For May 16th I'm going back 34 years to 1987 and another classic FA Cup Final.
Dedicated followers of these articles will recall that 1986/87 is one of my favourite ever Spurs seasons. That said, I think that it must have been around this time that the term "Spursy" was coined. Spursy? Well according to "definder" there are two definitions. Meaning 1: To have bags of “potential” and some world class players, but not have the ability or psychological strength to ever achieve anything of value. Meaning 2: To have victory/glory within your grasp, but then completely shit the bed. Let's go with the second definition shall we?
Spurs were in contention In the league that season. In their final seven league games they dropped 14 points which would have won them the title. In the League Cup they lost in a Semi-Final Replay to Arsenal having led in all three Semi-Final games. The FA Cup was Tottenham's last chance for silverware that season. Spurs hadn't lost any of their previous seven FA Cup Finals whereas Coventry City had never even appeared in the Final before. Fans of Monty Python may recall their World Forum Quiz Show sketch involving Karl Marx, Lenin, Che Guevara and Mao Tse-tung in which Che Guevara was asked "Coventry City last won the FA Cup in what year?" Cut to Che looking dumbfounded. "No? Well, I'm not surprised you didn't get that. It was in fact a trick question. Coventry City have never won the FA Cup". Indeed they hadn't. But 1987 was the year when Python would have to rewrite their script.
York City fell at home in the Second Round that season to a team that is no longer allowed to enter the FA Cup: Caernarfon Town. I should have known then that 1986/87 wasn't going to be a good FA Cup year for me. En route to the Final Spurs had beaten Scunthorpe United, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Wimbledon and Watford in the Semi-Final at Villa Park. I went to the lot. Coventry saw off Bolton Wanderers, Manchester United (at Old Trafford), Stoke City, Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United in the Semi-Final at Hillsborough.
Tottenham wore an all-white kit in the Final, usually favoured for European games but probably used on this occasion to ensure that there was no colour clash with Coventry's sky blue-and-white striped shirts and navy shorts. In the league match at Highfield Road, the referee had deemed the two kits too similar in colour and, because they hadn't brought their away kit, Spurs were forced to wear Coventry's yellow away shirts. There was deemed to be no colour clash in the Final however although, in an early sign of things going wrong for Spurs, due to a mix-up, only half of the team wore shirts bearing the Holsten logo with the remainder being sponsorship-free.
If I was destined to watch Spurs lose that day and you had offered me the consolation of choosing which opposition player would score, I would have chosen Keith Houchen. The previous season, he was still playing for York City and ended his time at Bootham Crescent having scored 27 goals in 88 games for the club. After a 97 day spell at Scunthorpe United which Houchen reportedly "hated" he was signed by Coventry's management duo of George Curtis and John Sillett and proceeded to make a name for himself. He scored four goals for Coventry to get them to the Final.
David Pleat's Tottenham took the lead after only two minutes via an opportunist headed goal from Clive Allen following Chris Waddle's teasing cross. It was Allen's 49th and last goal of a record breaking season. By the 10th minute we were all square following an equaliser from Gary Bennett. According to the record books, Gary Mabbutt restored the Spurs lead just before halftime although it looked suspiciously like a "Killer" Kilcline own goal to me. Kilcline should have been sent off later in the game for a terrible foul on Mabbutt (watch the highlights video attached to my blog and you'll see what I mean as well as getting a glimpse of Margaret Thatcher enjoying her programme in the posh seats) but it wasn't to be Mabbutt's last contribution of the afternoon. Just after the hour, a delighted Houchen got his goal, a spectacular diving header which restored parity. 2-2 and we had extra time. The sixth minute of the added thirty brought the winner: a cross from Coventry's Lloyd McGrath was deflected over Ray Clemence by that man Mabbutt: the scorer of the most famous goal in Coventry's history. Spurs had well and truly shit the bed.
CRB Match No. 509
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