Peterborough United v Liverpool remembered as defender hurls abuse at Graeme Souness, plus great wins and great nights that led to lock-ins!

It was tribal. Welsh was the Celtic FC fanatic and Souness the man who played and managed Glasgow rivals Rangers. The Scottish centre-back’s post-match instincts after a famous 1-0 success seemed perfectly natural, to him at least.

“Looking back I did lose it a bit,” Welsh, who is now Head of Academy at Doncaster Rovers, stated. “But he was a big Rangers man and that was enough for me not to like him.

“As soon as the final whistle went, Souness did his handshakes and headed off down the tunnel and I charged after him calling him all sorts of names. He turned round and started wagging his fingers at me, but I didn’t care at all. I just didn’t like the man.

“My neighbour used to stand near the players’ tunnel back then and he watched all this happen with his mouth wide open. ‘Are you okay Steve?’ He eventually said.

“And of course I was. We’d just beaten Liverpool and we’d just beaten Graeme Souness. I couldn’t be any happier!

“The players then piled over to the Wag & Bone and the landlord organised a lock-in and we stayed all night before heading to Mannings Cafe near the market the next morning and waiting for the Evening Telegraph to come out.

“It was just the greatest time in the company of some outstanding team-mates.”

Welsh had only joined Posh, from local foes Cambridge United, at the start of what would be the greatest season in the club’s history under Chris Turner’s management.

That Liverpool win secured by Garry Kimble’s early goal meant Posh reached the quarter finals of the League Cup competition. They also enjoyed a long run in the Auto Windscreens Shield before securing back-to-back promotions and a place in the second tier of English football for the first time in the club’s history with a Division Three play-off final win over Stockport at Wembley.

“We must have played 60-odd games or so that season (it was 65),” Welsh recalled. “But my god we were fit. If that match at Wembley had gone to extra time I’m sure we would have won it.

“The League Cup run was just the start of it. We’d beaten Aldershot, Wimbledon and Ossie Ardiles’s Newcastle before we drew Liverpool and the whole town was buzzing.

“The players fancied it, but ‘Turns’ told us we all had to play at 100% and hope that a few of theirs had off nights and that’s exactly how it panned out.

“Of course Liverpool had a goalkeeper (Bruce Grobbelaar) who used to make mistakes and that’s exactly what happened early in the game and Kimble scored. Grobbelaar than made an unbelievable save to keep out Ken Charlery, but the LIverpool onslaught that everyone probably expected never came.

“We were pretty comfortable throughout and I can only remember Fred Barber making one save and that was late on when Steve Staunton took a pot shot from outside the area. I was up against Steve McManaman and Dean Saunders and sometimes Ray Houghton, but we all played well.

“It wasn’t a vintage Liverpool side by any means, certainly nowhere near as good as the current side, but they still had class players like Jan Molby, Mark Wright and Steve Nichol so they should have been good enough to see us off.

Teams: Posh: Barber, Luke, Johnson, Halsall, D. Robinson, Welsh, Sterling, G. Cooper, Charlery. Riley. Kimble.

Liverpool: Grobbelaar, Nichol, Burrows, Ablett, Wright, Tanner, Molby, Saunders, Houghton, McManaman, Marsh. Sub used: Harkness.

“We already had a lot of confidence, but that win was really a boost. We went on to lose to Middlesbrough in a replay when the winners were due to meet Manchester United in the semi-final so that was a rare disappointment for us. ‘Turns’ picked young Hamish Curtis for that game as he felt he was the only one quick enough to keep up with dangerman Stuart Ripley and he did a good job until Ripley curled home a wonder goal late on.

“‘Turns’ signed Bobby Barnes and Tony Adcock from Northampton in January and we took off in the league winning nine in a row and ending up in the play-offs.

“We were a top side now with a top manager. ‘Turns’ was the best man manager I played for. He knew you had to put your arm round Worrell Sterling and be careful what you said to Bobby Barnes. He used to rollock me and Dave Robinson as he knew we would react well.

“Two moments won us the match at Wembley as Lee Howarth’s unbelievable block was quickly followed by Ken Charlery’s winning goal. It was a poor game in blistering heat, but no-one cared. Lee had come on for me as I suffered a dead leg about 20 minutes from time.

“That was another great occasion, but winning at Huddersfield in the play-off semi-final topped it for me. I didn’t miss many games that season, but I missed the first leg at home when we drew 2-2 so I was up for the second leg and what a performance we put on despite conceding an early goal.

“Worrell and Steve Cooper scored the goals as we won 2-1 and there was bedlam on the the final whistle with a pitch invasion and all sorts going. The atmosphere had been incredible all night.

“It was a Thursday night so we headed back to L’Aristos in the middle of an industrial estate in Peterborough thinking it would be buzzing, but there was no-one there. It was a tumbleweed experience so we had to head over to the Wag & Bone again for another lock-in!”

This time there was no-one to chase.

More from Steve Welsh on life before and after Posh online tomorrow (April 7). A Posh/Liverpool special in the PT on Thursday (April 9).