50 years ago today

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15/4/1970

Oxford 1970.jpg

Stood in the John Street Terrace for that match. Low attendance (10,535) meant it was easy for me to see the players coming out of the tunnel and I remember Woody being one of the last players to come out. When Oxford players came out of the tunnel for the 2nd half, a cup of hot drink was hurled towards them and keeper Jim Barron was quick to spot it and and take evasive action but carried on walking towards the pitch as if nothing happened. It was our last league match of the season also it was for many league clubs. Our Star player for that season was undoubtedly Alan Woodward with 21 goals and 29 assists (see list below the photo of him receiving the POTY trophy)

POTY 1970.jpg

Alan Woodward 1969-70
42 League plus 2 FA Cup and 3 League Cup appearances
21 goals, 29 assists
ASSIST - v Middlesbrough (h) 9.8.69. After a fine run and cross by Woodward, Reece hit a brilliant volley while in mid-air to leave Short hopelessly beaten.
GOAL - v Middlesbrough (h) 9.8.69. Mick Heaton began the hard work down the left flank with an intelligent interception and follow up and when Woodward got control just inside the penalty box he sent the three white-shirted defenders the wrong way before beating Short with a beautiful low drive to the far corner.
GOAL - v Middlesbrough (h) 9.8.69. Though Reece and Currie were thwarted in scoring efforts the ball rolled out to Woodward, near the six yard box, and he hammered the ball home.
GOAL - v Charlton (h) 12.8.69. Woodward shot away the cobwebs with a memorable 74th minute goal. Currie and Reece provided the short build-up, leaving Woodward to coolly and brilliantly dribble on a sixpence around Went and Wright, before plonking the ball into the net.
ASSIST - v Portsmouth (a) 16.8.69. A minute later Currie was on the mark again with a drive from close range, Woodward's work on the right having left the home defence looking very tatty.
GOAL - v Portsmouth (a) 16.8.69. Woodward ran nearly half the length of the field, leaving Travers and Hand trailing in his wake, and deceived Milkins with a smart side-step and rolled the ball home.
ASSIST - v Portsmouth (a) 16.8.69. A low drive from Woodward was deflected into the net by Pompey defender Youlden.
ASSIST- v Bristol City (h) 26.8.69. Addison collected a Hodgkinson clearance and sent Woodward off down the right with a brilliant pass. The winger outpaced Drysdale and Connor, attempting to clear his cross, screwed the ball past his own goalkeeper.
GOAL - v Newcastle (h) 2.9.69. A corner was won within thirty seconds of the start. Woodward came across from the right to take it and his banana kick sneaked in at the near post as Powell harassed Craggs.
ASSIST - v Newcastle (h) 2.9.69. Woodward chased down the right flank and curved over an immaculate cross for Tudor to mark his return to the first team with a perfect header.
ASSIST - v Birmingham (a) 13.9.69. Tudor opened the scoring with a truly glorious goal. Currie began the work on the right before sending Woodward away and the outside right's made-to-measure centre was met by a jack-knifing header on the part of the centre forward.
GOAL - v Luton (h) 23.9.69. Colquhoun's pass gave Staniforth the chance to beat a defender. The inside left did the job well, zipping the ball forward for Woodward to run on and shoot past Davie in grand style.
GOAL - v Luton (h) 23.9.69. Woodward doubled the account ten minutes after half time, finishing a move he began with a splendid run down the middle, and steering the left-wing cross from Reece into the net.
GOAL - v Preston (a) 27.9.69. Woodward was sent away down the right by Badger. The winger beat a man and from way out near the corner flag hit a low one which swerved a little, was missed by the onrushing Currie and left alone surprisingly by Kelly.
ASSIST - v Hull (h) 4.10.69. With seven minutes gone Badger, Addison and Woodward combined to tee up a chance which Currie swept into the net from close range.
