Football
Re-Heated: 1996 First Division Play Off Final, Crystal Palace Vs Leicester City
In yet
another attempt to distract me from the misery that is my continued existence
in this World, I’ve decided to bring Football Re-Heated back from the
mothballs. For those that aren’t aware, Football Re-Heated is when I watch an
old football match and then review it. I tend to avoid doing the whole “minute
by minute” break down on the matches because there’s already people out there
who do that. They even wrote a book about it and everything. I quite liked it. Big
whoop, want to fight about it?
Anyway, to
the reviewmobile!
Ah, the Play
Offs. They really are quite ridiculous aren’t they? I’ll never forget Danny
Baker’s consistent rants about them and how unfair they are. To be fair, the
gentleman has a point. It’s bizarre that you can spend all season in the top 3,
finish third and then end up not getting promoted because a side who were
kicking around mid-table all season managed to have a good run in the last 5
games and ended up finishing sixth. So they get to go up while you get to spend
another season in purgatory. It’s both harsh and hilarious in equal measure.
As a general
rule the First and Second Division Play Off Finals of the mid to late 90’s
produced some of the most gripping and down right ludicrous matches and
outcomes you can think off. There was Leicester coming from 3-0 down against
Swindon to make it 3-3, only to lose it 4-3 in the dying minutes. There was Manchester
City putting their supporters through the ringer against Gillingham and there
was the unbridled madness of Charlton and Sunderland’s 4-4 Draw in 1998.
This match is
another Play Off Final that takes the viewer, and the poor supporters of both
sides, through every range of emotion that you could possibly imagine. These Play
Off Finals just don’t make any sense. They are evil, they are sickening and
they are simply top quality entertainment. This is one of the lesser talked
about ones, so I thought I’d give it some attention.
Match
Backstory
Martin O’Neill,
now there’s a name that will get a different reaction depending on who you ask.
To some he’s a keen tactician who can make the most of any side he has and
achieve things far beyond what people would think them capable of. To others,
he’s a tactical dinosaur who is well past his peak and whose achievements are exaggerated.
My opinion? I like him. I like him quite a lot actually.
I was very much
struck by something that O’Neill said in an interview with Dominik Diamond many
moons ago. “I like players who can cross the ball and I like players who know
what to do with a crossed ball”. That pretty much sums up my attitude back when
I used to play Pro Evo back in the day in all honesty. I’m not going to sit
here and say O’Neill is one of the all-time greats, but I will say that he did
very well at both Leicester and Celtic and he could very well have continued
the good work he was doing at Aston Villa, if he’d enjoyed the level of support
from the chairman that he had wanted. However, we all know how that ended up. Good luck to him during his tenure as Ireland boss though. I hope it works out for him.
Back in
1996, O’Neill had taken the helm of Leicester half way through the season. He wasn’t
a universally popular appointment, and he’d even been booed at a home game only
a few weeks before the Play Off Final itself, but he’d got Leicester to Wembley
after a Semi-Final win over Stoke.
Meanwhile,
Palace were looking to end their exile to the First Division on the first time
of asking. They were managed by Dave Bassett who had already enjoyed promotion
with other sides on 7 previous occasions. Palace had finished third in the
table where as Leicester had finished fifth. Going in to the match, Palace were
probably the slightest of favourites to win.
Palace
Starting XI Leicester
Starting XI
1: Nigel
Martyn 1:
Kevin Poole
2: Marc
Edworthy 2:
Simon Grayson
3: Kenny
Brown 3:
Mike Whitlow
4: Andy
Roberts 4:
Julian Watts
5: Robert
Quinn 5:
Steve Walsh
6: David
Hopkin 6:
Muzzy Izzet
7: Darren
Pitcher 7:
Neil Lennon
8: Ray
Houghton 8:
Scott Taylor
9: Dougie
Freedman 9:
Steve Claridge
10: George
Ndah 10:
Garry Parker
11: David
Tuttle 11:
Emile Heskey
Subs Subs
12: Bruce
Dyer 12:
Mark Robins
13: Carl
Veart 13:
Zeljko Kalac
14: Simon
Rodger 14:
Colin Hill
First
Half
This is the
club released DVD but commentary duties are taken by Alan Parry and Big Ron
Atkinson, so it’s the ITV footage with club graphics over all the ITV stuff. I
won’t say which club this release is from until the end, as I don’t want to
spoil the result for those that don’t know it. At the start a video shows and they use generic stock music for it. The music chosen did raise a smile to my fact though as it's the same music the WWE used as an entrance theme for Jillian Hall. Kind of sad that I know that, but hey ho.
