'Memries' Did anyone here watch United in the 1965-1966 season?

[GrayBlade]

Good to see the old timers enjoying a thread of their own.

HH

LOL!

Just think on though HH.

50 years on, today's young-uns might be recalling the 2015-16 season, and looking back with fondness at Adkins, Hammond, Sammon and Woolford

 

[Woodwardfan]

Thanks for that chaps.

So, follow up question, who you each pick as player of the season?

My pick, Birchenall; he was outstanding with us and should have stayed for his own benefit as well as ours.. Just in front of 7 or 8 others, all of whom I still love dearly, plus Fenoughty, Hartle and the Wagstaffe brothers who had their own attributes too. Sherman had that 'maverick' streak and that 'charisma'.

 

[Silent Blade]

It would have to be Mick Jones.

21 League goals in 40 games. The only other players scoring more than 5 were Birchenall 8 (three against Wendy) and Reece 7

League appearances for that season

Badger 41
Hodgkinson 41
Jones 40
Matthewson 36
Mallender 35
B Wagstaff 30
T Wagstaff 30
Reece 29
Birchenall 27
J Shaw 27 (retired soon after getting dropped)
Kettleborough 24 (left for Newcastle in early January)
Woodward 23
Munks 21 (broke his leg at Arsenal in November)
Hartle 13
Docherty 12
Fenoughty 9
Barlow 8
B Shaw 7
G Shaw 2
Finnigan 2
Widdowson 1
Coldwell 1

 

[Silent Blade]

My pick, Birchenall; he was outstanding with us and should have stayed for his own benefit as well as ours.. Just in front of 7 or 8 others, all of whom I still love dearly, plus Fenoughty, Hartle and the Wagstaffe brothers who had their own attributes too. Sherman had that 'maverick' streak and that 'charisma'.

My dad said Birchenall wasnt half as good as Jones

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

I was seven when the season started. It was my first full season and I only missed three home games. I also went - on my own - to the away game at Hillsborough. Different times.

Mick Jones was player of that and every other season during his time with United. He was an outstanding centre forward, making his full England debut against West Germany in May, 1965, just 18 days after his twentieth birthday. We had nobody else anywhere near the England side at the time. 63 goals in 149 games for United, every one of them in the top flight.

 

[Silent Blade]

Tony Wagstaff was our first ever substitute to come on in a League match when he replaced the injured Alan Birchenall (at the time substitutes were only allowed to come on only if a player was injured but the ruling was relaxed not long after) in the 0-0 midweek draw at Fulham on 8th Sept 1965

 

[Sean Thornton]

Thanks for that chaps.

So, follow up question, who you each pick as player of the season?

Badger

 

[Woodwardfan]

My dad said Birchenall wasnt half as good as Jones

Of course, but we all have our personal favourites and the sight of Birchenall in full flow; long, blond, bouncy hair and all, was a sight to behold. Jones was the ultimate, conventional workhorse, doing all the hard miles to a very high standard. Birchenall was a big unit but had a certain panache and style.

I'd choose Jones in the trenches any day mind you!!

 

[JJ Sefton]

Yes I started going when we had Joe Shaw centre half, Doc Pace centre forward, Allchurch on the wing, Hodgy in goal etc. I remember my cousin saying to dad to go and see the reserves as we had some good young uns coming through and to look out for kids with the names of Jones, Birchenhall and Woodward.

Player of the season for 1965-1966?

 

[Worksop II]

Thanks for that chaps.

So, follow up question, who you each pick as player of the season?

Mick Jones, it was his Uncle that took me to the games

 

[Worksop II]

Good to see the old timers enjoying a thread of their own.

HH

Its a bit of a safe haven away from the Shoutbox ..................

 

[GrayBlade]

My dad said Birchenall wasnt half as good as Jones

He was Silent, but for only this one season.

Your Dad was spot on mate. Mick was a fantastic player and a consummate professional. I mentioned on another earlier thread that selling him to Leeds was the first time United made me sick to my pits. Sadly not the last.

 

[Shalalalafenoughty]

Of course, but we all have our personal favourites and the sight of Birchenall in full flow; long, blond, bouncy hair and all, was a sight to behold. Jones was the ultimate, conventional workhorse, doing all the hard miles to a very high standard. Birchenall was a big unit but had a certain panache and style.

I'd choose Jones in the trenches any day mind you!!

Welcome back, by the way, WWF.

 

[GrayBlade]

My Dad used to call Barry Hartle 'Braces' because he looked like he needed them to hold up his shorts...sorry knickers.

 

[JJ Sefton]

My dad said Birchenall wasnt half as good as Jones

My dad says the same. Jones was about his favourite player from his years regularly watching United (1958-1980). He reckoned he was better than Currie.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Welcome back, by the way, WWF.

Cheers, just for nostalgic trivia though. Great pseudonym BTW.

 

[chipsncake]

First game in 1956 at the age of 4 but wasn't a regular until 1959. My earliest recollection of a game was when we beat Derby to clinch promotion and everyone went on the pitch at the end. Also remember vividly being at the front railings of the kop when we played Fulham in the early sixties and Jim Langley their left back said thank you when I rolled the ball back to him. Funny how little things stick in your mind from all that time ago yet I can't even remember what I had for breakfast some days!

 

[Silent Blade]

. My earliest recollection of a game was when we beat Derby to clinch promotion and everyone went on the pitch at the end. !

