6th February 1990 - Boro made history this day

Erimus74

Erimus74

Well-known member
And a day us Boro thought we would never see when beating 1st division Aston Villa 2-1 on the night, after extra time & 4-2 on aggregate over 2 legs, to book our 1st appearence in a WEMBLEY cup final
Zenith data systems cup final

The Boro had gone to Villa Park for the 1st leg of the Northern section against all the odds, we were struggling in the bottom half of the 2nd division & with a weakened team playing, at that time, IIRC, the 1st division leaders Aston Villa, who on the previous Saturday thumped Bury 6-0 with England's golden boy in top form
Villa took the lead in the 1st leg, we equalised & in what was considered a rain storm throughout the match Mark Brennan scored a wonder free kick in the final minutes to put us 2-1 up from the 1st leg

Roll on the 2nd leg & all we need for tonight's match is to avoid defeat & we're at Wembley

The 2nd leg of was played at a cat & mouse tempo, we go looking for a goal to make it harder for Villa, with the quality in their side they will pick us off
Graham Taylor Villas manager told his player just bide your time till an opening comes & snatch it & that's what happened with the clock ticking down to the last 15 minutes Villa win a corner at the east end of the ground which was housing the Villa fans
The ball was swung over & practically on the goalline & within the grasp of Stephen Pears Stuart Grey headed in the net, 1-0 to Villa, 2-2 on the night & worse, away goals don't count double
Boro must now hold out till ET & regroup, we were now on the back foot & Villa going for the kill
The ref blew & ET it is, typical Boro will have to do it the hard way & win the game again if we are to create history

And that is what we did & in style, O e of Boro's best signing, bargain buy Bernie scored a quality goal at the holgate end to put us level on the night & infront on aggregate, still nerves around buzzing AP when in the 2nd half Mark Proctor takes a corner, the ball comes out to Paul Kerr who seizes the ball & smashes the ball in the Viaal net, against his former team & infront of Villa fans PK runs away arms aloft, we're the famous Middlesbrough & we're going to Wembley

Paul Kerr scored his 1st Boro goal v Villa & a more important goal v Villa taking us to Wembley

If ever a Boro player, or manager is named after a stand then surely Bruce Rioch stand is the one, he picked us up from our lowest ebb, took us through seasons we'll never forget & a place at Wembley
 
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I remember walking to AP ticket office at 6 in the morning for final tickets. I thought there would only be a few people in front of me. I got to the back of the queue the other side of the general hospital site.
 
UTMB - erimus
 

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Great memories. My all time favourite Boro game and goal. Although the last day Newcastle match was probably more important.
 
I remember this game well.

Straight after the match I headed off for a nightshift so no time to celebrate
 
Erimus74 said:
And a day us Boro thought we would never see when beating 1st division Aston Villa 2-1 on the night, after extra time & 4-2 on aggregate over 2 legs, to book our 1st appearence in a WEMBLEY cup final
Zenith data systems cup final

The Boro had gone to Villa Park for the 1st leg of the Northern section against all the odds, we were struggling in the bottom half of the 2nd division & with a weakened team playing, at that time, IIRC, the 1st division leaders Aston Villa, who on the previous Saturday thumped Bury 6-0 with England's golden boy in top form
Villa took the lead in the 1st leg, we equalised & in what was considered a rain storm throughout the match Mark Brennan scored a wonder free kick in the final minutes to put us 2-1 up from the 1st leg

Roll on the 2nd leg & all we need for tonight's match is to avoid defeat & we're at Wembley

The 2nd leg of was played at a cat & mouse tempo, we go looking for a goal to make it harder for Villa, with the quality in their side they will pick us off
Graham Taylor Villas manager told his player just bide your time till an opening comes & snatch it & that's what happened with the clock ticking down to the last 15 minutes Villa win a corner at the east end of the ground which was housing the Villa fans
The ball was swung over & practically on the goalline & within the grasp of Stephen Pears Stuart Grey headed in the net, 1-0 to Villa, 2-2 on the night & worse, away goals don't count double
Boro must now hold out till ET & regroup, we were now on the back foot & Villa going for the kill
The ref blew & ET it is, typical Boro will have to do it the hard way & win the game again if we are to create history

And that is what we did & in style, O e of Boro's best signing, bargain buy Bernie scored a quality goal at the holgate end to put us level on the night & infront on aggregate, still nerves around buzzing AP when in the 2nd half Mark Proctor takes a corner, the ball comes out to Paul Kerr who seizes the ball & smashes the ball in the Viaal net, against his former team & infront of Villa fans PK runs away arms aloft, we're the famous Middlesbrough & we're going to Wembley

Paul Kerr scored his 1st Boro goal v Villa & a more important goal v Villa taking us to Wembley

If ever a Boro player, or manager is named after a stand then surely Bruce Rioch stand is the one, he picked us up from our lowest ebb, took us through seasons we'll never forget & a place at Wembley
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Great times. The younger Boro fans will never understand what a big deal it was just to see the Boro get to Wembley. Hard to believe that with the great players we had over the years that we had never played at Wembley until 1990.
 
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So true, IMHO following the Boro we've had better teams who have won cups & leagues but not shown consistency
 
I was working in Ulverston, Cumbria and was watching it on the tele in the Farmer's Arms there.
There were only a few in and I was glued to the screen kicking every ball and when the final whistle went, I ran around the pub, jumped on the pool table, shouting my head off. Two coppers came in and asked the landlady what was going on, she said "I think his team just won". Ok they said and went on their way. Wish I could have been there in the Holgate though.
Managed to get a ticket for the final though.
 
Great thread this 👍

I remember Bernie turning and scoring in front of the Holgate like it was yesterday and the novelty of singing ‘we’re going to Wemberley’ when we actually were!

That Mark Brennan goal at Villa Park in the pouring rain was some moment though, it was at that point I really started to believe.
 
I was skiing in Austria when the 2nd leg was played. I had to call from a phone box in the village of Soll back to father to find out the result! A few schnapps went down that evening!
 
HolgateCorner said:
Great thread this 👍

I remember Bernie turning and scoring in front of the Holgate like it was yesterday and the novelty of singing ‘we’re going to Wemberley’ when we actually were!

That Mark Brennan goal at Villa Park in the pouring rain was some moment though, it was at that point I really started to believe.
Click to expand...
I was at Villa Park that night, back then I went to about 90% away games, it absoutly poured down to the point when you didn't think in could rain any heavier then as if someone then poured a bucket of water over you, what a night
 
Erimus74 said:
I was at Villa Park that night, back then I went to about 90% away games, it absoutly poured down to the point when you didn't think in could rain any heavier then as if someone then poured a bucket of water over you, what a night
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Its funny how you remember the big games isn’t it? I got lost in the streets of Aston after the match and couldn’t find the car so took a long time to get away after the match. Sat with me going up the motorway soaked to the skin was my then brand new girlfriend (not a football fan and not from Teesside) - now Mrs Holgate Corner! You wouldn’t believe how much over the years she has mentioned that night out at Villa Park...
 
HolgateCorner said:
Its funny how you remember the big games isn’t it? I got lost in the streets of Aston after the match and couldn’t find the car so took a long time to get away after the match. Sat with me going up the motorway soaked to the skin was my then brand new girlfriend (not a football fan and not from Teesside) - now Mrs Holgate Corner! You wouldn’t believe how much over the years she has mentioned that night out at Villa Park...
Click to expand...
Great memories mate 👍
 
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