GOAL - v Hull (h) 4.10.69. Then in the eighth minute Woodward moved brilliantly away from his rival, cut in and unleashed a fierce left foot volley from 25 yards which sizzled past the diving McKechnie.
ASSIST - v Portsmouth (h) 7.10.69. At half time, United led by one goal, headed by Reece in 41 minutes from a Woodward corner.
GOAL - v Portsmouth (h) 7.10.69. Hand intercepted a Powell pass intended for Currie, the centre half played the ball across the goalmouth instead of to Milkins who had left his goal. Harris struck out a boot, but only diverted the ball to Woodward and the winger shot all along the ground and into the net from 25 yards.
ASSIST - v Portsmouth (h) 7.10.69. Reece took a pass from Woodward and slotted the ball past an apparently unsighted Milkins from the left corner of the penalty area.
GOAL - v Swindon (a) 11.10.69. There was only a minute and half left when a Woodward rocket shot from thirty yards left Downsborough wondering what day it was.
GOAL - v Blackpool (h) 18.10.69. Woodward raced fully thirty yards in chasing a long ball from Badger which was misjudged by Hatton. The Blackpool man then tried holding off Woodward with his arm, but the winger ignored all distractions, fastened on to the ball and hit a glorious low left-foot drive past Thomson.
ASSIST - v Blackburn (h) 1.11.69. Rovers' fine defence had its reputation damaged as a Reece cross was headed on by Woodward and Currie controlled the ball before slamming it home from close range.
GOAL - v Blackburn (h) 1.11.69. Credit must go to Addison for a magnificent pass from the centre circle that sent Woodward away. Wilson frantically tried to handle the ball but failed and Woodward was round him and placing a shot to the far corner.
GOAL - v QPR (a) 8.11.69. In the 74th minute Woodward got the goal the team's play deserved. The outside right collected a ball from Barlow beautifully on the edge of the box, left Harris well behind, and beat Kelly with a glorious shot.
ASSIST - v Aston Villa (h) 22.11.69. United eventually broke the ice, thanks to another bad mistake by the young Villa keeper Phillips who dropped a corner from Woodward. Colquhoun raced in to lash the ball to the roof of the net.
ASSIST - v Aston Villa (h) 22.11.69. Hemsley and Woodward took the ball half the length of the field before Woodward pulled back for Reece to slide it home.
ASSIST - v Aston Villa (h) 22.11.69. In the last kick of the match Currie celebrated becoming a father this week by hitting the fifth goal following a smart interception by Woodward.
GOAL - v Carlisle (a) 29.11.69. An Addison through ball sent Reece away. The Welshman beat two men smartly then, slipping the ball past Ross, pulled it back for Woodward to head a simple goal.
ASSIST - v Birmingham (h) 13.12.69. Herriot tried to fist away an inswinging corner by Woodward from the left. He failed and the ball struck the far post before Addison just got a touch to score the second goal. Many in the crowd thought the winger had scored direct.
ASSIST- v Birmingham (h) 13.12.69. Then came the explosions. Currie didn't have the pace to beat Pendrey but won a corner, which was taken by Woodward and met by Colquhoun with an impeccable header by the near post.
GOAL - v Birmingham (h) 13.12.69. With 68 minutes gone Woodward, who had had a hand in all four goals, made it five and this time there was no doubt about the owner of the goal. A Barlow through ball, Woodward's shimmy sent two players the wrong way and the outside right was through to place his shot to the far corner.
ASSIST - v Norwich (a) 20.12.69. The move began just outside the Blades’ own penalty area with Currie beginning it, Badger and Barlow carrying it on, then Woodward whipped over a superb cross wide of Vasper for Tudor to head downwards.
ASSIST - v Watford (h) 27.12.69. Good work by Barlow helped to win another corner and when Woodward swung this over, Addison met it with a brilliant header.
