Date: Sunday, 21st December 1986.
Venue: Victoria
Ground, Stoke-on-Trent.
Competition:
Second Division.
Score: Stoke City
7 Leeds United 2.
Scorers: Stoke
City: Morgan (3), Saunders, Dixon,
Kelly, Ford. Leeds United:
Baird, Sheridan (pen).
Attendance: 12,358.
Teams:
Stoke City: Fox; Dixon,
Parkin; Talbot, Bould, Berry;
Ford, Kelly (Bertschin), Morgan, Saunders, Heath.
Leeds United: Day, Aspin, Robinson
(Ritchie); Thompson, Ashurst, Swan; Doig, Sheridan, Baird, Edwards, Rennie.
Referee: Mr. I.S. Hemley
Stoke
City's Victoria Ground was an unlikely graveyard for Leeds United. It was the
venue for United's heaviest ever league defeat, an
8-1 rout on August 27, 1934, and their trips to Staffordshire
have had a habit of throwing up unexpected and painful results. The opening
weeks of the 1985-86 second division term saw Leeds crushed 6-2 at Stoke, and when
manager Billy Bremner led the Elland Road club back to the Victoria Ground
shortly before Christmas the following season, he may have planned to exact a
measure of revenge.
United were
in the middle of a promotion challenge which ultimately ended in failure, and
their mediocre form away from home would prove to be their Achilles heel by the
end of the season. Leeds
lost ten times on the road, and no defeat was more galling for Bremner than their 7-2 hammering at the hands of Stoke.
The
performance was written off as "miserably inadequate, spineless and
embarrassing" by the Yorkshire Evening Post, an assessment which would
have prompted few arguments from Bremner or his
players. With Brendan Ormsby, Ian Snodin
and John Stiles missing Leeds
were second best from the moment Stoke took the lead through Nicky Morgan in
the sixth minute, and the visitors appeared utterly dejected by the time Morgan
completed his hat-trick and City's scoring exploits with nineteen minutes to
go. The striker began City's impressive victory when John Sheridan's misplaced
pass allowed him to drive home an angled shot following a quick attack
involving Brian Talbot and George Berry.
When Mervyn Day fumbled a shot from Phil Heath moments later,
Carl Saunders ran in to finish off an easy chance and Stoke began to sense a
famous victory in the making. Their lead was increased to 3-0 on twenty-two
minutes through an overhead kick from Lee Dixon, a £40,000 signing from Bury
during the summer of 1986, and a future star of George Graham's Arsenal. Only
two brilliant saves from Day prevented City from reaching the half-hour mark with
five goals to their name. But Day was left helpless as Morgan claimed his
second despite a strong hint of offside, and a well-placed free-kick from Tony
Kelly buried Leeds beneath a 5-0 deficit at the break.
"This
is something I've never experienced in my long career in the game," said
Stoke boss Mick Mills, and doubtless Bremner felt the
same. United's boss had the chance to rally his
players at half-time, and their order was temporarily restored as Ian Baird
found the net six minutes after the restart. Stoke, however, continued to press
and United's revival was brief. Tony Ford fired home
a sixth goal for the home side on the hour, and Morgan was in the perfect
position to round off his treble ten minutes later.
John
Sheridan replied from the penalty spot after Lee Dixon was penalised
for handball, but his finish was academic by the time it flew into the net, and
United's players were happy to make a rapid escape
when referee Ian Hemsley ended their humiliation with
the final whistle.
Bremner said, “I was ashamed that
a team of mine could be so lacking in enthusiasm, commitment and effort.
Frankly it was humiliating and there was just no excuse for it.” Bremner called a players meeting to have a heart to heart
with them in a bid to learn from the horror of that heavy defeat. After such a
reverse there was only one way for United to go, and that was up. To their
credit they got their act together and finish fourth and qualified for the
play-offs as well as reaching the FA Cup semi-final.
Alternate Reports (Courtesy Mark Ledgard)
Brief summary: Suspension-hit Leeds were over-run by Stoke’s
demolition team, featuring a hat-trick by new signing Nicky Morgan. Morgan,
bought from Portsmouth for £40,000
two weeks previous, struck in the fifth, thirty-fourth and seventy-first
minutes. The game was over by half-time, when Stoke were already five-nil
ahead. Leeds, obviously missing the suspended midfield
duo of Ian Snodin and John Stiles, plus defender
Brendan Ormsby, could do nothing to stop them. The glut began after five
minutes when Morgan fired home from George Berry’s flick, and seven minutes
later Carl Sanders slotted home. Lee Dixon scored with a spectacular
twenty-first minute overhead kick, Nicky Morgan added his second and then Kelly
hit home a free kick a minute before the break. Bewildered Leeds,
thrashed 6-2 at the Victoria Ground the previous season, at least made a better
fight of the second half, scoring through Ian Baird after fifty minutes and
John Sheridan’s seventy-second minute penalty. But Stoke’s
appetite for goals was not satisfied until Tony Ford nipped in for number six
and Nicky Morgan completed his hat-trick.
