SOUTH WEST FA CUP FINALISTS 1980’s
1981 & 1982 Graham Roberts & Steve Perryman (Tottenham Hotspur)
The early 1980’s saw Tottenham Hotspur establish themselves as one of the leading clubs in England by winning the FA Cup in 1981 and then retained the trophy in the following year.
Central to Spurs’ success were two players who would find their way to the South West later in the respective careers.
Defender Graham Roberts had arrived at White Hart Lane from Weymouth Town several years earlier. He became a regular in the Spurs’ backline before moving on to Glasgow Rangers and Chelsea later in his career.
Graham would later go on to manage Yeovil Town between 1995 and 1998. His time at Huish Park proved to be relatively successful as he guided the Glovers to promotion from the ICIS League in the 1996-97 season.
Steve Perryman, who made a record 854 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, has been Director of Football with Exeter City since their relegation to the Conference in 2003, having originally arrived at St James’ Park as a consultant to the then Grecians’ manager Noel Blake in the 2000-01 season. Incidentally, during their run to the final in 1981, Spurs defeated Exeter in the Quarter Finals.
1981 Milija Aleksic (Tottenham Hotspur) & Gerry Gow (Manchester City)
Goalkeeper Milija Aleksic who appeared for Spurs in the 1981 final, had previously played for Plymouth Argyle from 1973 to 1976. Within a year of appearing at Wembley, he was playing for Barnet.
In the blue corner of Manchester City was Scottish midfielder Gerry Gow who, like Graham Roberts, would go on to manage Yeovil Town. Gow managed the Glovers for three years from 1984 to 1987 and led Yeovil to runners’ up place in the Isthmian League in the 1985-86 & 1986-87 seasons.
1984, 1985 & 1986 Neville Southall and Peter Reid (Everton)
Neville Southall, who would later appear for Torquay United, and Peter Reid, the current Plymouth Argyle manager, were both present in Everton’s three cup final appearances of the mid 1980’s in an era that saw the Toffees match the dominance of their arch rivals Liverpool.
Their first cup appearance came in 1984 against a Watford side who had ended Argyle’s memorable run to the semi-finals that year after defeating them 1-0 at Villa Park. Everton won 2-0 on the day with goals from Graeme Sharp and Andy Gray.
The following season saw the Toffees return to Wembley where they were beaten 1-0 by Manchester United.
It was a game that saw Peter Reid at the heart of one of the occasion’s biggest talking points, as Manchester United’s Kevin Moran became the first player ever to be sent off in an FA Cup final as the Irishman saw red for a professional foul on Reid.
A year later, Everton were in the final again in the first all Merseyside affair against Liverpool, which the Reds won 3-1.
During his time in charge at Home Park, Peter Reid put the runners’ up medal he received on that day available to the highest bidder for an auction to raise money to aid the Pilgrims fight for survival.
1987 David Phillips and John Sillett (Coventry City) & Chris Waddle (Tottenham Hotspur)
After missing out on a Wembley final appearance with Argyle in 1984, David Phillips finally made it to a final in 1987 with Coventry City. The Sky Blues’ manager that day was John Sillett, who himself had had a spell as a player at Home Park during the 1960’s.
Coventry upset the odds that day to win 3-2 against a Spurs’ side that included Chris Waddle who would enjoy a short spell with Torquay United towards the end of his career during the 1998-99 season.
1988 Clive Goodyear (Wimbledon)
1988 will go down as the year that the Crazy Gang of Wimbledon humbled the mighty Liverpool just over a decade after gaining entry to the Football League.
Amongst the Dons’ squad that day was Clive Goodyear who had helped Plymouth Argyle to win promotion from the ‘old Third Division under Dave Smith two years earlier.