ASSIST - v Everton (h) 3.1.70. Barlow foxed Everton on the right flank with a short pass to Woodward, whose long left-footed centre was met twelve yards from goal by Reece and the ball flew off his head into the far corner of the net with West hopelessly beaten.
ASSIST - v Everton (h) 3.1.70. Currie sent Woodward away, the wingman leaving Labone helpless before racing for the goal-line and pulling back the ball, Addison hurled through the air to head the ball firmly into the back of the net.
ASSIST - v Preston (h) 17.1.70. In the fourth minute of injury time Addison headed United's second goal after Woodward caught Ritchie in possession.
(The above match was the first match I attended as a committed Blade. I did attend some matches at the Lane before this but my concentration level was poor and I would not know any of the players' names).
ASSIST - v Hull (a) 31.1.70. Addison reduced the arrears with a header from Woodward's corner.
ASSIST - v Hull (a) 31.1.70. Addison grabbed a 59th minute leveller with a close-range flick that completed a move involving Currie and Woodward.
ASSIST - v Hull (a) 31.1.70. The Blades took the lead in the 72nd minute with a beautiful headed goal by Colquhoun from another Woodward corner.
ASSIST - v QPR (h) 24.2.70. The first corner was a marvel of inswinging accuracy, placed to the near post where Colquhoun headed in while the Rangers defence stared in disbelief.
ASSIST - v QPR (h) 24.2.70. The second corner by Woodward was floated high to the middle, where Reece rose like a dove to head a goal which had the Lane's biggest crowd of the season singing joyfully.
GOAL - v Blackburn (a) 28.2.70. United deservedly drew level in the 24th minute when Woodward, unmarked, volleyed an unstoppable drive past Jones following an excellent cross by Currie on the left.
ASSIST - v Blackburn (a) 28.2.70. Colquhoun, on the halfway line, sent Woodward away with an excellent pass and the wingman left Wilson well behind before whipping over a low cross which was thumped into the net by Currie, who beat Hunter in a determined dash for the ball.
GOAL - v Carlisle (h) 13.3.70. Garbutt brought down Addison just outside the penalty area, Barlow played his free kick a few inches to the right and Woodward walloped an unstoppable shot. Ross did not see the ball until he picked it out of the net.
ASSIST - v Leicester (a) 21.3.70. Addison won a shuddering tackle with Sjoberg in midfield, sent Woodward away and, as Woodward's shot eluded Shilton, Reece raced in to slot home.
(The above match was the first away game I attended. After the match I was autograph hunting outside the Filbert Street players’ entrance. Most of the United players were already in their coach and out of the blue Woodward signalled my dad to bring me over to the other side of the coach. My dad then lifted me up, despite my shyness, so that I could hand in my programme through the top of the coach window to Woodward and then he would make the other Blades players sign their autographs on my programme. It was an unforgettable gesture by Woody!).
ASSIST - v Millwall (h) 31.3.70. Yet another Woodward corner, this time from the left, ricocheted to Currie fifteen yards out and his right-foot volley exploded high into the right-hand corner of the net before King could make a gesture at a save.
GOAL - v Millwall (h) 31.3.70. Currie and Tudor, with a cute reverse pass along the back of the penalty, area set up the chance and Woodward, floating into the inside left position, drove it beyond King with a beautifully clean drive.
ASSIST - v Bristol City (a) 4.4.70. An inswinging corner from the left by Woodward and Colquhoun headed the ball downwards and past the despairing lunge of Jacobs.
GOAL - v Oxford (h) 15.4.70. Colquhoun played a long through ball, Tudor headed it down and Woodward took it round a defender before shooting past Barron.
GOAL - v Oxford (h) 15.4.70. Woodward walloped in number five - his 18th league goal in what for him has been a memorable campaign.
 

