The F.A. Cup Final 1991
Nottingham Forest 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Wembley, 18th May 1991
Spurs' run up to the Final was full of speculation, not about the possible Final line-up, but about the financial state of the club. Terry Venables was trying to put together a consortium to take control of the club.
The impartial public wanted to see Brian Clough's side win the Cup; it was the one domestic trophy he had not won, either as a manager or as a player.
Tottenham reached the Final by beating Arsenal in a gripping semi-final by three goals to one, Paul Gascoigne scoring with an ourageous free-kick in the opening minutes.
Gazza had almost single-handedly taken Spurs to Wembley, and it was evident from the moment the teams stepped out of the tunnel, that Gazza was very tense. It was to be his last appearance for Spurs before his much reported multi-million pound move to the Italian side Lazio.
He was determined to make his mark, he did, but not in the way he would have liked.
In the first minute of the game he felled Garry Parker with a boot in his chest; Fifteen minutes later he made a lunge at Gary Charles with a tackle that could have ended his career, unfortunetly for Gascoigne, it nearly ended his own. Gascoigne collapsed, left the pitch on a stretcher, and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
Worse was to follow for Spurs; from the resulting free-kick Stuart Pearce scored with a typical Pearce dead ball strike. Things were not looking good for Tottenham. After twenty-three minutes Gary Lineker had the ball in the net, only to see his effort disallowed, wrongly, for offside.
Nine minutes later Lineker was brought down in the area by the Forest keeper Crossley, he took the penalty, and saw Crossley save his spot-kick. The luck was certainly not with Spurs in the first half.
Ten minutes into the second half Paul Allen and Nayim linked to set up Paul Stewart on the edge of the box, he hit a perfect shot into the corner of the net, just out of the keeper's reach. Spurs were back on level terms.
From then on Spurs took control of the game, but it was not until the fourth minute of extra-time that the winner arrived. Nayim's corner was flicked on by Stewart, as Gary Mabbutt shaped to head goalwards, Forest defender Des Walker beat him to the ball, and headed into his own net. No doubt Gary Mabbutt knew what he was feeling, after his own goal gave Coventry the Cup four years earlier.
A strange mix of emotions for the Spurs' fans, with Gascoigne's injury, but the year ended with a one, so Spurs were destined to win the Cup.
