FA CUP THIRD ROUND, JAN 1989

CREWE ALEXANDRA 2 ASTON VILLA 3

■ IT’S more of a 45-minute loss to a minnow, this, but a match worth remembering for what happened at halftime to ensure we didn’t exit the FA Cup in embarrassment. Aston Villa were in the First Division. Crewe Alexandra were in the Fourth Division. We are supposed to breeze beyond them, but we concede twice and they lead 2-0 at half-time. One of those came courtesy of me (above), by the way, in what was later described as a ‘spectacular diving own goal’. We walk into the dressing room and our manager Graham Taylor isn’t happy. All he says is: ‘Well you’ve got yourselves into this mess, and you can get yourselves out of it.’ That’s it. He says that, then sends us straight back out. It’s in you come, out you go. We’re playing on your typical frosty pitch in January. You don’t want to be standing out there in silly shorts any longer than you have to be. But on Taylor’s orders, we’re out. The supporters are in the stands. They’re wrapped up, munching on their pies and telling us how rubbish we are. We’re huddled together waiting for the second half to start. But what Taylor did worked. We scored three times to win 3-2 and avoid this giant-killing. It does feel as if some of the magic of the FA Cup is lost without fans. Away teams this weekend, such as Leeds, Tottenham and Brighton, don’t have the added obstacle of having to cope with home support being on their backs. For the lower-league sides and their supporters, this can be their day in the sun — even if these third-round ties are at the coldest time of the year.