As all eyes are firmly pinned on Roma and everyone is wishing for any player to make themselves a hero, thoughts turned to the first man to shoulder this responsibility. In late March 1914, Liverpool faced Aston Villa at White Hart Lane in their fourth FA Cup Semi-final. Before the game Villa were huge favourites, they finished that season in 2nd place and Liverpool were down in 16th, this led to reports stating that ‘to the London Press there was really no need to study Liverpool and Aston Villa … The simple fact was that the match was over and the Villa had won’. Despite this, Liverpool turned up on the day and delivered a huge shock.
The attention must now turn to Jimmy Nicholl [pictured below]. His manager, Tom Watson, signed his new outside left from Middlesbrough and he scored nine goals in his first season at the club. The man from Port Glasgow was described by Watson as someone who ‘isn’t a brilliant forward, but he’s a useful one and he can shoot!’. This may seem rather uncomplimentary, but for a player who scored 14 in 59 for the club this may be a true statement. Big games often call for big players, however Nicholl was a surprise to many spectators to leave the field with two goals against big favourites Aston Villa.
After half an hour George Ramsay’s Villa side were rattled after Nicholl ‘headed the leather into the net’ from a Jackie Sheldon cross. Nicholl was close to his second after he struck the bar following the half-time break, the Liverpool players were convinced it had rebounded down and over the line but no goal was given, Villa keeper Sam Hardy said after the game that it had gone in. The game remained tight and later in the half Liverpool’s lead and Nicholl’s tally was doubled. Arthur Metcalf smashed the bar and Nicholl was there again to follow up and put his side two ahead. Nicholl had become the hero of a team that had established a brilliant cup run and he was painfully unlucky not to have been awarded a hat-trick.
Legendary Liverpool defender Ephraim Longworth said that ‘some kind of fate looked after us’ after they won that massive game. They owed a lot to the man who looked after their goal too. Liverpool goalkeeper and fellow Scot, Ken Campbell performed spectacularly on the day too. Simply described by the Liverpool Echo as ‘Campbell A1’, Campbell’s performance was enough to keep out an impressive Villa team. As he left the pitch at half time, moments after a great save from Villa’s Charlie Wallace, he was greeted with a ‘tremendous reception’ which illustrates his role in the game. Campbell said after the game that it was his nose that saved the shot and that he did not deserve the credit he received.
Campbell [pictured above] explained how Tom Watson [below] had delivered a rousing speech on the day of the game to his team. Watson played on the disrespect shown towards Liverpool by the London press and Aston Villa as they were so heavily favoured for the game. Campbell said:
After calling the London press anything but sportsmen, he finished up by saying – “Never mind, boys, I want you to turn out today and show them up. Show them there are more players than Aston Villa in the semi-final!” He was red in the face when he finished, and banged his fist on the table setting everything jumping. His speech did more than anything else to brace us up. He was a general favourite, and we players would have done anything for him. Why? Because he was all a manager should be – a father to the players, a man you could go to with any worry or trouble. I do not think a better manager ever lived. We left Chingford with the good wishes of all in the hotel, and several old shoes were tied to our taxis “for luck.” Our hearts warmed a bit when we reached the ground at White Hart Lane and found a goodly crowd of our supporters all the way from Liverpool wearing the club colours. It bucked us up considerably to know we were not exactly neglected.
After the game the Villa players left the pitch embarrassed and disgruntled, only Sam Hardy of Villa came into the Liverpool dressing room to congratulate the winning side. Watson had played on the role of the media and the opposition team’s over confidence to deliver an unexpected win for his unfavoured side. Liverpool’s team, which as well as Nicholl and Campbell had a further four Scots in their starting line-up, were awarded a hero’s welcome at Liverpool Lime Street by all those not fortunate enough to travel to the game.
Following a rousing speech from Watson, a faultless Campbell performance and Nicholl making himself an unlikely hero, Liverpool were on their way to Wembley for the first time. Liverpool are again faced with an opportunity to get themselves into their thirteenth European Final, a Klopp speech, Karius clean sheet and an unlikely hero could be all that separates Liverpool from Kiev but they will be hoping to go one step further than the Liverpool team of 104 years ago who lost the FA Cup Final to Burnley 1-0.
