I remember reading Vinnie Jones says that he felt Wimbledon won their cup final in the tunnel. Was there a similar atmosphere in the tunnel that day?
Absolutely! Hunter and Beattie were no shrinking violets and they were letting people around them know that they were going to be having a go! We were two yards away from the Arsenal team and we were telling them in no uncertain terms that we going after it!
In the end the goal which won it came from an unlikely source.
Roger did so much work tracking Liam Brady and when he got the goal he was overcome by the emotion of it and the conditions, as I said, it was a very humid day. The number of miles Ossy and Noddy ran was incredible. Then we had Lamby coming on and doing a great job again.
I remember MacDonald getting loose late on, but he didn’t get much power behind his shot and Coop just picked it up. One thing I remember is that Coop was very calm and always looked as though the day was completely under control. Technically, he was a very, very good footballer, you know. Incredibly quick too.
We had a wealth of experience in the back four. Burley, Millsy, Beat and Hunter, it was a tremendous back four. All sensible lads who loved to defend and destroy the opposition, which is what they did in the end.
I remember the final whistle. Everyone was just thrilled that it was over. Then we gathered ourselves and I’ll never forget that Millsy put on this hat. I said to him "You’re going to regret that you know!” And sure enough, in all the photos there’s Millsy with this hat on! I always pull his leg about it.
Going up the steps and all that is just the stuff of boyhood dreams. You go up there, you can see your family 10 yards away from the Royal Box, it’s great. You can’t describe the feeling. We were just so thrilled for the fans as well as for ourselves.And then a magic night out afterwards. Everyone was having a great time.
I’ll never forget coming back on the bus though. We thought it was going to busy when we got back to Ipswich, but we had no idea what it was going to be like on the A12. It was crazy! Almost as soon as we got out of London people were there. There must have been a lot of neutrals on our side.
Flags were draped over the bridges, there were people waving to us, it was fantastic. And then we got back to town and, my God, we had no idea. You couldn’t move at all. It was a great day in the town’s history.
One thing a lot of people seem to have forgotten is that it was Mick Lambert’s testimonial on the following Monday.
Me too! Until you mentioned it I didn’t remember that we played on the Monday. I’ve no recollection of that game whatsoever! Lamby must have been made up with all those people coming to see the cup!
Where does the FA Cup win rank amongst your career achievements?
I have three which stand out. That, the UEFA Cup win when the team was fantastic, a great team, and then playing for England. There’s not one that tops the others, they’re all massive highlights.