by Tony Evans
It did not feel that way at the time.
If Liverpool were having a bad night, Bryan Robson had a worse one. The Manchester United captain was back at Upton Park for a postponed FA Cup fifth-round tie against West Ham. Frank McAvennie scored another goal but all the headlines after the 1–1 draw were about Robson.
United’s talisman badly dislocated his shoulder. Jim McGregor, the physio, popped it back in and Robson felt well enough to play cards on the coach going home. It was the second time it had happened. When the doctors examined the injury, they told the patient he needed an operation that would rule him out for the rest of the season and the upcoming World Cup. England’s captain refused to go under the knife.
He was back in the United side within the month and played six more times before the end of the season. It was too late to help his team’s title challenge. With their inspirational captain struggling to get through matches, Ron Atkinson’s team were on the slide. United, for so long the league leaders, were no longer in contention. The campaign that started so optimistically ended in anger at Old Trafford with the fans calling for the manager’s head.
Robson only had the World Cup to look forward to in the summer. In a quest to get fit for Mexico, he took advice from John Francome and Peter Scudamore, the National Hunt jockeys who regarded dislocations as an occupational hazard. Robson started a rigorous regime of exercise, doing up to a thousand press-ups a day. He was prepared to suffer any discomfort for the chance to lead England in the summer.
Injuries affected other teams, too. The most crucial one in the title race was probably the most pointless. Neville Southall was on international duty with Wales for a friendly with Ireland at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. The Irish team shared the stadium with the international rugby side and, even by the standards of the mid 1980s, the pitch was a difficult one to play on. In the midst of an Irish spring, it was a mudbath. In the 66th minute, Southall jumped for a routine challenge with John Aldridge. The goalkeeper landed in a divot on the floor and could not get up. There was little pain but it was clear from the reaction of the other players and medical staff that the injury was severe. Southall, in shock and unable to comprehend how bad his ankle was, asked to take a shower.
The Welshman had dislocated his ankle and torn all the ligaments. With nine league games remaining and the FA Cup heading towards its climax, Everton had lost the best goalkeeper in the league in a meaningless match. Bobby Mimms was recalled from his loan at Notts County.
It was not only Ireland who enraged Howard Kendall. Bobby Robson took Gary Lineker to Tbilisi in Georgia for an England friendly against the Soviet Union. The games were coming thick and fast and the striker was suffering from a groin problem. Long-distance travel to a destination behind the Iron Curtain was tough enough for Lineker. The Everton manager asked for him to be rested. Robson decided he needed the player. To make it worse, the England boss played the striker for the entire 90 minutes in Dinamo Stadium. It was an unhappy international week at Goodison.
Across Stanley Park the players on national service had a much more upbeat experience. Kenny Dalglish was awarded his 100th cap for Scotland in a 3–0 victory over Romania at Hampden Park and Alan Hansen played just 45 minutes. Dalglish returned to Anfield from the relatively short trip to find that Paul Walsh was nearing full fitness and would be available for the run-in. Things were getting better for Liverpool.
17
Cold comfort
It was a cold winter. In the early months of 1986, London, especially, was hit by the weather and rescheduling postponed games caused fixture congestion for West Ham and Chelsea.
Frank McAvennie was no longer anonymous. He was recognized from the Phoenix to Stringfellows and all points in between. Defenders had begun to take note of him.
Since the turn of the year, he had only scored one goal in 11 games – seven of them FA Cup ties. In the second half of March, he began to hit the net again. The Hammers were still in touch in the title race, although the table was deceptive. At one point they dropped down to seventh place. If they won their four games in hand they would be neck-and-neck with Everton.
Across London, Kerry Dixon was also suffering a goal drought. His lean spell would last from 28 December until early April, although David Speedie and Pat Nevin were prolific enough to keep Chelsea in the title race.
On 22 March, Chelsea beat Southampton 1–0 at the Dell and sat in fourth place in the table, four points behind Everton. The west London club had two games in hand. It was a promising position for a side with title ambitions.
