Stoke City: Don't mention 'A' word in Smith household

MENTION of the word Arsenal is banned in the Smith household, following those incident-packed FA Cup semi-finals in the early 1970s.

As revealed in his recently-published autobiography, Stoke centre-half of the time Denis has come around to being phlegmatic about the two controversial defeats, but his wife Kate still won't have the Gunners' name spoken aloud within her four walls.

And it's no surprise really. Leading 2-0 at Hillsborough in the 1971 tie, a series of second-half events unfolded which have been repeated more often than an episode of Mock The Week on the satellite channel Dave, but still get Stokies hot under the collar.

First, Peter Storey netted from 20 yards when a weak clearance fell to him and his shot was deflected past Gordon Banks by the lunging Smith.

But it was deep into injury-time, which no one could understand because there had been no injuries, that a number of outrageous incidents conspired against the Potters.

First, Mike Pejic was fouled just outside Stoke's area and referee Pat Partridge saw fit to award the free-kick the other way. The ball was lobbed into the box where Gordon Banks, ever the majestic, safe-handed keeper, caught it. Game over, everyone thought.

But then, Gunners forward George Graham crashed into Banks's back, catapulting England's finest to the ground where he spilled the ball as the breath was crushed out of him. Surely the referee had to give a free-kick? It appeared not.

The mother of all goalmouth scrambles ensued and finally the ball was cleared. Surely the referee would blow for full-time? It appeared not.

The ensuing corner came over and Arsenal skipper Frank McLintock towered to head the ball goalwards, only to look on in disbelief as a wonderful diving save saw the ball safely around the far post.

Surely the referee had to ignore the fact that it was not Banks, but midfielder Josh Mahoney who had flung himself to prevent the ball entering the net with the tips of his fingers? It appeared not.

Storey rolled home the penalty past a dispirited Banks and Arsenal strolled the replay against an equally disheartened Stoke side.

Talk to any member of that team and the indignation at what happened at 4.50pm on Saturday, March 27, 1971 still burns as brightly as ever.

That sporting calamity was only made worse by the feeling that Stoke had been shafted by the referee. But that was nothing compared to the level of disaster unfurled by the officials a year later.

First came a titanic 1-1 draw at Villa Park in the original game, in which Smith scored a bizarre goal when Peter Simpson's clearance struck his outstretched leg in a tackle in the penalty area and cannoned into the net to equalise George Armstrong's opener.

Somehow, Stoke failed to go on to beat crocked keeper Bob Wilson, who could barely walk due to a knee injury suffered in a collision with that man Smith, or his replacement, forward John Radford, who produced some incredible saves to keep the scores level.

City led in the replay at Goodison Park thanks to Jimmy Greenhoff's early penalty. This was where referee Walker and his linesmen intervened. First Arsenal were awarded a penalty when Walker spotted a 'push' by captain Peter Dobing on Armstrong. He must have had very good eyes because even years of studying the footage of the incident have failed to reveal to me the reason for the spot-kick's award.

But I'm not bitter about that. No, I'm bitter about what happened next and so are Mr and Mrs Smith, and pretty much anyone who was alive in North Staffordshire in the early 1970s.

Why such rancour younger fans may ask?

Well, incredibly, linesman Bob Matthewson somehow managed to mistake a programme seller on the far side of the ground for a member of Stoke's defence.

City were playing in an all white strip and the programme peddler was wearing a white overcoat, so when City's back four stopped having caught Charlie George about 10 yards offside, the Arsenal (and officials) played on.

George had a free run to draw Banks and cross for Radford to net the winning goal.

Oh, the pain, the outrage. It will probably never go away.

In fact, there's always been something to mark out meetings between these two clubs in games which have rarely been short of incident.

Earlier in the 1970/71 season, City had produced the display of the year to lash five wonderful goals past a hapless Arsenal defence. Featured on Match of the Day, Terry Conroy's rocket from the edge of the box won Goal of the Month and John Ritchie rounded three defenders and Bob Wilson to net an equally superb solo goal. Even defender Alan Bloor got in on the act in a tremendous team performance.

It's incredible to think now, but Stoke didn't lose at home to Arsenal, even though the Gunners were the dominant force of English football from the mid-1920s to the outbreak of the Second World War, until September 1935.

They then only won one of the next 10 meetings at the Vic, albeit a 5-2 hammering in May 1950.

City's hoodoo over Woolwich Arsenal, as the south London team were first known, included a 2-0 victory thanks to goals by Jack Hall and Fred Rouse in the first meeting at the Vic in March 1905.

