IT IS ALMOST impossible to believe that before 1985, nobody had ever been sent off in an FA Cup final. That’s 126 finals (including replays) where players were allegedly quite cautious when it came to the tackle.
Well…. we know that is just not true. Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris of Chelsea went up against Don Revie’s teak-tough Leeds team in 1970, for God’s sake!
This is the description of that game on Wikipedia (not really a reliable source but they describe it exactly how you imagined the game took place) :
Not long into the game, Chelsea’s Ron Harris caught winger Eddie Gray with a kick to the back of the knee, an action which neutralised the Scottish winger for the rest of the game. Norman Hunter and Ian Hutchinson traded punches while McCreadie and Johnny Giles lunged at opposition players. Charlton kneed and headbuttedPeter Osgood while Chelsea’s goalkeeper Peter Bonetti was injured after being bundled into the net by Leeds’ Jones, who, minutes later, rounded the limping Bonetti and scored the opener.
And yet nobody was shown a red. Well, 15 years later, all the bad karma generated from over 100 years of lenient officiating was directed at Ireland legend Kevin Moran.
Moran, who also won two All-Ireland titles with Dublin, was playing in his second FA Cup final in three years, having already won the trophy with Manchester United in 1983.
Everton were the opponents two years later and with 12 minutes to go, the teams were inseparable at 0-0. Then, midfielder Peter Reid knocked the ball past Moran and the Irish international did this…
Today, that would be a definite red but at the time it was a huge deal. And as you can tell from the reaction, Moran and his team-mates were shocked that such a ‘normal’ tackle was punished so harshly.
With United down to 10, Everton took them to extra-time before 20-year-old Norman Whiteside curled home this audacious winner.
30 years have passed now, so we can all agree that it was the correct decision, right?
Originally published at 15.45
Norman Whiteside wasn’t 17 in 1985, unless he played in the 82 world cup when he was 14!
Cheers Graham,
I obviously got Norman Whiteside and Freddy Adu mixed up!
That 1970 match description is class.. “neutralised”
Your a gas man, Will
Wouldn’t consider that tackle to be a straight red nowadays, probably borderline. Back then….not even close, yellow at worst
Miss timed is all it was.I remember watching that game and being shocked when he was sent off.Disagree that it was on any way cynical, there isn’t a cynical bone in Kevin Moran’s body.
Yeah, definitely mis-timed. I blame Reid for having legs!
How times have changed…. You did not see Everton players swarm the ref demanding a red, Man U players were in shock….. Rightly so too, you saw these tackles every week and you got on with it…. Its a sending off and a media circus today, but back then it was, ummm football….. Tackles are expected, and was rarely ever cynical…….
Spot on Graham, sure even Peter Reid protested to the ref on behalf on Moran…..very rare you will see that nowadays.
Peter Reid actually begged the referee not to send Moran off. Frank Stapleton reverted to emergency centre half and had a stormer. Peter Willis was the referee and it was his last ever match to officiate. He was looking to make a name for himself. Years later the F.A. Stopped referees officiating in their last ever match in the cup finals.
‘With United down to 10, Everton took them to extra-time’, shouldn’t that be United took Everton to extra-time as the Toffees were just crowned league champions you know.
Also had more league titles than United! And had just won the cup winners cup beforehand!
Moran’s wasn’t allowed receive a winners medal that day either .
Forget the tackle. He’d get 6 months now for pulling & dragging out of the ref in protesting his innocence! Although he didn’t quite get to Di Canio levels…
Unusually it was an intercept of Paul McGraths pass that led to Kevin having to make the lunge.
Suberb tackle won the ball cleanly. Football is being destroyed these days by cheating, diving and every second tackle being either a yellow or red. Games these days are often decided by which team has a player sent off its a complete joke
Lol, everyone had common sense comments today till that…. Thought we might have a good thread…..
Badly timed don’t think tackles back then were cynical or malicious as they are today .
A proper challenge that! :D
Big Ron would have referred to the tackle as a ‘reducer’
This may be an urban myth and I am well open to correction but is it true that the first person to be sent off in the FA Cup final (Kevin Moran) and the first player to be sent off in the Premier League (Niall Quinn) both went to the same school (Drimnagh castle)??
If memory serves me, I was seven at the time, kevin Moran didnt get a winners medal on the day after his red card. He only received it after a campaign on his behalf.
Bit misleading. Why would you be considered the most cynical player in FA Cup Final history just because you were the first to be sent off in one? Moran was a tough ‘no prisoners’ player, but he was never cynical in his playing days.
If it was today Reid would be gone for simulation…
Most cynical ever? The writer obviously doesn’t remember Willie Young in 1980! Only a yellow too. I think that was the tackle that prompted the introduction of the straight red for a professional foul.
Good article Will, still very few being sent off in big games- Lehmens in 06 CL final, Reyes in 05 FA cup final-can’t think of any others. A few in World cup finals- two Argentinians in 1990, Desailly, Heitinga