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Magic of the Cup

Albion's epic run to the Third Round started at the unlikely setting of obscure Hertfordshire club Wooton Blue Cross in September of 1984.

Albion's England semi-pro duo of Doug Newton and Stewart Mell were both on the scoresheet as Albion cantered to a 4-0 victory to set rolling a Cup bandwagon which ran over Stevenage Borough, Willenhall Town and Wycombe Wanderers to set up the prospect of league opposition in the First Round proper.

      
Celebrations at the Rec - Albion players after making it through to the FA Cup Third Round with a 2-0 win over Aldershot, 8th December 1984. Manager Warnock far right.
And who did Albion come out of the hat with? Staines Town! Nevertheless, the Burton public's appetite for Cup football was not diminished, as 4,021 turned out to see a bullet-like 40-yard free-kick from Doug Newton (which is still talked about today) send Albion through to the Second Round, and a trip to Fourth Division Aldershot.

Hardly a glamour fixture but again the Brewers fans made the trek to the Recreation Ground en masse, sensing an upset. They weren't disappointed. Nigel Simms was the unlikely scorer of the first goal for Albion.

Leicester match programme cover

The defender, a miner like Phil Annable, and similar in style too, also became one of the clubs longest serving players, continuing to turn out in Albion colours well into the 90's, and 'Simmo' could hardly have chosen a better moment to score a rare goal. When Stewart Mell added a second there was no stopping Albion's progress to a titanic Third Round clash.

In those days of course, the Third Round Draw was made in Sports Report on a Saturday tea-time, so many Albion fans waited behind to find out who they would be paired with, and there was no sense of anti-climax this time. When Albion's ball did finally drop out of the legendary velvet bag, it was accompanied by that of Leicester City, a First Division club, and near neighbours of the Brewers.

David Vaughan shoots...
      
January 5th 1985 - David Vaughan stuns Division One Leicester by firing past City 'keeper Ian Andrews to level the scores at the Baseball Ground (above), as the Brewers fans packed on the Popside at the old BBG prepare to celebrate (right)

It was a massive draw for the club, and Eton Park could not hope to hold the numbers who would want to watch it, so rather than concede home advantage, the Albion board got permission to hire out Derby County's Baseball Ground.

..and the Popside erupts!
After all the usual cliches had been dispensed with (the piece on Football Focus about what funny jobs the players have, etc), the match itself certainly had no shortage of drama, and not all of it on the pitch.

A striker by the name of Gary Lineker fired Leicester into the lead after 16 minutes, but the Brewers sparked hopes of a major upset seven minutes later, David Vaughan's shot bobbling on the frozen Baseball Ground pitch and under keeper Ian Andrews to send the Albion fans into ecstasy. That's when the real fun started!
Highfield Road action
Maradona, Klinsmann... Simmo?! Gary Lineker (second left) has played alongside all the greats. (l-r): Nigel Simms, Lineker, Steve Dolby, Alan Smith
Albion and Leicester fans probably numbered about 10,000 each, with the remainder of the 22,000 crowd being made up by Derby fans hoping to see their rivals Leicester beaten.  (I remember even then, as a nine year old, taking a dislike to Derby fans and wondering why there were some people wearing stupid Rams scarves when they weren't even playing).

Anyway, these were of course the "dark days" of English soccer, when a trip to a football ground would inevitably lead to you losing some piece of your anatomy to a skinhead thug with a union jack tattoo (or at least that's what the tabloids would have you believe).

Well, whether because of Derby elements in the Leicester section of the ground, or because they didn't like being scored against by a non-league team, the City fans decided to, like, have a riot, and so Albion keeper Paul Evans at the Osmaston End goal behind which they were massed, ended up with a piece of wooden seat raining down on his head from a great height, and was out of action for several minutes for treatment, as the police tried to quell the disturbances.

Evans later claimed that the biggest day of his career had been ruined, as he spent the rest of the game in a daze. Whether this incident was to blame is debatable, but Leicester went on to put another five past the Brewers keeper, Lineker netting a hat-trick, as City romped to a barely deserved 6-1 victory. But that was not the end of the story.

Leicester ticket stub
The national press, eager as ever for a good hooligan story, fuelled a campaign to have the match replayed, as the scores had been level when Evans had been hit, and the incident had had an adverse affect on his performance.

Lonely vigil
      
Friday 10th January 1985 - an eerily empty Highfield Road provides the surreal backdrop for one of the biggest games in Albion history
Surprisingly, the FA agreed, citing as precedent a recent European match between Celtic and Rapid Vienna which had been replayed due to a similar incident.

So, Albion could have another crack at causing an upset. Unfortunately, no fans would be able to witness it - the match would be played at Highfield Road behind closed doors.

So, a frostbound Friday afternoon in Coventry, in front of some pressmen and a handful of ball boys, was the surreal setting for what was, technically, one of the biggest matches in the clubs history.
Brewers fans with understanding bosses (or teachers) had to rely on local radio commentary to follow the fortunes of their heroes. In the event Albion went down by a single Paul Ramsey goal - a more fitting scoreline, but a bizarre end to an epic Cup run.
 
Route to the FA Cup 3rd Round, 1984-85
Date Rnd Opponents V Att Score Scorers
Sep 15 1Q Wooton BC A 243  4-0 Newton, Mell, McJannet, Graham
Sep 29 2Q Stevenage Boro A 695  2-0 Froggatt, Redfern
Oct 13 3Q Willenhall Town H 1,275  2-1 D Vaughan (pen), Kania
Oct 27 4Q Wycombe W A 978  1-1 Kabia
Oct 31 4Q (r) Wycombe W H 3,442  2-1 Mell, Froggatt
Nov 17 1 Staines Town H 4,021  2-0 Mell, Newton
Dec 8 2 Aldershot A 4,486  2-1 Simms, Mell
Jan  5 3 Leicester City H* 22,492  1-6 D Vaughan
Jan 11 3 Leicester City N -  0-1
*Played at the Baseball Ground, Derby - N Played at Highfield Road, Coventry

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