On this day in 1991, October 30, to be exact, the Sky Blues were looking for a respite after losing two straight league games (1-2 at home to Crystal Palace and, most recently, 0-1 at Liverpool’s Anfield). They were doing okay in ninth position in Division One, but they had fallen a little from earlier in the season.
Terry Butcher, the “gaffer” of Sky Blue, and his side turned their focus to the League Cup today, when they faced Arsenal in a challenging match in London. In a previous two-leg Second Round, City had narrowly defeated Rochdale.
The Lancashire squad, who had a dismal record there, defeated the lower league club 4-0 at Highfield Road, yet they still won 1-0.
We qualified for today’s midweek home match versus the Gunners thanks to the 4-1 overall score.
Naturally, in September of last year, the Sky Blues defeated the League Champions of the previous year 2-1 at Highbury owing to an odd own goal in the opening minute by Lee Dixon of the Gunners and a crucial goal five minutes ahead of schedule from Peter Ndlovu, who is now a member of the CCFPA! Today the Londoners were thirsting for revenge deploying their £2.5m new striker Ian Wright to finish City off.
But our Scottish striker, Kevin Gallacher—another CCFPA member now—put in a “man of the match” performance and scored the game’s lone goal two minutes after the half-hour mark, outlasting them in both strength and skill! The goal was a classic poacher’s strike as ‘Gally’ collected the loose ball after David Seaman, the Gunners’ custodian, could only parry a fantastic effort from Paul Furlong of City.
Even though he would only go on to make a few appearances for the Sky Blue first team, young Martyn Booty seemed like a class act. He is currently a member of the Association. 15,339 people attended the game at the Sky Blues’ home arena.
Tonight’s Butcher’s Boys were (CCFPA members are highlighted):
Steve Ogrizovic, Lloyd McGrath, Paul Furlong, Kevin Gallacher, Andy Pearce, Andy Pearce, Martyn Booty, Lee Hurst, Stewart Robson, and David Smith
The side that George Graham’s Gunners released was this:
Paul Davis, Colin Pates (sub. Andy Linighan -2), David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn, Paul Davis, Tony Adams, Paul Rocastle, Ian Wright, Alan Smith, Paul Merson, and Anders Limpar (sub. Perry Groves -1) Commissioner: Martin Bodenham
After winning, City was drawn to play Tottenham Hotspur in the Fourth Round at Highfield Road, where they lost 2-1 and were eliminated from the competition! Don Howe, Terry’s assistant, took over after Terry was fired in January 1992.
Howe led the Gunners’ comeback at Highfield Road in April, when they won 1-0 thanks to Kevin Campbell’s game-winning goal.
After a strong start to the season, the Sky Blues fell down the Division One standings to end narrowly above the trap door in twentieth place, with Arsenal in fourth place.
1991–1992, CCFC
For the record, Leeds United finished four points ahead of Manchester United in second place as the 1991–92 Division One Champions. The teams that were demoted because they were below the Sky Blues were Luton Town, Notts County, and West Ham United, who finished last in decreasing order.
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