Looks Like Scunny Next Season – Review
18 Jun
May, 1999. Gillingham have just doubled their advantage in the Division Two play-off final and, riddled with dejection and helplessness, City’s manager Joe Royle turns to Willie Donachie and mutters, “it looks like Scunny next season.” Resigned to defeat in one of the club’s most important ever fixtures, Royle is forced to contemplate another season in the third tier of English football and the impending visit to Scunthorpe to face the side promoted the previous day from Division Three.
The rest – the comeback, Kevin Horlock’s strike, Paul Dickov’s last-gasp winner, the sheer drama of penalties and Nicky Weaver’s subsequent frenetic celebration - is history, etched forever into our memories, a dazzling concoction of hope, dread, relief and pure ecstasy. Fifteen years on from that remarkable day, David J. Mooney speaks to the manager and every member of the City squad who featured that day to recount the story of Wembley ’99.
As a concept, it’s fascinating. Mooney travels far and wide to meet all those involved and his engaging style manifests itself in a series of enlightening interviews. Whether in offering an insight into how the club had fallen into Division Two, the struggles early on in the campaign to come to terms with the lowly situation, the promotion push following a pivotal victory away to Wrexham or the detailed analysis of the encounter at Wembley, Looks Like Scunny Next Season is an thoroughly enjoyable account, one that lifelong City supporters will read with fond memories.
At times poignant, none more so than when Jeff Whitley recounts his troubles with drink, drugs and depression, it is a touching book, one that neatly encapsulates the team spirit that was evident in the squad that season. That, indeed, is one of the main themes of Mooney’s latest offering, the togetherness and never-say-die attitude, largely fostered by assistant manager Willie Donachie, that ultimately served the club so well. Of the fourteen players interviewed, the vast majority talk about the character of the group, the spirit and unity that propelled City from mid-table struggles to promotion. Against QPR many years later at the Etihad Stadium, when Sergio Aguero clinched the Premier League in unforgettable circumstances, together was the buzzword. Looks Like Scunny Next Season highlights how the 1999 squad enjoyed a similar shared belief.
Since the game, the players have spread to all parts of the world. Some have moved into coaching. One went as far afield as Azerbaijan to continue his footballing career. Another spent time working for Audi in Lincoln. And all that pales into comparison with the former City defender who became a gunner in the RAF and has been deployed in Afghanistan. The book primarily focuses on the events of Wembley ’99, but these snippets into the present day lives of the ex-players is captivating and it’s positively striking to see just how many still retain a burning passion for the club.
If you want to find out which player was designated to take the fifth penalty in the shootout, who bemoaned the absence of Jaffa Cakes at Wembley and who the two members of the squad were who alleviated the pre-game tension by standing outside in the pouring rain for as long as possible, Looks Like Scunny Next Season is the perfect book for you. More than those titbits of information, however, the level of detail and warmth in the interviews is what stands out.
Wembley ’99 is a day that will always be remembered fondly. This book more than does the story justice.
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