50 years ago today

[Blade56]

Oh what a season this was. And my lads wonder why I bemoan many of our current crop of players. Mr Jelly was 18 and enjoying life.

 

[Silent Blade]

Interesting to note that the journalist on one of the reports on the Charlton match was one Sam Bartram .

I can only assume this is the former Charlton goalkeeper who I remember from my younger days and who played hundreds of games for the club .

However , his biggest claim to fame was the fact that he once played in a match that was called off due to thick fog when the ball was at the other end of the pitch . As a result , he was totally unaware as to what had happened and stayed in his goal for fully 15 minutes after everyone else had gone off !

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

13/2/1971

Charlton 0 Blades 2 (Woodward, Dearden)

My dad decided that it was too risky for us to go on another long trip in his car as it had broken down twice (at Luton and at Oxford) in just over 2 months. We decided to go to the Lane to see our reserves beat Wolves 3-2. Hodgy played in goal that day and I remember feeling sorry for him having to play in a reserves match after being our undisputed first choice keeper for many years. I think it was the only time he played in a reserves match since being dropped from the 1st team. Years later reading his interview with Gary Armstrong, I was puzzled when Hodgy claimed that John Harris asked him to return to the 1st team after John Hope had hit bad form in 1972 despite , to my knowledge, having played in only one reserves match in 12 months.

During half time my dad overheard that TC had missed a penalty again and the pavilion scoreboard revealed that it was goalless at the Valley stadium but shortly afterwards there were gasps from the Lane crowd when the scoreboard revealed that Colchester were leading L**ds 2-0 in the FA Cup 4th round.

At the final whistle we were happy with the knowledge that the 1st team had won 2-0 at the Valley but laughed at the knowledge that the mighty L**ds had lost 3-2 to 4th division Colchester. Usually on the front page of the Green Un they would have a photo of a match played at Sheffield that day but that evening the photo on the front page was Ray Crawford scoring his and Colchester's 2nd goal against L**ds (photo down below) and I remember watching highlights of the famous giantkilling on MOTD that evening (footage of the goals below) especially the joyous celebrations when Colchester scored their 3rd goal.

View attachment 105456

I hadnt realised until this week that TC's brother Paul played in NIL matches for about 5 to 6 weeks in Jan and Feb 1971 (for some reason I always thought Paul was in our books only for the 1968-69 season).

View attachment 105457
View attachment 105459

View attachment 105460

View attachment 105461
View attachment 105462
View attachment 105463
View attachment 105464
View attachment 105465
View attachment 105466
View attachment 105467
View attachment 105468
View attachment 105469
View attachment 105470
View attachment 105473
View attachment 105474

View attachment 105476

I wonder if the Coxon in the juniors team was related to the fiery post-war Yorkshire and England bowler Alex Coxon? If I recall correctly he supposedly had a run in with Brylcreem Boy Dennis Compton and was never selected for England again.

 

[Silent Blade]

I wonder if the Coxon in the juniors team was related to the fiery post-war Yorkshire and England bowler Alex Coxon? If I recall correctly he supposedly had a run in with Brylcreem Boy Dennis Compton and was never selected for England again.

This is David Coxon in 1972. Dont know if he is related to Alec.


Third from left at John Hope's funeral 6 years ago

 

[Nearly Jimmy Hagan]

This is David Coxon in 1972. Dont know if he is related to Alec.

View attachment 105509
Third from left at John Hope's funeral 6 years ago

View attachment 105510

Good photo, they just look ordinary people now but were heroes to me when they were playing, assuming I’ve correctly identified Currie, Badger, Colquhoun & Dearden!

 

[Silent Blade]

Good photo, they just look ordinary people now but were heroes to me when they were playing, assuming I’ve correctly identified Currie, Badger, Colquhoun & Dearden!

Yes, Ford, Hemsley and Barlow too

 

[Nearly Jimmy Hagan]

Yes, Ford, Hemsley and Barlow too

Thanks Silent, I can pick them out now
I think Ted Hemsley lived near me in the early 70’s, on Abbey Lane near the Cemetery entrance

 

[Silent Blade]

Thanks Silent, I can pick them out now
I think Ted Hemsley lived near me in the early 70’s, on Abbey Lane near the Cemetery entrance

I saw him at Sainsbury's in Dronfield quite a few times, last time was last month.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

It was bad enough seeing Hodgy in the Reserves lineup, but I choked on my glass of whiskey seeing Foulkes playing in goal for the Juniors!

