“This will only happen once in our lifetime” were the words of the Headmaster of Somerhill Middle School in Hove as he handed me two tickets for the FA Cup Final to take place on Saturday May 21st 1983 at Wembley. The game featured the favourites Manchester United, managed by ‘Big’ Ron Atkinson, and the lowlier Brighton and Hove Albion, managed by Jimmy ‘Dancing Shoes’ Melia.
Jimmy was a great showman but he hadn’t managed to stop the Seagulls from being relegated from the First Division that season after what had been a four-year first-ever stint in the top flight of English football. Nevertheless, spirits were high in Brighton and Hove and across Sussex at the prospect of a day out at Wembley and Manchester United, although better than us, were not the force they would soon become under Alex Ferguson.
In
the week before the game everywhere across Brighton and Hove there were
blue and white flags, posters, hats and scarves – in cars hanging from
the windows of houses, draped round lampposts and railings. There was so
much blue on display that the Labour candidate for Hove in the upcoming
general election on June 9th
complained that it looked as if the whole constituency was supporting
the Tories! (Few gave Labour a chance anyway as Hove was considered a
safe seat for the Tories with the incumbent, Tim Sainsbury, only needing
to stand outside the supermarket that bore his family name on the
Saturday before the election to shake a few hands and thereby be sure of
retaining his seat.)
For the final the Albion decided to arrive in style and appeared over the famous stadium in a helicopter courtesy of their sponsor ‘British Caledonian’. Having landed at a local school the team walked round the hallowed turf in well-tailored white suits. They scored points for style even if it seemed unlikely that they would win the cup.
There was a feeling amongst fans that our name was on the cup so even when Man U went 2-1 up we did not despair and sure enough we levelled the score with minutes to go and the game went to extra time.
With virtually the last kick of the game it looked like we would do it but Gordon Smith’s shot cannoned off the legs of Gary Bailey instead of hitting the back of the net…And Smith Must Score…but he didn’t!
And so a replay was scheduled for Thursday 26 May. Tickets had to be printed and sold in superfast time. There was only one way to get tickets and that was to join a queue that snaked around the Goldstone Ground – this was before the days of the internet and fiddling about endlessly on the complicated Albion website!
How would the Albion fare in the replay? Much was made of the return for the Albion of the totemic figure Steve Foster who had not been able to take part in the first game as he had received a caution in a recent league match at Notts County (yes they were in the First Division then!) The press declared that he might make a difference and swing the game towards the Albion.
The replay stared well but slowly Manchester United took control and ran out 4-0 winners. The Man U fans gave full voice to ‘Steven Foster, Steven Foster. What a difference you did make – what a difference you did make!’
And so it was that the once-in-a-lifetime event became a twice-in-a-week occasion etched into the memories of thousands of people.
And the general election on June 9? Well Tim Sainsbury won the Hove seat which he retained for the Tories until the coming of New Labour and Ivor Caplin in 1997. But that is another story.
Memory added on May 18, 2021
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