Part two of our interview with 1988 FA Cup winning manager
has recalled that a pre-season meeting in Sweden shortly after he became Wimbledon manager played a crucial part in the club’s historic 1988 FA Cup win.Bobby Gould
The man who guided Wimbledon to one of the biggest FA Cup Final shocks of all time with victory against Liverpool will be taking supporters through the entire 90 minutes exactly 25 years since that memorable match on 14 May, 1988. Supporters can still book a place for this event at the Cherry Red Records Stadium next Tuesday night using the details at the bottom of this page.
in the summer of 1987 when the players pleaded for him to retain Wimbledon’s unpopular brand of direct football.Dave ‘Harry’ BassettDuring an interview for the official website this week, Bobby lifted the lid on an important meeting shortly after he took over from
“I inherited a squad with a lot of inner belief from Harry Bassett,” said Bobby, who is pictured above right with then Wimbledon assistant manager Don Howe after they masterminded the 1988 triumph. “We went on a pre-season tour of Sweden and during a meeting in a hotel four or five of the players stood up and had a few things to say. The players said they had been successful by playing in a certain way and asked me to consider not changing to a passing style. It was based on the players doing their jobs well and working hard for each other.
, who I had the utmost respect for as a coach, and we decided to take what the players were good at and go with that. The players were very mentally strong as a group and they knew that given the opportunity, they could cause a major upset.Don Howe“I had a chat with
(former Arsenal and England goalkeeper). He asked if I had seen the newspapers because they were saying that it would be a horrible thing for football if Wimbledon won the cup. I told him that maybe we should give them (Liverpool) the cup and have a game of cricket instead.”Bob Wilson“I can recall being woken up on the morning of the final at 7.30 am when we were staying at the Cannizaro Hotel by a phone call from
They may have been known as the Crazy Gang, but Bobby added that Wimbledon’s players left no stone unturned in their preparations for the 1988 final – including practicing penalties the day before.
stayed on late until 4.30 pm practising penalties. Low and behold, 24 hours later and Dave guessed the right way to save that penalty from John Aldridge. The players had gone through rehearsing the penalties and maybe that paid off. That showed how professional the players were.”Alan Cork and Dennis Wise, Dave Beasant“We did not normally do a Friday afternoon training session the morning before a game, but Don Howe recommended that we should do it on this occasion,” said Bobby. “I can remember that
.Wimbledon 1988In the build-up to Tuesday’s 25-year anniversary of this famous match, the official website wants to hear about your memories of the 1988 FA Cup Final, whether you attended the match, watched it at home or in the pub. Please include your name, age, address and how long you have been a Wimbledon supporter for. Please e-mail in by clicking on
Bobby will be providing a unique insight into just how Vinnie and the rest of the Crazy Gang upset the side that dominated English football in the 1980s next Tuesday when a full re-run of the 1988 FA Cup Final will be shown.
.online ticket pageSupporters wishing to attend this event must secure their places by purchasing a ticket through our
Each attendee will be able to redeem their ticket at the bar for a drink up to the value of £3. Tickets are £3 for this event.