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Bob 70-71
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THE DATE: January 26, 1980.
THE PLACE: Ewood Park.
THE EVENT: Blackburn Rovers 1 Coventry
City 0, FA Cup fourth round.
THE STORY: There are times when a good
old-fashioned Cup run can have a beneficial impact on
league form - a point that, perhaps, needs to be made to
Graeme Souness as he contemplates Blackburn Rovers'
fourth-round tie away to Millwall today. After Souness
decided that the third-round replay against Bamsley was
not worthy of his best available team, many Rovers fans
must have been tempted to remind him that, 22 years ago,
FA Cup success was not a hindrance to the bread and
butter of the league. Then, under Howard Kendall,
Blackburn went all the way from the first round to the
fifth and, as the run gathered momentum, mounted a
scintillating charge that took them to promotion from the
third division. In the fourth round, the goal being
celebrated here was enough to see off a youthful Coventry
City team that had I>een unwisely dubbed "the
team of the Eighties" in certain quarters after
their stylish ending of Liverpool's 19-match unbeaten run
the previous weekend.
TOMMY HUTCHISON
(Blackpool)
(Coventry City winger): After almost eight years at
Highfield Road, "Hutch" was coming to the end
of his Coventry career. His departure to Manchester City
in October 1980 was mourned by supporters, for whom he
had been a shining light through the dark days of the
mid-I970s.
He made 355 appearances for Coventry, winning 17 Scotland
caps, and, despite some heavy marking, rarely missed a
game through injury . He helped Manchester City to reach
the Final the following year and had the distinction of
scoring at both ends in the first match. After a spell in
Hong Kong he returned to take his British career league
appearances tally beyond 800 - fourth on the all-time
list - with Burnley, Swansea City and Alloa Athletic. Now
54, he works for the PFA's community scheme at Bristol
City and lives in the Chepstow area.
NOEL BROTHERSTON
(Not a player in 70-71) (Blackburn winger): Electrifying
performer whose talents fully justified that
old-fashioned adjective "tricky". One of a
number of astute signings by Jim Smith, the former
manager, he arrived on a free transfer from Tottenham
Hotspur in the summer of1977 and went on to delight Ewood
Park regulars over 377 appearances, scoring 47 goals.
Also won 27 caps for Northern Ireland while with Rovers
and played in his country's run to the second stage of
the 1982 World Cup in Spain. On leaving the game he
became a painter and decorator In Blackburn; but he died
in 1995, aged 38.
HOWARD KENDALL
(Everton) (Blackburn
midfield player): A hero of Everton's successes at the
start of the previous decade, he was 33 when he took his
first managerial appointment at Ewood Park in the summer
of 1979. After an uncertain start, the player manager
discovered the right formula early in January and his
team stormed to promotion.
Undaunted by the step up in standard, they were denied a
second successive promotion and a return to the top
flight in 1980-81, but his influence on the team as the
driving force in midfield proved just as important as his
coaching and tactical know-how. After proving his
management potential he returned to his beloved Goodison
in the summer of 1981 after making 92 appearances. He has
a local newspaper column on Merseyside and works as an
after-dinner speaker.
DUNCAN McKENZIE
(Nottingham Forest
squad) (Blackburn striker): One of the great mavericks of
the 1970s, adored by fans for his extravagant gifts as
much as he was mistrusted by successive managers. Signed
from Chelsea for a club-record 80,000 pounds in March
1979, he was unable to prevent relegation to the third
division but played a key part in the club's revival once
Kendall had given him a free role behind the strikers.
Scored 12 times in 42 games in the league and thrilled
supporters mth his abundant talents. Halfway through he
following season, however, financial problems forced
Kendall to sell him to Tulsa Roughnecks in the United
States and he never returned to the Football League. Now
51, he lives in Newton-le-Willows and is a leading
after-dinner speaker.
JIM BLYTH
(Not a player in 70-71) (Coventry goalkeeper): Just 17
when he cost the Sky Blues 22,000 pounds from Preston
North End in 1972, but two broken legs and the form of
Bill Glazier and Neil Ramsbottom meant that he did not
make his debut unti11975. He made more than 200
appearances but in 1978 a 440,000 pounds move to
Manchester United fell through when he failed his medical
and from then on he was troubled by the same baCk injury.
After spending several years as goalkeeping coach at
Highfield Road, he left the club at the time of Gordon
Strachan's departure and now works in a similar role with
Derby County. He will be 47 next week,
PAUL DYSON
(Not a player in 70-71) (Coventry defender):
Birmingham-born product of Coventry's youth scheme, he
formed a solid partnership with the equally youthful Gary
Gillespie. Made 166 appearances and won four England
Under-21 caps before leaving the club; along with several
other outstanding young players, in 1983. His 15O,000
pounds move to Stoke City). turned sour when they were
relegated the following season and he subsequently played
for West Bromwich Albion, Darlington and Crewe Alexandra.
Now 42. he works in the prison service in the Birmingham
area.
SIMON GARNER
(Not a player in 70-71) (Blackburn striker):
Worshipped by a generation of Rovers fans in the 19805,
as much for the fact that he would often share a pint
with them in the 100 Club after his latest clinical
demolition of an opposing defence. Signed from Boston
Lnited in August 1976, he was slow to make an impression
and was almost sold to Halifax Town by Kendall. From
1981-82 onwards, though, he became one of the most feared
goalscorers outside the top division and was Blackburn's
leading scorer in seven out of nine seasons. He left for
West Bromwich Albion in August 1992 after scoring 192
goal, in 565 games. Aged 42, he is a painter and
decorator in Cookham, Buckinghamshire.
ANDY CRAWFORD
(Not a player in 70-71) (Blackburn striker):
Turning away to celebrate the flicked header that secured
victory is a player for whom the term "one-season
wonder" might have been invented. This was his fifth
goal in the Cup and one of 23 in the season that did much
to secure promotion. After managing just one and asking
for a transfer the following season, he was sold to
Bournemouth in November 1981 and began a nomadic trai,
around the lower divisions. He will be 43 next week and,
last year, was reported to be playing in the Scarborough
League alongside his 16-year-old son for a team in his
native Filey.
RICHARD WHITEHEAD THANKS: Jim Brown, Mike Jackman.
Jim Brown is the author of Coventry City: The Elite Era,
a complete record (Desert Island Books, 16.99 pounds
www.desertislandbooks.com) Mike Jackman is the author of
The Essential History of Blackburn Rovers (WH Smith 16-99
pounds)
Return to Richard
Whitehead
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