Today I'm going back 34 years to 1988 and Tottenham's First division fixture against the Red Devils of Manchester United. The match was played at the old White Hart Lane and was attended by 29,318.
Today's programme cover star is Tottenham's Terry Fenwick (joined by David Howells in the background) whose injury time penalty had given Spurs a dramatic late victory over Middlesbrough in the previous home game. It was Tottenham's first win of the season and only their fourth game in a season that didn't start until September 3rd due to the late postponement of the scheduled opening game at home to Coventry City. The club had engaged building contractors to work on improvements to the East Stand (Shelf side) over the summer months and had expected work to be complete not later than 10AM on the morning of the opening game of the season but the final inspection that Saturday morning revealed that the work was still not complete and the club was left with little alternative but to postpone the game at short notice. That postponement took a number of people by surprise including yours truly and I still have a copy of the programme from the game that never was.
Manchester United's manager at the time was Alex Ferguson who had joined the club from Aberdeen in November 1986. Whilst at Aberdeen he had won three Scottish Premier League titles, four Scottish FA Cups, the Scottish League Cup and UEFA's European Cup Winners Cup. However, after almost two years in the Old Trafford hot seat, the Ferguson magic hadn't yet delivered although the previous season's second place finish had certainly raised expectations. United went into the featured game in fifth place just three points behind early leaders Norwich City (!) but would disappoint their supporters by finishing the season down in 11th place. After two-and-a-half seasons in charge and with the team apparently going backwards, the pressure was starting to build on Ferguson.
Just a few minutes before half time in the featured game, a United attack broke down on the edge of the Spurs box and defender Mitchell Thomas strode forward with the ball before releasing Chris Waddle with a devastating through ball. Waddle, who had awoken that morning with a temperature of 103 but declared himself fit to play nevertheless was clean through one-on-one with just goalkeeper Jim Leighton to beat and slotted the ball home with calm assurance. Tottenham's lead didn't last long however. In the 43rd minute Mark Hughes lashed home a trademark volley following a delicious through ball from Gordon Strachan. It was United who struck again to take the lead in the 72nd minute via a neat header from Brian "Chocky" McClair past Tottenham keeper Bobby Mimms . It was Tottenham's turn to score an equaliser and up popped Paul Walsh with his first goal of the season. Walsh went on to score just 21 goals in 156 games for Tottenham, a poor return for a forward by any measure. There was drama to come as Spurs were awarded a controversial late penalty and had the chance to win the game. Despite that photo of Fenwick scoring from the penalty spot in the previous home game, Fenwick was overlooked this time around as Paul Stewart took and wasted the opportunity of a precious three points. It finished honours even at 2-2.
Whilst United endured that disappointing lower half of the table finish, Spurs ended the season in 6th place but surely felt dissatisfied with that given that local rivals Arsenal were champions that season. That said, Spurs had been bottom of the table in late October so their end of season run was actually pretty good. The three relegated sides were Middlesbrough, West Ham United and Newcastle United.
CRB Match No. 572
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