Only County Visit:	Wednesday 30th August 1978
Competition:	Football League Cup – (Round 2)
Result:	Manchester United 3 – 2 Stockport County
Attendance:	41,761
Away Trip:	4
Away Day:	4
County Line-up	1 Mike Rogan; 2 Andy Thorpe; 3 John Rutter; 4 Alan Thompson; 5 Terry Park; 6 Paul Edwards; 7 Mike Summerbee; 8 Carl Halford; 9 Les Bradd; 10 Derek Loadwick; 11 Stuart Lee
Scorers:	Alan Thompson (pen); Terry Park
Manager:	Mike Summerbee
County Visits:	1

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THE CRIME OF THE DURHAM POLICEMAN

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You may think that the passage of 38 years would dim the recollections, and maybe dull the hurt that Away Day 4 caused. Not a bit of it.  The promise and excitement of stepping onto one of the world’s leading football stages, as it was even then well before the commercial monolith that the name of Manchester United morphed into, was cruelly dashed.  Leaving the ground that wrenching emotion of feeling cheated still lives with me right now.  There’s been hundreds of games since then, many being key to promotion or survival, and a fair few of those have left me with different emotions.  But this was something different.

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The name Peter Willis is written loud and clear in the County annals.  A bogeyman who robbed us of one of the biggest upsets of all time, the Durham policeman’s refereeing performance that evening was nothing short of desperate. Turning to the bare facts.  A tie which paired County and United at EP was switched to Old Trafford for financial reasons.  The crowd of nearly 42,000 will have brought solace to the bank balance, but was highly unpopular with a lot of fans.  The game looked to be going to form.  After all the home team, lying in 7^th spot in the top division were pitched against a County side 6^th in Division 4, and when Jordan nodded them in front on 10 minutes the crowd sat back and waited for the inevitable.  Let the text from Stockport County : A Complete Record take up the story:

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“Although County were to have yet another poor season, they did have a number of skilful players, and before half-time they created a number of opportunities.  The Reds were less than impressive and, with Lou Macari and County’s player-manager Mike Summerbee seemingly intent on re-enacting past Manchester ‘derby’ battles, United’s most dangerous forward was playing himself out of the game. With the supporters uplifted by their team’s performance, the second half saw County go close on a number of occasions before, in the 59^th minute, United goalkeeper Paddy Roche felled Stuart Lee and Alan Thompson confidently equalised from the resultant penalty.

20 minutes later, with United still unable to impose their authority on the game, County’s Terry Park picked up possession on the left wing, went round Brian Greenhoff, and curled the ball delightfully round Roche and inside the far post.  Unadulterated joy! County did not fall back on defence but pressed for another goal with the result that, in the 85^th minute, United’s Scottish international defender, Gordon McQueen, brought down Derek Loadwick with a scything tackle.  Referee Peter Willis of County Durham had little option but to send off McQueen, who departed with a considerable degree of petulance.”

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There remained 5 minutes, plus anything that Willis added – a drop in the oceans of time, but a brief interlude which lived and continues to live long in the memory of those who witnessed it.

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“Three minutes later Mr Willis awarded the Reds a free-kick, seemingly given against County goalkeeper, Mike Rogan, and with no United player near, possibly for time wasting.  Sammy McIlroy took the free-kick which, after a deflection, rolled agonising past Rogan to equalise.

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In the 90th minute Peter Willis guaranteed himself a place in the memories of Stockport supporters by awarding United a penalty for a foul by Thompson on Jordan.  It would be churlish to dispute the validity of the decision, but it was certainly a rare event to see a penalty awarded in front of the Stretford End with virtually no appeal from the crowd nor from the players.  Jimmy Greenhoff scored and United had won”

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38 years later and those last 5 minutes still rank as a gross injustice … no more and no less.  Controversy and Willis were never strangers.  Unlike the best officials who are barely noticed he was always at the forefront of the action.  It was hardly recompense, but he incurred the United followers wrath around 7 years later when Kevin Moran became the first player ever sent off in an FA Cup Final.

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It was the only visit to Old Trafford with County, but not the first I had made, nor indeed the last.  The time has come to confess I fear. Back in 1962 my godfather took me to see a Manchester derby.  City won it 3-2 but I was transfixed by the United no.10. Flaxen haired and quick as a flash, it was the first time I had heard of, never mind seen, Denis Law.  He scored twice in the game – and entertained.  To this day, and whilst all this kind of stuff is naturally subjective, “The King” is still the greatest player I have ever seen. (Check out this video for just why I, nearly 60 years later, am still of this view).  I wanted more of it and through the late 60’s and early 70’s I was a regular at the self-styled Theatre of Dreams.  It helped at the time that County were a Friday night team which meant I could catch both clubs most weekends.  As Law’s time at Old Trafford finished so I became less of a regular, and I believe that it was the County game that really determined things. 

Increasingly it felt to me that there was a superior attitude amongst the support at United – a divine right to win if you want to put it that way, and it didn’t feel right.  There was a brief renaissance for me in the mid 70’s when Tommy Docherty created a really entertaining side but it increasingly felt like a chore.  It came to end at the first game of the 1979/80 season.  After a truly dull; soporific and mind numbing display against West Brom, I went away knowing that I wanted no more of it.  In the intervening years I’ve been back once, as a guest of a business contact.  I’ve never missed it.

Indeed, I have come to despise all that the monied Clubs stand for – they are no more than commercial enterprises rather than community based football clubs. The heart has gone out of the game at the top level.  A League, grandiosely calling itself a Premiership, is populated by over-paid; over-rated mercenaries from foreign shores, whilst all the time the cancer of the agents who get them these deals eats away at the game.

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I imagine I will return to this theme when Manchester City crossed County’s path in the late 1990’s – simply because they exhibit all this superiority attitude more than any other Club.  I really wish those Abu Dhabi characters hadn’t turned up at Eastlands – they’d still be the music hall turn they always were.

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OLD TRAFFORD IN 1979

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Taken shortly after our visit there is a video of Old Trafford available on the Football Ground Guide You Tube Channel. Take a look

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WATCH THINGS UNFOLD

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Even with the passage of time things still hurt. Here’s a chance to see how things happened at OT that night. There’s press cuttings; grainy footage of the game and Willis’ disgraceful exhibition. It looks like Dave Espley, (of Tea Party and SN&TM fame) has compiled it and put it on You Tube.

Manchester United 3-2 Stockport County

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September 2016

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VISITS

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Wednesday (Highlights)	30/08/78	Football League Cup	Round 2	Manchester United	L	2	3	41,761	4

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ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

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Previously – SPOTLAND Next stop – GRESTY ROAD