Tag Archives: Ian Bishop

The 1999 Play Off Final was played on Sunday 30 May in 1999 with Manchester City clearly the favourites.  According to the media Gillingham were going to be swept aside by Royle’s men.  For many Blues the day began with a long journey down to the capital.  Some stayed overnight close by – the Wembley Hilton seemed to have City banners and flags hanging from every window.

When the players were brought out on to the pitch for the commencement of play they were greeted by smoke, fireworks, and inflatable Nationwide Building Society men.  It all seemed a little surreal, but this was nothing compared to the match itself.

When the action started City were not the great force the media expected, instead they slipped their way across a wet surface and relied on the 20 year old Nicky Weaver to keep Gillingham at bay, particularly in the 9^th minute when he palmed away an effort from Galloway.  As the game wore on confidence grew and in the 26^th minute a downward header from Horlock was superbly saved by Gillingham’s Bartram.

Mixed play followed, although it’s fair to say that City several chances and should have taken the lead, especially in the 75^th minute when Goater sidefooted a shot against the post.  As the game progressed City fans became nervous, then with only 9 minutes remaining the Blues were dealt a major blow when Asaba toe-poked a shot into the roof of City’s net.  Worse was to follow for City as Robert Taylor made it 2-0 in the 86^th minute.  Two thirds of the stadium fell silent, then many, many Blues decided enough was enough and left for home.  Those that remained were in for a treat.

Radio Five commentator Alan Green told his listeners about the plight of the thousands of City fans silent at Wembley adding:  “That many fans go to every home game.  Why do they do it?”  It wasn’t long before he found the answer.

With a mere 17 seconds of normal time remaining Horlock sidefooted a goal, prompting those in the stands to start to believe that an equaliser could be possible.  Four and a half minutes into injury time Dickov fired an equaliser into the top corner.  For a few seconds the stadium fell silent as City supporters struggled to comprehend the importance of the goal, and then wild celebrations erupted.  Outside Wembley those that had left early heard the news and rushed back.

An extremely tense period of extra time followed, and then came penalties.  The City players huddled together as a team, showing the unity that previous sides had clearly not enjoyed.  This unity helped City win the penalty shoot out 3-1, but this score says nothing about the drama and the excitement of it all.  The penalty sequence started with Kevin Horlock scoring the first at the City-filled Players Tunnel end of the stadium.  Then Weaver’s legs blocked Gillingham’s first effort by midfielder Paul Smith.

A confident looking Paul Dickov marched forward to take City’s second, but he watched in agony as his attempt bounced off both posts to leave the score at 1-0.  Adrian Pennock then shot wide for Gillingham, before Terry Cooke calmly slotted his effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.

Gillingham’s third penalty was sent clinically into the roof of the net by John Hodge to make the score 2-1, then Richard Edghill sent his spot kick in off the bar.  The pressure was at long last on Gillingham.  Guy Butters looked a little on edge as he prepared for the eighth penalty, while in the nets Weaver seemed relatively composed.  The young City goalkeeper dived the right way and blocked Butters’ effort to give City victory.  He immediately went on a rather manic run across Wembley, until he was dragged back to reality by Morrison and the other players.

Wild celebrations followed, with the players bowing to the supporters to show their appreciation of sticking by the club through an extremely difficult period.

Manager Joe Royle was delighted, although it’s fair to say he looked absolutely worn out when he made it into the dressing room after City’s extravagant celebrations.  In a rather down to earth manner he told the media:  “We’re not getting too excited about this.  A club this size should not be too euphoric about getting out of the old Division Three.  And even though we won today, I still think the play offs are a joke.  After 46 League games it comes down to a lottery.”  This was a comment many at Gillingham would have agreed with.

Royle added:  “I think we have gone a long way to curing Man City-itis.  We can handle the big games now, even though we weren’t at our best today.”

Stats:  Division Two Play Off Final. 30th May 1999.

Gillingham 2-2 Manchester City

City won 3-1 on penalties

Scorers – City: Horlock, Dickov

Gillingham: Asaba, R. Taylor

CITY: Weaver, Crooks (Taylor), Edghill, Wiekens, Morrison (Vaughan), Horlock, Brown (Bishop), Jeff Whitley, Dickov, Goater, Cooke

GILLINGHAM: Bartram, Southall, Ashby, Smith, Butters, Pennock, Patterson (Hodge), Hessenthaler, Asaba (Carr), Galloway (Saunders), Taylor

ATTENDANCE: 76,935

REFEREE: M Halsey (Welwyn Garden City)

GUEST OF HONOUR: Mike Lazenby, Divisional Director of Marketing, Nationwide Building Society

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