WBA 1976

[pongo88]

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

[Sir Geoff]

I was there, what a match. This was on the back of picking up a point away to Sunderland a week or so earlier without Paul Cheesley who was on duty for England U21's (imagine that happening now).

[Offside]

Hope so. 

There have been some memorable games against them. Stand out ones for me include the 2-2 draw at their ground in the late 90s when they equalised about 10 mins into injury time. Absolutely sickening. We’d played really well that day and deserved the win but it just felt like the ref wanted to play on until they scored. Lots of crowd trouble as well. Another memorable one was when we beat them at AG in the GJ era - Danny Haynes tore them apart that day. 

[Curr Avon]

5 minutes ago, Offside said:

Hope so. 

There have been some memorable games against them. Stand out ones for me include the 2-2 draw at their ground in the late 90s when they equalised about 10 mins into injury time. Absolutely sickening. We’d played really well that day and deserved the win but it just felt like the ref wanted to play on until they scored. Lots of crowd trouble as well. Another memorable one was when we beat them at AG in the GJ era - Danny Haynes tore them apart that day. 

And the latter game was memorable for our Head Coach, who scored a rare goal in front of the East End.

[Mr Popodopolous]

13 minutes ago, Offside said:

Hope so. 

There have been some memorable games against them. Stand out ones for me include the 2-2 draw at their ground in the late 90s when they equalised about 10 mins into injury time. Absolutely sickening. We’d played really well that day and deserved the win but it just felt like the ref wanted to play on until they scored. Lots of crowd trouble as well. Another memorable one was when we beat them at AG in the GJ era - Danny Haynes tore them apart that day. 

My first season or 2/3 of a season- remember it well.

We sort of steadied the ship under Benny while still deep in trouble but in successive weeks we conceded a last minute penalty at home to Sunderland and then that. Rob Styles the ref in the Sunderland game? Deserved so much more form those 2, a battling draw and a good away win- instead late, unlucky goals saw us just get the draw and a last minute loss. When you're down the bottom, not a lot goes for you, poor and porous side though we were.

The Shaun Taylor assisted revival in April saw us get back into contention but a penalty that never was v Birmingham and Mr. Mike Dean was it put paid to that.

[grove park city]

17 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

Went to that match crawled along the M5 coming into Brum always think of that game when around that area been to the Hawthorns a few times since but nothing like the feeling of seeing Gerry Sweeney put the ball in the net to win the match,don't know how Albion didn't score as it ping ponged around the goal hitting the post hacked off the line ect made the recent 0-1 Boro win look like a stroll in the park.

COYR 

[the red rules]

25 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

Remember this as the night I truly believed we were going up.

Unlike the next season when we lost 2-1 at home, near the end of the season, and I thought we were going down.

 

[Major Isewater]

28 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

Some  similarities between  our promotion push to the old First division and this one ;

Rarely crushing the opposition with huge scores ,

a team without big names ,

manager left the time to get his squad together,

young players ,

 a close knit squad 

and a tight defence.

These are the omens I prefer.

[CodeRed]

56 minutes ago, grove park city said:

Went to that match crawled along the M5 coming into Brum always think of that game when around that area been to the Hawthorns a few times since but nothing like the feeling of seeing Gerry Sweeney put the ball in the net to win the match,don't know how Albion didn't score as it ping ponged around the goal hitting the post hacked off the line ect made the recent 0-1 Boro win look like a stroll in the park.

COYR 

Sir Geoff was awesome that night

[slartibartfast]

1 hour ago, Sir Geoff said:

I was there, what a match. This was on the back of picking up a point away to Sunderland a week or so earlier without Paul Cheesley who was on duty for England U21's (imagine that happening now).

U23's then.

 

2 hours ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

 Yes, I was there .............I seem to remember we got hammered   0-1   

[PHILINFRANCE]

2 hours ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

 

1 hour ago, grove park city said:

Went to that match crawled along the M5 coming into Brum always think of that game when around that area been to the Hawthorns a few times since but nothing like the feeling of seeing Gerry Sweeney put the ball in the net to win the match,don't know how Albion didn't score as it ping ponged around the goal hitting the post hacked off the line ect made the recent 0-1 Boro win look like a stroll in the park.

COYR 

I remember the evening well, and my memories of the match echo those above, i.e. that City were holding on in the second half, and I can still see in my head those constant runs and crosses from Willie Johnston: nervewracking to say the least until Gerry Sweeney's late goal, and nail biting until the final whistle.

What I also recall, however, was the motorway exit slip road being gridlocked, with the hard shoulder full of people relieving themselves and then, (it was my first visit to The Hawthorns), entry being via brick built turnstiles actually on the road itself rather than in the stadium.  