Leicester
start the half relatively brightly. Izzet makes a nuisance of himself down the
right flank and Heskey also lets the defenders know that he’s in the house. It becomes
clear quite quickly that O’Neill has decided to load up the midfield so as to
try and stifle Palace’s creativity. Lennon, Taylor (Sporting a horrible
bleached blond hair cut) and Parker act to shut down any attempts from Palace
in the middle of the park while Izzet continues to work on the wing and
antagonise the Palace defence.
However, the
first goal of the match goes completely against the run of play as Palace take
a 1-0 lead after just 14 minutes. Roberts gets control of the ball in the
middle of the park for the first real time in the match and plays a ball
through to Hopkins, who passes to Houghton who then returns it back to Roberts
allowing him to shoot from just outside the box. The ball takes a slight bobble
on the turf and rolls past Poole in the Leicester goal to give Palace the lead.
It is
Roberts first ever goal for Palace, and what a time to score it! Poole is
incredibly unlucky in some ways there but what does it say about Leicester? They’d
had relative control of the game up to this point but they’ve now found
themselves a goal down after Palace’s first proper attack.
Palace
control things in the immediate aftermath of the goal. Ndah went on a lovely
run but it ultimately came to nothing as Leicester were able to clear it. Leicester
find it hard to get the momentum back on their side. Meanwhile, Palace play
some nice possession football and do a decent job keeping Leicester at bay.
Lennon around
this time decides to take the game by the scruff of the neck
and starts running the show in midfield. He sends a long ball into the box but
Taylor isn’t able to do anything with it. Ndah powers his way into the
Leicester box once more but can’t get a shot off in time and loses possession. Heskey
tries a cross up the other end and that goes about as well as you’d expect.
It doesn’t
help Leicester that whenever they’ve managed to get the ball to the Palace box,
Martyn has been able to deal with it. Whether it be a cross or a shot, Martyn
has had an answer for everything thus far. Palace around this time decide to
close ranks, which hands the initiative to Leicester. At one point Palace have
all 11 men behind the ball. This isn’t even near the end of the half either,
there’s still a good chunk of time to go before they do this.
With more
time to work, Leicester find chances easier to come by. After a corner goes
awry, Lennon puts a long ball back into the box but Claridge is unable to get
his resulting shot on target and it slips past the post. The half peters out at
this point, with Palace happy to take their 1-0 lead into the interval. O’Neill
remains bullish when interviewed pitch side saying he feels his side have had
90% of the game. Not sure that’s an entirely fair comment, but they certainly
had the lion’s share of possession. Still, it’s about taking your chances at
the end of the day and Palace have taken theirs thus far.
Second
Half
Palace start
the second half the stronger of the two sides and almost increase their lead.
Ndah has a wicked shot from just outside the box and Poole is forced into a
brilliant save. He pushes it onto the cross bar and Palace win a corner. The corner
finds its way to Freedman who produces a vicious volley that once again Poole
is equal to. Leicester are lucky at this point not to be 2-0 down and they
would have had it not been for their keeper.
Palace continue
to be the aggressors and they look a lot sharper and more confident than they
had been in the first half. Leicester struggle to get to grip with things but
they do have one chance as Lennon plays another of his long balls into the box.
However, Heskey’s resulting header is well wide and it’s back to drawing board.
Leicester
turn up the heat and have further chances on goal. Parker performs a decent
long throw into the box which finds the head of Walsh. Walsh flicks the ball to
Claridge but he isn’t able to steer it goal ward and Palace gratefully clear
it. The match has now reverted to form as Leicester are the aggressors while
Palace find themselves on the back foot and pinned back to their own half.
Parker is especially lively and continues to cause the Palace defence problems.
It’s at this
time that they announce the attendance. There are 33,000 Palace fans in attendance
today. Leicester have brought 38,000, and they are making themselves heard at
the moment. Parker plays a delightful through ball to Claridge but his follow
up cross to Grayson ends up going nowhere. After an empty Palace counter
attack, Taylor gets the ball in his own half and runs all the way to the Palace
box, but his cross to Izzet doesn’t work out and Palace are let off the hook.
