The new football season marks the 30th anniversary of a campaign forever etched in Chesterfield FC’s history … the incredible 1996-97 FA Cup run. Sports journalist Matthew Rhodes has immortalised the story in a new book and re-lives that magical season with Fiona Stubbs
It’s one of Matthew Rhodes’ most enduring childhood memories.
Sunday 13th April, 1997. Late afternoon. Old Trafford.
His dad, Martin, sweeping him high into the air, caught up in a wave of euphoria as Jamie Hewitt’s last-gasp header made it Chesterfield 3, Middlesbrough 3 in an FA Cup semi-final still regarded as an all-time classic.
Matthew was just nine-years-old at the time and admits: “I don’t remember much in terms of the game – I wish I’d been a bit older to comprehend how crazy it all was.
“I didn’t actually see Jamie’s goal, but I’ll forever remember my dad holding me up – like a trophy!”
Matthew is now very familiar with every twist and turn – not just of the semi-final but of the entire, epic, FA Cup season – through extensive research for his debut book, A Fine Line.
It brings together anecdotes from players, Spireites supporters and local journalists who lived and breathed the cup run. There’s even input from referee David Elleray, including insights into the eternally debated Jonathan Howard goal-that-never-was.
“Nobody could have imagined the FA cup run and the national exposure that ultimately came with it. It went on for months and months and no-one knew when it would end.”
The book is both a wonderfully nostalgic read – looking at how this extraordinary season energised not only the football club but the entire town – and a fascinating study into how the lives of football fans, the game and the FA Cup competition itself have evolved over the last three decades.
Chesterfield FC has experienced many highs and lows over the last 30 years … so why does the 1996-97 FA Cup run remain such beacon in its history?
“It resonates because it was so unexpected,” says Matthew. “Even when Chesterfield was a second-tier team in the 1950s, they didn’t do anything of note in the FA Cup. The club’s only successes, really, had been promotions from the fourth to the third tier.
“So, nobody could have imagined the cup run and the national exposure that ultimately came with it. It went on for months and months and no-one knew when it would end.”
Having already knocked out runaway First Division leaders Bolton Wanderers and Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest, Chesterfield faced a David v Goliath semi-final challenge against top tier Middlesbrough, boasting an expensive line up including international stars Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho, Gianluca Festa and Emerson.
“When a semi-final has as much hype as this one did, it’s often an anti-climax,” adds Matthew. “It’s rare that one exceeds all expectations … but who could possibly have predicted what happened at Old Trafford?
“For me, that semi-final was one of the last great moments of the FA Cup because the competition itself has gone down in importance. Every season, it’s debated whether the FA Cup is the same cultural landmark that it has traditionally been.”
Matthew believes that the growth of subscription channels, while making football more accessible, may also have played a part in removing some of the magic of big moments such as the Old Trafford semi-final.
“This was one of only a few games people could see, as it happened, on TV on a national scale,” he explains. “Now you can find football in some form at any time, anywhere on some subscription channel.
“Some of my favourite bits in my book are stories I hadn’t heard before, such as a Chesterfield fan who couldn’t get a ticket for the quarter final game against Wrexham at Saltergate. When they discovered the game was being televised by BBC Wales, they found a B&B across the border and watched it on TV there!
“Other people just had to listen to commentary on the radio or watch updates on Ceefax. Now, we could stream it and watch on our phones. Fans can video what they see and post it on social media.
“Technology has moved so quickly that, in some ways, it feels as though the cup run happened 100 years ago. My mum took a picture of me and dad and we had to wait a few days until the film was developed before we could see it.
“One of my reasons for writing the book was to highlight what the cup run was in that moment of time – and how quickly things have changed.”
Thanks to modern technology, the thrilling FA Cup semi final is still available for fans old and new to experience. Unfortunately, so is the replay at Hillsborough, resulting in a 3-0 defeat for John Duncan’s exhausted Spireites.
“The worst part of writing the book was having to watch the whole replay on YouTube,” smiles Matthew, ruefully.
A Fine Line is published by Pitch Publishing and costs £19.99.
Matthew will be signing copies of A Fine Line at the Chesterfield FC club shop on Monday 3rd August from 10am to 12 noon and at Waterstones in Chesterfield on Saturday 8th August from noon to 2pm.