 

[Sneinton Blade 1952]

Mick Jones was class. The greatest centre forward I ever saw in a blades' shirt. Like Grey, I was sick to the stomach when he was sold for a paltry £100k to Leeds. Remember we threw pennies at the board as they came into the directors' box the game after he was sold. Peter Howard, our greatest Star correspondent, wrote in that newspaper how shortsighted Jones' sale was. Remember the kop singing, to the tune of Grocer Jack, "Michael Jones, Michael Jones, is it true what Harris said, you won't come back, oh no oh oh ...". Very affective ...

 

[Davie Blade]

My Dad used to call Barry Hartle 'Braces' because he looked like he needed them to hold up his shorts...sorry knickers.

I seem to remember a cry of you dirty sod Hartle.
No doubt Silent Blade will tell me which game this was, the score and attendance.

 

[Davie Blade]

View attachment 20096

Do you happen to know when Doc Pace's testimonial , was it against an All Star XI ?

 

[bornandbred]

Went to all the home games and suspect it was about that time when I annoyed those around me with my rattle. Dad and I sat in the John Street Stand and most were Dad's age or older.And of course I'm even older than them now!
Favourite player would be a toss up between the 2 Blond Bombshells..

 

[Dnblade]

I was going by then,but memories are a bit sketchy as only age 5/6...remember most of the players mentioned..M.I.C.K..Mick Jones and Birchenall were my favourites..along with Hodgy,B.Shaw and Badger at full back,and Woody and Gil Reece...Remember Gil breaking his leg v Blackpool..I was definately at the Leeds and Wendy games...remember stood on the Lane End when Spurs came.
Other memories are walking from the Kop around to the Lane End at half time,ball boys with the Maroon track suit tops..the abcdefghijk or whatever it went upto scoreboard..Wendy were always A,and the cheers when they were losing...Also other random things like one game where the Ref got injured and they asked for a Ref in the crowd..can't remember which game though....Waiting for my Dad as kids went in through seperate turnstiles ..the crush going out the big gate coming out the Kop and onto the street,and standing on the wall behind the goal holding onto that beautiful white railed fence.

 

[metalblade]

Player of the season for 1965-1966?

Mick Jones a goal every two games that season ................. 22 in 43 games of course a season or so later he was sold and relegation soon followed nuthin changes eh

 

[Newbury Blade]

Blades 0 Blackpool 1, Easter Monday 1966, my first game, aged 12. Got the bus from Attercliffe with my late cousin Patrick. Alan Ball was playing for Blackpool. Blades were pretty unimpressive but I have loved them from that day to this.

 

[metalblade]

Blades 0 Blackpool 1, Easter Monday 1966, my first game, aged 12. Got the bus from Attercliffe with my late cousin Patrick. Alan Ball was playing for Blackpool. Blades were pretty unimpressive but I have loved them from that day to this.

Blackpool were a good side in those days as were Burnley who were close to winning the League.

 

[Silent Blade]

I seem to remember a cry of you dirty sod Hartle.
No doubt Silent Blade will tell me which game this was, the score and attendance.

I was only four when Hartle left us!

 

[Silent Blade]

Do you happen to know when Doc Pace's testimonial , was it against an All Star XI ?

Didnt realise Pace had a testimonial? In September 1964 he had a stomach problem and was out of football for a few months (Birchenall took his place) but when he got better he was sold to Notts County

 

[Silent Blade]

Blades 0 Blackpool 1, Easter Monday 1966, my first game, aged 12. Got the bus from Attercliffe with my late cousin Patrick. Alan Ball was playing for Blackpool. Blades were pretty unimpressive but I have loved them from that day to this.

My dad said my first game was against Blackpool when I was four but couldnt remember the score and it was before he took me to Switzerland v Spain at S6. I have no recollection of going to either of these two matches

 

[grafikhaus]

I saw us beat the Pork for as well that season, and I also went to the Sty for the first time. I was on their then open Kop, no real segregation, fans were in together some in mixed groups and others in blocks of red or blue.

I had a very weird 'uncle' (they were always 'uncles' in those days ) who had a chippie off Middlewood Road and supported the pigs. He could get seats in the 'new' cantilever North Stand and took me to a few games. In the derby game, as the teams came out, a massive roar went up in the middle of this stand as they saw the Blades coming down the tunnel opposite (teams came out separately then, and none of this namby-pamby hand-shaking bollocks before the game). The 'East Bank' (kop) was an impressive sight - totally packed, no roof and a primitive (but better than anything we had) 'electronic score board' at the back - paid for, like everything else at Hillsborough, by the awarding of the 1966 WC to Hillsborough. The pigs chairman - Eric Taylor - had the ear of Sir Stanley Rous of FIFA so Hillsborough was picked, as it would have been if England had been awarded the 2018 WC. No corruption back then or now. No siree, Bob.

I digress. The massed fans equally split the kop with only a nominal 'no mans land' of a sunken gangway between them. At the end of the game as the fans made their way towards the back and out of the ground, I saw a gang of Blades fans hoist one of their mates up. They were all wearing bush jackets (from Wakefield's Army Stores) and this lad was wearing an equally de rigeur white plastic hard hat, which he took off and used it to smash as many bulbs in the scoreboard as he could reach.

Same season, I went to pigs v Leeds and that kop saw the finest mass brawl I've ever seen. It seemed as if everybody on the kop was scrapping. Think Blazing Saddles! Happy days, even if everything was in black and white!