 

[Silent Blade]

It was bad enough seeing Hodgy in the Reserves lineup, but I choked on my glass of whiskey seeing Foulkes playing in goal for the Juniors!

Willie's grandson

 

[ancientblade]

Thanks Silent, I can pick them out now
I think Ted Hemsley lived near me in the early 70’s, on Abbey Lane near the Cemetery entrance

oh if only ted had been on the pitch that first saturday in october 71 at old trafford

 

[bornablade]

Thanks Silent, I can pick them out now
I think Ted Hemsley lived near me in the early 70’s, on Abbey Lane near the Cemetery entrance

I always thought that was Dave Powell

 

[bornablade]

I saw him at Sainsbury's in Dronfield quite a few times, last time was last month.

I think Ted might live on Summerfield Road or Derwent Road.

Jake Wright (I think) lives just round the corner.

 

[Silent Blade]

I think Ted might live on Summerfield Road or Derwent Road.

Jake Wright (I think) lives just round the corner.

He did in Summerfield Road in the 1970s, not sure about now. He ran a bookmakers near the White Swan in the 1980s

 

[Nearly Jimmy Hagan]

I always thought that was Dave Powell

Could have been bornablade, it is a long time ago but I always thought it was Ted

 

[Silent Blade]

It was bad enough seeing Hodgy in the Reserves lineup, but I choked on my glass of whiskey seeing Foulkes playing in goal for the Juniors!

Here he is behind John Gannon before the Wolves match in 2014



1 min 36 secs in below link



on the right of McAlister in the 1971 squad photo

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Here he is behind John Gannon before the Wolves match in 2014

View attachment 105524

1 min 36 secs in below link



on the right of McAlister in the 1971 squad photo

View attachment 105525

Many thanks for that. If I ever knew it (I don’t think I did), I had totally forgotten.

 

[Silent Blade]

Many thanks for that. If I ever knew it (I don’t think I did), I had totally forgotten.

LSF knows Bill Foulkes

EDIT: Sorry, Richard Foulkes, great grandson of Willie

 

[LSF]

Richard Foulke(s).
The S was added and taken away by various generations of the Foulke family.
My grandfather was a good friend of the legend that is Bill.
Oddly enough 60 odd years later I got to his great grandson!

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Richard Foulke(s).
The S was added and taken away by various generations of the Foulke family.
My grandfather was a good friend of the legend that is Bill.
Oddly enough 60 odd years later I got to his great grandson!

Interesting. Did Richard have any sort of career in professional football? Are there any other members of the family who have played sport at a high level? Bill was, of course, also a cricketer.

 

[LSF]

Interesting. Did Richard have any sort of career in professional football? Are there any other members of the family who have played sport at a high level? Bill was, of course, also a cricketer.

No, United released him and he played local non league stuff. Appeared for Sheffield FC amongst others. He started off playing for Meynell Youth Club. Also played for Josephines in the Sunday league.
Not as I know, but that's not to say they haven't.
I went to school with his great granddaughter and she wasn't very sporty at all.

 

[Summers & Pace]

13/2/1971

Charlton 0 Blades 2 (Woodward, Dearden)

My dad decided that it was too risky for us to go on another long trip in his car as it had broken down twice (at Luton and at Oxford) in just over 2 months. We decided to go to the Lane to see our reserves beat Wolves 3-2. Hodgy played in goal that day and I remember feeling sorry for him having to play in a reserves match after being our undisputed first choice keeper for many years. I think it was the only time he played in a reserves match since being dropped from the 1st team. Years later reading his interview with Gary Armstrong, I was puzzled when Hodgy claimed that John Harris asked him to return to the 1st team after John Hope had hit bad form in 1972 despite , to my knowledge, having played in only one reserves match in 12 months.

During half time my dad overheard that TC had missed a penalty again and the pavilion scoreboard revealed that it was goalless at the Valley stadium but shortly afterwards there were gasps from the Lane crowd when the scoreboard revealed that Colchester were leading L**ds 2-0 in the FA Cup 4th round.

At the final whistle we were happy with the knowledge that the 1st team had won 2-0 at the Valley but laughed at the knowledge that the mighty L**ds had lost 3-2 to 4th division Colchester. Usually on the front page of the Green Un they would have a photo of a match played at Sheffield that day but that evening the photo on the front page was Ray Crawford scoring his and Colchester's 2nd goal against L**ds (photo down below) and I remember watching highlights of the famous giantkilling on MOTD that evening (footage of the goals below) especially the joyous celebrations when Colchester scored their 3rd goal.

