Tag: 1992

That Time I Saw It All Change

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago | Old Trafford, Manchester, UK | 12th December 1992

Thirty years ago, we saw a shift in the tectonic plates of English football – and I was there to witness it: a 1-0 victory over Norwich City…

Manchester United spent the 1980s as perennial under-achievers and the 90s as a dominant force.  Many people believe the single turning point was in their Third Round victory at Nottingham Forest in 1990, won by a Mark Robins goal that supposedly saved Alex Ferguson’s job.

While it was certainly a significant moment, it still only led to a Cup win, something United had done twice in their under-whelming previous decade.  Even more elusive, over the previous 26 years, was any sense of expectation of league success.

In December 1992, the inaugural Premier Leagues season, recent Champions Liverpool and Arsenal were in transition.  Leeds United were Champions, Blackburn had arrived as a cash-rich challenger and Norwich had somehow climbed to the top of the league.

Over at Old Trafford, 5th-placed United had been cajoling performances from a team that had faded dismally the previous spring, handing the last ‘old’ League title to Leeds.  There were moments of quality but, as ever, inconsistency seemed to limit the team’s potential.  Yes, the Youth Team had – as is now legend – won their cup, months previously, but it was still too early to see the ‘Class of 92’ realise their potential.

Two weeks earlier, an astonishing transfer coup had taken place, with the arrival of the mercurial Eric Cantona from Leeds.  He’d only in played the second half in the derby victory six days beforehand and was making his first United start against the league leaders.

Played against the backdrop of a half-built ‘new’ Stratford End, with twinkling Christmas lights on the cranes and free plastic capes for fans sitting in the uncovered seats, this was my first sight of ‘King Eric’ in a United shirt.

The game wasn’t a classic but it wasn’t as close as the 1-0 scoreline suggests.  United spurned several chances before Mark Hughes seized on a defensive error to spin and finish in his usual emphatic fashion.  Here’s the highlights:

More impressively, this was a team with the grit to withstand an impressive Norwich team who were eight points clear at the top, after eighteen games.  As we streamed out of the ground after the game, there was a sense in the crowd that Cantona could really be the final piece of the puzzle after so much unfulfilled promise.

The next two games were both away draws (at Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday), with Cantona scoring in each.  The next home game seemed to confirm the optimism of the Norwich game: an impressive 5-0 victory over Coventry City, with that man Cantona scoring a penalty and providing two assists.  I was there for that game too.

Something had changed in this team.  Maybe they were capable of finally emulating Busby’s ’67 team.  An  increasing number of the crowd began to dare to dream again – but it would take another five months before the hope became a reality.  I’ll tell you where I was that night, when we get to 30 years after that event…

That Time I Remember Being In The Sugarhouse

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago  |  The Sugarhouse, Lancaster, UK  |  25th November 1992

Not a picture from the night itself (it’s ”borrowed’ from the Sugarhouse twitter timeline) but this is exactly how I remember nights in the Student Union-owned nightspot – although slightly more out of focus, perhaps. I don’t know what was playing when this was taken but in my head, all I can hear is ‘Jump Around’ by House of Pain, ‘People Everyday’ by Arrested Development and perhaps a little smattering of ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba.

So how is it I knew I was definitely in “The Shagga” this random midweek night in 1992, you may well ask. A diligently-kept diary? The law of averages? Not quite. Some internet research tells me that the following day (the 26th) was the date that Eric Cantona officially signed for Manchester United and I distinctly remember hearing “on good authority” from a fellow-reveller that the rumoured deal was done, while we were in the queue to get in.

Was this just a bit of alcohol-fuelled optimism that got lucky or was there really a direct line from Old Trafford to fist-year undergraduates in Lancaster? We’ll never know. All I can say is that the rumours were right and the next day, it happened and… …well you probably know the rest.

Anyway, let’s raise a 70p shot of vodka to the good old Sugarhouse: the site of many a top night out and perfectly situated for the kebab shop and bus stop afterwards. Cheers!

That Time I Discovered Tizer Parties

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago: Bowland Tower, Lancaster University, UK – ??th October 1992
I’ll be honest, I have no idea on what date this photo was taken – do I look like I would? From the locked kitchen cupboards, the décor and, yes, the hair, I *can* tell you this was from my first year at university. I’d begun my degree course this month, celebrated my 19th birthday during Freshers’ Week and was firmly on the voyage of discovery that constituted that particular, mostly memorable, year. One port of call in that voyage was ‘Tizer’, the rudimentary home cocktail made from lots of rum, lots of vodka and a small amount of random red-coloured non-alcoholic drink. This, I believe, was an early foray into the world of ‘Tizer’ parties that would punctuate my three years there. Therefore, mid-October 1992 is as good an estimate of the date of this photo as any.

That Time I Was On An Iron Maiden Album

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago: Monsters of Rock, Castle Donington, UK – 22nd August 1992
I’m almost certainly on this picture.  Two days before, I’d got my A-Level results and learned my offer to go to Lancaster University had been confirmed. I celebrated by standing up all day with 70-odd thousand rock fans at a race circuit in Leicestershire. The bill included The Almighty, W.A.S.P., Slayer, Thunder, Skid Row and the mighty Iron Maiden. During Freshers’ Week at Lancaster, I managed to get hold of a bootleg cassette of this concert, although it’s since been released as an official Maiden live album. Whenever one of the tracks comes up on rotation, I always remark “Oh, I’m on this album”…

That Time I Became An Electric Guitarist \m/

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago: Frog Lane Guitars, Wigan, UK – July 1992
Not the date of the photo but the purchase of my beloved Cherry Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul from a much-missed back-street music store that also sold prams and cots. I’d mortgaged all my 1992 Christmas present allocation to get a loan to secure this beauty. When I got it home. I instantly took off the scratch plate and de-tuned it a semitone to get the full Slash (Guns-‘N-Roses) effect. It got me through University and has continued to preserve my sanity every year since. I upgraded the humbuckers about ten years ago and still play it to this day. And, yes, it’s still de-tuned a semitone…

That Time I Could See Inside Old Trafford

On By pauljbenthamIn Photo of the Week

30 years ago | Old Trafford, Manchester, UK | July 1992
In the close season before the first Premier League season, I made my regular summer trip to Old Trafford to purchase the new home shirt on the day of its release from the Club ‘Superstore’ (the small rectangular building in the bottom-right corner). I remember walking around the ground to see the demolished Stratford End and peering over the construction site wall, to see the interior of the ground. Incidentally, the beige bit of land across the Quays is now the Lowry and the green bit behind that is now the BBC.