Let’s go CRAZY!
BEASANT URGES DONS TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS
DAVE BEASANT has urged AFC Wimbledon to channel the Crazy Gang spirit of 1988.
That was the year the Dons – with Beasant, Vinnie Jones, Dennis Wise and Co – beat mighty Liverpool 1-0 in one of the all-time FA Cup Final classics.
And Beasant was the Wimbledon hero – saving a penalty and winning the man-of-the-match award.
Now he reckons the current side can defy league form against Spurs at Wembley today in an eye-catching third-round tie.
But this Wimbledon side are far removed from the heroes of 1988.
The club was only formed in 2002 after the original Dons moved to become the MK Dons.
Since becoming the first side formed in the 21st century to achieve Football League status, Neal Ardley’s men are now struggling in the League One relegation zone. But fans still have fond memories of that famous May day when Beasant became the first keeper to save a cup final penalty, denying the normally-deadly John Aldridge from the spot.
Beasant, now 58 and coaching at Reading, hopes to be back at the stadium today where he also became the first keeper-skipper to lift the cup. He says: “My advice is to enjoy the occasion. Wimbledon have never lost at Wembley from the FA Amateur Cup, our final and a league play-off.
“There’s no doubt AFC are underdogs but Spurs might rest some of their stars and slightly level the playing field.
“I have so many memories and nothing would give me greater pleasure than for AFC to create their own.
“Their league form hasn’t been great but a cup shock would do wonders for the confidence.”
As winning skipper, Beasant still has the ball from the final and said: “It still rankles with Lawrie Sanchez because he wanted it for his winning goal.
“We were in the old First Division then so it’s different now but Wimbledon made their name in this competition. Fans still recall the days when they played Leeds and Boro in epic ties when non-league.
“Spurs, Wimbledon and the FA Cup are linked. I remember Tottenham beat us in the quarter-final in 1987 then we beat Luton in 1988 in the semi-final at White Hart Lane.
“Most of us made our own way to the stadium and our manager Bobby Gould drove the rest in a minibus.
“They refused to let him in at first, believing no manager and team would arrive in a beaten-up van.”
The Aldridge save was not the Northern Ireland international’s only heroics that year.
Beasant said: “We had Mansfield away in the fourth round. I saved a penalty in the last minute.
“People talk about my save from Aldridge but I had watched him countless times on TV. I had a feeling it was going to my left.
“The night before the Mansfield game I watched their penalty taker on video and made a mental note.
“So I dived right and saved it, only to be told later it wasn’t the bloke I had watched! He was out injured.
“The stand-out game that year was our trip to Newcastle in the fifth round.
“Paul Gascoigne was in their side but the player everyone talked about was the unpredictable Brazilian Mirandinha.
“We won 3-1 and we could see steam coming from Mirandinha’s ears.
“After the final whistle, I felt a kick on my backside and thought it was a fan.
“Terry Gibson had seen Mirandinha lash out at me and chased him around the field. It was chaos.”
Tottenham v
AFC Wimbledon
Today, 3pm