15/4/1970 (part 2)

Sunderland lost 1-0 at home to Liverpool which meant that we would be facing them in the 2nd division for the 1970-71 season. Wendy were losing 2-0 at Man U in the first 8 minutes but goals from Tony Coleman and Jack Whitham gave Wendy a vital point meaning that they have to win their last game at home to Man City a week later to finish above Palace for the relegation places.

The biggest match of that night was the European Cup semi final 2nd leg between Celtic and L**ds at Hampden Park. The attendance was 136,505! I watched highlights of the match on tv that night.

 
17/4/1970

Chesterfield 4 Bradford Park Avenue 0

How many of you, like me, saw Bradford Park Avenue play a FL match? The club entered the FL in 1908, got promoted to the 1st division in 1914, finished in 9th position for the 1914-15 season, got relegation to the 2nd in 1921 and then relegation to 3rd (North) in 1922. In 1928 they were promoted back to the 2nd and stayed there until 1950. After The 4-0 defeat to Chesterfield 50 years ago, they had one more match to play and that was at Aldershot 3 days later. They finished bottom of the 4th division for the 3rd successive seasons getting only 23, 20 and 23 points in total and were seeking re-election to the FL for the fourth successive season. That summer they were replaced by Cambridge United after not getting enough votes by the FL chairmen.

That night I remember watching the match from the Cross Street end but not the goals. Chesterfield were already promoted before the match was being played and were needing a few more points to be crowned champions in their remaining 3 games after the match. Below photos are from the match. Got them from a ex-workmate who got in touch with the Chesterfield FC historian. They believe that Ernie Moss (top photo) scored and Kevin Randall had his goal disallowed by the ref (2nd photo)

Moss v BPA.jpg

Randall v BPA.jpg

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18/4/1970

Wales 1 (Kryzwicki) England 1 (Lee)

My attentions were switched to the England national team and my passion for them was higher than it is for them nowadays. My dad told me that England won the World Cup 4 years earlier but I couldnt remember anything about it! Home Internationals tournament matches did have good attendances and created a lot of interest in papers, magazines and tv.

David Powell (his 3rd match in 5 days) played a full game for Wales and he nearly scored an own goal early in the match as you can see in the video below. Terry Hennessey had a good game in the middle. "Tiny" Wharton the Scottish ref wearing a blazer! The biggest headline story was the sending off of George Best in the Northern Ireland v Scotland match. You can see the sending off incident towards the end of the video. Strange behaviour from him throwing the mud at referee Eric Jennings!

I watched highlights of the Wales v England match on MOTD (started at 7.30pm) but didnt know that ITV had highlights of the match too.

 
21/4/1970

England 3 (Peters, Hurst, Charlton) Northern Ireland 1 (Best)

Bobby Charlton's 100th England cap and I watched the highlights of the match on Sportsnight. I think it was on the same day when the Star announced our new signing from Nottingham Forest. It was John Barnwell and my dad was saying "Very good signing". There was a photo of him with John Harris on the Lane football pitch. Almost unnoticed at the bottom of the report it mentioned another new signing, a winger from 4th division Chester called Bill Dearden.



 
17/4/1970

Chesterfield 4 Bradford Park Avenue 0

How many of you, like me, saw Bradford Park Avenue play a FL match? The club entered the FL in 1908, got promoted to the 1st division in 1914, finished in 9th position for the 1914-15 season, got relegation to the 2nd in 1921 and then relegation to 3rd (North) in 1922. In 1928 they were promoted back to the 2nd and stayed there until 1950. After The 4-0 defeat to Chesterfield 50 years ago, they had one more match to play and that was at Aldershot 3 days later. They finished bottom of the 4th division for the 3rd successive seasons getting only 23, 20 and 23 points in total and were seeking re-election to the FL for the fourth successive season. That summer they were replaced by Cambridge United after not getting enough votes by the FL chairmen.

That night I remember watching the match from the Cross Street end but not the goals. Chesterfield were already promoted before the match was being played and were needing a few more points to be crowned champions in their remaining 3 games after the match. Below photos are from the match. Got them from a ex-workmate who got in touch with the Chesterfield FC historian. They believe that Ernie Moss (top photo) scored and Kevin Randall had his goal disallowed by the ref (2nd photo)

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In reply to your question re Bradford Park Avenue , I watched them play in the FL as long ago as 1948 .

This was at a time when , unbeknown to my dad , my grandad would regularly take me with him to watch Wendy . The reason I remember this particular match is that it was the debut of a player they had signed from Bury called Eddie Kilshaw for £20,000 , a huge amount at the time and I remember being very impressed by his performance .

He played on the right wing , was very small but had great skill and trickery enabling him to go past players with comparative ease . Sadly , his career came to an abrupt end following a serious injury .

Interestingly (to me anyway) , on looking him up I found that in the early part of his career he had played for Prescot Cables , as did Mark Duffy with whom he had many similarities .
 
