Topic: League Cup Semi Final 1984 - Walsall vs Liverpool (1st leg Anfield). My memories

[Eli_B (aka Badland Red)]

Whilst reading a few books about my local club, in a bookshop in Birmingham a few weeks ago. There was 3 pages with a press cutting about the 1984 Milk Cup Semi-Final between Walsall (who were in the third tier of English footie, just as they are now) vs The Redmen of Liverpool (who were going for a unique treble). It brought me flashbacks of watching on the tele, of this entertaining 1st leg match which was a 2-2 draw.

What i remember most was 10,000 fans from the club, playing their part along with the home fans, to create that very special atmosphere only Anfield can create. Here's a brief summary of what i remember vividly about the match.

An end to end match, Ronnie Whelan scored to 1-0 put the home side ahead. Phil Neal and Gary Gillespie got in a tangle to score an own goal.  The match all square, unbeleivable was my reaction, beacuse Liverpool were the best club side in world footie at the time. Then midway in the second half (as far as i know) the redmen back ahead were 2-1

Then Alan Buckley made a tactial change i.e. Kevin Summerfield  came on as a substitute and produced a quality finish to make it 2-2. Even more remarkably Mark Rees missed a great chance i.e. could have won the tie in the last minute, Mark Rees smashed the ball into the side netting. It would have been an utterly amazing win. Quite simply this match and the second leg at the old Fellows Park stadium, that got me really interested in both clubs.

Liverpool proved too good for the Saddlers and won 2-0 (Ronnie Whelan and Rushie scoring the goals i believe) in the second leg, 4-2 on aggregate. It was certainly not a disgrace to lose to a top quality team. A mate of mine who remembers going to both matches told me that he and his mates went on a post match bevvy and they somehow ended up in Birkenhead!

What touched him most was the Liverpool fans were sportingly chanting "Walsall, Walsall,Walsall" and demanded them to come back on the pitch. And they did and got a big round of applause from the fans, that made me put a smile on my face. And this is why i'll always will have a soft spot for Liverpool.

[alfonso]

Didn't a wall collapse at the walsall ground during this game?
I seem to remember there's a photo of Greame Souness carrying a kid away.

[Ferg]

Didn't a wall collapse at the walsall ground during this game?
I seem to remember there's a photo of Greame Souness carrying a kid away.

Yes,my mate,Chris Mitchell.
Bastard got a tour round Anfield by Souey aswell 

[bignred84]

i remember the game well (when the wall went down that it is)

remember the hassle with the bissies in our end after the wall went down

i was sitting on the top of the wall at the back of our end

i recall to souness being painted as a saint because he carried a kid a few yards

[Eli_B (aka Badland Red)]

Didn't a wall collapse at the walsall ground during this game?
I seem to remember there's a photo of Greame Souness carrying a kid away.

Yep - my fellow Saddler supporting mate told me that luckily no one was hurt, when the wall collapsed at the old Railway End - (where away fans) were at. It was about 19,000 were in attendance for the second leg. I'm sure that the second leg was shown live on ITV at round 7:45-8:00pm. I watched the second leg on the tv as well, it was important for the Redmen to win the tie, because in my very humble opinion the oustanding team of 1984 wouldn't have won that unique treble of League Title, European Cup and League Cup.

They did a professional and solid job in the 2nd leg, scored the 2 goals, then beat the happy Evertonian's in the final in a replay at Maine Road. The rest as they say in history.

Here'a a picture of the Railway End. It's small image, but if i posted the larger image it would been too big to look at! This picture was taken a couple of months before the club moved to the Bescot Stadium in 1990. The Bescot as far as i know, was one of the first stadiums to be built after the Taylor Report recommendations on all seater stadia

[the red rebel]

no way was it live on tv, sorry to be pinnicky, good post though, did you say we took 10 000? no way either.

[Eli_B (aka Badland Red)]

no way was it live on tv, sorry to be pinnicky, good post though, did you say we took 10 000? no way either.

That's alright I thought the 2nd leg was shown live on TV, the only reason why i said this beacuse the match attracted a lot of media attention. Come to think of it the redmen took about 5-7,000 for the away trip to Fellows Park.

The 10,000 figure was for the Walsall fans who turned up at Anfield. Thanks for your reply and the others who remembered the matches - my memory is getting a bit hazy, even though i was about 2 months before my 12th birthday at that year

[RedKennedy]

i remember the game well (when the wall went down that it is)

remember the hassle with the bissies in our end after the wall went down

i was sitting on the top of the wall at the back of our end

i recall to souness being painted as a saint because he carried a kid a few yards

I remember that aswell, was sitting on the wall too. I was only 16, remember getting a nose bleed when some fat bloke fell on top of me. Don't remember anyone getting seriously hurt though, thank god. Not a bad game either.