WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 CITY 2
League Division 1
16th April 1977
attendance 24,889
Scorers Tueart(26), KIdd(60)
ref B Homewood
City Corrigan, Clements, Donachie, Booth, Watson, Owen, Barnes, Keegan, Kidd, Hartford, Tueart – sub Henry(unused)
West Brom Osborne, Mulligan, Statham, Martin, Wile, Robertson, Robson, Cunningham, Cross, Giles, Johnston sub Brown(4)
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MALCOLM FOLLEY WRITING IN THE DAILY EXPRESS 18TH APRIL 1977
Laurie Cunningham, West Brom’s First Division freshman, has drawn his first conclusions about life at the top.
Very simply, he believes Liverpool are the only team worthy of winning the championship crown.
Which won’t exactly endear him to followers of Manchester City, whose team triumphed 2-0 at the Hawthorns to sustain their own challenge for the title.
Cunningham, who will become the first coloured player to win England honours when Don Revie names his under 21 squad tomorrow, says: “For a team to be called champions they must be able to keep the ball and score goals. Only Liverpool do that properly. I’ve found the First Division a bit quicker with less physical contact.”
Certainly Albion’s crowd was enraged by a wild first-half tackle by Gerrard Keegan on Derek Statham, which brought City’s youngster a caution.
Bill Taylor, City’s coach, said “The crowd called us assassins, but I couldn’t see that. Nor could I, Albion’s casualties, Bryan Robson and David Cross, were both the unfortunate victims of the kind of tackles which pass unnoticed a hundred times.
Robson, who was to have joined Cunningham in the Under-21 squad, will be out of action for the rest of the season after cracking a bone in his right leg.
Cross suffered a twisted ankle in the opening minutes also, and but for substitute Tony Brown’s appearance for Robson moments earlier would have been taken off.
Albion player-manager Johnny Giles, who saw his side sunk by vintage goals from Dennis Tueart and Brian Kidd, said: “Some people will say Europe has gone for a burton, but a couple of wins could see us involved again.”