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The week that was - 7th May 1988. Chelsea 1 Charlton 1

7th May 1988. Chelsea 1 (1) (Durie (pen) 16) Charlton Atletic 1 (0) (Miller 65) Stamford Bridge Att:34,174

Chelsea: Hitchcock, Clarke, Dorigo, Wicks, McLaughlin, Pates, Nevin, Bumstead, Dixon, Durie, C Wilson (West 68). Unused sub: K Wilson.

Charlton: Bolder Humphrey, Reid, Mackenzie, Shirtliff, Miller, Stuart (Mortimer 64), Leaburn, Bennett (Jones 46), Lee, Crooks.

Referee: D Reeves (Uxbridge).

Penalty awarded against Humphrey for a foul on Durie, which was later proved to be outside the area.

Leaburn was knocked unconscious during the second half and had to be restrained by colleagues when he came round.

Play Offs: A vital match for both clubs. Charlton had to avoid defeat to miss the dreaded play-off for a second successive season, and Chelsea needed to win. As a result, Chelsea dropped out of the first division when they were beaten by Middlesbrough in the play-off final.

Referee Reeves said after the game "In 13 years as a match official and eight years on the line, I have never been involved in a more tension filled match".
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Comments

  • What a day, unbelievable.

    We seemed to be about three miles away on the away terrace when Max Miller had the deflected shot that looped in just under the bar!!!

    I remember Bolder making an unreal save from a Durie free kick and late on they should have had a penalty when Shirtliff clattered into Colin West but the ref waved play on.

    It was Steve Wicks that knocked Leaburn out with a punch from behind and apparently Carlo wanted to square it up afterwards and brave boy Wicks shit himself on the spot and would not come out of the Chelsea changing rooms.
  • One of those games that you can never forget. Maxie Miller's rather fortunate equaliser was a great moment, as was watching Leaburn totally losing it and trying to rip the head off Wicks after being floored. Great memories.
  • Yeah, I just that God we were not actually the team that sent them down because the home fans went ape when Boro sent them down in the 2nd leg of their PO Final about 3 weeks later and tried to storm the Boro end!!! Mind you, I don't think the Boro boys would have been running away either...
  • I couldn't go. I listened to the commentary on the radio. It was a case of being less stressed out watching the game live rather than listening to it. How tense was it at the end?

    Incredible stuff even just listening.
  • How tense was it? It was as bad as anything I have ever been through football wise because we were convinced that the 32,000 Chelsea fans were going to win them a last minute penalty or something and cost us the game. I actually could not believe we had done it until I got home that night and saw it on the BBC News.
  • I remember being kept in after the game for 1/2 hr?
    Two chelsea in the upper tier give it the large one & "w" signs at us. Up pops two old bill who we could see but they couldn't , so we return the sign communication. This made the two chelsea fans go apeshit and more jestering took place followed by a tap on the shoulder for the two of them.
  • Yeah, we were kept in for ages but, to be honest, I was very relieved that by the time we got out all the Chelsea had gone home!!!
  • I went with my Chelsea supporting brother-in-law.

    He was winding me up rotten after Durie's 'penalty' went in and baiting me about Charlton returning to their 'rightful place in Division 2'.

    Miller equalised and the silence from him was deafening.
    I gave it large to him all the way home......hehehe!



    Incidentally, that Chelsea side contained 3 players who later went on to play for us - Bumstead, Pates & McLaughlin.
  • edited May 2007
    [cite]Ormiston Addick wrote:[/cite]
    I remember Bolder making an unreal save from a Durie free kick and late on they should have had a penalty when Shirtliff clattered into Colin West but the ref waved play on.
    It wasn't Shirtliff, it was Paul Miller. My Dad got the video from the Chelsea shop, and we ended up watching that bit loads of times. Miller basically forearm smashed Colin West in the face, and the ref apparently missed it.
  • He might have been a hero that day, but Miller was a thug.

