Played On The 3rd Of April 1982 At Arsenal's Highury, Includes Interview With Clive Allen And Terry Venables. The Winners Would Face Spurs In the Final And It Was Clive Allens Goal That Took QPR To Wembley
I was there , I would give my life to have that day again . I still believe it to be one of the best goals I have ever seen (hold on before you disagree) , as the defender pulls his leg back to clear the ball , Clive Allen anticipates and throws his leg at the space and bang its in , he never got the credit for an amazing goal , I think Motson says it hit him ............ahhh look again John boy ....slow it frame by frame see the anticipation ....... uuuuurssssss
This was my favourite QPR match EVER and I had the pleasure of being in Highbury behind the goal, on that glorious day. In my opinion, it was the best vocal support for the RRR'RRS that I ever bore witness to:
John Wile asked Clive Allen , where do you think the replay will be? A few minutes later. Oh shit! It's a shame wile batson Robertson and statham never got to play in a cup final, for cyrille he did for Coventry. Terry Vennables went on to be my second favourite England manager, behind Sir Bobby, who's Ipswich beat us in 78, but I was too young to care for that one.
those were the days, , jim gregory and terry venables looking like arthur daley and terry Mccann discussing a bit of business in the snug of the winchester . magic. bobby hazell was magnificent that day. urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrssssssssssssss
I remember going to to this when I was a kid on my own and it was a great atmosphere and let's be honest a very lucky goal by Clive Allen but they all count
Was anyone on the Evergreen coach from Halesowen that day? If memory serves me correctly it took 4 coaches for us to reach Highbury....... 1st coach someone set the extinguisher off, 2nd coach setting on fire to a burnt out shell, 3rd was relief coach took us to Rugby in Warwickshire to await the 4th coach that finally got us to Highbury but arriving late for kick off. The day was gutting for an Albion fan but it was an unforgettable adventure getting there.
I went with a different coach firm. I remember the day mostly for fights going off as Arsenal and APR fans joined up to attack Baggies fans. B4 the game was in a pub with fans mixing well until a group of QPR fans came in and started trouble. A pool table sent through a big plate glass window followed by coppers climbing in through the window frame. After the game a tv was thrown from the maisonettes by Highbury into the Baggies fans. Then a group of Baggies fans forced their way into a newsagents and beat up the shop keeper and nicked anything they could. Apparently Baggies fans catching trains also had trouble at stations nearby. A sad day for me as a Baggies fan with the result and a sad day for football with all the trouble. Never went to Highbury again.
Clive Allen was a deadly goalscorer. Should have been given more chances with England. Maybe Bobby Robson felt he lacked pace, shame because he and Lineker up front would have been hard to stop.
Never believe official attendance figures from them days, there would always be a good 5000 that would turn up on the day and bunk in 2 for 1. FA cup finals were the same always 10k more in the ground than advertised.
I was 9! my first fa cup semi, we lost! my second was in 2008 we lost! Albion were always a top 3 or 4 club at the time, always in Europe and always a good bet for a cup! Then as my dad said to me you started going, it was all downhill from there! Within 4 years we were the worst 1st division team ever! Relegated and it took 16 years to come back, we never hit those highs again!!!
It was a horrible game, horrible day, pitch was crap, ball was dirty, 2nd semi defeat in a few years at Highbury .Albion side was on the decline then, big Ron, Moses Cantello,, Cunningham and Bryan Robson had all gone , no sparkle , no shine , no wembley...
