Today I'm going back 30 years to 1991 and Tottenham's visit to Blundell Park to play Grimsby Town in a League Cup Third round tie. The League Cup at this time was under the sponsorship of high street electrical chain Rumbelows and was therefore known as the Rumbelows Cup. This was my second of three visits to Blundell Park which, interestingly, isn't in Grimsby at all. The stadium is actually located in neighbouring Cleethorpes and was sometimes regarded as one of the worst League grounds to visit due to poor and rather dilapidated facilities. That was at least until Grimsby crashed out of the Football League and back into Non-League football last season! The ground is also right on the coast and therefore can be very cold if there's a sea breeze blowing in the winter months. No wonder it's home to Britain's frozen fish industry! Also, fact fans, did you know that Blundell Park is one of the lowest grounds in England at just two feet above sea level. No doubt Mariners fans will be glued to coverage of the forthcoming Cop26 Climate Change talks since their ground will soon be underwater without prompt action! Imagine the postponements!
Having disposed of Swansea City 5-2 on aggregate in Round Two, Spurs travelled to the Lincolnshire coast on a Tuesday night for their Third Round tie against Second Division (now Championship) side Grimsby Town. Town had already served up one cup upset in the previous round with an away goals victory against Aston Villa in the two-legged tie. Spurs went one-up early on following a penetrating run by Gordon Durie who squared the ball for David Howells to slot home. 0-1 at half time became 0-2 thanks to the simplest of goals played over the top of the Grimsby defence for Gay Lineker to run on to and score off of the post. The scoring was then wrapped up by Gordon Durie who muscled his way through some lacklustre defending before slotting home.
The reward for Tottenham's win was a Fourth Round tie away at Coventry which they won 2-1 before also beating Norwich City 2-1 at home in the Quarter-Final. Sadly Spurs were not destined to reach Wembley that season however as they narrowly lost 3-2 on aggregate to Nottingham Forest in the Semi-Final. Manchester United triumphed 1-0 in the Final at Wembley.
CRB Match No. 744
CRB Match No. 744
Comments
Post a Comment