A regular look at our most succesful League season ever.
As many will know 1983/84 was perhaps the most exciting season in the history of Saints,barring 1976 at least in terms of top flight finishes and Cup runs, with Saturdays in 83/84 co inciding with that of this year we will take a regular look at how the final half of the season panned out.
A look at the final table shows that ultimately we would finish second three points behind Champions Liverpool, but when we look at the results for this season, although January was a great month for Saints in the FA Cup it would be a terrible one in the League and it could be said that as Saints focussed on the Cup they took their eye off the gas in the league with the end result that the points lost ultimately cost them their real chance of pulling off the impossible.
Certainly as January 1984 opened Saints lay fourth six points behind leaders Liverpool and although a tilt at the league wasn't out of the question Saints supporters felt that the real hope of glory lay in the FA cup,
The first game of January saw Aston Villa visit the Dell and with ten minutes left lead 2-0, Steve Moran scored a minute later and when Dave Armstrong equalised in the final minutes it merely reinforced the opinion of many, that we were a side that never said die but ultimately werent quite good enough for the League, but the FA Cup ? well that was a different matter, late late goals would be a feature and play a significant part of the next few months.
At Forest in the Cup it was another goal in the dying second from Steve Moran this time, that gave Saints their passage to the next round and on Monday lunchtime a date with Pompey at Fratton, but with all the focus on the 28th of January and Pompey, the foot was off the gas,
As Saints arrived at Old Trafford on the 21st they sat sixth after a postponement on the 14th, United were second four points ahead, but we had a game in hand, things started well when Moran netted after only three minutes but the game see sawed in the first half as Bryan Robson equalised and Fran Stapleton put the home side ahead only for Moran to equalise a minute later, the second half was a lot less frenetic, but it was United through rnold Muhren who got the games final goal on the hour mark.
But two days later came the moment of the season that perhaps did cost us the League title, with Steve Williams due to serve a suspension at Fratton, Lawrie McMenemy decided to be canny and talked Brian Clough into squeezing in the postponed game against Forest on the monday night, only two days after United, thus freeing up Williams for Pompey and also by playing Monday giving the team plenty of time to prepare, Clough jumped at the chance for one of Forest's biggest rivals for a top five place and uropean spot offering him the chance to play them without their most influential player.
With few away fans present and on a Monday the gate was well down on the average and on the field Saints were below par, although they outplayed Forest for long periods, the visitors saw their chance of stealing a march in the league and grasped it, Garry Birtles scoring on the half hour for the only goal of the game, it was one of only a few they created, certainly Saints had more, but Forest dug in for a vital win that left Saints sat six points behind them and Forest only three points behind leaders Liverpool with everyone now equal on 24 games.
So by earning only a solitary point from the nine on offer and indeed six of them from home games, Saints on reflection saw any chance of the title blown in the space of two days, not that anyone realised back then, all eyes were on Fratton, but 28 years later you have to wonder what if ?