22/4/1970

Wendy 1 (Coleman) Man City 2 (Bowyer 2)

Relegation for Wendy! I wasnt at the match but I remember talking to a teacher (Ted Kent who was a well known hockey player in Sheffield) at school about it in the next day. There have been posts in here of Blades fans who went to the match despite the heavy rain and many said that Man City seemed to "try to lose" the match because they would prefer Palace rather than Wendy to go down but Wendy were so poor that night too. City were awarded a penalty but Mike Doyle made it easy for Peter Grummitt to save it. Mike Summerbee got injured and replaced by sub Ian Bowyer (who was keen to make an impression hoping to play in the following week's Cup Winners final against Gornik Zabrze) who went on to score twice!.

I posted photos/match reports of the match in this forum a few years ago but they seem to have been removed, same with photos that were on Porktalk. Here is one Wendy fan's recollection "Never forget Mike Doyle's penalty when it was still 0-0. He was about to take the kick when their captain, Tony Book, raced from his full back position and had a quick word with him. Doyle then took the kick by simply back-passing it straight to Peter Grummitt. I doubt if it would have had enough power to have reached the back of the net.
It was a really surreal evening. City, especially in the first half, were playing it like a training session; they had the Cup Winners Cup final to play the following week and simply wanted to avoid injury. But we were truly dreadful....the old saying "couldn't string two passes together" was meant for that night. But then Summerbee got injured and Ian Bowyer came on, keen to show what he could do.
Incredible goal by Tony Coleman though. Cut in from the wing in front of the North and blasted it from miles out. Could have gone anywhere but the bugger simply arrowed into the Kop net. That made it 1-1 with about 15 to go and I thought we were going to do it....Strange atmosphere at the end.....it was as though someone had died."

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I still remember clearly when my dad was picking me up from a children's xmas party organised by his work and he was telling me "United won 6-0". I wasnt really into football yet despite having been taken to the Lane a few times but I was impressed that the Blades had won 6-0. Birmingham City were the opponents.
I believe, Kate, the lady who presented the trophy was landlady of the Sheldon at the time.
 
22/4/1970

Wendy 1 (Coleman) Man City 2 (Bowyer 2)

Relegation for Wendy! I wasnt at the match but I remember talking to a teacher (Ted Kent who was a well known hockey player in Sheffield) at school about it in the next day. There have been posts in here of Blades fans who went to the match despite the heavy rain and many said that Man City seemed to "try to lose" the match because they would prefer Palace rather than Wendy to go down but Wendy were so poor that night too. City were awarded a penalty but Mike Doyle made it easy for Peter Grummitt to save it. Mike Summerbee got injured and replaced by sub Ian Bowyer (who was keen to make an impression hoping to play in the following week's Cup Winners final against Gornik Zabrze) who went on to score twice!.

I posted photos/match reports of the match in this forum a few years ago but they seem to have been removed, same with photos that were on Porktalk. Here is one Wendy fan's recollection "Never forget Mike Doyle's penalty when it was still 0-0. He was about to take the kick when their captain, Tony Book, raced from his full back position and had a quick word with him. Doyle then took the kick by simply back-passing it straight to Peter Grummitt. I doubt if it would have had enough power to have reached the back of the net.
It was a really surreal evening. City, especially in the first half, were playing it like a training session; they had the Cup Winners Cup final to play the following week and simply wanted to avoid injury. But we were truly dreadful....the old saying "couldn't string two passes together" was meant for that night. But then Summerbee got injured and Ian Bowyer came on, keen to show what he could do.
Incredible goal by Tony Coleman though. Cut in from the wing in front of the North and blasted it from miles out. Could have gone anywhere but the bugger simply arrowed into the Kop net. That made it 1-1 with about 15 to go and I thought we were going to do it....Strange atmosphere at the end.....it was as though someone had died."

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Bert went, he remembers the rain, the penalty and a very large crowd. Something like 40,000?
 