And secondly: The defensive frailties of Leeds United were
cruelly exposed on the same ground where they had suffered a 6-2 defeat fifteen
months previous. Billy Bremner’s shell-shocked side
were 5-0 down at half-time, victims of their own uncertainty and a razor sharp Stoke
City side pledged to attack. The
final score showed that Leeds salvaged some pride with
their second-half display but unless they could produce a ring of steel to
place round a suspect defence, promotion could be forgotten about for another
year. Even the absence of three key players, Ian Snodin,
Brendan Ormsby and John Stiles, did not fully explain the lack of understanding
which ran through the side.
The catalogue of errors began after six minutes when Stoke,
who set off like an express train and never eased up, caused palpitations in
the Leeds defence with a wave of attacks, ended when Nicky Morgan drilled the
ball home unmarked from ten yards. After twelve minutes Leeds
were still gasping for air and it was 2-0. Mervyn Day failed to hold Tony
Ford’s shot and Carl Saunders was first to the loose ball, firing into an empty
net. Five minutes later came another goal. A Stoke free kick from twenty-five
yards was blocked by Ian Baird, but the ball took a deflection and spun back
into the Leeds area, where Lee Dixon showed superb instinct for a full-back
with a spectacular overhead kick which flew over Mervyn Day and just inside the
post. Nicky Morgan continued the rout after thirty-four minutes, finishing off
a beautiful move involving Lee Dixon and Carl Saunders, although there was a
suspicion of off-side. A minute before the interval and the misery for Leeds
was complete, but again there was a whiff of controversy as Peter Swan headed
the ball down in his own area, it bounced up and struck Nigel Thompson on the
hand. The referee ordered a free kick just outside the area. Handball seemed a
harsh decision, but if an offence was committed it was certainly a penalty.
Mervyn Day lined up the defensive wall but Tony Kelly was able to find a gap
inside the left hand post and Leeds were 5-0 down and
out.
Leeds had nothing but pride to play
for in the second half but they hit back through Ian Baird five minutes after
the break as he latched onto a defence-splitting pass by Russell Doig. Andy Ritchie came on for Ronnie Robinson, who had
been having a dreadful time against Carl Heath, Tony Ford and Nicky Morgan, but
any chances of a Leeds revival were dashed when Tony
Ford made it 6-1 in the sixty-third minute. Again one pass was enough to split
the Leeds defence wide open, Carl Saunders was the
provider and Tony Ford’s finishing was clinical. Leeds
conceded a free-kick, Tony Kelly floated the ball in and Nicky Morgan completed
his personal day of triumph by notching a hat-trick with twenty minutes left.
This brought genuine fears that Leeds could be on the
end of a double-figures thrashing, but they managed to hold out and John
Sheridan pulled another goal back five minutes from time after Lee Dixon was
harshly judged to have handled inside the Stoke area. By this time Leeds
were grateful for anything that came their way. They could only hope that it
was a freak result, one for the record books rather than an accurate form
guide.
(Ticket
Courtesy Mark Ledgard)
Match Action:
(Thee items Courtesy Mark Ledgard)
Teams:
Leeds United 1986-87:
Back
Row: Andy Ritchie, Bob Taylor, Ronnie Robinson, Mervyn Day, Ronnie Sinclair, Peter Swan,
Neil Aspin, Peter
Haddock.
Middle
Row: Jack Ashurst, Nigel
Thompson, Brian Caswell, Brendan Ormsby, David Rennie,
Ian Baird.
Front
Row: John Stiles, John Buckley, Ian Snodin, Russell Doig, Tommy
Wright, John Sheridan.
Players:
Ian Baird and a penalty by John Sheridan were
the Leeds scorers
Nicky Morgan (3), Lee Dixon,
Carl Saunders, Tony Kelly and Tony Ford shared the Stoke City goals
Mervyn Day saved some Brendan Ormsby, Ian Snodin and John
Stiles were all missing
Russell
Doig supplied the pass for Ian Baird’s goal Peter Swan and Nigel Thompson were unfortunate
leading up to Stoke’s fifth goal
Peter Fox was in goal Derek Parkin
was at left-back George
Berry and Steve Bould were the centre-back pairing
Brian Talbot was right-half Carl Heath was on the left-wing Keith
Bertschin came on as substitute