Classic Arsenal Cup Defeats - Part 3 - Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1 FA Cup Semi Final Villa Park - 16/04/1983
DOUBLE CUP HEARTBREAK
IN 1993 ARSENAL became the first club to win both domestic cup competitions in the same season. But 10 year's earlier they had come mighty close to eclipsing it.
Following the break up of the great Gunners cup side from the late 1970s, which had reached four cup finals in three years, manager Terry Neill had struggled to rebuild. But by the start of the 1982/83 season expectations at Highbury had been reawakened.
The summer signings of Tony Woodcock and Lee Chapman for the combined fee of £1 million had been bought to replace the goals missing since Frank Stapleton had moved to Manchester United a year earlier, while in midfield Paul Davis was emerging as the natural successor to Liam Brady.
But it proved to be no more than a false dawn and by early 1983 Arsenal had only the cups to concentrate on.
Chapman had failed to settle, scoring just four times, and while Woodcock had been a success, the Gunners league challenge had been hampered by all the old inconsistencies.
Indeed by January they were stuck in mid-table mediocrity and struggling to even finish high enough to qualify for European competition.
But the arrival of Yugoslav Vladimir Pertovic and some favourable cup draws had given Arsenal reason to feel optimistic going into 1983.
In fact Neill's side had reached the semi finals in both the League Cup and the FA Cup so a first ever domestic cup double was on the cards.
Standing in their way of two trips to Wembley however, was Stapleton and Manchester United.
The League Cup semi final first leg at Highbury on 15 February 1983 was an unmitigated disaster for Neill's side. Stapleton shoved the boos of the North Bank back down their throats with the crucial second goal as United raced into a 4-0 lead.
Late efforts from Woodcock and Peter Nicholas did very little to lift the mood, and United won the second leg 2-1 to reach Wembley with a 6-3 aggregate success.
But the FA Cup would offer the chance for swift redemption.
So at Villa Park on 16 April 1983 the two sides reconvened for semi final part two. Arsenal were without first choice goalkeeper Pat Jennings due to injury so George Wood again deputised.
Less than two weeks earlier Arsenal had suffered a 5-0 humiliation away at White Hart Lane in a match in which Wood was at fault for at least three of the goals, so the omens were not good.
But it was the performance of Arsenal's very own Robson, 19 year Stewart, that really caught the eye.
The versatile youngster was driving Arsenal forward at every opportunity and it was his energy that led to the opening goal seven minutes before half time.
Robson's lung-busting run into the penalty area saw him get on the end of Graham Rix's through ball, and although United goalkeeper Gary Bailey initially denied him, when Petrovic, the star of the quarter final victory over Aston Villa, chipped back into the six yard box, Robson, despite still being on the ground, was able to prod the ball goal-wards.
It would probably have crossed the line anyway but Woodcock, from a yard out, made absolutely sure to give Arsenal a vital lead.
United's response was to kick Robson out of the game. A late challenge on him by Arthur Albiston just before the break saw the teenager replaced at half time by Chapman, and with him went Arsenal's chance of reaching Wembley.
It took United just five minutes of the second half to pull level and it was was their captain marvel, Robson, who scored it, finally breaking clear of the attentions of Talbot to turn sharply in the area and drill a shot past Wood.
Arsenal had no response. Norman Whiteside, who the previous month had become Wembley's youngest ever goalscorer in the League Cup Final, was running the show and inevitably it was the 17 year old Irish wonder kid who put United in front in the 70th minute, although VAR may well have disallowed it these days due to offside.
Arsenal huffed and puffed after that but the nearest they came to a way back was a poor effort from Woodcock on his weaker right foot which landed tamely into the arms of Bailey.
So for the second time in only a matter of weeks Arsenal had fallen at the final hurdle, the cup double now just a double disappointment.
This was the beginning of the end for Neill, unable to knit old and new, and he was gone before the year was out.
In the end it would be a further 10 years before Arsenal would reach another FA Cup final where victory in a replay over Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 would seal the first ever domestic cup double in English football history.
For me this game was my first big away trip outside London. I can still vividly remember at half time while I was dreaming of a first trip to Wembley, they played the Nick Heyward song, 'Whistle Down the Wind', over the tannoy. I cannot listen that song now without it bringing back painful memories of the day.
The half time excitement did last long though as the second half was possibly the most disappointing 45 minutes I would experience until the Champions League final in 2006. We just never got going again and I still maintain that had Robson not been injured we would have won.
With only newly relegated Brighton and Hove Albion awaiting in the final maybe the whole recent history of the club could have been different.
Maybe Neill would have stayed and there would have been no George Graham. When you look at it like that perhaps United did us favour by beating us in both semi finals in 1983, although of course it did not feel like that at the time.
What sticks in my mind more than anything else was the violence both before and after the match.
I had witnessed some issues before, most notably the Tottenham and West Ham home games from the previous season, and the League Cup semi final against United a couple of months earlier, but this was on a different level.
It seemed that from the moment we stepped off the train at Birmingham New Street until we arrived back at Euston there was a constant battle going on.
IN 1993 ARSENAL became the first club to win both domestic cup competitions in the same season. But 10 year's earlier they had come mighty close to eclipsing it.
Following the break up of the great Gunners cup side from the late 1970s, which had reached four cup finals in three years, manager Terry Neill had struggled to rebuild. But by the start of the 1982/83 season expectations at Highbury had been reawakened.