25/4/1970

Wendy 3 (Whitham 2, Warboys) Blades 3 (Dearden, Currie, Staniforth)

I was stood in the Kop with my dad and my cousin and we were probably on the right of the photo. At the start of the match I had my eyes on John Barnwell to see how good he is. Whitham put Wendy ahead early in the game and we equalised shortly after. I was bemused at our number 11 who got the equaliser as I hadnt recognised him so I asked my dad "Who scored?", "Dearden" , he replied. I was still puzzled and asked him again "who?" so he took out his cigarette packet and pen out of his coat and wrote "Dearden". He then said "we signed him from Chester the same day as we signed Barnwell". Then I remembered! Goals from Currie and Stanforth in the 2nd half (dont remember how they were scored) put us 3-1 ahead until with 5 minutes left, goals from Warboys and Whitham then levelled the matters.

On the same day England drew 0-0 with Scotland at Hampden Park. England, Scotland and Wales finished the Home Internationals with 4 points each so they shared the trophy. I dont think I watched any tv highlights of the match at Hampden Park.

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Bert went, he remembers the rain, the penalty and a very large crowd. Something like 40,000?

I was there only because the future Mrs Robby Blade was of the dark side. Was well worth the soaking, not only to see them relegated, but for the fun afterwards trying to dry each other.
 
25/4/1970

Wendy 3 (Whitham 2, Warboys) Blades 3 (Dearden, Currie, Staniforth)

I was stood in the Kop with my dad and my cousin and we were probably on the right of the photo. At the start of the match I had my eyes on John Barnwell to see how good he is. Whitham put Wendy ahead early in the game and we equalised shortly after. I was bemused at our number 11 who got the equaliser as I hadnt recognised him so I asked my dad "Who scored?", "Dearden" , he replied. I was still puzzled and asked him again "who?" so he took out his cigarette packet and pen out of his coat and wrote "Dearden". He then said "we signed him from Chester the same day as we signed Barnwell". Then I remembered! Goals from Currie and Stanforth in the 2nd half (dont remember how they were scored) put us 3-1 ahead until with 5 minutes left, goals from Warboys and Whitham then levelled the matters.

On the same day England drew 0-0 with Scotland at Hampden Park. England, Scotland and Wales finished the Home Internationals with 4 points each so they shared the trophy. I dont think I watched any tv highlights of the match at Hampden Park.

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How time fades memories. The only time I've seen England play was that game at Hampdon Park. I'd forgotten it was only three days after the City game.

I went with my boss who was Wendsday but a bit of a character. We set off about 5am for the long drive to Glasgow. Remember it snowing on the way there.

We arrived mid morning to chaos with thousands of pissed up jocks staggering round trying to buy tickets. Somehow we managed to get two, but in the "Celtic end". It was a massive kop built from what appeared to be ash and railway sleepers. It was fuckin mayhem, bottles flying through the air and piss everywhere. Fortunately it was a nin nil and we didn't speak the whole game and got out alive.

Never been so happy to get out of a football ground and back to civilisation. Saying that, the following week I was held hostage by Lol Knight, but that's another story.
 


Well, nothing too exciting, but I don't mind admitting I have never been as in my life as I was that night.

My boss was a well known Heeley lad and friend of Lol. I used to go out now and again with my boss on a Friday night. A few pubs then off to the Heartbeat. Anyway, one night he turned up at my house with Lol and off we went into town. Great fun, everywhere we went Lol was known and mostly free drinks and free admission to the Heartbeat. This Friday we went to Chesterfield, had a few drinks and off to the big nightclub on the main road. The bouncer didn't want to let us in at first, but Lol persuaded him to change his mind by getting the bouncer by the throat.

My boss decided he wanted to go home, leaving me his car and with instructions to look after Lol and sure I got him home. This was fine until it was time to leave and Lol realised my boss wasn't there. We got in the car and then he kicked off saying my boss had pulled without telling him and other crazy shit. When I got him home he made me get out of the car and go in his house as he thought I was going to pick up my boss. Any chance of leaving was met with him threatening to kill me. I didn't have reason to disbelieve him. I was fucking terrified. I was sat there while he was going on and on about how he was being made a fool of. After about three hours he fell asleep. As soon as he started to snore I was out of the house like a shot, up his road, down Myrtle Rd and back to Lowedges without slowing down.

