On 15th April 1981, just fours days after a very dubious last minute penalty prevented Spurs taking their place at Wembley for the 100th FA Cup Final, they were determined not to be deprived a second time. Man City were awaiting the winners.
Even sweeter, Spurs had the opportunity to secure their place at the home of their greatest rivals, when the replay was staged at Highbury – meaning the Spurs fans vastly outnumbered the Wolves fans – would suggest about 80% of the crowd was Spurs – the North Bank had never been so lively!
Spurs were fired up for the game from the outset and took an early lead when Garth Crooks headed the opening goal in front of the packed North Bank following a superb lob pass from Glenn Hoddle. Wolves came back strongly looking for an equaliser, hitting the woodwork. However, Spurs were not for beating this night and just before half-time Crooks scored the second when he showed a real turn of pace to reach another superb Glenn Hoddle through ball and finished with lovely rifled shot.
Spurs fans were celebrating even further when Ricky Villa sealed the victory with a run and powerful shot from twenty yards. Little did we know at that time, that this was just a taster of what Ricky had in store for us in May at Wembley.
A great victory and a stylish performance as ‘Spurs were on their way to Wembley’ for their first FA Cup Final in 14 years
Match Programme and original match ticket, autographed by Garth Crooks available in our shop
Team: Aleksic, Hughton, Miller, Roberts, Villa, Perryman, Ardiles, Archibald, Galvin, Hoddle, Crooks
Attendance: 52,539