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Behind the photo

Scissors on the train: Sexton and Osgood give the Cup final hero a trim

By True Blues · 1970-04-30

Photo: private archive

Caption: Two frames in a railway carriage. Dave Webb sits wrapped in a white barber's towel, wide-eyed. On the left, manager Dave Sexton, in shirt and tie, holds the scissors. On the right, Peter Osgood, in a suit, lifts a lock of hair and laughs. The journey back from Manchester after the 1970 FA Cup final replay.

People in the photo

  • Dave Webb

    Defender — the “customer”, and scorer of the winner

    Born in Stratford in 1946, he arrived from Southampton in February 1968. At Wembley he suffered against Eddie Gray. For the replay Sexton moved him into central defence, and he headed the extra-time winner. He wore almost every shirt number and once played a whole game in goal, keeping a clean sheet (Ipswich, December 1971). Left for QPR in 1974.

    Chelsea apps: 230 games, 21 goals

  • Dave Sexton

    Manager — on scissors

    Chelsea manager from 1967 to 1974. Delivered the club's first FA Cup (1970) and first European trophy, the 1971 Cup Winners' Cup in Athens. Died in 2012.

    Chelsea apps: Manager 1967–1974

  • Peter Osgood

    Striker — the barber's assistant

    In the replay he had equalised at Old Trafford with a diving header from Charlie Cooke's chip, completing a goal in every round of that season's Cup.

    Chelsea apps: 150 goals in 380 games

    Legend profile →

Look at Dave Webb's eyes. This is the man who has just won Chelsea their first FA Cup, and he is sitting wrapped in a towel like a boy at the barber's, staring at the camera as if he can't believe what is happening. Above him, manager Dave Sexton snips away. Beside him, Peter Osgood holds up the tufts and laughs his head off.

A final that took two games

On 11 April 1970 at Wembley, Chelsea and Leeds drew 2–2 after extra time on a pitch like a ploughed field. For Webb it was a nightmare: playing right-back, he was tormented all afternoon by Leeds winger Eddie Gray.

Sexton changed everything for the replay on 29 April 1970 at Old Trafford. Webb moved into the middle and the uncompromising Ron Harris took Gray. Leeds led, Osgood equalised with a diving header from Charlie Cooke's chip, and in extra time a long Ian Hutchinson throw found Webb's head: 2–1. Wembley's worst player had become Manchester's hero.

The haircut

The photos were taken on the train back from Manchester, and the caption that has done the rounds for decades talks about a short back and sides for the hero. One detail: Sexton himself later told The Independent that the team travelled back to London by train the next day, to a reception at Fulham Town Hall. So the trim most likely happened on that next-day journey, not on the night of the match.

Why is it such a loved picture? It shows Sexton's team the way people who lived through it remember them: gifted, a bit mad, with a manager happy to play barber for a day and his biggest star acting as assistant.

Photo: private archive.

Sources: Chelsea FC – Match centre rewind: 1970 FA Cup final replay, BBC Sport, The Independent – Dave Sexton recalls, Wikipedia – David Webb, Wikipedia – Dave Sexton.

Sources

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