CITY 2 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1
Canon League Division 1
31st August 1985
Attendance 27,789
Scorers
City Simpson(35), Miller(83 og)
Spurs Miller(85)
Ref George Courtney
City Williams, May, Wilson, Clements, McCarthy, Phillips, Lillis, McNab, Kinsey, McIlroy, Simpson – Sub Smith(unused)
Tottenham Clemence, Thomas, Hughton, Roberts, Miller, Allen, Ardiles, Falco, Waddle, Hoddle, Galvin – Sub Chiedozie(66)
There have been many great games at Maine Road between the Sky Blue shirts of City and the white shirts of Spurs, however this was not to be the case this time, six minutes after kick off George Courtney, and probably a lot of the crowd, were struggling to identify the two teams, City’s very pale blue was almost indistinguishable with Spurs white in the bright summer sun, as Michael Nally wrote in The Observer: “The opening scenes were theatrical, as if Peter Terson had written a farce, re-working elements from those box office successes, Zigger Zagger and Strippers.. City were forced to strip and change, and they did so within three minutes. Though done in decent obscurity beneath the stand, it was titivation of a sort while it lasted. But why City? Sky Blue is their colour, after all. Perhaps Spurs cannot afford spare kits after paying so much for Waddle.”.
And so the unusual sight of City players in their red and black striped shirts and black shorts playing at Maine Road will probably be the most memorable thing to remember about this match.
Tottenham’s expensive team of ‘superstars’, who had lost their last two matches, were poor until the last twenty minutes of a match where City’s energy and work-rate won out in the end.
19 year old Paul Simpson’s drive and skill on the wing, and the energy and running of 22 year old Steve Kinsey, described in The Guardian as “a striker who operates like a speedboat whose owner has fallen overboard”, were the catalysts in City’s victory.
It was Simpson who put City 1-0 up just after the half hour. Neil McNab out on the left, lofted in a hopeful cross, City’s new striker, Mark Lillis, challenged Ray Clemence, and the ball fell to Simpson who smashed in an angled shot into the net.
A minute before the break it should have been 2-0, when a penalty was awarded for hand ball in the area by Graham Roberts. However, despite a decent shot low by the post, Clemence made a great save, to keep the score at 1-0 at half-time.
Spurs huffed and puffed in the second half in an effort to get back into the game, however, in the 83rd minute Steve Kinsey hit a cross shot that Paul Miller deflected past Clemence and surely the points were City’s.
There was a late scare when Miller made up for his own goal when he scored with five minutes to go, however it was enough for the North Londoners and City took all the points.