Brady is Magic

The son of Johnny C, who was the guv’nor of the Sebright pub at the time of the Ipswich Final, has confirmed the story of Mickey E & the Wild Bunch going to the game from his dad’s pub.
He was only 13 then and was allowed to go to his first Final without his dad.

He recalls that they’d only just gone through the alleyway into Hackney road when Teddy F decided to lie down in front of a bus going to Liverpool Street station, so that the 30-40 blokes could all get on.
 He thought they were all nutters and wouldn’t get to the game. They probably wished they hadn’t.

I had my Stag night in the Sebright in 1977 and was privileged to become a close mate of JC senior and his family until his death, aged 61, in December 1999.

Besides, along with some other mates, sitting with him at Highbury, we also travelled to many Arsenal away games in England & Europe together.
These stories will be in future posts.

Argentina fans celebrate winning the 1978 World Cup. 

Brian “Noddy” Talbot arrives. 

Peter “Stan” Simpson leaves. 

Simpson was an important member of the Fairs Cup & Double Winning teams. 

He would have been an England regular but for Bobby Moore & Norman Hunter. 

Legendary Arsenal goalies meet Paul Barron. 

The Squad. 

Younger players were now coming through the ranks such as;

Brian McDermott - Steve Gatting - Paul Vaessen - John Devine - Jim Harvey. 

These were joined by Kevin Stead on a free transfer from the Lane and the Australian John Kosmina.

League 1978-79. 

Brady is Magic. 

Over the past few seasons Liam Brady had been giving consistent above average performances but this was the season that he would become an Arsenal legend. 

Red shorts - Shame it’s not in colour. 

Sums it all up. 

Sammy Nelson was also becoming infamous as well. 

Sammy Nelson bares his bum at the North Bank after scoring. 

Sammy’s Screamer against Coventry. 

Arsenal finished 7th in the League and played some exiting attacking football at times but usually they were hitting teams on the counterattack. 

They handed out thrashings to;

QPR at Highbury 5-1. 

Chelsea at Highbury 5-2. 

Memorably, against the team from the Lane at the Lane 5-0. 

I’m In.  5-0 At the Lane. 

So was that goal!!

Chippy’s Screamer - Merry Xmas. 

Frank Stapleton scores against Chelsea in 5-2 win. 

League Cup.

We were knocked out by Rotherham 3 - 1. End of!!

Tony M remembers Rotherham fans all dressed like “Compo” in last of the Summer Wine. 

FA Cup. 

We played Sheffield Wednesday 5 times in the 3rd round before eventually going through. 

This amount of games would normally get a team to the Final. 

After playing them at Hillsborough & Highbury, the next 3 times would be at Leicester. 

This gave rise to the song ;

“We will follow the Arsenal,

Over Land and Sea,

And Leicester”. 

Despite what some other fans think, this was always an original Arsenal song. 

I’ve heard that there were some memorable coach trips from the Sebright for these games. 

Ex Gunner Brian Hornsby scores for Wednesday. 

Marathon Men. 

Old Gunners meet Young Gooners. 

We beat Notts County in the 4th round at Highbury and then had to go to Forest away. 

They were the current Champions and on the way to winning the European Cup. 

A late Frank Stapleton header and some great saves from Pat Jennings won the game for Arsenal. 

This game was also memorable for us “Old Gunners” meeting the younger “Denton” and his gang. 

As it was a midweek night game, and as most of us were now married, we travelled up to Nottingham in 3 cars. 

On arriving at the ground the place was a mud bath. 

It was pouring with rain and Forest were in the process of building a new Main stand. 

Arsenal Fans had been allocated a standing section near the halfway line and we took up positions at the back of the terraces. 

There was a fence separating Arsenal supporters from Forest fans further along and some young Arsenal fans were hanging on it. 

When the teams came out to start, these youngsters were blocking our view of nearly half the pitch. 

After asking them, politely, to get down, they refused to budge so an argument started and they were getting pelted with coins by fans all around us. 

Suddenly, a big teenage fella, with lots of other teenagers and some, what to us 30 years old blokes, looked even younger start coming up the terraces towards us. 

The big teenager, obviously the leader, asks “ why are you arguing with fans on the fence?”  

Someone explains that we can’t see the pitch and the tension rises between us and them. 

I ask Putney for the 3rd time, remember Stoke & Reading?, what are we fucking gonna do now?”

He replies “ if they come 2 steps up the terrace, put the big fella down”. 

They come forward and big fella goes down. 

Then the cry goes up from one of the kids, “ Denton’s down, Denton’s down “. 

About 6 kids drag one of our lot down the terrace and give him a few digs before we pull him out, he later said he felt like “ Gulliver” in Gullivers Travels surrounded by little people, and  as the police are now moving in, we move further along the enclosure. 

The Forest fans are chanting “Forest aggro - Forest aggro” idiots think we’re their fans. 

To be fair, although Denton was tall he hadn’t filled out like he did later. 

Apparently, he became a Gooner legend and died in a car crash when working in Moscow. 

We next saw him in Copenhagen in 1994. 

He was a bit bigger then and never remembered us. 

6th round - Southampton away 1-1. 

We won the replay 2-0 and it’s off to Wembley again. 

Next Post Thursday 14/5/2020. 

Last Gasp Gunners. 

Comments - oldgunnersandgooners@btinternet . com

Season 1978-79.