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EVERPRESENT First Division Arsenal looked on smugly whenever we were relegated and even QuSTeeEnVsEPCaOrkTRTaEnRgIeLrLs had thkencohwesekaltloatbroyuitt ocnupone yeraivra–lsasLivf earnpyoonle’sgciuvrerseant mpornokbelyesmws.ho comes secoAnndd. the Shrewsbury
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“Touch wood, and hopefully for everyone else, we keep testing negative now.
“We have worked for an opportunity to play EVaEgaRinPsRt EonSEeNofTthFeirst Dwivoisrilodn’sAbrisgegneastl lcoluobkes.d on smu“gIltyiswghoeinegvteorbweeawnere reolecgcatseidonanodurelvaedns will QuneevnersfPoarrgketR. aItnigsears had thme cahgneeifikcteonttryfoiot tobnaollne yecalru–b.”as if anyone gives a monCkoetytserwilhl roecokmoness seucnodnedr.-pressure football
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“Our immunity is low at this time of year where we have played game after game.
“When you are tired and stressed, our immunities are not strong enough to deal with the variants as the virus mutates.
“The key is to not get too fatigued if you can help it.”
LIVERPOOL have reopened their training ground after a Covid crisis forced them to call off Thursday’s Carabao Cup semi-final clash with Arsenal.
Both boss Jurgen Klopp and assistant manager Pep Lijnders remain in isolation, though, after positive tests.
First-team coach Peter Krawietz (inset) has taken charge and Liverpool will turn to their academy to help fulfil their FA Cup fixture at home to Shrewsbury tomorrow.
The Anfield giants postponed an FA Youth Cup game with Burnley yesterday to ensure the best players in their Under-18s squad are available.
Krawietz then put those players and several first-team stars through their paces in training.
JON HOWARD sat on a Jamaican beach unable to watch Chelsea playing in the FA Cup Final.
The Chesterfield striker had seen his side robbed in the 1997 semi-final when his ‘goal’ against Middlesbrough was not given.
Replays showed Howard’s shot had clearly crossed the line after striking the bar, which would have put Chesterfield closer still to being the first third-tier side ever to reach the final.
But leading referee David Elleray did not give it and without the use of Hawk-Eye goal-line technology, Howard’s ‘goal’ remains confined to being one of the greatest that never was.
After a sensational and memorable 3-3 draw at Old Trafford against Chesterfield – who had led 2-0 with Sean Dyche (inset) scoring the second from a penalty – Bryan Robson’s star-studded Boro side won the replay and then lost to Chelsea in the final.
Twenty-five years on, fate throws the Spireites into a third-round clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with Howard still wondering what might have been. Now 50, Howard recalled: “When we were 2-0 up, I actually remember my mind wandering and thinking what suits we would wear for the final.
“They got back to 2-1 quite quickly but it was my shot which could have made the difference because it would have been 3-1 with about 20 minutes to go.
“I hit it so well, too well really. It crashed against the bar and I was so busy trying to get to the rebound to notice it had gone over (the line).
“To be honest it wasn’t until I came out of the dressing room that the top TV commentator Martin Tyler said to me, ‘Did you know it crossed the line?’ That was the first I knew of it.”
Chesterfield lost 3-0 in the replay and the players headed for the sunshine as a reward for their heroics. Howard added: “The club generously paid for all of us to go on holiday to Jamaica.
“Ironically, the cup final was on while we were out there. But I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. The bitterness was still there, so I just went to the beach.”
He has come to terms with it now but wonders how the course of his life might have changed.
He said: “It is something you can watch online. I bring it up and show my son and daughters that I played in an FA Cup semi-final.
“It’s now seen as a classic and crops up on TV now and again but at the time there was a stunned silence in our dressing room.
“I remember we were all absolutely exhausted. It was really strange – quiet.
“We’d got the euphoria of having a replay but there was this kind of feeling that perhaps our best chance had just gone. Like, deep down, that was it.
“It’s still something that will live with me for the rest of my life and the way the whole town of Chesterfield got behind us.
“People were camped out overnight queueing for tickets and afterwards, when we made our way back, they were all outside the pubs and clubs applauding us and cheering. Amazing.”
Howard did get his chance to confront Elleray about his lifechanging moment when he bumped into him years later.
And the reply was? “He just said, ‘I’m ever so sorry. We needed technology in those days as well’.”