The next day my boss turned up at mine for his car. I explained what had happened and he just shrugged saying that's Lol for you, then got me drive to Lols house to pick up his car. As I sat outside waiting, out came Lol with a big smile on his face asking if I was OK. Of course I said I was and would see him next week. Like fuck I would, never again would I go out with my boss if Lol Knight was joining us.
 
27/4/1970

Chesterfield 3 (Moss, Bell, Moore) Peterborough 1

Last match in the 1969-70 season that I attended. Jim Iley and John Wile were in Peterborough's side. Chesterfield were already confirmed as 4th division Champions so there was a celebratory mood throughout the match and afterwards. My dad and I ran onto the pitch and I remember running round the pitch with the Chesterfield players who were holding up the trophy, right back Albert Holmes was quite near me at one point and nodded cheerfully towards me.

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29/4/1970

FA Cup final replay Chelsea 2 (Osgood, Webb) L**ds 1 (Jones)

Again, I wanted Chelsea to win and my dad wanted L**ds (because of Mick Jones) to win. I do not recall thinking that it was a dirty match and years later when I watched the full match again from a video that was lent to me by a friend who is a Chelsea fan, I was amazed at the number of cynical fouls throughout the game but the ref didnt book anyone at all! The only foul I can remember was Mick Jones on Peter Bonetti early in the game, Bonetti had a lengthy treatment by the trainer and for a long time he struggled to stand up and his movements was restricted. Jones scored a good goal to give L**ds the lead but I was still angry with the challege on the keeper. The equaliser late in the 2nd half made things more interesting, a great cross by Charlie Cooke and a great diving header by Peter Osgood. The long throws by Ian Hutchinson was more of a feature during the extra time period and one of them resulted in David Webb heading the winner. After the final whistle I noticed that Osgood, Hutchinson and Webb were wearing L**ds shirts when parading the FA Cup around the pitch and I couldnt (and still) understand why would they do that!

Almost unnoticed, Man City beat Gornik Zabrze 2-1 in the Cup winners final and I dont think I was aware of it at the time.




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Remember both games well, both Villa and Brum fans came on the kop and hardly made a sound
It rained hard throughout the Villa game and remember reading that their fans marched to Villa Park after getting of their coaches to protest about how crap they had become

The difference between the sides - the fabulous Alan Woodward
 
25/4/1970

Wendy 3 (Whitham 2, Warboys) Blades 3 (Dearden, Currie, Staniforth)

I was stood in the Kop with my dad and my cousin and we were probably on the right of the photo. At the start of the match I had my eyes on John Barnwell to see how good he is. Whitham put Wendy ahead early in the game and we equalised shortly after. I was bemused at our number 11 who got the equaliser as I hadnt recognised him so I asked my dad "Who scored?", "Dearden" , he replied. I was still puzzled and asked him again "who?" so he took out his cigarette packet and pen out of his coat and wrote "Dearden". He then said "we signed him from Chester the same day as we signed Barnwell". Then I remembered! Goals from Currie and Stanforth in the 2nd half (dont remember how they were scored) put us 3-1 ahead until with 5 minutes left, goals from Warboys and Whitham then levelled the matters.

On the same day England drew 0-0 with Scotland at Hampden Park. England, Scotland and Wales finished the Home Internationals with 4 points each so they shared the trophy. I dont think I watched any tv highlights of the match at Hampden Park.

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:cool:

I was at this game v Wendy - we took a good following to goad owls fans following their relegation. Looking at their kop we were at the right hand side of the gangway - and gave it plenty of "going down. going down" etc.
Great to see Tudor
Happy days
 
4/5/1970

27 players in the England squad fly to Mexico for acclimation training (see programme below) and preparation for the World Cup. Francis Lee joined the party 4 days later. Cannot remember when I was first aware about the forthcoming World Cup (although my dad took me to watch Switzerland v Spain at S6 in 1966 but I do not remember anything about the 1966 tournament and very much doubt that I understood what the World Cup is) to be held at Mexico between May 31st and June 21st. I do remember having a World Cup booklet from a comic (The Wizard, I think) and looking through the pages, my dad pointed out the photo of Bobby Moore holding up the Jules Rimet Cup while being chaired by his team mates and said to me "England won the last World Cup". I was surprised and was thinking "I dont remember this!"

