May 25th has arrived. A date to be remembered for a number of reasons (presumably) but, forever, carved into my soul by extraordinary events which took place. Where was I experiencing such extraordinary events on this day in the past? 1998 - Division 1 Play Off Final - Charlton Athletic 4 v 4 Sunderland - Where do I start? I had seen quite a lot of Charlton in the 97-98 season and was qualified for a ticket to this match; three tickets actually. My Liverpool buddy, Alan Mitchell, accompanied me to this one and we were treated to the most wonderful display of attacking football, defensive errors, passion, dogged determination and a knifes edge finish which left all spectators, whether at the match or watching on tv, breathless. One name stands out in this match, Clive Mendonca. An inspired signing by Alan Curbishley, he was a boyhood Sunderland fan but this old allegiance was not allowed to get in the way of his own, and Charltons, ambitions. On 25 minutes, he turned a defender on the edge of the box and fired Charlton into the lead. The second half opened with Sunderland on the front foot and, on 50 minutes, Niall Quinn attacked a corner to equalise and pendulum had swung toward the Black Cats (by which they are now known). What followed was simply unbelievable. Kevin Phillips dinked the ball over Sasa Ilic in the 58th minute to give Sunderland the lead, the Premier League was calling for the Wearsiders. However... Mr Mendonca decided that his part in the match was not yet over and, after 70 minutes, he raced clear and, with perfect control, shot across Perez to make the score 2-2. A minute later, Niall Quinn restored Sunderlands lead with a powerful shot past Ilic from a tight angle. The minutes tick by and Sunderland are edging closer and closer to the Promised Land until, in 85th minute, Richard Rufus scores his first goal for Charlton, and what an important goal, with a header from a corner. 3-3 and were into extra time! Ten minutes into the first period and Nicky Summerbee hits a daisy-cutter into the corner and Sunderland are back in lead. The lead lasted barely four minutes before Clive Mendonca (who else?) equalised to leave us all needing calculators to figure out the score; for the record, its now 4-4. No further goals were scored and we went to penalties. Mendonca; scored 1-0: Summerbee; scored 1-1: Brown; scored 2-1: Johnston; scored 2-2: Jones; scored 3-2: Ball; scored 3-3: Kinsella; scored 4-3: Machin; scored 4-4: Bowen; scored 5-4: Rae; scored 5-5 and sudden death! Robinson; scored 6-5: Quinn; scored 6-6: Newton; scored 7-6: Gray; missed and Charlton are in the Premier League. This was the best match I have ever witnessed and I thought nothing could top it... how wrong can you be? 2005 - Champions League Final - AC Milan 3 v 3 Liverpool - I really dont know where to begin with this most extraordinary game of football. Myself, Alan Mitchell and David Hall had traveled down to Altinkum in Turkey for a weeks holiday, it actually being cheaper to book a holiday than to book flights to Istanbul for the day. We flew up to Istanbul from Izmir and arrived at Taksim Square somewhat apprehensive of what awaited us, given the reputation of fans in Turkey. Well, I have to say that the Turks were wonderful hosts; policemen, shop-keepers, bar-staff, office workers and passers-by all went out of their way to shake the hands of Liverpool fans. The scenes at Taksim Square were amazing with thousands upon thousands of Liverpool fans having made the journey to Istanbul, many without tickets. The stadium, brand new and hosting its first major event, was well out of town on the European side of the Bosporus and we arrived early to hit the fan zone. We ran into Stuart Clarke and Neil Hughes, two old work colleagues of mine, and exchanged banter for a while. But, its the match which lingers long in the memory and so we kick off and AC have a free kick in the first minute on the right side of the penalty box. Over it comes and Paolo Maldini opens the scoring for the Italians. Both teams had chances, although it must be said that Milans were the better, before Crespo made the score 2-0 after a good move involving Schevchenko. 2-0 quickly became 3-0 when Kaka played a delicious ball, dissecting Liverpools defence, to Crespo who chipped over the advancing Dudek to give the Italians a, seemingly, unassailable half time lead. You dont give AC Milan a three-nil lead and come back from that, right? Youll Never Walk Alone rang out throughout the stadium during half-time, the Liverpool fans, with hope in their hearts, outnumbered their Milanese counterparts by five to one and the noise was deafening. The second half began and Liverpool tried to take the game to their opponents. The six minutes, from the 54th through to the 60th, are the most breath-taking moments of drama I have ever witnessed and am ever likely to witness. First, Steven Gerrard headed in from Riises cross. Then substitute, Vladimir Smicer, hit a hopeful long range effort which, somehow, eluded Duda in the Milan goal to bring the score to 3-2 and you could see the Italians heads drop. Moments later, Gerrard burst into the box and was brought down by Gattuso who really should have been sent off. Up stepped Xabi Alonso to take the penalty which was saved by Duda but the rebound fell to Alonso and he rifled in the equaliser. You simply could not write this stuff. For the remainder of the match, including extra time, Milan battered away at the Liverpool goal but could not find a way through; Dudeks wonderful save from Schevchenko was among many defensive highlights and, somehow, we all knew that our name was on the trophy. When extra time was finished, and we went to penalties, we were so confident because Liverpool never seem to lose penalty shoot-outs. And so it proved with Milans penalty takers clearly fazed by both the situation and Dudeks antics in goal. Liverpool easily won the shoot-out and brought Old Big Ears back to Merseyside for keeps. I could go on and on about this match, the experience and the emotions but I find that talking about it cannot possibly convey the sheer drama that unfolded before our very eyes. Leaving the stadium, at gone midnight, we were all strangely silent and I think this was due to the fact that none of us could quite believe what we had seen. Back to Altinkum, after running into Stuart again at Istanbul airport, for three days of glorious celebration! I know now that I will never see a more dramatic match than this and so am quite content to have this, and the extraordinary Play Off Final, as my two best games that I was privileged enough to attend. What are the odds of seeing your two best ever games on the same date?
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 05:48:41 +0000
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