On 18th March 1961, Spurs headed to Villa Park hoping to continue their charge for the historic League and FA Cup Double. The reigning League Champions, Burnley, stood in their way – along with unhappy memories of recent Villa Park FA Cup Semi Final defeats in 1948, 1953 and 1956.
Spurs and Burnley were the top two teams of the time – Burnley, as mentioned, were reigning League Champions and Spurs were Champions elect. Just a few months earlier, the two teams played out a thrilling 4-4 draw in the league at White Hart Lane – where Spurs demonstrated being “Spursy” may have been around longer than we thought, having surrendered a 4-0 lead on that occasion!
Danny Blanchflower leading team out for 1961 FA Cup Semi Final
Fast forward to March’s match at Villa Park. Spurs had beaten Charlton, Crewe, Aston Villa and Sunderland to reach this stage and a bumper 69,968 crowd packed into Villa Park to see this clash of the titans.
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On this occasion, with Wembley as the prize – there was no “Spursy” as they ran out 3-0 winners. Although Burnley started much the better and did the early pressing. Half an hour in though and Bobby Smith seized on a defensive mistake to give the Lilywhites the lead. Bobby doubled the lead early in the second half with a fine half volley from the edge of the box and this seemed to deflate the team from Lancashire – with a Cliff Jones goal in the final minute rounding off a 3-0 win and the scramble for cup final tickets.
However, it wasn’t all Spurs and not as comprehensive as it may first appear. Burnley felt hard done by on three occasions. They had a goal disallowed just before the interval when the referee awarded a free-kick for a push on Maurice Norman at a time when it would have brought the teams level at 1 – 1 coming into the break. Then they thought they should have had a penalty when the ball hit Peter Baker’s arm but the referee decided it had been accidental. Finally, Burnley claimed the ball had crossed the line when Bill Brown fell on the ball after claiming a high cross.
Spurs team: Bill Brown, Peter Baker, Ron Henry, Danny Blanchflower, Maurice Norman, Dave MacKay, Terry Dyson, Les Allen, Bobby Smith, Cliff Jones, John White