    He got sacked by Charlton for spitting at an opponent.
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  • [quote][cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Yeah, I just that God we were not actually the team that sent them down because the home fans went ape when Boro sent them down in the 2nd leg of their PO Final about 3 weeks later and tried to storm the Boro end!!! Mind you, I don't think the Boro boys would have been running away either...[/quote]


    As I recall the Chelsea fans did storm the Charlton end - in the first half, and after the match we were kept behind for what seemed liked ages only to be finally released into weirdly deserted streets.

    I got rather drunk that evening in a pub in Little Argyll Street.
  • No, they did not storm our end they had about 15 blokes in our end who all went up after they scored and it kicked off for a while, nothing major though. Myself and my brother (both 14) were in the middle of it and shit our pants and ran to the top of the terrace.

    The Boro game was much, much worse they all came pouring out of the Shed and ran towards the Boro fans in the away end, it was complete mayhem.
  • edited May 2010
    Three future Charlton players in that Chelsea line-up.

    Can we have three from yesterday's Chelsea team please?
  • One of my favourite seasons. I remember we only clambered out of the bottom four the previous weekend. Garth Crooks was outsanding when he returned from injury in the run in.

    I started the game in the seats and was moved to the away terraces for my own safety . Three of my friends remained to face some Chelsea thugs.
    Yes I know there was an unpleasant side to Paul Miller , but as Garth Crooks said post match that day was made for him . Probably one of the best individual performances that I have seen by a Charlton player . He certainly knew how to mix it that day
  • Arrived about 10 - 15 minutes late for this one. Deserted outside the ground at this point except for massive Chelsea skinhead and his mate who seemed to have just been ejected from the Shed, and weren't happy. They decided to come after me but made it in to North end road turnstiles before they caught up.

    Wicked deflection for Paul Millers goal. Dont know if he was a thug but most clubs had someone like him and more, with some dirty jobs to do and somebody had to do them.

    Think it was Cascarino who he spat at in a future game, in which case probably a waste of saliva. Brave of Lennie to take a stand at dismissing him though, dont think many managers would have in a similar situation, given our resources at the time.
  • [cite]Posted By: alberto balsam[/cite]Think it was Cascarino who he spat at in a future game, in which case probably a waste of saliva. Brave of Lennie to take a stand at dismissing him though, dont think many managers would have in a similar situation, given our resources at the time.




    No it was Andy Thorn (ex palace and wimbledon centre half) who he allegedly spat at against Newcastle United (2-2 draw) in 1988/89 at Selhurst Park.Also Paul Miller was not sacked. We sold him to Watford for a fee. Not sure how much but we did receive a transfer fee.
  • [cite]Posted By: Amos on the wing[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: alberto balsam[/cite]Think it was Cascarino who he spat at in a future game, in which case probably a waste of saliva. Brave of Lennie to take a stand at dismissing him though, dont think many managers would have in a similar situation, given our resources at the time.

    No it was Andy Thorn (ex palace and wimbledon centre half) who he allegedly spat at against Newcastle United (2-2 draw) in 1988/89 at Selhurst Park.Also Paul Miller was not sacked. We sold him to Watford for a fee. Not sure how much but we did receive a transfer fee.

    Correct, I am pretty sure that following his sending-off in that game that Lennie announced that Miller would "never" play for Charlton again - and he was true to his word.
  • [cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Amos on the wing[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: alberto balsam[/cite]Think it was Cascarino who he spat at in a future game, in which case probably a waste of saliva. Brave of Lennie to take a stand at dismissing him though, dont think many managers would have in a similar situation, given our resources at the time.

    No it was Andy Thorn (ex palace and wimbledon centre half) who he allegedly spat at against Newcastle United (2-2 draw) in 1988/89 at Selhurst Park.Also Paul Miller was not sacked. We sold him to Watford for a fee. Not sure how much but we did receive a transfer fee.

