It is only a few weeks until Palace’s fourth appearance in the FA Cup semi-finals.
With the international break upon us and as we wait for the league form to pick up, it seems a good time to look back at Palace’s first semi-final appearance, against Southampton, back in 1976.
It is a Cup run that has achieved legendary status. You probably know the key facts:
Palace were the first club from the third tier to reach this stage.
In order to get to the semi-final, we had won three very tough away games, at Leeds United, Sunderland and Chelsea who were all cup finalists within the previous six seasons.
We had the charismatic Malcolm Allison managing the side.
We adopted the white shirt with the red and blue sash especially for that run.
And our star player, Peter Taylor, was picked to play for England in the end of season the home internationals on the basis of his form for Palace.
As the 40th anniversary of that game approaches (on April 3rd), I am looking back and challenging some of the received wisdom from that day.
For a start, even though we were the plucky underdogs from the third tier, we could and probably should have won the semi-final.
Like this year, it was a very open competition. Some of the best sides – Liverpool and Leeds in particular in those days had been knocked out early and the highest ranked sides in the semi-finals Derby County and Manchester United had drawn each other.
I was there at the game aged seven. My father had argued that we would never get that far again and so I ought to be there.
I have managed to get to two more semi-finals since, one of which was rather better than anyone could have imagined in 1976. But more of that in a week or two.
The game was at Stamford Bridge, as in those days semi finals were held at neutral grounds both sides did not have to travel too far to get to, and because Wembley was more bothered about the greyhounds.
My only memory of the day is that along with other young kids I was ushered to the front of the stand, near the halfway line, where I stood to watch the game. And I remember being disappointed that we lost.
There are extended highlights of the game that you can watch online.
The coverage came from the local ITV channel, London Weekend Television, with very little fanfare, just the wise words of commentator Brian Moore. A note for the more observant among you – the Palace team sheet at the start has got several shirt numbers wrong!
It is interesting to watch the game again. Palace did not play like under-dogs from the lower league, soaking up pressure and hoping to catch the opposition on the break or at set-pieces.
Palace played a nice passing game with Ian Evans looking very impressive at centre back and Jim Cannon his typical competitive mode at an unfamiliar left back position. Alan Whittle looked sharp as an attacking option on the left-hand side of midfield
But, as the commentary points out, Peter Taylor was not fully fit and was clattered by Southampton at regular intervals. Without his cutting edge, Palace struggled to create chances. But then again, nor did Southampton.
Although they went on to win the Cup, this was not a special Southampton side. Their most famous player was the ageing and fading Peter Osgood, although local boy (and future horse racing trainer) Mick Channon was in the England squad.
The most familiar player to Palace fans was our former centre-back Mel Blyth, one of many players sold by Malcolm Allison. Blyth was to return to Palace on loan in 1977 after Ian Evans had his leg broken by a certain Mr Best.
The Southampton player featuring most heavily in the highlights, other than the Sunday league keeper Ian Turner, was the number ten, Jim McAlliog. He was a typical number ten of that era who was a decent passer of the ball, but also happy to ‘put his foot in’, as Peter Taylor discovered.
Brian Moore described the first half as nondescript. The second half was not much better. Southampton eventually scored with a long distance hopeful grass-cutter from Gilchrist that Palace keeper Paul ‘handbags’ Hammond appeared to see too late. They added a second from a dodgy penalty when Cannon appeared to tackle Mike Channon, fairly or otherwise, outside the area.
The semi-final was an anti-climax after the excitement of the performances in the previous rounds. Next week, I will look at the two men most closely associated with the cup run – Peter Taylor and Malcolm Allison.
