1991 FA Cup Final Tottenham Hotspur v Nottingham Forest (Spurs) [DVD]

Would be 5 star for the match and drama. Very interesting to watch a game from this era today. Unfortunately, as the other reviewer pointed out, the commentary is a bit of a let down.

The final that brought together the two most enigmatic men in British football, Paul Gascoigne and Brian Clough, and would end in near disaster for the former and bitter disappointment for the latter, is not so much a game of football as a relic from a period of time just before the game in Britain was irrevocably changed. The formation of the Premier League and the rebranding of the European cup as the Champions League the following year would signal the death knell for the cup and represent a watershed for English football. This arguably represents one of the last times the final really mattered. Sit back and enjoy a time when teams were composed almost exclusively of homegrown players, shirts were numbered 1-11 and uniform black boots were the norm. Though mainly remembered now for 10 minutes of lunacy from Gazza, the match has many other noteworthy incidents to recommend it, such as: a thunderous free kick by Stuart Pearce (and brilliantly understated celebration) a belligerent Roy Keane throwing his weight around and giving us a glimpse of the snarling figure that would become a familiar sight over the next ten years, Crossley superbly denying Lineker from the penalty spot, the misfortune of Des Walker, scoring the own goal that would gift the cup to the club that let him go as a youngster and Clough wistfully staring into the distance after the final whistle, realising he was destined never to win the one major trophy that had always eluded him. Though not quite up there with the Coventry-Spurs or United-Palace finals for sheer excitement this is still a highly absorbing game and, as result of Gascoigne's meltdown, will always have a place in English football folklore.However, while the game delivers, the DVD doesn't really do it justice for the simple reason that the commentary is not from the original broadcast. This is a huge minus. Hearing someone try to manufacture the drama of events years after they happened will never capture the atmosphere of that day. There are no extras to speak of, so it's debatable whether you even need to buy this. Just wait for someone to upload it to YouTube and save your money.