What people never seen to remember about the Wimbledon game is that at 2-0 up Dean Holdsworth missed two or three glorious chances to make it 3-0. I was right behind the Street End goal when he headed them over the bar and I still believe to this day he was so terrified of the potential consequences that he deliberately missed a couple of sitters.
On top of that we only had a three sided ground that day but still managed to turn it into an intimidating bearpit. Ben Foster is right, all too often we allow that bearpit to be turned on our own players and regardless of how [Poor language removed] they are, they are our players represententing our club so we should be thoroughly ashamed of ourselves for that.
Disclaimer; repeating yourself is an arlarse's privilege, nay,
Right.
Setting the scene...
Bear Pit - you can't handle a Bear Pit
Bayern? that's not a Bear Pit,
This is a Bear Pit.
Screen goes all wavey / wobbley as we go back to...
...Goodison Park, Tuesday 28th January 7.30pm. 1964
After a tough 1-1 (iirc, via a missed by Scott and retaken by Vernon penalty) 4th round draw Away to Leeds, who with Revie at the helm were 2nd Div pace setters and busy *kicking their way out of the 2nd Div.
* This was not just a proto Leeds thing, it was the perceived wisdom...and IMO, still applied to day...you have to win the fight-ball, then you play your football...especially in the 2nd Div.
Anyway 66,187 gathered on a bitter cold January night.
1)West.; 2) Brown. 3) Meagan; 4)Harris, 5)Labone, 6)Kay; 7) Scott, 8) Stevens, 9) Gabriel, 10) Vernon, 11) Temple
Alex Young / The GV dropped or injured?...memory fails there...(maybe a bit of both tbh. )
No doubt by 7.20 drink had been taken, the ground was full to near bursting.
Anyway 66,187 gathered on a bitter cold January night.
And
This was played just before the teams came out, volume wound up - ala Queen at Live Aid....waaay over the legal limit.
66,000 sang along and stamped in time to the beat.
'Woodison' was one big Reverb cauldron of noise
Then the team came out and played like it was death or glory.
Gabriel at No.9, tore into all the so called hard men of Leeds (dirty dirty leeds) Charlton, Hunter, etc. like Conan The Barbarian having a really bad day and looking for somebody to take it out on...all the team did
Bremner, Giles, Reaney Bell, etc all these so called (dirty, dirty, leeds) hard men bottled it, they did not, as the saying goes - Like it Up Em !
There was only one winner**
This is what we need Tomorrow.
If I had a TARDIS, I'd take the squad and everybody who wasn't there back then to that starry, starry night...I wouldn't even have to have them inside the ground, I'd stand them all on that bitter cold night, outside the Ground, in all the police horse poo and piss.
And say;
Just,
'Kin,
Listen !
(** the above night and the manner of their capitulation, is, IMO obvs, the main reason cowardly Revie came up with his 'get your retaliation in first and disrupt their play' policy.
Which, if you know your 'Istory - resulted in the later Battle of Goodison...which in hindsight, we helped by matching them kick for kick.)
Just sayin like.