On their way back from the south coast, Chelsea were not looking forward to a relaxing Sunday off, as most teams would have been. They had an appointment with Manchester City at Wembley the next day in the final of Ken Bates’s brainchild, the Full Members’ Cup. It was part of a run of six matches in 15 days that started off with a 1–1 draw with Everton. By the time it finished, the idea of matching the champions had disappeared completely.
The weekend of the Full Members’ Cup final was a triumph for Chelsea and their chairman. Bates, as the leading voice on the Football League’s management committee, had railroaded the competition into existence. It had been the subject of mockery and poor attendances had characterized the tournament. Yet at Wembley, in front of more than 67,000 paying customers, the Full Members’ Cup finally caught fire.
Chelsea charged into a 5–1 lead but City stormed back, scoring three goals in the last five minutes in a frantic finale. The game ended 5–4; Bates had brought a trophy to Stamford Bridge and was doubly proud of his team and his tournament. ‘If football’s dying, I hope it dies like this,’ John Hollins, the Chelsea manager, said afterwards. The only thing about to expire was his team’s title challenge.
Board a District line train at Upton Park and 24 stops and 48 minutes later you get off at Fulham Broadway. At one end was West Ham, the other Chelsea. The Tube is about the only thing that connects the two clubs – apart from the supporters’ mutual dislike. When these teams meet, London pride is important, on and off the pitch. Police went on full alert when the ICF headed west. Chelsea’s hooligan gang, the Headhunters, were eager to cause their rivals pain. More calling cards were flashed around when these teams met than at a chamber of commerce networking breakfast.
Six days after Chelsea’s Wembley victory and two days from the end of March, the two sides seeking to bring the title to the capital met at Stamford Bridge. West Ham had never been close to winning the league; Chelsea had not brought the title back to west London since 1955.
The pitch at the Bridge was like a bog. It was always awkward at the best of times but a thunderstorm soaked the grassy area so badly that the game was in danger of being called off. These were the sort of conditions that lightweight West Ham sides of the past did not relish. Alvin Martin, their rugged centre back, was injured, which did not bode well against a physical Chelsea side.
The game turned into a rout but not in the way most expected. The Hammers led 1–0 at half-time and Tony Cottee grabbed two more in the second period before Frank McAvennie made it 4–0. ‘It really was a day to remember,’ Cottee said. ‘One of our best performances. The fans will never forget it. We could play but we proved we could battle that day, too.’
The People newspaper gushed about the display. ‘There was a time,’ it said, ‘when everyone knew West Ham would blow any sort of title chance when winter rains arrived. A fair-weather team. But they floated around in the mud as happy as pigs in fertilizer and, with three home matches in hand on the leaders, must still be in with a Championship shout.’
Chelsea were coming apart. Their next match was another London derby, this time against Queens Park Rangers, and the Blues were on the receiving end of a 6–0 trouncing.
West Ham were trying to turn up the pressure on the Merseyside clubs. They won two of the next three games – losing disappointingly to Nottingham Forest – before Chelsea made the reverse journey down the District line on 15 April. ‘We were confident,’ Cottee said. ‘We’d pl
ayed them off the park less than three weeks before.’ The East End team were even more buoyant after Cottee gave them the lead shortly after half-time. Within minutes, things began to go wrong. Nigel Spackman equalized after a defensive mistake before Pat Nevin scored the winner for the visiting side. ‘We played well,’ Cottee said. ‘They hit us with two good finishes.’
West Ham had effectively ended Chelsea’s title challenge and now the west London team returned the compliment. Everton ended the day ten points clear of the Hammers, who only had two games in hand. John Lyall had an air of resignation afterwards. ‘Everton have obviously got an advantage,’ the manager said. ‘We must carry on and hope they slip up. We’ve had a great season and it is up to us to maintain it.’
Lyall was focused on the wrong team. Liverpool had whittled away at their neighbours’ lead over the previous month. The next day, remarkably, Kenny Dalglish’s team went back to the top of the table on goal difference with four games left. Everton had five to play. It was turning into a Merseyside shootout.
How had Everton let their 11-point lead evaporate over the course of six weeks? Injuries were taking a toll but Gary Lineker had picked the wrong time to stop scoring. In the ten league matches in March and April, Lineker scored just twice. That run of games included three draws and two defeats, enough to let Liverpool back into contention in the title race.