Leicester
just attack seemingly non-stop now in search of the equaliser. Taylor plays
Heskey through but he can only put his shot wide. In his defence, he was being
pressurised by Quinn and unable to take the time he needed with the shot. Palace
continue losing the ball in the middle of the park, as O’Neill’s tactics look
like they might bear fruit. Still penned
it, it is becoming clear that the Palace defenders are starting to get worn
down by the constant pressure from The Foxes.
The possession stats back that up as Leicester have enjoyed 65% of the
ball. However, they still haven’t been able to turn that possession into goals.
Hopkin takes
a rough challenge on the side of the pitch by Walsh, but Walsh wins the ball so
it is only a throw in. Walsh may have found himself booked if he did the same
challenge today. Palace are really hanging on for dear life at this point.
Heskey finally gets a headed shot on target following an excellent cross from
Taylor, but Martyn is there to stop it with a mighty save.
A trademark O’Neill
attack if there ever was one. Leicester’s
resulting corner is cleared and Freedman manages to grab hold of the ball in
the Leicester half and makes his way towards the goal with only Lennon left to
defend. Lennon calmly dispossesses him cool as you like and clears with ease. Truly
majestic defending there from the Northern Irishman. To Freedman’s credit, he
doesn’t try and make a meal of it to win a penalty. He knows he was seen off by
the superior player in that exchange. It’s been a real eye opener watching
Lennon in this contest. I’ve always just thought of him as the dour Celtic
manager, but he’s showing here that he was quite the player in his day as well.
Palace are
struggling and it could be a matter of time. Hopkin gets booked and is subbed
soon after. It could be that he’s being subbed because of the card or because
he’s carrying a knock after the earlier exchange with Walsh.
Lennon
continues to control the middle of the park but Leicester just can’t find a way
to get the ball past Martyn in the Palace goal. The second half has been much
more enjoyable to watch than the first half. It’s very much all action so far. With
15 minutes to go, Walsh plays a sublime ball to Izzet who makes a break for it
down the wing. He just makes it into the box when he is scythed down by
Edworthy and the referee calls for a penalty. Shame for Edworthy, as he’s played
well, but it’s pretty much a nailed on pen. Parker slots it underneath Martyn
and Leicester are level with 13 minutes left of normal time.
It’s at this
point where I noticed on the DVD that the in house graphics were being
plastered over the ITV ones. It’s quite jarring and really serves no purpose. Why
bother? Is there some sort of copyright issue? I mean, they’re using the ITV
footage, with the ITV commentators and Parry even makes reference to the
Champions League Final the week before. The club graphics are cumbersome and
ugly and it lessens the viewing enjoyment. Rant over
Now that the
scores are level, the Leicester fans decide to have a pop at their ex-manager
by chanting “Are you watching Mark McGee?” with undaunted zeal. While the
supporters may be smelling blood in the water, it doesn’t seem to have
translated to the pitch and there are no more goals in normal time. Walsh does
have a headed chance at the end of the half but Veart clears it off the line. Thus,
Extra Time is required.
First Half
of Extra Time
Extra time
starts with the teams as we were. Big Ron questions why Palace haven’t made a
sub, and he probably has a point. Leicester start the half the aggressor in
their search to kill the game off once and for all. Heskey is essentially
playing as a makeshift winger and he has a shot from a tight angle that Martyn
saves with relative ease.
Palace again
hang back allowing Leicester the freedom to attack them. Lennon has a sharp volley
from outside the box which Martyn spills at first but manages to recover before
an advancing Claridge can do anything with it.
Palace go
right down the other end with Veart putting a good cross in to Ndah who puts
the resulting header wide. Heskey is tackled in the box and shouts for a
penalty, but the referee waves play on and the subsequent replay supports his
stance. Both teams then bring on subs. Palace bring on Dyer and Rodger for Freedman
and Tuttle while Leicester bring on Robins for Taylor.
The subs
give the match a bit of a shot in the arm as the tempo steps up a notch, but
still neither side can fashion a truly worthwhile chance on goal. Things take a
bad turn for Rodger though as he gets the worst of a tackle from Izzet and limps
off mere seconds after coming on. With Palace using all their subs, there is no
one they can replace him with and they are faced with the daunting task of
playing on with 10 men.
