Wembley Stadium London
12th of may 1979
Referee: R Challis
Attendance: 100,000
Can
just five minutes of football earn a match the billing of being
'great'? For all ihose who witnessed the incredible last five minutes of
the 1979 FA Cup final the answer has to be a definite yes. Arsenal were
back at Wembley a year after losing to the only goal of the match by
Ipswich Town hero Roger Osborne. The game had been a personal nightmare
for Irish international midficld master Liam Brady, who had unwisely
played when less than fully fit and he had been unable to make any son
of impact on the match. Brady was determined to make up for the
heartbreak of 1978 against Manchester United, a team making their thin]
FA Cup final appearance in four seasons. They had been stunned to defeat
by Southampton in 1976 and had returned to Wembley the following year
to sink mighty Liverpool. United, with former Arsenal coach Dave Sexton
as their imaginative manager, had cleared ihe Liverpool hurdle again
after a replay in the semi-finals to earn a place in the 1979 final.
Arsenal had survived a dramatic five-match third-round tie against
Sheffield Wednesday and eventually got to Wembley via a 2-0 semi-final
victory over Wolves.
Arsenal
appeared to have killed the match stone dead as a contest with two
first-half goals that gave them a flattering 2-0 lead. Both goals were
created by Brady, who wiped out the memory of his misery against Ipswich
with as commanding an individual performance as has been seen in an FA
Cup final. He started the 12ih minute move that climaxed with Brian
Talbot—on the winning side with Ipswich the previous year-edging out
team-mate Alan Sunderland in a race to put the finishing touch to a pass
by David Price after inventive work out on the wing by Frank Stapleton.
For the next half hour it was United who played the more constructive
and composed football, and goalkeeper Pat Jennings needed to be at his
best to keep Arsenal ahead. Jimmy Greenhoff, Lou Macari, Mickey Thomas
and Joe Jordan all had scoring attempts before Brady eased the pressure
with a quick break down the right from deep in midfield. United's
defenders scurried back to cover and were waiting for Ihe Irishman to
use his famed and feared left foot, but he fooled them by suddenly
crossing the ball with his right foot. Staplelon, his fellow Dubliner,
had read the situation perfectly and came dashing round the blindside of
the United defence to meet the ball at the far post and head il wide of
goalkeeper Gary Bailey.
After
a half-time tactics talk from coach Don Howe, Arsenal adopted a
what-we-have-we-hold attitude in the second half, and though
surrendering icrritorial advantage rarely looked like allowing United
the inspiration of a goal. The game was dying on its feet and many
uncommitted fans were leaving the stadium when there was an explosion of
action that turned a fairly undistinguished match into an unforgettable
one. With just five minutes to go Arsenal sent on Steve Walford as a
substitute for tiring David Price. Walford had not touched the ball when
he looked on in horror as United scored two goals in two minutes.
Centre-half Gordon McQueen swung a long leg hopefully after Joe Jordan
had pushed a Steve Coppell free-kick into the danger area. The ball
threaded its way from McQueen's boot past a forest of legs and into the
Arsenal net.
Panic
suddenly swept through the Arsenal defence like water gushing through a
holed ship and two minutes later United scored again when Sammy Mcllroy
ran on to a pass from Coppell, outpaced David O'Leary and the
still-cold Walford and fired the ball positively into the net From being
down and out jubilant United were now thinking in terms of victory in
extra time that was just one minute away. But in their moment of
euphoria they committed the cardinal sin of losing their concentration,
and they were suddenly mortified to see Brady racing towards their
penalty area with the ball at his feet. He drew two defenders out of
position and then slipped the sweetest of passes to Graham Rix. Arsenal
players piled forward into the United penalty area and were queuing up
beyond hesitant goalkeeper Bailey to meet Rix's centre. It was
Sundcrland who rammed the ball home to give the match an astonishing
finish to compare with that of the Stanley Matthews final just over a
quarter of a century before. The hardest job the Arsenal players had was
catching Sunderland to congratulate him as he took off on a wild
celebration run.
Arsenal Jennings, Rice, Nelson, Talbot, O'Leary, Young, Brady, Sunderland, Stapleton, Price, Rix. Sub: Walford.
Manchester
United Bailey, Nicholl, Albiston, Mcllroy. McQueen, Buchan, Coppcll,
Jimmy Greenhoff, Jordan, Macari, Thomas. Sub: Brian Greenhoff.
resume
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Wembley Stadium London
Hi there, I just recently stumbled upon your blog and I have to say that I admire the time and effort put into every post. The attention to detail is fantastic from the wealth of journalistic pieces from the era to the photos of every event that you cover. I spent hours reading several posts and I've bookmarked your site so that I can come back to read more. I don't want to sound like an ingrate , but is it possible to re-up the links for the Arsenal v Manchester United 1979 FA Cup final ? I would love to watch this game again, if not I fully understand
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