Bobby Gould recalls Wimbledon's FA Cup win

By Simon Hart

LONDON (Reuters) - "We were the Cinderellas of the FA Cup," says Bobby Gould, recalling Wimbledon's surprise victory over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final.

The long-ball tactics and uncompromising approach of the self-styled Crazy Gang did not endear them to purists but, as the 20th anniversary of that triumph approaches, Wimbledon's story seems fairy-tale stuff.

On May 14, 1988, 11 years after entering the Football League, a Wimbledon side who had just completed their second top-flight campaign, overcame Kenny Dalglish's league champions 1-0 thanks to Lawrie Sanchez's first-half header and Dave Beasant's penalty save from John Aldridge in the second period.

The key, according to then manager Gould, was a unique style which he and assistant Don Howe had inherited from predecessor Dave Bassett -- "When we went there we didn't tell them how they were going to play, they told us" -- and which featured a pivotal threat from set-pieces.

"For the winning goal against Liverpool, Wisey (Dennis Wise) curls it in, Sanchez gets a near-post header and all you can see is red shirts...they couldn't defend it," Gould said in a telephone interview.

"It might sound silly, but 20 years on Brazil are copying Wimbledon with the way that they put curled balls into the near post, from the right side with the left foot and vice versa," continued Gould, who recently concluded a second campaign assisting his son Jonathan, a former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper, in coaching New Zealand club Hawke's Bay United.

"Everybody is copying us now -- even the Manchester Uniteds. Most teams score a lot of goals from dead balls."

Wimbledon were a team defined by their mental toughness, Gould said. "They were all leaders -- Beasant, (Alan) Cork, Sanchez, (John) Fashanu, (Vinnie) Jones. We were a force to be reckoned with and we believed in the style that we played."