Lineker was playing through injuries to his groin and hamstring during this period and could not be blamed for Everton’s failure to push home their advantage. Matches like the away game against Luton Town, where Kendall’s team threw away a 1–0 lead in the final ten minutes and lost 2–1, could not be held against Lineker. The plastic pitch at Kenilworth Road was notoriously difficult to play on. Luton also held a grudge against Everton. The teams had met in the previous year’s FA Cup semi-final, a game the Blues had won in extra time. ‘Luton thought they owed us one,’ Sharp said. ‘It was always a fight when we played them.’ It was especially galling for Everton to drop three points in the final minutes after being in front.
Yet Everton were playing to a different pattern from the title-winning side of the previous season. Then, Andy Gray and Sharp had held the ball up and waited for the midfield raiders to arrive in the danger areas. Now Peter Reid and co. were sitting deeper to take advantage of Lineker’s pace behind opposition back fours.
In 1984–85, Sharp led the scoring with 21 league goals but Adrian Heath, Kevin Sheedy, Trevor Steven and Derek Mountfield all got into double figures. Only Sharp and Heath hit ten or more alongside Lineker.
Derek Hatton, who saw Everton frequently, suggests that the side’s approach was different when Howard Kendall brought in his star striker. ‘Lineker changed the style of the team,’ the Evertonian said. ‘The season he was there was the only one where we didn’t win a trophy.
‘But I understand why Howard signed him. It sent out a message that Everton could get the best players.’
Neville Southall, who watched the striker’s exploits from the other end of the pitch, accepts that there was a difference in the team’s style but believes it was largely a positive development. ‘He did change the way we played,’ the Everton goalkeeper said. ‘It was easier to hit the ball longer earlier. It was better in some respects because he’d be in behind them. He was as quick as lightning.’
The man who was most frequently twinned with Lineker dismisses suggestions that the England striker had a negative impact on the team. Graeme Sharp was impressed by his partner’s finishing ability. No one could doubt his predatory instincts. ‘Links was unbelievable,’ the Scot said. ‘He was the best finisher one-on-one.’
The main difference from the other strikers that Sharp played alongside – Andy Gray and Adrian Heath – is that Lineker was only interested in getting the ball in danger areas. ‘He didn’t get involved in the build-up,’ Sharp said. ‘We went a bit more direct with him so he could use his pace.’
At Anfield, Lineker was regarded as a very dangerous addition to Kendall’s side. ‘I’ve heard people say he changed the way they played and they were better before him but we didn’t see it that way,’ Mølby said. ‘He gave them pace in behind. Sharpie was a proper No. 9 who’d give you physical problems to deal with but Lineker was like Ian Rush. He’d be into any space behind the defence. He was their most dangerous player. You could never rest when he was on the pitch.’
Mark Lawrenson, who was often directly matched against the England striker, concurs. ‘He was hard to play against because he didn’t get involved,’ the centre half said. ‘He didn’t drop off to get the ball. He was always looking to get in behind you and if he did, he was clever and you were in trouble.’
Lineker was always probing for weaknesses. ‘He said to me later that early in every game he’d run offside deliberately to see what the defenders would do,’ Lawrenson said. ‘If they kept a high line, he’d think, “I’m in.”’
The Liverpool player believes Lineker was a defenders’ nightmare. ‘He was a very dangerous attacker,’ Lawrenson said. ‘If you switched off for a moment, he was gone.’
Steve Nicol did not see any visible change to Everton’s tactics when Lineker was in the team. ‘I don’t think there was a conscious effort to sit deeper for him. Howard wasn’t like that. Reidy and the rest wanted to get forward,’ the full back said. ‘But you had to be aware of where he was all the time. We didn’t do anything special for anyone but you couldn’t relax when he was on the pitch.’
Now, at the business end of the season, Everton needed their superstar’s goals more than ever. Both the league and FA Cup were turning into a straight fight between the Merseyside clubs.
