'Nobody gave us a chance': Teale on 30th anniversary of League Cup win
Thirty years ago today, Aston Villa were celebrating at Wembley after winning the League Cup.
Ron Atkinson’s team beat Manchester United 3-1 to capture the trophy in 1994, capping a magnificent run in the competition.
To mark the anniversary, tough tackling defender Shaun Teale talked us through his memories of Villa’s road to victory…
You were part of the 1994 League Cup-winning team. How do you remember that crazy run to the final?
“It was very crazy in the sense that most of our games were away from home. We played Birmingham City in the second round in a two-legged tie, which was strange at the time. We won both legs to get them out the way. We then got absolutely battered by Sunderland and the only person who kept us in the game was Mark Bosnich – he made so many unbelievable saves. You look at the score and see Villa won 4-1 and think that must have been quite easy – it wasn’t, we got battered big time and Bozzy kept us in it. Every time we attacked, we scored. We probably should have gone out the cup and we ended up coasting through. Then we had Arsenal away, where we played very well and deserved to go through, before we played Tottenham away. We’re into the semi-finals then with Tranmere, which is part of Villa folklore nowadays.”
Villa were favourites against Tranmere from the league below in the last four. What are your memories of that epic semi-final?
“I didn’t play in the first leg as I was suspended for getting sent off at Grimsby for fighting. We were 3-1 down from the first leg, so it was an enormous test. We got the perfect start when Deano (Saunders) scored and then I scored with a diving header. At 3-3, you’re thinking, ‘We’re going to go through now’. Then Bozzy brought John Aldridge down and he scored a penalty to put them in the lead again. The minutes seemed to go past really quickly and two minutes from time, Tony (Daley) goes down the right and crosses to Dalian, who heads it in. It was a draining day.”
Is it a match that stands out in your Villa career?
“Whenever I go to Villa Park, I get asked if that’s the most iconic game I played in. Most people would say, ‘We went to Wembley and beat United’, but we don’t get to play United unless you get through games like that. The crowd was just unbelievable that day; I still say it’s the best atmosphere I’ve ever seen at Villa Park. It got us through to the twin towers and it’s every player’s dream to play at Wembley.”
What are your memories of the final and beating Manchester United 3-1?
“I thoroughly enjoyed my day at Wembley. We knew it was going to be difficult – nobody gave us a chance. We certainly surprised an awful lot of people. We played really well on the day and deserved to win it. Ron brought Graham Fenton into the team to play a five-man midfield, and it was a little bit of a masterstroke that confused United. We stifled their midfield pretty well. We had to defend for long periods but you’d expect to do that against the United team of that time.”
Was being at Wembley with a trophy a point where you could reflect on how far you’d come in your career?
“Certainly. Four years earlier I was playing at Weymouth, so it was a huge step in my career to go from Weymouth to Wembley. I’d learnt so much along the way from players and managers, and it was the culmination of all the hard work I’d put in to get there. It came to fruition on that day.”
