FA Cup Semi Final 1996, Liverpool 3-0 Aston Villa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbCDJEGS0cM (go to 4:32)
“You are looking at a goal scoring genius”- Martin Tyler
From 1991 to 1994, Liverpool looked like a spent force. Yes we won the cup in 92, but in 3 seasons in the league, we finished 6th twice in a row and 8th. There was very little optimism around the place. And for me, a kid just reaching puberty, who had, in my short life so far, known nothing but success, it was all a bit depressing. I even went off football for a bit, as I moved to Beirut where there was no way to follow the sport.
Until that kid wearing the number 23 came along and I feel head over heels for the sport again.
Robbie Fowler was, is and I suspect forever will be, the best striker I’ve ever seen wear the Liverpool shirt. I’ve seen Aldridge, Beardsley, Rush, Owen, Torres, Suarez and Carroll (ahem…). Not a single one of them can hold a candle to Fowler in his pomp.
He was devastating to watch. He could score from absolutely anywhere, in any situation. He would lob the keeper, flick the ball over his head and volley it in, shoot from 30 yards, or poach from 3 inches away. He mixed impudence with efficiency, cheekiness with fight and desire.
He was just as comfortable in the area as he was outside of it. He had imagination and creativity in his finishing along with the air of a man who loved playing for his hometown’s premier football club.
For my generation, Robbie Fowler was the symbol of the renaissance of the club and the guardian of all our dreams. For us, he was our Dalglish, Torres, Gerrard all rolled into one.
He made us kids do funny things. I fought (and lost) the war with my parents to dye my hair blonde. I wrote his name everywhere in school. I bought those nose plaster thingys. I copied his shirt turning celebration. I started wishing I was left footed. I memorized his birthday by heart and, even as a 31 year old “adult”, I can still remember it (9th of April 1975 if you’re interested).
There are so many great Robbie Fowler moments it’s hard to narrow them down: the 5 goals against Fulham, the fastest hat trick in league history against Arsenal, those 2 at Old Trafford, that insanely good goal when he turned Staunton, Birmingham and that volley, Alaves, the backwards lob versus Charlton, the goodbye hat trick against Leicester, the Bergen one which I still haven’t seen anyone else do… You could literally write a book about great Robbie Fowler goals.
And that’s not to mention anything about his character. The sniffing the white like celebration, the time he jumped on a steward in the 2001 cup semi final, the “smack head” celebration at Goodison, the 5 times to United fans, the Le Saux jibes, the Dockers support, the Seaman penalty incident… He combined jaw dropping talent with moments of sheer laugh out loud brilliance.
He was still a kid but was scoring world class goals. Every week. His brilliance was deciding games by itself. For a while, it seemed Robbie could take us anywhere we wanted to go, and reach heights very few players would ever reach.
Never was that more apparent that on cup semi final day against Aston Villa in 1996.
We’d won the league cup the season before, but we really wanted this competition. One, because it was obviously more prestigious, but also because it was the only competition Bob Paisley had never won as manager- and he had passed away on Saint Valentine’s Day that year.
After reaching the semis following a replay win against Leeds, we faced Aston Villa. A side we’d beaten twice that season (with Fowler scoring 3 out of the 5 goals) and that had succeeded us as League Cup winners.
But, thanks to 2 wonderful goals from the still only 21 years old Robbie Fowler, we put them away.
The first was magnificent but, due to the sheer wonder of his goal repertoire, barely remembered. He moves past the defender in a flash and sends a diving, sideways header into the bottom corner of the net. There are very few players in the history of football that can score goals like this. Fowler is one of them.
The second is better known and sums Fowler’s talents up more than any other goal. It’s one where he combines his instinctive predatory skills, great movement, impudence and superb finishing technique. It’s a goal that no other striker in England could have scored back then.
As the free kick comes in, Robbie has the instinct to step away from the box in anticipation of a rebound. Low and behold, the ball falls exactly to where he’s moved to. He chests it down and sends a bullet of a half volley past Bosnich. 2-0 with a couple of minutes left. We were in the final.
Mcateer added a 3rd but it was all about Robbie Fowler. At such a young age, he was already everything to the team. He was the one we thought would write a whole lot of new chapters in the club’s history.
A few days later, he scored 2 more in the classic 4-3 victory over Newcastle. He’d end up with 36 goals that season and 31 the season after. We’d miss out on the cup that season but Robbie would grab 3 more medals in the treble season of 2001. He’d score in the League and Uefa Cup finals, and shoot us into the Champions League.
But his star would never burn as bright as on Cup semi final day at Old Trafford in 1996. In an era where he dominated, that was the day when, more than any other, he seemed to have the whole world at his feet.
That was the day God ruled the world.
MY JOURNEY 