1999 FA Cup 4th round
Created by Graham 8 years agoThe first memory of Ben that came into my head was when we
both attended the 1999 FA Cup 4th round at Molineux, The home of his
beloved Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It was Wolves vs Arsenal. This was a televised game on ITV and almost replays the previous year’s defeat at Villa Park in the Semi Final. This was a big game and the Wolves fans wanted revenge from their near visit to Wembley that so could have been.
I met him at his student house in Wolverhampton, where he had been ready to go 1 hour before I was there. The build-up was just starting on the TV as we left. We were the lucky ones to have tickets as they were now in high demand.
When we got to the stadium both myself and Ben, along with the rest of the Jack Harris Stand, gave the Arsenal fans some stick with chants of ‘who are ya, who are ya’. Bearing in mind they were the current FA Cup and League Champions.
The game did not get off to the best of starts as picking the ball up in his own half Arsenal’s Marc Overmars accepted the invitation from half the Wolves team, to run at them with the ball while they backed off, and just outside the penalty area he fired home a low shot inside the left post putting the Wolves one nil down, within 10 minutes of play.
The crowd were now angry and some of the refereeing decisions were not going our way.
But after Wolves had already hit the cross bar the Arsenal defence were looking shaky, and so it proved on 37 Minutes, Haavard Flo headed to the ball before Alex Manninger could get to it and looped it over the keeper into an empty net, scoring his first goal on his debut.
The crowd went wild so much so that fans at the top of the stadium surged forward running down the stairs, but more terrifying was they jumped over the seats in front of them pushing those fans forward over the seats in front of them in a domino effect. I and Ben who were only 10 rows up from the front sensed the inevitable. As the two
rows of people behind us were falling into us, over our seats as Ben and me who
were celebrating with joy had no choice but to jump the seats in front and push
those fans as well.
I knew at this point we were going down more than one row of seating, and I was struggling to stand upright stepping over each row, I think Ben could see this as he grabbed my shoulders and kept me from falling over as he was able to step over
them with this long legs.
We ended up four rows down from where we were originally stood. We continued to celebrate the goal but were taking in deep breaths from a near injury. The crowd around us looked a little shaken but no medics were called.
Half time came soon after, and we had belief back on our side.
But Arsenal came out stronger and dominated the second half and on the 69th minute they won a corner and Dennis Bergkamp, as usual, was waiting outside the box, and when the ball came out to him he hit it first time on the volley and scored.
Apart from the sending off of Emanuel Petit we had little to celebrate that day as Arsenal won 1-2 and progressed onto the next round only to be beaten eventually by Manchester United.
I remember that well day well and sharing it with Ben. With him by your side you felt a sense of security and he had your back in any situation, which was handy as the student Union and nightlife in Wolverhampton, meant you always had to keep one eye over your shoulder.
May be it was his tall stance that gave you that feeling. But I will always remember him as a kind and gentle man.
He also gave me a nick name (Grez La Groy or La Groy – for short) which I still use today as my gaming name on the PlayStation and other platforms. I thank him for that.
Even though I had not seen him in over 10 years, I followed his last few years through Facebook and saw his struggles through life. I also saw him get married and have a family, all those things that most men want to fulfil in the world. I saw him share good times with friends as he had done with us at university and appeared to live each day to its fullest. This made me happy for him.
I am sad I will never get to see you again Ben, especially not even in my home county of Yorkshire.
See ya mate.
Graham
It was Wolves vs Arsenal. This was a televised game on ITV and almost replays the previous year’s defeat at Villa Park in the Semi Final. This was a big game and the Wolves fans wanted revenge from their near visit to Wembley that so could have been.
I met him at his student house in Wolverhampton, where he had been ready to go 1 hour before I was there. The build-up was just starting on the TV as we left. We were the lucky ones to have tickets as they were now in high demand.
When we got to the stadium both myself and Ben, along with the rest of the Jack Harris Stand, gave the Arsenal fans some stick with chants of ‘who are ya, who are ya’. Bearing in mind they were the current FA Cup and League Champions.
The game did not get off to the best of starts as picking the ball up in his own half Arsenal’s Marc Overmars accepted the invitation from half the Wolves team, to run at them with the ball while they backed off, and just outside the penalty area he fired home a low shot inside the left post putting the Wolves one nil down, within 10 minutes of play.
The crowd were now angry and some of the refereeing decisions were not going our way.
But after Wolves had already hit the cross bar the Arsenal defence were looking shaky, and so it proved on 37 Minutes, Haavard Flo headed to the ball before Alex Manninger could get to it and looped it over the keeper into an empty net, scoring his first goal on his debut.
The crowd went wild so much so that fans at the top of the stadium surged forward running down the stairs, but more terrifying was they jumped over the seats in front of them pushing those fans forward over the seats in front of them in a domino effect. I and Ben who were only 10 rows up from the front sensed the inevitable. As the two
rows of people behind us were falling into us, over our seats as Ben and me who
were celebrating with joy had no choice but to jump the seats in front and push
those fans as well.
I knew at this point we were going down more than one row of seating, and I was struggling to stand upright stepping over each row, I think Ben could see this as he grabbed my shoulders and kept me from falling over as he was able to step over
them with this long legs.
We ended up four rows down from where we were originally stood. We continued to celebrate the goal but were taking in deep breaths from a near injury. The crowd around us looked a little shaken but no medics were called.
Half time came soon after, and we had belief back on our side.
But Arsenal came out stronger and dominated the second half and on the 69th minute they won a corner and Dennis Bergkamp, as usual, was waiting outside the box, and when the ball came out to him he hit it first time on the volley and scored.
Apart from the sending off of Emanuel Petit we had little to celebrate that day as Arsenal won 1-2 and progressed onto the next round only to be beaten eventually by Manchester United.
I remember that well day well and sharing it with Ben. With him by your side you felt a sense of security and he had your back in any situation, which was handy as the student Union and nightlife in Wolverhampton, meant you always had to keep one eye over your shoulder.
May be it was his tall stance that gave you that feeling. But I will always remember him as a kind and gentle man.
He also gave me a nick name (Grez La Groy or La Groy – for short) which I still use today as my gaming name on the PlayStation and other platforms. I thank him for that.
Even though I had not seen him in over 10 years, I followed his last few years through Facebook and saw his struggles through life. I also saw him get married and have a family, all those things that most men want to fulfil in the world. I saw him share good times with friends as he had done with us at university and appeared to live each day to its fullest. This made me happy for him.
I am sad I will never get to see you again Ben, especially not even in my home county of Yorkshire.
See ya mate.
Graham
Pictures
Graduation Day!!
Graduation Celebration..