Chelsea
1967 and 1970 Cup Finals: A Reappraisal
Cup Winners
By Gary Watton
October 19 2014
I have been watching the old FA Cup finals back when Chelsea narrowly overcame Leeds United in two titanic tussles, three years after the Blues failed to conquer Tottenham Hotspur in the big Wembley showpiece. There have been a few shall we say 'urban myths' doing the rounds about those occasions, especially the bitter 1970 duel, that yours truly is going to provide a fresh, 'revisionist' look at the events.
I won't dwell too long, mercifully, upon Chelsea's failed efforts in the FA Cup final of 1967, other than to offer the following brief observations. Firstly, Chelsea were more than fortunate to defeat Leeds United in the Villa Park semi final. Admittedly the late Tony Hateley did score a towering header from a magnificent Charlie Cooke cross after some exceptional touchline dribbling from the Scottish maestro. However, Peter Lorimer's brilliant last-minute free kick should never have been disallowed. Still, it ain't Chelsea's fault if the man in black disallows Lorimer's screamer. Anyhow, the final was played in pouring rain and Chelsea's performance was indeed a damp squib. Against a well-marshalled Tottenham defence, the all blues failed time and again to string five or six passes together. Only the energetic Charlie Cooke rose to the occasion, as too many Chelsea players had a distinctly average day at the office. Only in the dying minutes did Chelsea threaten to rescue the contest, although their goal was a gift from the north Londoners when the normally reliable Pat Jennings flapped at a teasing cross from John Boyle and the lethal Bobby Tambling headed home. Of course it is long forgotten that the late Peter Osgood didn't quite recover in time to play in the final after an Emlyn Hughes foul had ended his season back in October. Osgood's damaging absence may well have been the difference between success and failure. C'est la vie.
1970, happily, was a different story, and the inimitable Ossie was this time at the heart of the proceedings. Mind you, in the space of three short years, Chelsea's personnel had been transformed (for the better). Dempsey, Hutchinson and Webb had come to the Bridge and were now mainstays. Peter Houseman was back in the first team, and most significant of all the level-headed Dave Sexton had succeeded the tempestuous Tommy Docherty. Still there would be another notable absentee from this latest Chelsea FA Cup final, as injury cruelly robbed Chelsea of the highly influential and creative Alan Hudson.
One of the great subtexts of the final was that both clubs had lost the finals of 1965 and 1967, that both clubs had yet to win the FA Cup after decades of failure, and furthermore both teams had enjoyed outstanding seasons but had finished as Division One bridesmaids to a triumphant Everton. The FA Cup presented the opportunity to salvage silverware from a season that threatened to end with nothing other than hard luck stories. There could be only one winner, and given the fact that Leeds had dominated Chelsea in recent league matches, while Chelsea had prevailed in three recent cup encounters, this was an absolute duel to the death shootout between north and south featuring two teams that not surprisingly lacked nothing in motivation.
However, to state that both sets of players hated each other is totally wide of the mark. In fact, what has been conveniently lost through the sands of time was the apparent lack of animosity between the two protagonists in the Wembley encounter, played on a farcical sub-standard pitch ruined by a very recent Horse Of The Year Show. The sporting nature of the Wembley two-hour showdown was demonstrated on at least a couple of occasions. First of all the feisty Billy Bremner emerged for the second half engaged in amicable conversation with half of the Chelsea team. Then, in extra time, back in the day when teams did not have the luxury of two or three reinforcements, big Osgood administered a bit of amateur First Aid to Terry Cooper who was suffering from cramp. In the end, both teams exchanged warm handshakes and embraces of mutual respect, borne out of their 120-minute workout. The match itself was something of a compelling farce. The two first half goals were two of the softest goals ever witnessed, and yet both goalkeepers and their woodwork prevented certain goals. The thriller could easily have finished about eight-eight, even though the consensus of opinion was that Chelsea were fortunate to be presented with a second bite of the cherry eighteen days later at Old Trafford.
