Saturday 21st. August 1976
Highbury Stadium
Attendance 41,082
Memorable Matches 10
Cheesley Leap Beats Gunners.
On a beautiful summer Saturday the M4 motorway was a mass of red and white as thousands of Bristolians headed for Highbury and Bristol City’s first match in the top flight of English football for 65 years.
The upstarts from the West Country stood no chance to listen to the bookmakers and the somewhat biased London press. They had a point however, newly promoted City had no internationals, Arsenal fielded seven in this line-up-
Rimmer, Rice, Nelson, Ross, O’Leary, Simpson, Ball,
Armstrong, Macdonald, Radford, Cropley (Storey).
Apart from the novelty of a Bristol side in the first division, much of the pre match hype had centred on Malcolm Macdonald, playing his first Arsenal match, following his £330,000 transfer from Newcastle United.
Once again in complete contrast, City had no new signings on show, relying on the promotion team from the previous season.
City were, then, supposed to be sacrificial lambs but no-one had read them the script and they fully deserved their shock win, an opinion endorsed by television commentator Brian Moore when the highlights were later televised.
Macdonald was limited to a single chance, a quick turn and forceful shot which Cashley in City’s goal was pleased to see clear the bar.
City constructed four or five excellent chances with Cheesley heading against a post and Rimmer making wonderful saves from Mann and Tainton. The all important goal arrived on 65 minutes. A long Cashley clearance was met by Cheesley who nodded the ball to Ritchie, the angular Scot made strides into Arsenal territory before being forced to the right hand side of the penalty box. Ritchie slipped the ball back to Whitehead who was rushing up in support and the winger’s first time cross found Cheesley who met the ball with a prodigious leap and powered a header into Rimmer’s left hand corner, giving the Arsenal stopper no chance to save.
City had confounded all the critics and made the best possible start to what was to be a four year stay in the top flight.
City Team
Cashley, Sweeney, Drysdale, Gow, Collier, Merrick, Tainton, Ritchie, Mann, Cheesley, Whitehead.
