For May 3rd I'm going back 41 years to 1980 and York City's visit to Gresty Road for an end of season Fourth Division fixture against Crewe Alexandra.
How many of you seen a goal scored by a goalkeeper? Not an own goal but one scored at the right end! Despite having attended over 2,000 matches spread across 44 years, I've only ever witnessed one. It came in this game and what made it even more special was that it was scored by a player who would go on to have an incredible career: one Bruce Grobbelaar.
Bruce played only 24 games in total for Crewe whilst on loan from Vancouver Whitecaps. A year on from this game and he made his debut for Liverpool. Grobbelaar's professional career spanned close to 800 games but his only goal came in this game. I distinctly recall Crewe's goalie being something different even before kick off. During the warm up he walked around his penalty area. On his hands!
The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that today's featured programme cover has been defaced. As a collector, I never write in my programmes because it detracts from their value. Collectors want a programme in pristine condition without folds or creases and certainly without writing on the cover. However, I make an exception for an autograph by one of the match participants. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to go to a Sportsman's Dinner which had Bruce Grobbelaar as the guest speaker and he was kind enough to sign my programme. Actually he was a little surprised to see it and remarked that few people would have seen his goal. Well there were only 2,651 people there that day.
It was something of a meaningless fixture for both clubs. Tony Waddington's Crewe were already certain to finish in the bottom four and therefore have to apply for re-election whereas York had already guaranteed their safety and couldn't finish in the re-election positions. Crewe ended the season finishing second bottom with York further up the table in 17th place (out of 24 clubs). In addition to Grobbelaar, Crewe's side included Mark Palios, a future Chief Executive of the FA and Chairman of Tranmere Rovers. York, managed by Barry Lyons, had an unusual goalkeeper of their own. Deputising for Graeme Crawford was Dick Taylor, on loan from Huddersfield Town, who only ever made two appearances for York. Crewe's goalkeeper had the better of things on the day however and won the game 2-0.
CRB Match No. 92
Comments
Post a Comment