Still brings a tear to my eye. For a small club to have such history, have given the world of football such players and managers I for one am very proud. Bobby Robson RIP, a giant amongst men.
RIP Paul Mariner who was a year above me in school. Often saw him in Adlington years and years later wearing his dead tight shorts. Also RIP to the one and only Bobby Robson, the main protagonist during this Ipswich Town period. They gave my team Liverpool many a tough game around this time. I was 13 when I saw this match on telly, and of course Roger Osbourne and all that.
I was 9 years old and just "discovered" football that season and become an Arsenal fan. I still remember this game, it was gutting! It would be difficult even for the most passionate Gooner to say that Ipswich didn't deserve this. The scoreboard said 1-0 but the reality was it was a proper pasting! On any other day it would have been 5 or 6!
Ipswich were a great team, finishing above arsenal for 9 out of 10 consecutive seasons during this era, so no surprises here , Ipswich would have been easy favourites to win
Not many know this about David Geddis. He won the FA Cup here with Ipswich. He won the league with Aston Villa a couple of years later as 1 of the 14 Villa players used that season and then, he won the European Cup with Villa the following year. League winner, FA Cup winner, European Cup winner inside 4 years. Not bad eh?
Back in the day when the FA Cup final appearance could literally obsess a town club like Ipswich for weeks. A Cup final goal or good performance could make you a local hero for life.
I have such fond memories of watching this final as it was the first FA Cup final I can remember watching. For that day I was an Ipswich fan. I can recall me and my dad jumping up in the living room when Osbourne scored that goal. Happy days...
Watched this as 12-year old Arsenal fan (and hadn't watched again until just the other day). Probably one of the most tortuous experiences I´ve had as a football fan, but one of the finals I still remember more than most. The FA Cup in those days was so big and one of the few live games shown on TV in the year. This was Arsenal´s first final since ´72 when I was barely six, so this was my first time watching them in a final. I remember my dad warning me that Ipswich were a bit of a bogey side for Arsenal, so I went into this game feeling pretty nervous. As it happens, Ipswich were on Match of the Day the week before and although they lost I remember thinking they looked decent. I also remember lots of talk about possible Ipswich injuries in the days leading up to the game but everybody seemed to be fit in time for the match. I thought Arsenal started ok but then there was that Mariner effort just past the post within the first ten minutes and after that it was all Ipswich. Every time Arsenal cleared the ball, it went to an Ipswich player. Because of the size of our (b/w) tv screen the player receiving the cleared ball was just out of shot and there would be a split second before the screen caught up with the action to reveal an Ipswich player picking up the loose ball and starting yet another attack. Every time they hit the post the anxiety level rose another notch. When the goal finally came, I don´t know why, but I almost felt a sense of relief, like being put out of my misery, no need to continue clutching the armchair as if at a dentist.The worst was over. I don´t remember ever feeling that Arsenal would get back into it, even though it was only 1-0. Boy did Ipswich deserve it. Full credit to them. Anything else would, I have to acknowledge, have been an injustice.
A mate has just reminded me of us being in Singapore in 1978 and watching this game, time delayed, "live" in the Lion Hotel, half pissed on Tiger beer. Wonderful memories, and some great players on both sides, plus Bobby Robson of course. Thanks for the post.
