Final Curtain: Eamonn Bannon's Last Game for Dundee Utd (V Celtic, Scottish Cup Final, 14 May 1988)
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Summary
EAMONN Bannon started his career as a fledgling 18 year old at local club Hearts. In his 71 appearances for the Edinburgh side the midfielder scored 19 times, impressing enough to earn Scotland Under- 21 caps and a GBP 220,000 move to Chelsea in 1979. Manager Danny Blanchflower saw the Hearts man as an ideal replacement for the departing playmaker Ray Wilkins and Bannon's impactive play soon cemented a regular first-team spot in West London. The honeymoon period wasn't to last though and following a poor run of results Blanchflower was replaced by Geoff Hurst as manager - and the Scotsman fell out of favour. Not content with warming the bench, Bannon looked elsewhere for his football and Dundee United paid GBP 165,000 to take him back to Scotland, a new record for a Scottish club. It was a golden period in United's history and, under Jim McLean's leadership, Bannon helped them win back-to-back Scottish League Cups in his first two seasons. Better was to come. Bannon, now the midfield talisman and penalty kick taker, was a key member of the United team which won the Premier Division title for the first time in their history in 1982-83, breaking records in goals scored and points gained in a single season.
The pinnacle of United's achievements came in 1987, when they became the first Scottish club to reach the Uefa Cup final, losing out to IFK Gothenburg after beating Barcelona at home and away in the quarter-final.See the full content of this document
Extract
Final Curtain: Eamonn Bannon's Last Game for Dundee Utd (V Celtic, Scottish Cup Final, 14 May 1988)
Bannon's final appearance in tangerine ...
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