The summer signings of Tony Woodcock and Lee Chapman for the combined fee of £1 million had been bought to replace the goals missing since Frank Stapleton had moved to Manchester United a year earlier, while in midfield Paul Davis was emerging as the natural successor to Liam Brady.But it proved to be no more than a false dawn and by early 1983 Arsenal had only the cups to concentrate on.
Chapman had failed to settle, scoring just four times, and while Woodcock had been a success, the Gunners league challenge had been hampered by all the old inconsistencies.
Indeed by January they were stuck in mid-table mediocrity and struggling to even finish high enough to qualify for European competition.
But the arrival of Yugoslav Vladimir Pertovic and some favourable cup draws had given Arsenal reason to feel optimistic going into 1983.
In fact Neill's side had reached the semi finals in both the League Cup and the FA Cup so a first ever domestic cup double was on the cards.
Standing in their way of two trips to Wembley however, was Stapleton and Manchester United.
The League Cup semi final first leg at Highbury on 15 February 1983 was an unmitigated disaster for Neill's side. Stapleton shoved the boos of the North Bank back down their throats with the crucial second goal as United raced into a 4-0 lead.
Late efforts from Woodcock and Peter Nicholas did very little to lift the mood, and United won the second leg 2-1 to reach Wembley with a 6-3 aggregate success.
But the FA Cup would offer the chance for swift redemption.
So at Villa Park on 16 April 1983 the two sides reconvened for semi final part two. Arsenal were without first choice goalkeeper Pat Jennings due to injury so George Wood again deputised.
Less than two weeks earlier Arsenal had suffered a 5-0 humiliation away at White Hart Lane in a match in which Wood was at fault for at least three of the goals, so the omens were not good.
However it was clear from the start that Arsenal were hellbent on revenge.
In front of a crowd of 46,535, they flew into tackles, with Brian Talbot in particular keeping a very close eye on United danger man, captain marvel, Bryan Robson.
In front of a crowd of 46,535, they flew into tackles, with Brian Talbot in particular keeping a very close eye on United danger man, captain marvel, Bryan Robson.
But it was the performance of Arsenal's very own Robson, 19 year Stewart, that really caught the eye.
The versatile youngster was driving Arsenal forward at every opportunity and it was his energy that led to the opening goal seven minutes before half time.
Robson's lung-busting run into the penalty area saw him get on the end of Graham Rix's through ball, and although United goalkeeper Gary Bailey initially denied him, when Petrovic, the star of the quarter final victory over Aston Villa, chipped back into the six yard box, Robson, despite still being on the ground, was able to prod the ball goal-wards.
It would probably have crossed the line anyway but Woodcock, from a yard out, made absolutely sure to give Arsenal a vital lead.
United's response was to kick Robson out of the game. A late challenge on him by Arthur Albiston just before the break saw the teenager replaced at half time by Chapman, and with him went Arsenal's chance of reaching Wembley.
It took United just five minutes of the second half to pull level and it was was their captain marvel, Robson, who scored it, finally breaking clear of the attentions of Talbot to turn sharply in the area and drill a shot past Wood.
Arsenal had no response. Norman Whiteside, who the previous month had become Wembley's youngest ever goalscorer in the League Cup Final, was running the show and inevitably it was the 17 year old Irish wonder kid who put United in front in the 70th minute, although VAR may well have disallowed it these days due to offside.
So for the second time in only a matter of weeks Arsenal had fallen at the final hurdle, the cup double now just a double disappointment.
This was the beginning of the end for Neill, unable to knit old and new, and he was gone before the year was out.
In the end it would be a further 10 years before Arsenal would reach another FA Cup final where victory in a replay over Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 would seal the first ever domestic cup double in English football history.
For me this game was my first big away trip outside London. I can still vividly remember at half time while I was dreaming of a first trip to Wembley, they played the Nick Heyward song, 'Whistle Down the Wind', over the tannoy. I cannot listen that song now without it bringing back painful memories of the day.
The half time excitement did last long though as the second half was possibly the most disappointing 45 minutes I would experience until the Champions League final in 2006. We just never got going again and I still maintain that had Robson not been injured we would have won.
With only newly relegated Brighton and Hove Albion awaiting in the final maybe the whole recent history of the club could have been different.
Maybe Neill would have stayed and there would have been no George Graham. When you look at it like that perhaps United did us favour by beating us in both semi finals in 1983, although of course it did not feel like that at the time.
I had witnessed some issues before, most notably the Tottenham and West Ham home games from the previous season, and the League Cup semi final against United a couple of months earlier, but this was on a different level.
It seemed that from the moment we stepped off the train at Birmingham New Street until we arrived back at Euston there was a constant battle going on.
After the game on the way back to the station, my friend and I got separated from the main section of Arsenal fans and I remember we somehow ended up in a multi story car park in Birmingham City Centre crouching behind parked cars to avoid being spotted by a large group of United thugs who were on the look out for any random Gooners to attack; a shocking end to a very upsetting day.
Coming up next time I look back on the career of a player who enjoyed many better times in cup semi finals with Arsenal; Liam Brady. Now that is one not to be missed.
Coming up next time I look back on the career of a player who enjoyed many better times in cup semi finals with Arsenal; Liam Brady. Now that is one not to be missed.
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