Remarkable English season, because of the extraordinary successes of Nottingham Forest, but it was not all. The FA Cup final added more historic significance. Lowly Orient, 14th in the Second Division reached the ½ finals. Amazing that, but they met Arsenal and lost 0-3. The other ½ final opposed rising West Bromwich Albion to suffering Ipswich Town. Championship and cup tournaments do not share the same logic, yet it was more likely WBA to prevail. But the Tractor Boys won confidently – 3-1. Arsenal vs Ipswich Town at the final. Both eager to win – Arsenal were strong, but had no chances for more than bronze in the championship. The League Cup was also out of their reach – they were eliminated at the ½ finals by Liverpool. Now they had a third chance for victory and naturally wanted it bad. So Ipswich, who had disastrous season and tried to avoid relegation. Their weak season tipped the scales in Arsenal favour – Ipswich had wonderful squad, but underperformed so far. Arsenal on the other hand were in very good form. But predictions do not matter much at English cup finals: whoever plays is determined to win. Terry Neill vs Bobby Robson. Excellent Arsenal players – David O’Leary, Liam Brady, and Frank Stapleton almost at their peak, still rising. Pat Jennings between the goalposts. Grizzled fighters with tons of experience – Sammy Nelson, Par Rice, and David Price. Guys still considered to capable of climbing up to true greatness – Alan Sunderland amd Malcolm Macdonald. Young hopefull Graham Rix at the bench. And Alan Hudson, who was still expected to get his mind on football and fully reveal his talent. Ipswich had largely promising players, who needed to blossom yet and, therefore, to win something at last. Paul Mariner, Brian Talbot, Kevin Beattie, George Burley, John Wark, Roger Osborne (sometimes written Osbourne). Add the constant national team defender Mick Mills at his prime. Bad season they had, but Arsenal were not for a breezy walk against these boys. In front of another 100 000 crowd at Wembley, Arsenal had it tough.
Osborne clears the ball from speedy Brady. However, Ipswich was on the defensive, as the picture may suggest. Same Osborne excelled in attacking too:
Osborne shoots and David O’Leary can’t do anything about it.
Pat Jennings can’t reach the ball either and it ends in the net.
Triumphal players in blue jerseys: Ipswich -1; Arsenal – 0. No other goal was scored and Arsenal finished on their knees.
Mick Mills and Roger Osborne enjoy the Cup. Osborne has all the rights of smiling – he was not a big scorer, but this time he scored – perhaps the most important and memorable goal in his career. He did not finish the match – Robson substituted him in the 78th minute – but he was the great hero of the day nevertheless.
Ipswich won the Cup, completing the extraordinary year with another new name: new champion, new League Cup winner, new FA Cup winner. Ipswich never won the trophy before. They were quite similar to Nottingham – so far, they had a single trophy: the championship title won in 1961-62. First cup and second ever trophy! And what a strange season on top of it – their worst and their best at the same time. Barely escaping relegation, but winning the Cup. Amazing. They saved the season and their victory was well deserved. And to complete the confusion, they left a picture remarkable for its wrongness:
Here are the heroes displaying the Cup. The photo appeared in many publications and somebody made a mistake, which is often repeated to this very day:
Same team, photographed a moment later. This picture was published in Czecholsovakian sports magazine – either Stadion or Start – with the names of players. When exactly was published cannot be established now, but must be shortly after victory. The names are entirely wrong – Osman, Brazil, Butcher, Muhren, and Thijssen did not play at the final. The Dutch imports – Arnold Muhren and Frans Thijssen – were not in the team yet, but still played in Holland. This is actually a squad of the future… circa 1980. Certainly not Cup winners. May be it was the team of another victory? There is no other victory – the only FA Cup Ipswich ever won was in 1978. If the photo was published shortly after the final, the big mystery is where the names of the Dutch came from? There was no indication yet they will play in England, for no foreigners played in England for many years and actually many people still think England had a ban on imports, lifted in the summer of 1978. Not true, but even if it was, it would be still unknown in May-June. The Dutch were not the only ones prematurely included, but are most representable of the fake which still circulates as truth. A novelty, worth mentioning, but not all that important.
Here is the actual squad for the 1977-78 – no Dutch players, of course, and no Terry Butcher and Alan Brazil either. Happy cup winners, happy to escape relegation and add a trophy to their still very modest collection. To a point, unlikely winners. To a point, the careful team-building of Bobby Robson finally brought fruit. And complete rounding of one of the most unusual English season – all winners were new, all unexpected, all hardly had a history of success.