‘If it had been a film, we'd have won': former Palace finalists share Cup memories

The Guardian

16-05-2025

Palace 3-3 Manchester United (aet); replay: Palace 0-1 United
Being captain of that side was a special time. We had been thrashed 9-0 by Liverpool earlier in the season so after getting past them in the semi-final when Alan Pardew scored the winner at Villa Park, it felt like we had nothing to fear.
You get to this stage of the season and a lot of teams will be tapering off because they don't have much to play for. What Steve [Coppell, the manager] and Alan [Smith, the assistant] did straight after the semi-final was really kick on – it was like a pre-season again. We'd play a game on the Saturday and have Sunday off and then straight into a long run on the Monday. We were really confident in our physical side of the game.
As soon as we came off the pitch after winning the semi-final, we found out what the FA Cup final is all about. Eric Hall became our agent and had us doing all sorts of things. Some of the guys were on Blue Peter but I missed that because I was at the pre-Cup final dinner with the Duke of Edinburgh and the United captain, Bryan Robson. Please don't ask me about our appearance on Sky to sing our version of Glad All Over – I remember John Salako and Gary O'Reilly giving it some! It was quite embarrassing having to sing in front of a live TV audience …
Looking back at the final, the frustrating thing is that we were seven minutes away from lifting the Cup after Ian Wright scored in extra time. If it had been a film, we would have won the game and it would have been one of the greatest achievements in sport. We'd been beaten 9-0 by the team that we had then beaten in the semi-final … That's the sad thing – history is made by certain moments and Mark Hughes came up with that moment.
Bryan Robson says we kicked them off the park in the replay but I remember them being just as physical. I think it was Brian McClair who brought me down in the box and the referee gave a free-kick but you could see the divot inside the area. I'll never forget that.
I'm from Manchester and was brought up as a Blue; every time we played against City it was a bit special. All my family would be in the Kippax at the old Maine Road and I used to love playing against them. But as a footballer Crystal Palace are my club. Ever since I joined in 1987 right up to today I feel a part of it. The support of the club when I was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2003 is something I'll never forget.
I can see the same enjoyment among the players today that we had under Steve all those years ago. We loved going out there and beating bigger teams. Unfortunately Crystal Palace weren't a big enough club to keep players like Ian Wright and Mark Bright and our team was disbanded. But hopefully times are changing and Palace will be able to build on their progress under Oliver Glasner. I hope it's third time lucky for them on Saturday. Like us in 1990 they've got nothing to fear. City have got quality but so have Palace. I just hope that it's a day that history is made.
When I arrived in 1984, Palace had nothing. Steve Coppell has to take a lot of credit for everything that team achieved. Steve was a bit of a fitness fanatic so we spent a lot of time working on that. There's a place called Farleigh Downs, which was the hill we used to run up, and the lads had to get up it eight times. It was some run. But because they were so willing to do anything that Steve told them they did it. He had that much respect among the players.
We also must have been one of the first to do any sort of video analysis. We had this guy called Vince Craven who came in who used to be at Wimbledon and helped them win the 1988 FA Cup final against Liverpool. He was way ahead of his time. Vince would break up the clips with bits of comedy, otherwise the players would start losing interest. He was a natural and it really helped with our attacking set plays.
Eric Hall sorted everything out for the players like the suits and a deal with Ray-Ban sunglasses. The sad thing about that was that it pissed with rain about an hour before kick-off so they couldn't wear them. Eric still managed to find 20 umbrellas from somewhere though!
United were under a lot of pressure because Alex Ferguson knew he had to win that game – if he hadn't then who knows what might have happened? To have beaten Liverpool in the semis and scored four goals without Ian Wright, who had been out with a broken leg, was some achievement. But he was our talisman: we won some games when we shouldn't have done when he would pull a goal out of the blue like Eberechi Eze does now. In the final, Steve could have put him on earlier and kept on saying: 'Shall we, shall we?' When he came on he was like a coiled spring, a bundle of combustion that burst on to the pitch. In many ways by scoring two goals it was his Cup final. Of course, it wasn't to be because Hughes equalised and they won the replay. But his performance made other clubs interested in him.
We finished third the next season before Ian left to join Arsenal. We didn't get into Europe and I think that hit Steve hard. He had done so much work since joining the club in 1984 and by that time we were finding it much more difficult to hold on to our players. Some of them thought: 'What more can we do at Palace?'
Sign up to Football Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football
after newsletter promotion
I'll be sitting next to Steve at Wembley on Saturday and Palace have a genuine chance. You can't help but think this is the third time they've been there and they are coming into form at the right time again …
Palace 1-2 Manchester United
We were like a proper family in the dressing room. You felt everyone in the community wanted Palace to go to the top level. I remember being so excited when we reached the final by beating Watford in the semi-finals – we had special suits made for the day and it was very exciting.
Everyone remembers Alan Pardew's dance when Jason Puncheon scored after coming off the bench. It came from a corner – we had worked on that move in training and he said before: 'That's how we're going to score.' The manager was always telling us about the goal he scored in the semi-final against Liverpool in 1990 so it was his way of celebrating. It showed how close we all were to him.
Alan was always around the players making jokes and he gave us a lot of confidence. When you went on the pitch you wanted to do everything for him. He would often ask after my family and check how I was settling in. And he helped me with my English – the reason I speak it now is partly because of him.
I thought we were going to do it when Punch scored. But it's football; sometimes you just have to accept it. We were so close and hopefully now they will finally win it against City. That would make me very happy.
A few months after the final, I was in a car crash that forced me to miss almost two years of football. I was very lucky to get back on my feet and playing games again. I'm still in touch with the chairman [Steve Parish] and he gives me some advice. I'm really close to people who are still there and I feel like the support of the fans helped me to get back from injury much quicker. I really appreciate that. I was the first player from Senegal to play for Palace and that makes me proud. When I go back home you see a lot of Palace shirts everywhere.