Bobby Hutchinson will forever be remembered as the only Bristol City captain to lift a trophy at the old Wembley Stadium.
But receiving the Freight Rover Trophy in the Royal Box after the 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers in May 1986 was not the only highlight of the Scottish midfielder’s checkered career.
For three seasons with Hibernian in the late 1970s, Hutchinson counted a certain George Best among his teammates and played in a Scottish Cup final against Rangers at Hampden Park.
He rarely settled in one place for very long as Robins were his eighth club and he represented three others after leaving Ashton Gate.
Later, Terry Cooper liked to reflect on Hutch as a player in three short sentences – “Jump like a salmon. Unable to pass the water. But what a captain!
There was more than a grain of truth in each statement. Bobby was brilliant in the air for his size and generated great power with his header, not scoring as many goals as he would have liked.
His passing might be suspicious, but no one questioned his work rate and the demands he placed on his teammates as an inspirational skipper.
It didn’t take Cooper long to embrace these leadership qualities after Hutchinson arrived at Ashton Gate on a free transfer from Tranmere Rovers in the summer of 1984.
City had just won promotion from the Fourth Division, with Tom Ritchie as captain. But he was coming to the end of his second stint with the club and left to join Yeovil Town in January 1985.
By the following season, Hutchinson was not only a first-team regular, but established himself as captain.
He has scored twice in a game three times during his City career, the third of those braces against opponents Swansea City this weekend at Vetch Field on Saturday November 23, 1985.
Cooper’s men had initially struggled in the Third Division, but the results had improved enough to suggest a second successive promotion campaign might not overtake them.
They went to Swansea buoyed by a six-game unbeaten streak, which included a 4-2 FA Cup first round win over West Country rivals Swindon Town in the previous game.
Steve Neville scored a hat-trick in that game and his strike partnership with Glyn Riley was getting more powerful week by week.
Hutchinson teamed up with recent signing David Tong in central midfield, with Howard Pritchard raiding on the right wing and Alan Walsh on the left in a typical attacking Cooper formation.
David Moyes had made an uncertain start to his City career after signing for Cambridge United the previous month, so Lee Rogers and Keith Curle started in the center of defence, with the current West Ham United manager on the bench.
Keith Waugh was in goal, with Andy Llewellyn and Rob Newman filling the full-back roles. Eight members of the squad will start at Wembley against Bolton six months later.
The Swansea squad included former Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and England goalkeeper Jimmy Rimmer and midfielder Gary Emmanuel, who had played for both Bristol clubs.
There was no sign in the first half hour that City would improve on a poor away record. The home side were a yard faster on the ball and striker Alan Waddle proved to be a powerhouse through the air.
The pressure showed in the 20th minute when Emmanuel’s corner was only half cleared and defender Chris Harrison sent a looping shot past Waugh.
The City goalkeeper was overworked, saving a shot from Waddle, who also put two headers wide, and deflecting an effort from Sean McCarthy, who 13 years later would go on loan to Ashton Gate.
Incredibly, in the meantime, the visitors were leading 2-1. In the 38th minute, Pritchard headed a cross from Newman to the far post opposite Hutchinson’s goal, who equalized from close range.
Two minutes later, Swansea fans were stunned into silence. Newman was again involved in a move that ended with Hutchinson beating Rimmer to his near post with a cornering shot from a seemingly impossible angle.
The goals didn’t spare City players a lick from Cooper in the interval. “I told them they were the luckiest team in the world to win and I was looking for a huge improvement in the second half,” he told me after the game.
It had the desired effect. Walsh started to dazzle down the left flank and had a 47th-minute shot cleared by Harrison.
There was no escape for the Swans minutes later when the powerful City winger turned full-back David Hough upside down on the edge of the box before firing a left-footed shot past Rimmer .
The experienced keeper saved his team from a hammer blow, blocking two more efforts from Walsh. At the other end, Waugh had become a virtual spectator.
Hutchinson’s goals completely transformed the game. Summarizing Bobby’s efforts in my Evening Post match report, I wrote: “His response when he is fouled or badly called is to continue the match without wasting a second. And when City are in trouble, no one works harder to make things right.
Cooper was full of praise saying, “For the enthusiasm alone, Bobby is worth his weight in gold to us,” he said.
“Only he could have scored our second goal. No one else would have considered shooting from such a narrow angle. I don’t think Jimmy Rimmer can believe it!
City would finish ninth in the Third Division that season. But when it ended, few of the 30,000 supporters who followed their side to Wembley for the historic victory over Bolton complained.
City of Swansea: Rimmer; Hough, Gibbins, Harrison, Sullivan; Budd (Melville 69 mins), McHale, Randell, Emmanuel; McCarthy, Waddle.
City of Bristol: Wow; Llewellyn, Curle, Rogers, Newman; Pritchard, Tong, Hutchinson, Walsh; Riley, Neville; Unused subtitle: Means.
Arbitrator: Alan Seville (Birmingham).
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