Despite this,
they have a decent spell but they aren’t able to force the issue and get a
goal. Thusly the half ends as it started, 1-1.
Second
Half of Extra Time
Rodger hauls
himself back onto the pitch but he’s limping heavily and isn’t up to doing much
other than make up the numbers. This is woefully unlucky for Palace who had
just started to suggest a slight upturn in momentum during the first half of
extra time. As a result, Palace stick to long balls and appear to be holding on
for penalties. On one hand, you can’t really blame them. They were under the
cosh when the sides were even and now they’re essentially a man down.
Leicester throw
everything they have left at Palace in an attempt to win it outright without
needing penalties. Any attempt by Palace at advancing up the field is quickly
quelled by Lennon or Walsh. Both have been superb in this game. Palace do
finally manage to get the ball into the opposition half with Dyer being the
first man to get the best of Lennon all afternoon. He puts a cross into the box
which is swatted away by Poole for a corner. Palace waste the corner though and
hand the initiative back to Leicester, with 5 minutes remaining on the clock.
Walsh’s
afternoon finally ends as he is subbed off for Hill. Walsh has run himself into
the ground here and played with gusto. Parry asks Ron who he thinks is Man of
the Match and he says that it’s between Lennon and Parker. He eventually
chooses Parker. I would have gone with Lennon myself but Parker has certainly
had a good game.
O’Neill then
does a Louis Van Gaal and brings on Kalac to replace Poole in net. Either this
is a strategic move to kill time and cut Palace’s momentum or it’s an admission
that he doesn’t think Poole is up to the penalties that now loom. If it is
indeed the second option, that’s incredibly harsh on Poole who has had a good
game.
What happens
next though, is pure Play Off Final nuttiness. Leicester prep themselves for
one more attack up the field. A long free kick is taken and Watts heads it down
to Claridge who is standing outside the D. He hits a speculative volley and the
ball goes flying into the Palace goal. Leicester have won it! Martyn can only
watch as the ball flies past him. Leicester win with essentially the last kick
of the game. PLAY OFF MADNESS STRIKES AGAIN!!!
Final Whistle
Thoughts
This match
was a joy to watch. It’s rare that 120 minutes flies by so quickly. There are
very few parts in this match where nothing is happening. Leicester are always
looking to win it, even in the depths of Extra Time, so there’s rarely a dull
moment.
Parry portrays
this as a huge tactical victory for O’Neill, and highlights the sub of the
keeper as an example. Was it a tactical masterstroke or merely a coincidence? I
would have to say that probably no one in Wembley could have predicted that
finish from Claridge, even Claridge himself! He’s courteous enough afterwards
to say that he shinned it and got lucky. It’s a wonder strike and the fact it
comes as the last kick of a Final only makes it all the more spectacular.
In the end, I’d
have to say the right team won this match. Leicester were the more aggressive,
especially in the Second Half of Extra Time and they bossed the midfield
throughout. Taylor, Parker, Walsh, Izzet and Lennon all entered excellent
performances. Lennon and Walsh in particular were fantastic throughout. If any
tactical praise is to be heaped on O’Neill, I would do it for the way he
completely nullified any creativity for Palace in the middle of the park. Lennon
was seemingly everywhere and putting countless challenges in. Parker went on
run after run and Izzet was constantly causing the full backs problems
throughout with his forays down the wing.
As you have
probably guessed, I was watching this on the official LCFC DVD release. Picture
quality is fine and all the major points of the match are well covered. Parry and
Atkinson provide insightful commentary and the crowd itself is miked well. The LCFC
graphics are annoying though and pretty pointless but they don’t ruin the
viewing experience too badly. There's a "stats" section on the DVD and it some neat information such as who Leicester's top scorers were that season and who the top 6 in the table were that's season
Overall,
this is a recommended match. I’ll post the you tube highlights below but if you
want to throw Leicester City some moolah, I’ll post the Amazon link as well.
I apologise
for the length of this piece. I tried to streamline it but it’s ended up being
the longest one I’ve ever done. Please feel free to comment and send any
feedback about this. Let me know what you liked and what you felt superfluous and
I’ll bear it in mind when I do the next one.
Until then,
Peace Out!
You Tube
highlights of match
.
Amazon Link
for the match itself
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