It was just over 60 years ago that Sammy Nelson stepped inside the Marble Halls of Highbury for the first time and attended a trial that would lead to him establishing a lengthy Arsenal playing career.
“I was invited over to London one half-term, around Halloween, in 1965,” recalls Nelson, who scored 12 times in 343 appearances for us between 1969 and 1981. “I arrived at the club on a Thursday and after playing in a six or seven-a-side game on the Monday at Highbury, Billy Wright – who was the manager at the time – asked if I would join the club.
“After Billy had spoken to my father over the phone, he said I was fine to join the club if that’s what I wanted to do, so that is what I did. I came back just after Christmas and I managed to stay for a few years after that!”
Speaking of anniversaries, this season marks our 60th campaign in the League Cup while our victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in the last round was our 250th in the competition.
Nelson featured in 27 League Cup matches for us between 1970 and 1980, with his only League Cup goal for the club coming in a 7-0 thrashing of Leeds United in N5 on September 4, 1979, but he has plenty of memories about his exploits in the competition in red and white:
**Sammy, as we mark 60 seasons in the League Cup, what early memories do you have of the competition?**
Bertie Mee joined Arsenal the first year I was there and the club entered the League Cup for the first time in the 1966/67 season. Before I had made it into the first team, we reached two League Cup finals. There was the final against Leeds in 1968 and against Swindon Town in 1969. I went along to Wembley to watch both of those finals. The final against Leeds in 1968 was one of those where I really thought we could have won it. We just couldn’t get the break we needed and Leeds ended up winning 1-0.
The following year, the final was a bit of a debacle. Wembley had been used, the day before I think, for a showjumping event and the pitch was in poor condition, not helped by a lot of rain on the day too. We couldn’t really play our football and there were some defensive mistakes that ultimately saw Swindon win the game. So, there were some painful early memories of us of the League Cup.
**And what League Cup memories do you have as an Arsenal player?**
We had a few decent runs in the League Cup during my time as a player. I remember us getting to the semi-finals against Liverpool in 1977/78. We lost 2-1 at Anfield in the first leg. We played well in the second leg at Highbury. I can remember having an effort that bounced over Ray Clemence. Because the pitch was so hard and frosty, the bounce also took the ball just over the crossbar. That’s how close we came to getting back into that game.
In 1979/80, we met Swindon in the quarter-finals. I played in the original game at Highbury, which was a 1-1 draw, but I missed the replay at Swindon through injury. It was always going to be a battle playing a team from the old Third Division in a replay at their ground, as it was a be-all and end-all fixture for them.
We had our run to the European Cup Winners’ Cup final and the FA Cup final that season and I think the number of fixtures had possibly caught up with us a bit around the time of that Swindon game, dealing with injuries and so on.
**How much did you love playing in cup competitions in general during your career?**
We really did love competing in the cup competitions, and I always felt like we were a team well cut out to do well in the cups. We were a determined and dogged team. We were never going to give much away and then, up front, we had players who could score goals in the blink of an eye, with Alan Sunderland, Frank Stapleton, Liam Brady, Graham Rix and David Price.
Obviously, the big highlight for me was winning the FA Cup with Arsenal in 1979. Everyone talks about the last few minutes of the final against Manchester United. We were 2-0 up only to concede two goals late on before Alan Sunderland got the winner. As an Arsenal supporter, it must have been agony at one stage, feeling like we were halfway up the steps to collect the trophy, only for United to draw level. But from the kick-off at 2-2, we broke away and scored the winner. It was pandemonium.
I’d like to know what the volume of noise was when that winning goal went in. There were 100,000 there that day and the noise was something else. To be part of a cup-winning team was incredible.
**On the topic of cup competitions, you were an FA Youth Cup winner with the club in your debut season in 1965/66…**
That’s right. We had a really good youth set-up at that time and a good squad of young players. There was a player called Bobby Bristow, who actually played in the first leg of the final ahead of me. Bobby could fly off the handle a bit and I ended up coming back into the team for the second leg of the final against Sunderland.
We were 2-1 down from the first leg but we won 4-1 in the second leg at Highbury. It was good for the club, for us players and for Billy Wright to win the competition. Billy had a number of the youth players come through and eventually play a part in the double-winning team of 1970/71. It was an exciting time.
**We reached five FA Cup finals during your time with the club. We’ve discussed the 1979 final, but how do you reflect on the other four?**
In 1971, I was in the squad, but I wasn’t really playing, so I watched the game against Liverpool from the stands. In 1972, I got dropped after the semi-final against Stoke City. So, again, I watched that final from the stands, with only one substitute allowed in those days.
The final against Ipswich Town in 1978 was one where they probably had the best of the play. But I’ll always point to the fact we had injuries to several players going into that game. Pat Rice had to have a cortisone injection to enable him to play. Liam Brady had an ankle injury. Alan Sunderland had been out for about five or six weeks with a shin injury prior to the final, and I didn’t know going into it, but I had cracked a rib during the week leading up to the final.
I can remember running and holding my side. It was only after the final, I realised I’d cracked a rib. It was sickening to lose, because we’d played so well all season.
I had missed a few matches with injury prior to the 1980 FA Cup final, so I was a sub for that. John Devine replaced me for the final and he did well. I was able to come on as a substitute in the match. It was strange losing to a Trevor Brooking headed goal. I’m not so sure I can ever recall him heading the ball before or after that game! We should have won that final. We were a better team than them but, on the day, they did a job on us.
**Towards the end of your Arsenal career, a testimonial match was staged in your honour against Celtic in November 1980. What was that occasion like?**
It was very special. We played Celtic a few times in pre-season friendlies and during a pre-season tour of Singapore and Australia. Our chairman Denis Hill-Wood had a great rapport with the Celtic chairman, Desmond White, and it was arranged that Celtic would provide Arsenal’s opponents for my testimonial match.
They brought a huge number of supporters to Highbury for the game, because of course Celtic have an incredible fanbase with supporters nationwide and beyond. There was really good craic with the supporters and it was a great day.
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