Phil Remembers 1983/84
Wow yes, what a season 1983/84 was! Strangely – in spite of their achievement – I always remember that team as a really good team, but suspended between the greatEST teams of 1978-79, and 1987-88. The first of those just needed Rush and Lawro to be the greatest ever in British football, while the second had seen King Kenny draw to the end of his playing career, and otherwise only lacked the creative bite of Souness.
What I remember most was watching the European Cup Final in our local Birmingham Working Mens Club in Smethwick. It was packed out, full of Villa-hating Baggies fans to a man, and I got a lot of stick! “You’re going to get scalped in Rome” was the verdict. They changed their tune somewhat during the game, and by the time Brucie went into his wobbly leg penalties routine, they were cheering us on. I got bought a lot of drinks! (I should explain that I lived in Birmingham by then, after being brought up in Liverpool till I was 15).
To all those Man United fans who say that our treble wasn’t as good as theirs, I would only say this : Is the League Cup any easier to win than the FA Cup? No, it isn’t. And if you had to give up just one of those three trophies, which would it be? Certainly not the League, or the European Cup, that’s for sure!
Phil Rigby
Devon