporter!
CRB Match No. 495
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