Rouse would prove to be the scourge of the Gunners in these early years. He netted the winner early in the following season in a 2-1 victory and then both goals as Stoke won by the same scoreline to complete a double over the Gunners later that campaign.

Goals from Sturgess and Chalmers secured a 2-0 victory the next season, but they could not save Stoke from relegation and battle would not be ensued until Stoke had returned to top flight football, added 'City' to their name and Arsenal had dropped the 'Woolwich' prefix due to their move to north London's Highbury Fields.

Stan Matthews always maintained that his footballing hero was Arsenal's Scotland international play-maker Alex James and it was the arrival of James and his all-star Champions on Easter Monday 1937 which attracted a record crowd of 51,373 to the Victoria Ground.

A goalless stalemate ensued, but games in the 1930s between the two sides tended to go the way of Arsenal.

Stoke's only victory of the decade came in April 1939 as inside forward George Antonio netted a sublime winner in a 1-0 victory.

Stoke secured their first double over the Gunners, then FA Cup holders, in 1950/51 thanks to a magnificent 3-0 win at Highbury, with goals from Roy Brown, Les Johnston and Frank Bowyer.

At the end of an era when sides met on Christmas Day and then played the reverse fixture on Boxing Day, a total audience of 78,236 saw the back-to-back games. The following day Bowyer's goal secured a 1-0 home win for Stoke.

Ironically, perhaps, Arsenal's most dominant period in the series came in the 1960s under manager Billy Wright, whose spell in charge is mostly seen as a failure by Gunners aficionados.

During this spell, Denis Smith made his first contribution to the fray by turning Nick Hornby into an Arsenal fan. The story behind this tale is retold in Hornby's famous book 'Fever Pitch'. A young impressionable boy, Hornby could so easily have gone the way of many other southerners and supported the team of England legend Gordon Banks. However, Denis, on his debut, contrived to ruin his man-of-the-match performance by giving away a second-half penalty by tripping Jon Sammels. Terry Neill took the penalty, but Banks saved.

At this moment, Britain's future literary genius was poised between a lifetime as a Gooner or a Potter. Essentially an archetypal southern kid, young Nick was ripe for the picking and prepared to put his weight behind whichever team won this game, the first he had ever attended with his dad.

Sadly, posterity records that Neill beat Banks to the rebound to secure a 1-0 victory for Arsenal and literary obscurity for Stoke.

Of course in the last quarter of a century, the clubs have hardly stood on an equal footing, although when they have met the games have been closer than one might think.

In Stoke's last season in the top flight in 1984/85, City pulled off one of only three victories during the season by beating Arsenal 2-0, thanks to Ian Painter's penalty and Paul Dyson's flying header, which ended up in an opposition net rather than his own for once.

That victory was all the sweeter for having come in front of Match of the Day's cameras.

In January 1990, the clubs were drawn together in the third round of the FA Cup. A tight game at the Vic was settled by a near-post header from a corner from some kid called Niall Quinn. I wonder what happened to him?

Not outclassed by any means on that occasion, Stoke went one better when the sides met in the League Cup third round in 1996. In an era before the words 'League Cup' when used in association with the word 'Arsenal' meant a team with an average age lower than that of Fegg Hayes Under-sevens, City took the lead thanks to a Mike Sheron goal on the half-hour.

Stoke were good value for their lead and clung on under intense Arsenal pressure until a certain Ian Wright deceived the Stoke defence to slot the ball past Carl Muggleton and secure a totally undeserved draw.

I say that because TV replays showed Wright had used his hand to control the ball in order to be able to shoot.

In the replay at Highbury, City took an early lead thanks to that man Sheron once again, who clipped the ball over the onrushing, pre-pony tail David Seaman.

Again Stoke hung on almost until half-time, but were once again undone by those Gunners – spotted the theme yet?

Ian Wright, obviously not satisfied with his antics on the previous occasion, flung himself to the floor to earn a penalty in Pires-esque fashion.

Wright converted to change the course of the game right on half-time.

To be fair, there wasn't much wrong with the second, third, fourth or fifth goals as Arsenal romped to a 5-2 win, but that obviously isn't the point.

Of course, the most recent meeting, and the only one of this century thus far, came at Highbury in January 2005. A throng of Stokies occupied the Clock End during the final season at 'The Library' and totally outsang the home faithful, especially when Wayne Thomas pounced to give Stoke a half-time lead.

All right, so Robin van Persie netted twice to secure a victory for the Gunners. And okay, lacking as they did the small matter of established internationals Messrs Henry, Bergkamp, Campbell, Cole and Ljungberg, oh and Pires and Vieira, it was a full-strength team, ahem. But Stoke were once again the valiant heroes that day.

Any chance of resting a few players this weekend, Arsene?