Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham were a brilliant partnership at John Docherty's Millwall.
By Joe Bernstein. Thursday, 01 April 2004.
Legendary strike partners Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino helped Millwall reach the top of the old First Division. Now they hope to see the class of 2004 take the club to their first FA Cup Final.
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The FA Cup
Semi-Final
Sunderland v Millwall
04 April 2004
Old Trafford, 1.00pm |
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When Tony met Teddy back in 1987, people thought Millwall manager John Docherty had taken leave of his senses by trying to play them together.
"Neither of us had blistering pace", conceded Cascarino. "Everyone assumed it wouldn’t work", recalls partner-in-crime Sheringham.
History proved Docherty right, however, and Sheringham and Cascarino became the most lethal pairing since Starsky and Hutch.
Between 1987 and 1990, their goals helped Millwall win promotion to the top flight and they even topped the League in October 1988 before finishing the season a respectable 10th.
"People thought we were too similar to develop an understanding. But the more people said that, the more we were determined to prove them wrong", said Sheringham, whose record 111 goals for Millwall is under threat from current centre-forward Neil Harris.
"At the time Tony was a big signing for the club – he was a lot better-known than me. He had already played for the Republic of Ireland and he cost £200,000 from Gillingham in the summer of 1987 and the reaction was ‘Blimey, Tony Cascarino is coming to play for us’.
"The great thing was that he came in and was instantly one of the lads, having a laugh with the rest of us. He wasn’t a prima donna at all.
"We had a lot of great times and the team spirit at the club was fantastic. The key match in our promotion season was at Elland Road. It was a real test up there but we won 1-0 with a goal from Terry Hurlock and after that we knew we could do it."
Cascarino, who had burst into the professional game late after working on a building site, remembers the moment it all clicked with Sheringham.
"The first couple of matches hadn’t gone that well but we were both gelling in training, so we knew it was a matter of time", he explains.
"We were both good athletes and could run the channels while the other one got into the box. Then we won 4-0 in a pre-season friendly at Aldershot. We scored two each and I remember going away from the game thinking ‘I can really play with this guy’".
After their Millwall days, Sheringham and Cascarino both went on to have glittering careers at other clubs and, come Sunday, both players will be united by a common wish - to see Millwall reach their first FA Cup Final.
You can read more from Tony Cascarino, Teddy Sheringham as well as other players past and present in the official FA Cup Semi-Final programme. To buy your copy, go to either of the below sites...
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