Wrexham FC were involved in the greatest away goals rule win of all time

IT was a phone call to Alex Ferguson that started the ball rolling...but the rest was all down to Bobby Roberts and his Wrexham team.

Porto 1984 - a date that’s etched in the memories of all Wrexham fans.

Six years earlier arguably the club’s greatest team ever made it to within one promotion of football’s top division with packed-out Racecourse crowds week in, week out. In 1984, the Reds were playing in front of just 1,500 diehard supporters, fighting off the threat of re-election and the nightmare prospect of non-league football.

Finishing 20th in Division Four the season before at least ended the threat of a relegation hat-trick.

The one silver-lining on the dark clouds that had permanently hovered over The Racecourse was that Shrewsbury Town had won the Welsh Cup, and because they were English, runners-up Wrexham were back in Europe and paired against Portuguese giants Porto in the first round of the European Cup Winners Cup.

Roberts had arrived at Wrexham in June 1982, replacing Mel Sutton as boss after a stint in charge at Colchester.

“The club had spent a lot of money on players and the wages were high,” said Roberts. “It was a shoestring budget when I arrived and we were losing players. Joey Jones went. Gareth Davies - a fabulous centre half - retired and then Eddie Niedzwiecki was sold after we were relegated in that first season.

“It was hard but we brought in some good players. Jim Steel, the two lads from Shrewsbury - Jake King and Jackie Keay.

“Shaun Cunnington came through the ranks too and the club made some money out of him when he was sold to Grimsby.

“Robbie Savage was another good player to come in on loan from Liverpool. I could have signed him permanently but the board said they had contacts at Anfield and would work on doing a deal themselves.”

Roberts also had used all his powers of persuasion to sign a young midfielder from Rhyl called Barry Horne, who would go on to captain Wales.

“He was a good player,” recalled Roberts. “We had to sign him. They only wanted £2,500 and that was nothing for a player who looked so good even at that young age.”

Horne would then go on to play the leading role in that Porto giant-killing - one the man himself calls Wrexham’s best result of all time.

For Horne, the 22-year-old from Bagillt in Flintshire, it was the beginning of a professional career that would ultimately lead to much bigger and better things.

“I’d only been playing for Wrexham for two months,” said Horne. “I’d left university, Bobby Roberts had signed me from Rhyl and then the Porto game happened.

“I know fans talk about the 2-1 FA Cup win over Arsenal but that victory against Porto was something else and, for me, that was the best result in Wrexham’s history. Beating one of the champions of European football over two legs!

“To play in that game in Portugal and the way we won it, was a great memory. They went 3-0 up, Jake King scored two to make it 3-2 and they scored a fourth and switched off.”

Cue Horne, who only four days earlier had scored his first Wrexham goals with a double in another 4-3 defeat at home to Stockport County in front of just 1,516 fans.

“I remember the goal and, yes, it was spectacular,” added Horne. “I just pointed to John Muldoon where I wanted him to put it. And he did. We’d lost 4-3 but went through an away goals. It was an unbelievable night, the rain was torrential and there was a full house. My dad and brother were there, in fact there were lots of Wrexham fans there.

“Bobby was great for me, an experienced football man and very hard-working.”

But what does Roberts, now 80, remember from the rain-lashed night in Portugal?

“Don’t forget the first leg too,” said Roberts. “We beat them at home and that was a brilliant result - a brilliant performance. That Porto side has 13 internationals in their squad.

“Porto had beaten Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen in the previous season, so I asked him for advice.

“Alex rang me back and sent me videos and reports on all of their players. It was dossier of information on them.

“We knew the second leg was going to be tough.

“And it never stopped raining. There was a crowd of about 45,000. I changed the team slightly, but we were 3-0 down after 15 minutes.

“We’d worked on set pieces and had pulled two goals back by half-time. Jake King got them both and Paulo Futre scored their fourth.

“Then Barry Horne volleyed one in from 25 yards to make it 4-3 and we went through to a second round clash with Roma.”

Not only had Roberts masterminded one of the greatest shocks in the history of the European Cup Winners Cup, he’d also played a key role on the pitch in getting to the final.

“I had to play in goal against Worcester City as Stuart Parker was injured. How they only scored one goal at our place I don’t know,” added Roberts.

“I was 42 playing that game. The next morning I felt like 82!

“We made it to the final that year but lost to Shrewsbury. But because they were English, it was us who wet through to Europe.”

Wrexham’s magical European nights may be a thing of the past but exciting days and new adventures may be just around the corner with the club being bought out by the mega-rich Hollywood film stars, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

“It’s marvellous to see what’s going on there and I hope they manage to make it to the play-offs,” added Roberts.

“I loved my time in Wrexham and my wife did too. So did our friends.

“We used to invite people to stay with us and they kept asking when can we come back again.”

Roberts is back living in Leicester where he made a name for himself as a player, making more than 250 appearances between 1963 and 1970.

He played in the 1969 FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester City - the last time The Foxes had reached the final before their 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium two weeks ago.

Roberts watched that win with great joy and he’ll be watching on avidly as another of his old teams attempt to put Wrexham FC back on the footballing map.