The week unwrapped

A week of contrast after a Rowett Double Demolition Derby bonanza which didn’t involve playing Derby. Shemmy Placheta’s last minute equaliser against Millwall buoyed the mood considerably on Saturday, then on Tuesday we were comprehensively scalped against Stoke leaving us a rather perilous 21^st, four points clear of Norwich and Sheffield United. 

Should we worry? Well, being relegated isn’t my idea of fun, but we can’t be something we’re not, fantasies of sitting in 12^th and being safe by March have now dissipated and in its place, hopefully, a sense of unity and commitment to the cause. Maybe it’ll pay dividends, maybe it won’t, but it’ll be fun trying to take a few big bears down along the way.

Throstlefacts

Next is the enigma that is West Bromwich Albion. On paper they should be a perennial promotion contender, but those days seem to have gone and they’ve drifted into Championship central casting.

But could they be teetering towards something worse? They’re currently 15^th and in poor form. Admittedly, they’re only five points off the play-offs, but they’re only six points ahead of us. What’s more, they’re well grumpy right now, Ryan Mason is not well liked and they’re struggling for goals.

With some aggression, application and a bit of luck it might not take that much to turn the Hawthorns into a toxic stew, which is my favourite kind of stew.

Football friend | John Trewick

When I was writing The Glory Years, I wanted to start each chapter with a story about a member of the Milk Cup winning side. That sounded like a clever literary device, which turned out to be a pain in the backside. Firstly, the book extended way beyond the eleven chapters I’d planned and there weren’t great stories about every player.

Two players missed out, one was Alan Judge, the other John Trewick. There are two stories about John Trewick; firstly when West Brom visited China’s Great Wall – one of the wonders of the world – he gave journalists the fabled line; ‘When you’ve seen one wall, you’ve seen them all.’ (also, wonder at Ron Atkinson’s earnest casual racism in this clip). The other was that when he was transferred from West Brom to Newcastle, the fee was £234,567 because, presumably, somebody thought it was funny.

In many ways Trewick’s career was one of unfortunate mishaps – he was part of West Brom’s thrilling side of the late 70s under Big Ron but was edged to the margins by the emergence of Bryan Robson. He then moved to Newcastle but suffered a serious injury on Kevin Keegan’s debut and missed their resurgence.

He was one of those players burdened by the labels ‘versatile’ and ‘adaptable’, people didn’t think of him as having a position, discussions often centred around who he might cover in the event of an injury. This did him a gross injustice, Jim Smith brought him to Oxford in 1984 where he played 111 games, won two promotions and played a key role in helping us win the The Milk Cup. 

But, his proudest moment was surely leading Oxford to the Guinness Soccer Six title in 1986. The tournament was an attempt to find a family friendly format for the game in a world of hooliganism. Oxford’s first game was against Manchester United, who we beat 2-1 with a last minute goal from David Leworthy, Trewick offering the assist. After drawing with Chelsea, we progressed to the final against Arsenal.

In the first-half John Dreyer strayed into his own penalty box and conceded a penalty which was converted by Micael Thomas. In the second half, stand-in manager Ray Graydon introduced John Aldridge, who slipped in to poach an equaliser from Trewick’s corner.

With seconds to go, Graydon sent teenager Paul Swannock onto the field as Arsenal retained possession, preparing for penalties. With seconds to go they were penalised when a long ball didn’t bounce in the central section of the pitch leaving Oxford one last chance of glory.

Knowing there was no time, the ball was worked back to Dreyer whose only option was to shoot. John Lukic parried, but the ball fell to Swannock to poke in the winner and give Oxford the Soccer Six title. Trewick lifted the trophy and received a £10,000 cheque in prize money.

From the archive | West Bromwich Albion 3 Oxford United 3 (1996)

This section often finds itself in 1996. Sometimes because there are pivotal games of note, sometimes just because it represented a high point in a rollercoaster decade for the club. And then, sometimes, you just have to remember a stone-cold classic.

Oxford headed for West Brom five days before Christmas, flying high in fifth but in stuttering form. West Brom were 17^th, which was reflected in the crowd of just 13,782. 

Despite their form, Oxford peppered the West Brom goal in the opening moments with Joey Beauchamp, Bobby Ford and Dave Smith all going close. After a frantic opening half-an-hour the exploding ego Nigel Jemson raced onto an overhit through ball from Smith. The West Brom keeper, Paul Crichton, dived at his feet, but fumbled it into Jemson’s path to allow him to send it bouncing into the goal. Jemson celebrated his good fortune as though his genius had carved the Cistene Chapel with his big toe.

Just before half-time the one-man soft rock tribute act, Richard Sneekes, equalised before Darren Purse performed an outrageous wrestling move on pipsqueak Canadian striker Paul Peschisolido to concede a penalty. Andy Hunt stepped up to put the ball past Phil Whitehead. 

Oxford continued to push in the second half having two goals disallowed. The game pivoted just after an hour when Denis Smith made a double substitution bringing on Paul Moody and Matt Murphy for Dave Smith and Martin Aldridge (a genius moves, Smith no doubt declared to himself). 

Moody and Murphy combined to equalise with twelve minutes to go before Mike Ford’s free kick was met with a looping heading from Matt Elliott for 3-2. It had been a ding dong affair and fun for all the family.

But, there was just time for one more dong, the bijou Canuck Peschisolido burst through and theatrically threw himself to the floor as Phil Whitehead charged from his goal. Peschisolido paraded triumphantly at the penalty award and awaited his BAFTA nomination while Whitehead protested forlornly. Andy Hunt stepped up and cannoned the ball off the bar. Whitehead mocked the preening West Brom striker, enraging the West Brom faithful as Pesky Peschi and Hunt simultaneously punched Darren Purse in the head.

Whitehead’s hubris was short-lived when in the fourth minute of injury time, Ian Hamilton’s shot was deflected onto the post by Matt Elliott. Time stood still as the ball cannoned back into play where West Brom substitute Bob Taylor sprang into action to fire in for 3-3. Absolute mayhem.

Want more?

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The latest Oxblogger Podcast is out, where we tackle the trickiest of subjects; the definitive team of the 1990s.  

And, if you’ve really got this far and aren’t aware, this season marks the 40^th anniversary of Oxford United’s first season in the top flight, The Glory Years is out now the remarkable in-depth story of our rise through the divisions during the 1980s.