SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 1 CITY 2
League Division 1
22nd April 1970
attendance 45,258
Scorers
City Bowyer(31 & 85)
Wednesday Coleman(65)
Ref K Howley
City Dowd, Book, Pardoe, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Carrodus, Towers, Summerbee, Young, Heslop – Sub Bowyer(25)
Wednesday Grummitt, Wilcockson, Prophett, Ellis, Craig, Sinclair, Fantham, Young, Warboys, Whitham, Coleman – Used Sub Downes
…Wednesday’s biggest crowd of the season, turned out to roar them on, onIy to see City take firm control from the early minutes.
The Blues should have had the game sewn up by half- time. Mike Doyle missed a penalty and City were only shading the honours with a goal from Ian Bowyer, who came on for the injured Mike Summerbee.
It was the battling and ever-defiant, Tony Coleman who put new life into Wednesday. After 65 minutes he got the ball about 30 yards out and let fly with a thunderous shot that whistled past Harry Dowd into the City net.
Now it was stirring stuff. The crowd did their best to lift the Owls to greater things. But it was not to be as City hung on grimly. And one minute from time came the dagger blow, Bowyer scored again.
FROM AN ARTICLE BY JOHN MADDOCKS PUBLISHED IN THE CITY PROGRAMME 24TH AUGUST 1985
There should have been a Steward’s Enquiry after this match because City did all they could to let Wednesday win and avoid relegation. Mike Doyle indicated to Wednesday’s keeper which side he’d hit the penalty, which was saved, and although City only went through the motions, Wednesday were too inept to take advantage. Bowyer, the sub, seemed not to have been told the plot, and scored twice to send Wednesday down. Being a spectator and a Sheffield United supporter, I was delighted!
I heard that City were strolling through the game, as you say, but a Wednesday player committed a bad foul and that upset City who then started playing to win. Anything in that account you can verify, being that you were actually there!
Just been discussing that match and that was my exact memory regarding Doyle and City that night, only Bowyer hadn’t been told was should happen !!
⚔️ ( went with a mate who was an Owl, got drenched, no roof on the Kop) went home happy though
Why would you want to go to Crystal Palace next season when you could have a one hour drive over the hill to Hillsborough? Why would you risk getting injured when you’re in the cup winners cup final next week? Only problem was that Boyer wasn’t sure he would be in that team. I didn’t see Doyle signal which way he was going to hit the penalty but he hit it so slowly that if the goalie had dived the wrong way he could probably have had time to get up and still save it.
I was nine at the time of the match, I was on the KOP with my step dad, at final whistle there was a big surge towards the exit, I was crushed,I remember some one picking me up and putting me over a wall , I was lost , I made it out of the ground across the road was a police man , I told him I was separated from my step dad, he told me to wait and see if I could see him , but the crowd was massive , after a while he said he had to go, he gave me a sixpence and told to catch a bus back home , I was nine year old, I started to walk back towards Hillsborough corner ,I was scared and cold , no busses , kept on walking in the dark towards my home in Stannington, finally got home that night , must have been after 12, cold, wet tired
My mother was supprissed, she sent me straight to bed, I remember getting up the next day
Going downstairs and my parents sat at the kitchen table having breakfast, my step day gave me a hug and asked if I was ok before carrying on with tea and toast.