 

[eardun]

2 hours ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

I can vividly recall listening to that match on Radio Bristol - just turned age 9. Not many other matches I can recall listening to as a kid (probably only Sunderland that same season around Easter time and the famous Coventry match in Div 1).

[ashton_fan]

2 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

Some  similarities between  our promotion push to the old First division and this one ;

Rarely crushing the opposition with huge scores ,

a team without big names ,

manager left the time to get his squad together,

young players ,

 a close knit squad 

and a tight defence.

These are the omens I prefer.

I think this season most resembles 1974-75 where we were always in the mix but struggled to score goals, funnily we lost at home to Norwich at Easter, Norwich got promoted and we finished 5th but there weren't any play-offs in those days. The season after we had Cheesley knocking the goals in (Semenyo next season?) and went up.

[New Dazzler]

Went to the match in 76, brilliant defending and result.  This was billed as the make or break for promotion for both teams, although WBA recovered after this and went up with us in 3rd place (pre-play off days!)  The match had been re-arranged from a Saturday afternoon from a few weeks before which City had requested to be postponed as most of the squad had flu!  Drove up with some mates and didn't realise the game was off until we were stopped by a friendly copper on the slip road coming off the motorway, within sight of the Hawthorne's floodlights.  This was pre mobile phones and internet and we were listening to cassettes on the way up so didn't catch any news on the radio.  Ended up going to see Blues v Norwich which was a 1st Division game (not a very good one though) remember it being 1-1, Ted McDougall scored for Norwich and Kenny Burns was a seriously hard (dirty!) player for Brum.

The WBA fixture seemed to be become a local derby for us in our First Division days as we always seemed to play them over the Christmas and Easter holidays.  Remember going up there on a Boxing Day (77/78?) and we drew 1-1, Keith Fear getting our goal.  Also, I think this was in 79/80 around New Year's Bank Holiday, just one lane open on the M5 due to heavy snow and being amazed that the game was still on (one of the few games not postponed that day).  IIRC correctly we got thrashed 3 or 4 nil, Bryan Robson playing like the class player he was starting to become. I think Peter Barnes (later a Man. City winger) tore us apart. That was our relegation season.

Also remember the 2-2 draw under Benny, that really did feel like a defeat, to add salt in the wound Mickey Bell broke his leg and Ivan Testemitanu crocked his knee and hardly played again that season.

[42nite]

2 hours ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1. With only 9 games to go it was a tough mid week away match to promotion rivals WBA. It was even first half but Gerry Sweeney scored near the end to make it 1-0 to City. The second half was nerve racking as WBA were on top but we held on to win, followed by rapturous deep joy for City supporters and promotion at the end of the season. Is this an omen for tonight?

Great experience!

Didn't they have a bar at the top of the stand?

I kind of remember bumping into some of our football rivals frm Caythorpe in there.

All of us enjoying a great City performance!   

[CodeRed]

It was a fantastic run to promotion , as well as the WBA game I went to Charlton on the Friday night before and we came from 2-1 down to equalise w th a Gerry Sweeney goal in injury time and it felt as good as a win, huge following at the Valley, also remember going to Bloomfield Rd (we lost that one), and a 0-0 at the Gas before the clincher v Pompey.

What a time to be alive |

[Sweeneys Penalties]

4 hours ago, grove park city said:

Went to that match crawled along the M5 coming into Brum always think of that game when around that area been to the Hawthorns a few times since but nothing like the feeling of seeing Gerry Sweeney put the ball in the net to win the match,don't know how Albion didn't score as it ping ponged around the goal hitting the post hacked off the line ect made the recent 0-1 Boro win look like a stroll in the park.

COYR 

I think that's the same night as I recall, with our goal being absolutely peppered by WBA. I'm sure at one point Ally Robertson smashed the ball from outside the box, and the ball cannoned into Sweeney's ass - who was running back toward the goal line (with Cash already beaten), and the ball flew over the bar. Somehow, the Baggies were destined NOT to score that night..they did everything but...

[22A]

7 hours ago, Sir Geoff said:

I was there, what a match. This was on the back of picking up a point away to Sunderland a week or so earlier without Paul Cheesley who was on duty for England U21's (imagine that happening now).

I also was there. That 2nd half sped by, but throughout I expected Albion to score several, not just one.

Coming away, my coach passed the players and they waved as though it was us who had secured a vital victory.

[BS4 on Tour...]

10 hours ago, pongo88 said:

It’s March 1976 and City are pushing for Promotion to League 1......

Blimey, we were in the basement back then were we?!

[harvey54]

I remember it well. Albion absolutely battered us with Johnny Giles pulling their strings. We broke away, scored and clung on. Took us hours to get out of a car park and back onto the motorway but we really didn't care. This game and the away game at Sunderland close to it set us up for promotion. Happy days