Kevin Whitcher
Well yesterday evening, due to being on a media list that sees a multitude of PR emails drop into my inbox, I was invited along for a screening of a new BT Sport film, The Crazy Gang on Wimbledon’s team in the late 1980s. Declaration of interest: the screening took place in the BT Tower, with food and drink post-screening at the top of the tower in what used to be the revolving restaurant. I thought they had stopped revolving it these days, but lo and behold, once we were up there it started moving. The view of London at night was well worth the trip.
Anyway, the film-come-documentary. First a couple of interesting Arsenal connections. Nigel Winterburn moved from Wimbledon to Arsenal in the summer of 1987, at the start of the season which saw the Dons go on to win the FA Cup. There is footage of Winterburn in the Plough Lane dressing rooms with a mid-80s mullet which bring back memories, as he retained it for his early months at Highbury. Additionally, the abilities of Don Howe as a coach are highlighted as the players talk in awe of his contribution when he was drafted in to assist Bobby Gould after he replaced Dave Bassett around the same time as Winterburn moved. The documentary gives some idea of what made the latter the player he was, in terms of attitude and determination.
However, it’s worth watching for a lot more than the Arsenal connections, because it is a fascinating insight into how the club over-achieved with a mixture of route one football, physical aggression and well, ‘team bonding’. The interviews are very revealing, possibly moreso than the participants realized at the time, largely due to the editing. It’s a tale with both humour and some frankly very dark elements. If anything, it put me in mind of what reputedly happens in army training. It’s pretty much a case of sink or swim, and if you don’t adapt, you won’t last. The story of the no-holds barred utter hatred between John Fashanu and Lawrie Sanchez is detailed, two characters who could never get on, yet played in the same cup winning team. The interview with John Scales was like something out of the BBC radio programme In the Psychiatrist’s Chair. Several of the players were in attendance at BT Tower, including Fashanu, Scales, Terry Phelan and Dave Beasant, as well as Gould, Bassett and Sam Hamman. Significantly, Sanchez wasn’t. It seemed like a friendly reunion, although one suspects it might have been frostier if everyone had showed.
Some of the stories and revelations will shock you, and as (from memory) one of the participants said, Fashanu is worth a documentary of his own. Life at Plough Lane was never comfortable for visiting teams, with such tactics as not having any heating in the dressing room, or toilet paper, with only one useable toilet that might not always flush. But it wasn’t comfortable for the Wimbledon players either, with the constant practical jokes an accepted part of the routine. It’s a million miles from the pampered lives of Premier League footballers today. Whether that is for better or worse is one for debate, but there is no question the film is well worth watching if, by Boxing Day, you want to catch something a bit different from Toy Story 3.
’The Crazy Gang’ airs on BT Sport 1 on 26th December at 9pm
