Dickie Guy said that Wimbledon simply had no fear of taking on the big clubs in 1975 and he’s hoping that The Dons can create more cup history against West Ham this Saturday.
On 25 January 1975 – also in the fourth round – AFC Wimbledon’s Club President made THAT penalty save from Peter Lorimer to earn a draw against Leeds United. The Yorkshire club were giants of English football at the time, reaching the European Cup Final in the same season that they were held by then Southern League Wimbledon. The Dons had also beaten then top-flight Burnley at Turf Moor and Dickie said that he still gets constantly reminded about his memorable penalty save at Elland Road.
“It’s incredible that after all these years people still talk about it,” said Dickie. “I know Peter had the hardest shot in football, but it was probably the worst penalty he ever took! I am glad that I saved it and the FA Cup that season for us was a fairytale story. Back in the day we didn’t fear anybody. We were non league players and we relished the opportunity to show what we could do against professional sides.
“I used to do a bit of practice on saving penalties in training, but it was hard to recreate what you would face in a big match like we had against Leeds. I assumed that Peter Lorimer was going to whack it, but you couldn’t move then as a keeper before a penalty, it was stricter. You could move your arms, but you couldn’t move your feet until after the ball was kicked. I just decided to go as far as I could to the right, he scuffed it, and I just had to get my hand under my body to knock it away. It was an incredible story for a non league club to draw in the FA Cup against a team that played in the European Cup Final later that season.”
Keep an eye on the website later this week for more of Dickie’s thoughts ahead of the big FA Cup tie against West Ham on Saturday night.