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4/5/1970

27 players in the England squad fly to Mexico for acclimation training (see programme below) and preparation for the World Cup. Francis Lee joined the party 4 days later. Cannot remember when I was first aware about the forthcoming World Cup (although my dad took me to watch Switzerland v Spain at S6 in 1966 but I do not remember anything about the 1966 tournament and very much doubt that I understood what the World Cup is) to be held at Mexico between May 31st and June 21st. I do remember having a World Cup booklet from a comic (The Wizard, I think) and looking through the pages, my dad pointed out the photo of Bobby Moore holding up the Jules Rimet Cup while being chaired by his team mates and said to me "England won the last World Cup". I was surprised and was thinking "I dont remember this!"

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In the days when you could actually decipher players signatures.
 
4/5/1970

27 players in the England squad fly to Mexico for acclimation training (see programme below) and preparation for the World Cup. Francis Lee joined the party 4 days later. Cannot remember when I was first aware about the forthcoming World Cup (although my dad took me to watch Switzerland v Spain at S6 in 1966 but I do not remember anything about the 1966 tournament and very much doubt that I understood what the World Cup is) to be held at Mexico between May 31st and June 21st. I do remember having a World Cup booklet from a comic (The Wizard, I think) and looking through the pages, my dad pointed out the photo of Bobby Moore holding up the Jules Rimet Cup while being chaired by his team mates and said to me "England won the last World Cup". I was surprised and was thinking "I dont remember this!"

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Looking at the plane logo it seems to be a BOAC plane.

BOAC merged with BEA in March 1974 to create British Airways.

Wonder what British Airways will look like after all of this.
 
6/5/1970

European Cup final. Celtic 1 Feyenoord 2.

Not long before the kick off (kick off was 9pm), my mum, my sister and myself were shocked to see the sight of my dad walking in the house with a burnt face and his burnt hands were wrapped by bandages. Prior to that we had been wondering why my dad were so late in being home from work. What had happened was earlier in the day my dad and his workmate had gone under my dad's car to look at a fault that needed repairing. As it was too dark to see the fault so my dad's workmate lit a match. Both hadnt realised that there was vapour leaking from somewhere and it caused an explosion that caused burns to my dad's face and hands. He was taken straight to hospital (my mum had no idea at the time as we didnt have a telephone in our house). He was treated for the burns and I think someone took him home.

Eventually things calmed down and we were getting used to the idea of my dad's accident. My dad and I watched the European Cup final live on BBC1 and as it was a late kick off, when the score was 1-1, my mum decided that I should go to bed.

In the next morning after getting up I went downstairs thinking about my dad and had no idea who had won the European Cup. Eventually my dad came downstairs, my mum, my sister and myself watched him enter the lounge and he was in a sorry state, we didnt know what to say to him and then silence broke when he looked at me saying "Celtic 1 Feyenoord 2" before going to the kitchen.

My dad had never grew a beard before but as he wasnt allowed to shave for weeks because of the burns on his face, he had until his death, never shaved off his beard. His hands healed quite quickly over the weeks as I remember going to the hospital with him two or three times to watch him dip his hands in a tub of liquid and then there would be a wax-like substance (dont know what it is called) covering his hands and all his fingers.

 
18/5/1970.

The 28 men England squad flew from Mexico to Bogota for the friendly against Colombia two days later. Many in the UK were in the dark about Bobby Moore's bracelet incident until a week later because by gentlemen's agreement, the travelling British sports journalists agreed not to mention the incident.

Below is what Alan Mullery wrote in his autobiography.


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'Hit or a Miss'?

'Back Home' was a bigger hit than Jeff Astle's miss against Brazil.
😆 And that song was used many years later as the theme tune to Baddiel & Skinner's Fantasy Football programme on BBC in the early 90s. Astle made a few guest appearances as well.
 

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