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George Smiley

Can anybody remember the Arsenal v Norwich brawl 4-3 in 1989?

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I am trying to find a video clip of the handbags brawl between The Arse and Norwich in 1989  .Nearly all the players were involved including our illustrious manager.We had a decent team at that time and the incident was all over the  10 oclock news and the back page of the current bun ,mirror ,mail etc  on Monday morning.Even the Old Bill got involved.It  kicked off  at the end of the match after the ref gave them 2 soft penalties in a seven goal thriller.I might be wrong here but someone told me that the thing which lit the torch paper  was the fact that Alan Smith of the Arse told Gunn "Take that you C***!" after they scored the winner from the penalty spot in injury time.One of my favourite city games despite the fact we lost.

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I remember it very well...wasnt one of the penalties down to a blatant andy linigan handball though? and was this the occasion gunn got busted as in a picture there was a close up of gunns goalie gloves, erm, attched to someones face? or did i dream it?

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Yes! I was there. It was one of my first ever away games.

I think we were fined something like £40k over the incident. Lee Dixon scored 2, following up after missing the second kick.

We went 2-0 up through Sherwood and someone else.....Ever since that day i have hated Arsenal!

The only place i have ever seen it was on the season review that i had on VHS.

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I was there too.  It is amazing that the name George Tyson has remained with me until this very day.

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I recall that we got fined approx 4 times what Arsenal did, despite the fact that the Arse lads appeared to start it.

I remember O''Leary being particularly O''Lairy.

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I was there too, we went 2 up with Phillips and someone else scoring, went 2-2,then Sherwood scored to go 3-2 up with ten mins left.

They equalised then had injury time pen - I thought Bowen pushed Dixon into the net as they went to celebrate they goal from the penalty and then it all kicked off from there.

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oddly its not on Youtube....

i remmeber a fight against Palace in 1996/97 which amazingly saw us escape without a  single red card.... they had Houghton and Msucat sent off though.

jas :)

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Something tells me Malcolm Allen netted our second!

And Dixons late pen rebound trickled over the line soooo slowly!!!!!!

Didn''t deserve to lose, think it was O''Learys 2 millionth game, or something like that!

 

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I too was there. Will never forget that game.

We were superb in the first half but then the referee strangely started to get involved in the game in a most unhealthy way.

Tyson gave numerous free kicks to the Arse all around the penalty area. We had a team of hard men in those days and I feel they new ''something was up'' To have got three points out of that game would have been impossible so the inevitable punch up begun. Malcolm Allen was well in the mix. A hero of mine ever since.

From what I recall Tyson did not referee many more top flight games.

Whatever happened at half time between George Graham and Tyson we will never know but I would love to have been a fly on the wall. I reckon I could have made a bit of money!!

My final recollection was a fellow Bury Yella walkjng past a Poiice Van at the end of the game and banging ferociously on the side of the van demanding they release the ref from the van so we could get at him!!

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IIRC both clubs were warned severely about future conduct too...only for the Arse to have another punch up with ManUre later that year...at which both teams got off practically scot-free!

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[quote user="singing canary"]yep gunny took on arsenal !!![/quote]

I always thought that Gunn was the ONLY player not involved, did he not stand aloof from it all?  mind you, my memorys not all that it used to be![:S]

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[quote user="whoareyou"]IIRC both clubs were warned severely about future conduct too...only for the Arse to have another punch up with ManUre later that year...at which both teams got off practically scot-free![/quote]

the big teams getting away with it... who''d have thought?!?!?!

jas :)

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i remember we had a brawl away with Rotherham in the promotion season away as well...

Martin McIntosh decided to stick one on McKenzie whilst the players were going off at half time.. clearly forgetting who Leons dad and uncle are, and the fact that Leon was an amateur boxer himself, rumour has it that after the ref sent Mcintosh off and the players were fighting in the tunnel that Leon floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee.. leaving Mcintosh with a shiner to be proud of.

jas :)

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I was there in the Norwich end with two neutrals who agreed it was a fantastic game (albeit we lost), unfortunately the father in law & one of my brothers were in with the Arsenal fans & went home with bragging rights that day.

I thought we had it in the bag after going 2-0 up but not for the first time have we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

Not sure what started it as it was down the other end but I thought our fine was much less than Arsenal''s at the time.Used to go to a lot of the London venues at that time as it was relatively easy to get in & living in Kent, they are easy to get to.Still have fond memories of this game & still have the match day program but not seen any footage since.    

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Yes, I was there in the Clock End with the City fans ( it was still terracing then ).......

Sherwood then Phillips- with a fantastic free kick in front of the North Bank - put us 2-0 up, then it went to 2-2. Andy Linighan scored with a powerful second half header from all of 18 yards to put us 3-2 ahead then came those two late goals from Arsenal. We were robbed that day no mistake.

Strangely enough it was only four years later, when Linighan was an Arsenal player, that he did us a huge favour by burying a similar header to beat Sheff Wed in the 1993 FA Cup Final. Because of that header we qualified for European football so thanks Andy.....

Whilst we certainly did snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that 4-3 defeat we did manage to turn round a 2-0 half-time Arsenal lead at Highbury into a 4-2 win in the first game of that fabulous 1992/3 season.

It all evens out in the end.