So what, one might reasonably ask, transformed the mutual respect of April the eleventh into the belligerent, grudge match of the 29th when players almost literally kicked lumps out of each other in arguably the most notorious encounter in the history of English football? Well, as a Chelsea follower, I have to concede that the 'blame' if that is the right word, should be awarded to Dave Sexton and his captain Ron 'Chopper' Harris. In the Wembley final Eddie Gray had dazzled and reportedly given David Webb the runaround. I think that was an exaggeration. On the famous occasion in the first half when Gray produced a flying save from Peter Bonetti, the Scotsman got beyond Dave Webb because the latter slipped on the ludicrous surface. To suggest that Gray tormented Webb is a trifle harsh. Nevertheless, the astute Sexton was realistic enough to opt for a change of strategy for part two of the drama. Sexton publicly announced his intention to have 'Ronnie' take care of Eddie. Whether taking care of the flying Scotsman was merely an instruction to mark the bugger or to leave marks on him, only Dave and Ron will know, but Chopper lived up to his infamous epithet by indeed chopping down young Gray and thereby effectively rendering him as obsolete for the remainder of the proceedings. This first half calling card from Harris would set the tone for the encounter.
Of course Leeds United were far from blameless. I recently watched how Peter 'Mac The Knife' McParland of Aston Villa had softened up opposing goalkeeper Ray Wood in the 1957 FA Cup final before scoring twice against a stand-in goalie. Mind you, Manchester United were the victims of this cynical football, so let's not get too upset about their misfortune. Well, thirteen years later, and seemingly taking his cue from McParland's calculated skullduggery, Mick Jones did likewise on 'the cat' Bonetti, wounding him and then scoring past him shortly afterwards. I must say that the Leeds goal could be ascribed to supreme skill by Allan Clarke and Jones to waltz through the Chelsea midfield and defence, but I think that Chelsea's attempted tackles were nothing short of puny and embarrassing. Chelsea fans were in no doubts about whether Jones had deliberately tried to incapacitate Bonetti as they roundly booed the Leeds goalscorer thereafter. Perhaps fired by the apparent injustice of the Leeds goal or their impotent attempts to prevent it, Chelsea's players were resolved to get even. The Blues' own brand of nastiness was demonstrated when Eddie McCreadie launched a crude Kung-Fu kick attempt to win a high ball off his compatriot, Billy Bremner. The latter only just survived decapitation and momentary unconsciousness, whilst we will never know if McCreadie's apparent concern for his Scotland team mate was any more genuine than Jones's concern had been for the injured Bonetti.
The wrestling didn't end there. Ossie made a naughty foul from behind on big Jackie Charlton, prompting the mother of all over-reactions from the big centre half. Then deep in the second half, Ian Hutchinson reportedly gave big Charlton a dead leg. JC was so incensed by this that he then lost concentration when Hutch combined with Charlie Cooke for the latter to float over that magnificent cross for Osgood to ghost into the heart of the Leeds penalty area and wrong-foot Harvey with his diving header.
It would be the safest statement in history to assert that referee Eric Jennings had a stinker. Like Howard Webb in the 2010 World Cup final, he encouraged the aggressive free for all by declining to brandish cards. Much to the subsequent bewilderment of David Elleray, the only individual to be booked was Ian Hutchinson. Even Charlton and Osgood's touchline 'tiff' went unpunished. In reality Chelsea could have had Cooke, Harris, McCreadie, and Webb sent off. Perhaps this was a right of passage for Chelsea Football Club. No longer was the club merely the home of fancy Dans and under-achieving teams. Chelsea were at last a force to be reckoned with, learning from their opponents that both skill and aggression were required to succeed. Maybe nobody personified this more than the brave Ian Hutchinson. His subsequent career may have been disrupted by a series of injuries but Hutch will always be remembered for producing arguably the greatest throw-in on a football pitch.
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19/10/2014 15:37
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