May 18, 1991: The Curse of Gazza

Gary Charles (2) and Paul Gascoigne (8)

May 18, 1991: The FA Cup Final is held at the old Wembley Stadium in London. In the 14th minute, Paul Gascoigne of North London club Tottenham Hotspur lays a nasty tackle on Nottingham Forest right back Gary Charles. That's right, a midfielder doing that to a defender, not the other way around. In so doing, "Gazza" wrecks his knee.

In spite of losing their best player, the most celebrated English player of the time, "Spurs" win, 2-1, when Forest's Des Walker scores an own goal in extra time. This, just 4 years after Gary Mabbutt's own goal beat Spurs to give Coventry City the Cup in 1987.

Although Prince Charles and Princess Diana are in attendance, it is Katharine, Duchess of Kent who hands the Cup to Captain Gary Mabbutt -- who redeems himself, since the last team to lose a Cup Final on an own goal was Tottenham, on his, 4 years earlier. (It hasn't happened in the 30 years since.)

What was not widely known during that Final was that Spurs were losing money like crazy, and had already agreed to sell Gazza to Lazio of Rome. His time in Italy was an injury-riddled, scandal-ridden disaster. He would come back to Britain and help Rangers win 2 Scottish titles, and have a brief flash of glory in the 1996 European Championships. But his drinking would get him bounced from club to club, and by 2004 he was done as a player.

From 1998 to 2017, he was in rehab for alcohol and other drugs 10 times in 19 years. As of 2022, he admits he still drinks, and looks far older than his 55 years. (UPDATE: In 2024, he admitted that he was homeless, living at his agent's house, and going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.)

This 1991 match has also been Spurs' last visit to the FA Cup Final. They would lose Semifinals in 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2010, 2012, 2017 and 2018 -- the 1993 and 2001 editions to North London arch-rivals Arsenal, whom they beat in the 1991 Semifinal. Unless you want to count the 1999 and 2008 League Cups, Spurs haven't won a major trophy in a quarter of a century. "Big club"? If this were an American sports franchise, we'd be talking about "The Curse of Gazza." (UPDATE: They won the League Cup in 2025.)

It was also the last major match for Forest manager Brian Clough. For all he won -- 2 European Cups at Forest, and League titles at both Forest and their arch-rivals, Derby County -- he never won the FA Cup, in a career as a player and manager that stretched from 1955 to 1993. Although he lived to be 69, booze did him in, too.

Des Walker was a good player who had an awful moment. He did win 2 League Cups with Forest. He played for England in the 1990 World Cup, and would have played for themin the 1994 World Cup, but England didn't qualify. He has 2 sons: Tyler plays for Forest, and Lewis played for Derby.

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May 18, 1991 was, like all FA Cup Final days, a Saturday. There was better news for Britain on the day: They got their 1st astronaut. The launch of the Soviet Union’s Soyuz TM-12 included Helen Sharman, the 1st British person in space, and the 1st European (other than Russian) woman in space. The Sheffield native was known as “The Girl from Mars,” not because she wanted to visit the planet of that name, but because she had worked as a chemist for the candy company of that name.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 2 and 3. The Pittsburgh Penguins would beat the Minnesota North Stars. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs, Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-106 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Seattle Mariners, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium. Pat Rice (no relation to the famed Arsenal defender of the same name) outpitched Scott Sanderson. Pete O'Brien hit a home run, and Ken Griffey Jr. went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. For the Yankees, Jesse Barfield hit a home run, and Don Mattingly went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th to win it. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Dodgers.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The California Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Dave Winfield went 1-for-5 for the Angels. Cal Ripken went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. How many A's pitchers does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? Under manager Tony La Russa, apparently, 5: Andy Hawkins, 3 hits over 5 1/3rd innings; Dana Allison, pitched to 1 batter and got him out; Steve Chitren, 1 hitless inning; Joe Klink, a perfect inning and 1/3d; and Dennis Eckersley, 1 hit in the 9th. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3, but had 2 walks and a stolen base.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Tony Fernández went 4-for-5.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 12-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett did not play. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 3-for-5.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 13-5 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Kenny Rogers outpitched Roger Clemens.

* And the Montreal Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.