 

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By chance, I am reading Gunny''s autobiography ''In Where it Hurts'' at the moment and there''s a good description of what happened pages 150 to 153.A few extracts:4th November 1989....a really dodgy penalty from a corner in the very last minute of the match....... I flung myself to the right and saved his shot, only for the ball to rebound straight back to him, jammy sod. Dixon scuffed the follow-up ...........Mark Bowen and Ian Culverhouse went for it along with... Alan Smith. The three of them got in an almighty tangle and the ball, along with all of them, was bundled over the line............then I noticed Nigel Winterburn having a gloat to Dale Gordon, who promptly pushed him. All of a sudden it was kicking off big time............The only people not involved to begin with were John Lukic, Tony Adams, David O''Leary and me.Eventually, I went over to try to break things up and calm the situation down. But, as I made my way over. I saw the cavalry coming over the half-way line in the shape of O''Leary and Adams.I felt it was my job to head them off at the pass and moved in, instinctively grabbing Adams with one hand and thumping him with the other. It was absolute bedlam...........The only man who kept out of the fracas was John Lukic.Later, ''Gunn blames Arsenal'' were the headlines in the ''Today'' Paper: photos of his contact with Adam''s face in the Sunday papers.Gunny finishes up at Lancaster Gate on a disrepute charge and was fined 2 week''s wages by the club. Norwich were fined £50,000 and Arsenal £30,000Hope this helps - it''s a great read!

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my first ever  away game.  

age 15 - travelled alone on the  club coach.

Just before the game i recall "Alan Smith " (or somone similar - O''Leary??) getting presented with an award for

long service or appearances.

 

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[quote user="......and Smith must score."]

Yes, I was there in the Clock End with the City fans ( it was still terracing then ).......

Sherwood then Phillips- with a fantastic free kick in front of the North Bank - put us 2-0 up, then it went to 2-2. Andy Linighan scored with a powerful second half header from all of 18 yards to put us 3-2 ahead then came those two late goals from Arsenal. We were robbed that day no mistake.

Strangely enough it was only four years later, when Linighan was an Arsenal player, that he did us a huge favour by burying a similar header to beat Sheff Wed in the 1993 FA Cup Final. Because of that header we qualified for European football so thanks Andy.....

Whilst we certainly did snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that 4-3 defeat we did manage to turn round a 2-0 half-time Arsenal lead at Highbury into a 4-2 win in the first game of that fabulous 1992/3 season.

It all evens out in the end.

 

[/quote]

im sure sherwood scored the third to go 3 - 2 up a volley into roof of the net with 10 -15 mins left

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" Malcolm Allen and Dave Phillips put us 2-0 up by half-time, Arsenal hit back after the break, but then Tim Sherwood scored to give us a 3-2 lead as we approached the end of the game. There were about 5 minutes left when David O''Leary, pushed forward from centre-back, made it 3-3. That was bad enough but worse was to follow when they got a really dodgy penalty........."Well rememebered!

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[quote user="dominic"]

my first ever  away game.  

age 15 - travelled alone on the  club coach.

Just before the game i recall "Alan Smith " (or somone similar - O''Leary??) getting presented with an award for

long service or appearances.

 

[/quote]It was David O''Leary - I think it was his 600th appearance or something. He was booked in the match for an unsavoury tussle with Malcolm Allen!

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I remember they showed a few highlights the day after on ITV''s ''The Match'' which I used to have on tape.  There''s a few things I remember from coverage at the time in the press as well.

It was indeed O''Leary''s record appearance.  The goal he scored was his first for SIX years!

As someone mentioned there was a flare up before Norwich''s 2nd goal when Allen and O''Leary tangled (Allen elbowed him and O''Leary proceeded to drag Allen by the hair).

The penalties were a disgrace.  Arsenal''s first was a handball by Linighan (watch it now and its still not obvious) and the second was a ''foul'' by Butterworth after Michael Thomas fell on him.  Something stank rotten that day and I''m still bitter about it!

The ''punch-up'' was mostly people pushing and shoving.  It was blown hugely out of proportion, nobody was sent off or booked, yet both clubs got slaughtered in the media.  I can remember various people (Stanley Matthews being one) saying how disgraceful it was and how the game had gone downhill, etc, etc, which really rankled considering Norwich had an immaculate disciplinary record at the time.

It heightened the rivalry between the two clubs (both had been going for the title the season before) and for a short time after, the chant on the Barclay was "We hate Arsenal".  It was quite intense for a while.

Incidentally renegadecanary, I think there''s quite a bit of footage on the season review video of 89-90 if you can get a copy.

 

 

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[quote user="Roger Hansbury"][quote user="......and Smith must score."]

Yes, I was there in the Clock End with the City fans ( it was still terracing then ).......

Sherwood then Phillips- with a fantastic free kick in front of the North Bank - put us 2-0 up, then it went to 2-2. Andy Linighan scored with a powerful second half header from all of 18 yards to put us 3-2 ahead then came those two late goals from Arsenal. We were robbed that day no mistake.

Strangely enough it was only four years later, when Linighan was an Arsenal player, that he did us a huge favour by burying a similar header to beat Sheff Wed in the 1993 FA Cup Final. Because of that header we qualified for European football so thanks Andy.....

Whilst we certainly did snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in that 4-3 defeat we did manage to turn round a 2-0 half-time Arsenal lead at Highbury into a 4-2 win in the first game of that fabulous 1992/3 season.

It all evens out in the end.

 

[/quote]

im sure sherwood scored the third to go 3 - 2 up a volley into roof of the net with 10 -15 mins left

[/quote]

Quite right Roger.

In those days we scored so many goals it''s a wonder I can remember any of ''em !

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hmmm.. dodgy refereeing.. George Graham.... the same manager done for "Brown bag" payments to John Jensens agent....

im saying nothing....

Suffice to say i bet the ref happily bought an Aston Martin on the monday morning ;)

jas :)

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