By MICHAEL WALKER Jim Smith deserved to win a cup final, just not today
In February 1984, Oxford United lost 2- 1 at Millwall in front of 5,000 supporters. They were fourth in the old Third Division. In April 1986, Oxford United won the League Cup final at Wembley against Queens Park Rangers in front of 90,000. They did so as a top-tier club.
Under Jim Smith as manager, the dramatic rise of Oxford United was one of the football stories of the 1980s.
Trevor Hebberd was one of five Oxford players who appeared in both of those games. Hebberd did not score at Millwall, but he got the first in the 3-0 victory over QPR. It remains Oxford United’s greatest day.
‘ We went from the Third Division to the First Division in two seasons, both times as champions,’ Hebberd says. ‘We were a good side.’
They may not have looked it that day at Millwall, but Smith was gradually piecing together a team that could not just win back-to-back promotions, but which could hold its own in the top flight. All this at the 14,500- capacity Manor Ground, where, in 1982, the press baron Robert Maxwell took over amid a potential bankruptcy.
‘They were two big characters,’ Hebberd says of Maxwell and Smith. ‘Robert Maxwell was the centre of attention, overpowering, a big man physically. Dominant, that’s the word. He owned the club and could do what he wanted.
‘Jim Smith was a brilliant character. Even coach journeys were events with him. If we got beat, he would go mad. But by the time we got home and we’d had a few drinks, you’d have thought we’d won. That was the best period of my career.’
Born near Winchester, Hebberd joined Southampton around his 15th birthday. He made his debut in 1977, aged 18, as a substitute for Peter Osgood. A rangy, attacking midfielder, Hebberd scored his first senior goal a month later.
The Saints were in the Second Division but were promoted in 1978 and established themselves in the First Division.
By 1979-80 Hebberd was a regular in Lawrie McMenemy’s team which came eighth. He scored the first in a memorable 3-2 victory over Liverpool at The Dell. But by 1981, Hebberd was out on loan at Bolton, then Leicester, where he played alongside Gary Lineker. And when in March 1982, Southampton signed Mark Wright and Keith Cassells from Oxford, Hebberd was sent in the opposite direction. ‘I wasn’t getting in the side at Southampton and I was frustrated,’ he says. ‘I’d played quite a few first-team games, then came loans at Bolton and Leicester. I loved it at Southampton, but I blossomed at Oxford.’
Oxford began to climb and Smith added to his core with shrewd signings such as Ray Houghton from Fulham and John Aldridge from newport County.
The League Cup run began with an aggregate victory over northampton, then a 3-1 win over newcastle, featuring a teenage Paul Gascoigne. Hebberd scored: ‘I can’t remember that,’ he says.
norwich then Portsmouth were also beaten 3-1, setting up a two-legged semi-final with Aston Villa. Oxford prevailed over their illustrious opponents. At the same time QPR were stunning Liverpool in their semi- final, which was of particular significance for Jim Smith.
Smith had left Oxford for QPR in a dispute with Maxwell over his salary. Thus at Wembley a team Smith built — Oxford — was up against one he inherited — QPR. His assistant, Maurice Evans, had taken over at Oxford.
‘Jim probably deserved to win a cup final,’ Hebberd says. Just not this day. ‘There was no pressure on us, we were the underdogs — they’d beaten Liverpool in the semifinal, a tremendous result. But I don’t think they ever got into the game in the final.’
Five minutes before half-time, Hebberd broke free, turned Alan McDonald and buried a near-post shot past Paul Barron. ‘ I do remember that one,’ he says.
‘I’d been in a similar position in a game against Liverpool and I’d passed it square, trying to find Andy Thomas. Maurice Evans told me to shoot next time.’
Houghton and Jeremy Charles added two more in the second half and Smith was invited into the winners’ dressing room afterwards.
Oxford stayed in the top flight for three seasons and won a major trophy — ‘A superb achievement for a club of that size,’ Hebberd adds.
He left for Derby County in 1988 and settled in Loughborough after retiring in 1995. He never fancied management — ‘I couldn’t tell lies to keep players happy’ — and towards the end of his career Hebberd helped out at a neighbour’s company making pallets. At 60 he is still doing it. ‘A factory job,’ he says.
Oxford? They are back in the third tier and lost 2-0 at Bradford on Saturday. But as the 1980s show, that can be a start.