18 years ago (yesterday)

[Chico Hamilton III]

Where's yer treble gone, where's yer treble gone.

Cheers to Pat McMahon for reminding me of a fantastic day in our history.

A wonderful day out at Wembley

Soccer - Aston Villa shatter Manchester United's treble dream.
27 March 1994Reuters News
(c) 1994 Reuters Limited

LONDON, March 27 (Reuter) - Aston Villa shattered Manchester United's dream of a unique English treble when they beat them 3-1 in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

Villa went ahead in the 25th minute when Dalian Atkinson ran on to a square pass from fellow striker Dean Saunders and slid the ball beyond United goalkeeper Les Sealey.

Welsh international Saunders scored twice in the final 15 minutes, including a 90th minute penalty after United's Andrei Kanchelskis had blocked a certain goal on the line with his arm.

Referee Keith Copper sent off the Ukrainian winger off -- United's fourth sending off in five matches.

Eight minutes earlier Kanchelskis had laid on United's goal for Mark Hughes as the defending league champions, who lead the title race and are also in the F.A. Cup semifinals, fought to get back into the match.

Frenchman Eric Cantona, so often United's inspiration, had a subdued game and looked as though his main concern was to avoid a hat-trick of red cards after being sent off in his side's last two league games against Swindon and Arsenal.

He begins a five-match suspension next weekend.

Sealey played in place of Peter Schmeichel, suspended after being sent off in United's F.A. Cup quarter-final victory over Charlton two weeks ago.

Villa took charge after withstanding near constant United pressure for the first 20 minutes.

United came close to going ahead when Hughes sidefooted the ball just wide of the post from a low cross by Ryan Giggs and then Villa's Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich saved a point-blank diving header from Roy Keane.

In the 20th minute Bosnich was lucky to escape punishment for a body-check on Keane outside his area when the Irishman chased a long high ball out of defence.

Kevin Richardson signalled Villa's intentions when he forced Sealey to tip the ball over direct from a corner three minutes before Atkinson's goal.

Once the Villa defence had found the measure of United's attack, the chances of the favourites turning the game round dimmed. It was no surprise when Saunders deflected the ball into the net from a low free kick from the left by Richardson.

Daley's skilled opposite number Giggs ran out of steam after United's early period of ascendancy and was substituted by Lee Sharpe on the hour.

Richardson prevented a Sharpe equaliser in the 70th minute with a timely tackle on the edge of the six-metre box and Bosnich denied Hughes three minutes from time with a diving save to his left.

Villa's fourth League Cup triumph -- their first since 1977 -- rescued an otherwise disappointing season for former United manager Ron Atkinson.

Teams:

Manchester United - Les Sealey (13); Paul Parker (2), Steve Bruce (4; Brian McClair -9- 83rd minute), Gary Pallister (6), Denis Irwin (3); Andrei Kanchelskis (14), Eric Cantona (7), Paul Ince (, Roy Keane (16); Mark Hughes (10), Ryan Giggs (11; Lee Sharpe -5- 61st).

Aston Villa - Mark Bosnich (13); Earl Barrett (2), Shaun Teale (4), Paul McGrath (5), Steve Staunton (3; Neil Cox -17- 79th); Kevin Richardson (6), Andy Townsend (14), Graham Fenton (25), Tony Daley (11); Dean Saunders (9), Dalian Atkinson (10).

[Newquay_AVFC]

18 years ago? bloody hell, seems like yesterday. I didn't have a ticket right up untill the Friday evening when i had all but given up. My mom called me in from playing footy out on the street to tell me i had a ticket. The day was just fantastic, claret and blue all over the place, the noise was just surreal and seeing us win at wembley was just fantastic. I even got my face on central news too.

[Pat McMahon]

That save by Bosnich three minutes from time was stupendous. Didn't realise it was so close to full time though - I was shitting myself by that point and was waiting for the inevitable equaliser, though our defence were magnificent in that period after Hughes pulled one back.

A wonderful day out, even though I was sitting in a mainly Manc part of the ground. They were extremely cocky, and downright arrogant in the first 15 minutes, and that turned to petulance and threatening after the whistle. Cracking fun to win at Wembley with wonderful support and it was wonderful to mock them as they launched threats and insults at us when they were fleeing the stadium upon hearing the whistle.

We always beat United when we wear stripes at Wembley don't we? Should have done something about our kit in 2010for the final.....

[VicMackey]

I was working in the Alps at the time as a chef with one day off a week.  As soon as we got to the final I told the hotel manager that I was going to the game and he could either give me the whole weekend off or I may as well hand my notice in now.  Never having seen the Villa at Wembley I wasn't going to miss my first opportunity.  He agreed to give me the time off and even drove me to the airport!  (He was from Leeds so it probably helped that we were playing ManUre...)

Fantastic day out.  If only it had been the FA Cup....

[garyshawsknee]

So it must be pretty much 16 years since our last trophy,Ye gods.

[Chico Hamilton III]

We went down on one of the old "WMPTE" busses that were lined up all around Villa Park.

I remember wearing a claret and blue poncho.....

I went with Alex Alex Cropley and he was wearing his old Villa butcher's coat - white, 3 quarter length, Villa slogans on the back - with a few silk scarves ariound the wrist....
He even dug out his original "Villa's Cup, Fill it Up" and "77-Saunders' Trip" banners from th 1977 league cup final to hang from the bus window

[Risso]

Drove down from Carlisle, and forgot the clocks went forward so thrashed an old Sierra estate to within an inch of its life to get there on time.  Bumped into two of my Manc mates from university outside a pub near Wembley, who were a bit less exuberant when we met them afterwards.

It was just a great day out, from Dalian shutting them up, to Kanchelskis getting sent off and making it safe.  A lot more tense than the game against Leeds two years later.

[Walmley_Villa]

A great day - beating that mob was a pleasure and the country was grateful.

[darren woolley]

Went down on the train got pissed brilliant day out.

[Damo70]

I couldn't sleep the night before so just stayed up listening to music and drinking what was still left in my mum and dads drinks cabinet from Christmas. Was in the shop getting the papers at about seven in the morning. I was behind the goal Dalian scored in and my abiding memory is nearly knocking out the bloke in front of me. When we were under the cosh after United pulled a goal back a cross came over and in my nervous state I seemed to think I could help out by punching the ball away for Bosnich. To be fair the bloke was as nervous as me so I'm not sure he even felt it.

[lovejoy]

Fantastic day out. Big Fat Ron's crowning glory. Remember spotting Gary Shaw in the crowd near us too!

[andyh]

The H&V cover following this game was equally brilliant

[Nev]

What a weekend, a piss up in O'Henry's on the Saturday afternoon "running 'round the Bull Ring with the cup", the mad landlady at the Leinster Arms in Kensington who had OCD, the White Swan on the Bayswater Road, the long journey up to Wembley when the tube kept being delayed by fighting, the scowling rednecks on the way out after the match and waking up early in my hotel room on the Monday morning, having fallen asleep with the TV on, to the glorious sound of George Best on breakfast TV trying to explain away his side's defeat with every excuse under the sun.

I didn't stop grinning until May.

[The Left Side]

My first trip to the Old Wembley, fantastic day for me and great to see the cup shining in Kevin Richardson's hands!

[mikeb1982]

This was my first taste of success (too young to remember Rotterdam, was still a baby) and brings a warm smile thinking about it