I wondered who’d go on... then I twigged it was me!
Under sudden pressure, in circumstances unforeseen, nigel Spink’s sense of humour could hardly have been more self-deprecating.
Midway through the first half of the 1982 european Cup final between Aston Villa and Bayern Munich in rotterdam, the great Germany striker Karl- Heinz rummenigge sent in an overhead kick from a cross delivered by the great Germany midfielder Paul Breitner.
It flashed an inch wide of the Villa woodwork — or Spink’s woodwork as it had just become. Villa’ s Gordon Cowans ran past Spink and said: ‘How good was that?’
Spink replied: ‘I’m not sure I’m supposed to be here.’ It was an exchange that still makes Spink laugh.
All across europe, many had wondered seriously if Spink should indeed be there. He was Villa’s 23-yearold reserve- team goalkeeper, unknown beyond the club, making his second-ever first-team appearance. It could have been more dramatic only if Spink had been making his debut. But it was close.
When Spink replaced the injured Jimmy rimmer nine minutes in, he was in mild shock. rimmer had injured his neck in training two days before the final, but it had been kept from Spink, in part to keep him stress- free, in part because rimmer always recovered to play.
Spink could vouch for this. He had signed for Villa as an 18-year-old from Chelmsford City in 1977, having been seen by ron Saunders’ no 2 Tony Barton.
rimmer joined the same year and missed only one League game in the next five seasons. It was at nottingham Forest on Boxing day 1979. Spink, 21, made his debut, conceding two goals — one to John robertson, the other a Stan Bowles header. Then it was back to the reserves.
It was an era of one substitute and that was never a substitute goalkeeper — except in european games. ‘In europe you had five subs,’ Spink says, ‘so every three weeks or so, when we were playing, I and others were integrated into the first-team set-up.’
Spink was resigned to life in the reserves’ old Central League. It was an advance on Chelmsford — even if Jimmy Greaves had arrived there to play in midfield — and West Ham, where he had been told he would not make it after one appearance in a reserve game at Upton Park. ‘It was against Spurs and we lost 6-1,’ Spink says. ‘Martin Chivers was playing for Spurs and he got a hat-trick, maybe four. Pat Jennings was playing, too. My hero. I’d taken up an apprenticeship as a plasterer and ron Greenwood and John Lyall said I should stick to it.’
Barton’s intervention changed that and when Saunders left Villa in the 1981-82 season, Barton took over. It was Barton in charge in rotterdam but he told Spink nothing of rimmer’s situation. Spink, recalling when he saw rimmer struggling, says: ‘I was wondering who was going to go on. I soon twigged. It was that quick. For my state of mind, it was good that I hadn’t a clue. A Bayern player then sent an aimless pass into our area and I got a touch of the ball. After that I made a couple of decent saves. I thought, “I could be all right at this”.’ Half-time at 0-0, Barton gave no special instructions to his new keeper. Spink just carried on and was to be the only one of the five subs used. He made an excellent save from Bernd durnberger. Then in the 67th minute, Peter Withe ran on to Tony Morley’s cross and scored the only goal. An english club had won the european Cup for a sixth consecutive season and Aston Villa had the biggest night in their history. Spink was the unexpected hero: from the bench to european champion in 81 minutes. ‘ My parents’ scrapbook swelled a bit after that. TV was not as prevalent then
— ITV broadcast the match
— but the press were all over it.’ Spink swapped his no 16 shirt with Bayern keeper Manfred Muller, pocketed his £2,500 bonus
— ‘Bayern were on £10,000’
— and next season he was back in Villa’s reserves. But in January 1983, Barton promoted Spink and rimmer went to Swansea. It was Spink’s turn to be the immovable keeper, staying till 1996. He became a coach under Steve Bruce but, at 59, left last year to set up S& M Couriers in the Midlands. Their vans are claret and blue. Also last year, he contacted Bayern to see if they would like Muller’s shirt for their museum. Bayern said they would and invited Spink to Germany. There they handed him his jersey from rotterdam in return. It was unexpected, in keeping with 1982.