The Cups – Liverpool reached no final, so no treble or even double was possible. Well, the traditions of English football seemingly were kept alive in the Cups and the relative weakness of Liverpool somewhat hinted by their inability to reach cup final, but that have little to do with the finals.
Nottingham Forest and Oldham Athletic reached the League Cup final. Since it was England, the battle between strong top league squad against Second Division mid-table opponent had no obvious outcome. Odham fought bravely, alas, unable to score. Nottingham eventually prevailed by single goal, scored in the 47th minute by Jemson.
Too bad the underdog lost the final – Oldham really had great performance in the Cups: semi-finalists in the FA Cup, finalists in the League Cup. Nothing top be ashamed of, but it would have been wonderful if they won the trophy. At the end, there was a player going to win trophies, but not with Oldham – Denis Irwin.
Nottingham Forest won their 4th League Cup. Great, considering that Forest remained a small club – Brian Clough somehow maintained strong and competitive squad and success was deserved And also needed for the trophy room. However, there was a bit of irritation: Cough himself built a culture of easy excuse early in the 80s, when he said that his team won everything already and there was nothing to fight for anymore. Add to this the objective excuse, that Forest was small club with little cash – what can you expect, they already did miracles just staying along with the big rich clubs. But such attitude very likely stifled ambition: the squad was more than solid and capable of more than winning occasional Cup.
Manchester United and Crystal Palace at the FA Cup final. As season went, a battle between equals. As rosters went – Manchester United looked mush stronger. As ambition went… both finalists were determined to win. Their clash ended without victor after overtime: 3-3. Replay followed. And in it United prevailed 1-0. Dramatic final, the kind fans love.
One can imagine the sorrow of Crystal Palace – so close and no luck. Would have been great for them to win, for real success hardly ever came to them, but… they only came close to success.
Difficult victory to be celebrated even more because of the dramatic way it came, but… Statistically, Manchester United won its 7th Cup. They finished with a trophy in their hands. But it was not exactly cups Manchester United considered big success – the championship title was out of their reach for so long and the team had disappointing season in the bottom half the league table. And that with – arguably – a squad almost strong as Liverpool’s. The FA Cup was consolation, perhaps saving the head of Alex Ferguson, but he knew that the only good think about winning the Cup was saving heads, saving the season and boosting moral. However, there was something very important in this victory: UEFA was carefully going to permit English clubs back in the European competitions. Liverpool and Nottingham Forest still had their own bans and could not play, but Manchester United had clean sheet and was permitted. This victory opened the road to Europe, making the next season crucial: now there was big chance, a big aim, a reason to get worthy new players, to boost ambitions. Suddenly, the Cup victory had much bigger significance than saving face and adding one more trophy.
The Red Devils practically had the squad capable of more. Now they also had a big aim ahead of them. The glory days were coming and that mostly thanks to this victory.
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