Wembley was ready to host another big game. Oxford United faced Queens Park Rangers, who had knocked out Liverpool, in the Milk Cup final, the Football League’s showpiece match.
Life had changed significantly at the Manor Ground since Robert Maxwell had attempted to subsume Oxford and Reading into a new entity, the Thames Valley Royals, and move them to Didcot. Under the management of Jim Smith – known as the ‘Bald Eagle’ – Oxford had climbed the divisions and reached the top flight. They claimed a place in the first division a mere 23 years after joining the Football League.
Maxwell was now in the big time. Like Ken Bates and Ron Noades, the Oxford chairman was a man on the make and he relished the publicity football brought him.
Smith led Oxford to back-to-back promotions. In the summer of 1985, after the club had secured promotion to the first division, the manager thought he deserved a pay rise. He went to see his chairman and asked for a salary of £50,000 per year. Maxwell offered £45,000 and a stand-off ensued. The two men planned to get together in London to discuss the situation but the meeting was scheduled for the night of Heysel. The disaster ended the negotiations abruptly. It was a month before the talks resumed.
Taking advantage of the situation, QPR’s chairman Jim Gregory came in and offered the Bald Eagle the sort of contract he wanted. Smith took the vacant job at Loftus Road.
Most people around the Manor Ground thought the problem between Smith and Maxwell was less about money than ego. The manager, with his memorable nickname and big media presence, was taking the attention away from the chairman. Maxwell wanted the credit for Oxford’s growth. He bade farewell to the man who had overseen two promotions with the words: ‘If you want to go, you go.’
Smith was replaced by one of his coaches, Maurice Evans. The new manager had played for and managed Reading during the course of a 25-year career at Elm Park until he was sacked abruptly in 1984 even though the team were third in the second division. Evans took charge of Smith’s team and began a dogged fight to stay in the top flight.
Oxford were third from bottom of the table when the final was played and had four league games left. Unnervingly, one was against Everton. They had not won for seven matches, while QPR were on an eight-game unbeaten run. Before meeting Rangers at Wembley, the notoriously self-effacing Evans suggested that Smith deserved to lead both tea
ms on to the pitch in the ceremonial walk from the tunnel to the halfway line. The Oxford manager even said that it did not matter whether his team won or lost. ‘There’s too much emphasis on being a winner nowadays,’ he said. ‘I am one of those strange people who likes to put entertainment first and winning second.’ It was not an attempt to play mind games.
Smith’s new team froze on the day. QPR barely landed a blow on Oxford, who went in 1–0 up at half-time and had extended the lead to 3–0 by the final whistle.
Evans sent the club’s 72-year-old trainer to collect his medal afterwards. Ken Fish had been involved at Oxford for more than two decades and Evans, who had served a similar stint with Reading, explained his rationale. ‘Everybody will say I’m strange but going to get that medal did not mean anything to me,’ the manager said. ‘Mr Fish has been at the club so long he deserves it.’
Maxwell, meanwhile, was basking in glory. Oxford still had a relegation battle to fight, though.
It had been a manic March. The freezing weather created a backlog of fixtures and the season needed to end on 10 May because of the proximity of the World Cup finals. The workload was as heavy as the pitches.
Everton played nine games in the month, including FA Cup and Super Cup ties; Liverpool had the same number of matches. West Ham took to the pitch eight times but faced a logjam of fixtures in April. Manchester United also played eight. Chelsea had the fewest games in the period, seven, but also looked forward to an exhausting run-in.
Injuries were piling up. United were down to third as Ron Atkinson’s walking wounded limped out of the title race. ‘We played Everton on Easter Monday,’ the United manager said. ‘All our centre halves were injured. Mark Higgins played with a broken arm. We suffered with injuries. Robbo was out, McGrath out. Strachan injured. It was difficult.’
Ominously for Everton, United held on for a 0–0 draw at Old Trafford, meaning that the month ended with Liverpool going top of the league on goal difference. It had been a wild 31 days for the Blues. They ended the first day of March 11 points clear of their neighbours. The draw with United meant they had dropped seven points since then. But the league had to take a back seat as April began. The FA Cup semi-finals were round the corner.