    Correct, I am pretty sure that following his sending-off in that game that Lennie announced that Miller would "never" play for Charlton again - and he was true to his word.

    OK I stand corrected. Perhaps we could say he was encouraged to leave. Just took it from an earlier post that he was sacked. I do remember he went on to Watford but didnt remember if there was a fee.
  • Well, I guess this depends on your interpretation of the term "sacked" doesn't it?

    He was effectively sacked from the first team by Lennie but not by the club itself (very, very hard to actually sack a player).

    If there was a fee from Watford it would have been very low!
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  • I'd say he was forced out then, a form of dismissal

    Cascarino I remember claimed it was him on a radio show a while ago, so perhaps Paul Miller did it more than once?
  • [cite]Posted By: alberto balsam[/cite]I'd say he was forced out then, a form of dismissal

    Cascarino I remember claimed it was him on a radio show a while ago, so perhaps Paul Miller did it more than once?

    I remember Cascarino saying in his book that one of the Turkish players spat at him after they beat Ireland in a Euro/WC play-off game just before he retired, he does not mention Miller in his book but that does not mean it did not happen.
  • Very warm and muggy day. Remember Leaburn getting knocked out and then finally getting up and staggering around like a new born giraffe whilst trying to get Wicks. Very funny indeed. Chelsea boys on the benches got over the fence into the away end. It was all happening. Don't remember much about the game other than goals. Action seemed miles away (it was I guess) . Spoke to John Humphrey a few weeks later about the penalty. He was still annoyed, claiming it was yards outside the box. All very surrreal.
  • This was the first time I had gone to Chelsea, I just turned 16 and was my first away game on my own with my brother and his pal. Remember when Miller scored and everyone going bonkers and hugging each other. Also remember the home fans throwing coins. Seem to remember a running track round the pitch which was why the action was so far away. Great days. Great team. Leeeeeeeeaburrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn!
  • Just watched this match on a grainy video on the Internet - amazing day - remember it well - Chelsea fans in our end - I had forgotten Bolder's world class save to keep Durie's freekick out
  • Remember this well,stuck behind the fence at the dilapidated shithole that was Stamford Bridge at the time.Thought it was going to kick off big time at the end,but the players were not even,on police instructions,allowed to  acknowledge our support.I could not get back to the coach quick enough as I was nursing a broken arm sustained in an over 40 "friendly" 5 a side competition.If I remember Chelsea went down.I think if leaburn had got hold of Steve Wicks he would have killed him.
  • Loved that game and bought the video from Chelsea - watched it over and over. For some reason I also ended up at the Chelsea v Boro game a few weeks later and stood in the Shed End. That was an experience.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elEnkcp6RcE
  • I went to this game with some Chelsea mates, and they insisted on paying an extra pound to sit on the 'Benches'.  So I was surrounded by the worst Chelsea knuckle draggers when our bizarre goal went in, and I leapt 5 feet in the air, ecstatic.  

    Fortunately, all my mates jumped up around me to make it look like we were contesting a decision.  I spent the last 25 minutes crapping myself, expecting to be tapped on the shoulder at any point.  The most stressful game I'd been to before the '98 final!
  • I went to this game with some Chelsea mates, and they insisted on paying an extra pound to sit on the 'Benches'.  So I was surrounded by the worst Chelsea knuckle draggers when our bizarre goal went in, and I leapt 5 feet in the air, ecstatic.  

    Fortunately, all my mates jumped up around me to make it look like we were contesting a decision.  I spent the last 25 minutes crapping myself, expecting to be tapped on the shoulder at any point.  The most stressful game I'd been to before the '98 final!
    Yes - stressful game - for me however, being at St Andrews in 87 against Leeds was more stressful - football wise and also safety wise - I ran all the way to New Street station afterwards (young and fit then !!)

    If we lost that Leeds game I don't know if Charlton would have survived 
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