View attachment 105456

I hadnt realised until this week that TC's brother Paul played in NIL matches for about 5 to 6 weeks in Jan and Feb 1971 (for some reason I always thought Paul was in our books only for the 1968-69 season).

View attachment 105457
View attachment 105459

View attachment 105460

View attachment 105461
View attachment 105462
View attachment 105463
View attachment 105464
View attachment 105465
View attachment 105466
View attachment 105467
View attachment 105468
View attachment 105469
View attachment 105470
View attachment 105473
View attachment 105474

View attachment 105476

Went on the coach with a number of the The Lane Social Club crew. The same group still go to away games, they must all be knocking 70.
Stood on the hugh side terrace, can remember Woody scoring, but can’t recall missing a pen.
Then first night out in London Town, and the obligatory mad rush to get the coach at Victoria for midnight. A real eye opener, the height of sophistication for me, being the Buc.
Got up next morning and played against the Fellbrigg in Jaunty Park. God knows how I did it.

 

[Sean Thornton]

50 years ago today I was a month away from entering the family.

Err......

 

[Silent Blade]

19/2/1971

My dad picked me up in his car from the Cubs hut at Dronfield Hilltop, I got in the back seat because my 4 year old sister was sat on the front seat. My dad asked my sister to let me know that his Auntie Florrie (I used to visit her often in Unstone) passed away, after seconds of sadness in silence, my dad then broke the silence asking my sister to let me know that Colin Todd had left Sunderland to sign for Derby County. It was a boost for the Blades as our opponents in the next day would be without their star defender.

 

[ancientblade]

19/2/1971

My dad picked me up in his car from the Cubs hut at Dronfield Hilltop, I got in the back seat because my 4 year old sister was sat on the front seat. My dad asked my sister to let me know that his Auntie Florrie (I used to visit her often in Unstone) passed away, after seconds of sadness in silence, my dad then broke the silence asking my sister to let me know that Colin Todd had left Sunderland to sign for Derby County. It was a boost for the Blades as our opponents in the next day would be without their star defender.

View attachment 105954

what a player colin todd was

 

[Karaoke Blade]

19/2/1971

My dad picked me up in his car from the Cubs hut at Dronfield Hilltop, I got in the back seat because my 4 year old sister was sat on the front seat. My dad asked my sister to let me know that his Auntie Florrie (I used to visit her often in Unstone) passed away, after seconds of sadness in silence, my dad then broke the silence asking my sister to let me know that Colin Todd had left Sunderland to sign for Derby County. It was a boost for the Blades as our opponents in the next day would be without their star defender.

View attachment 105954

This made me smile, Silent. Not because Auntie Florrie had passed away, but how your Dad dealt with it. Your memories never fail to amaze me. Did you write a diary, or do you have a photographic memory? Either way, keep 'em coming.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

19/2/1971

My dad picked me up in his car from the Cubs hut at Dronfield Hilltop, I got in the back seat because my 4 year old sister was sat on the front seat. My dad asked my sister to let me know that his Auntie Florrie (I used to visit her often in Unstone) passed away, after seconds of sadness in silence, my dad then broke the silence asking my sister to let me know that Colin Todd had left Sunderland to sign for Derby County. It was a boost for the Blades as our opponents in the next day would be without their star defender.

View attachment 105954

My grandad (he of the rattle in my avatar) probably improved the quality of life of your Aunt. He was on the Unstone Parish Council in the 1930s and 40s, and his main achievement was to have the new sewage works near the railway line built. He used to point them out proudly to us in the 50s when we went walking there. The minutes of the Council meeting show him repeatedly insisting that the project employ local workers (unemployment was high in the 1930s). We did not take his achievement entirely seriously, sad to say... We have never been a family of high achievers.

 

[Silent Blade]

My grandad (he of the rattle in my avatar) probably improved the quality of life of your Aunt. He was on the Unstone Parish Council in the 1930s and 40s, and his main achievement was to have the new sewage works near the railway line built. He used to point them out proudly to us in the 50s when we went walking there. The minutes of the Council meeting show him repeatedly insisting that the project employ local workers (unemployment was high in the 1930s). We did not take his achievement entirely seriously, sad to say... We have never been a family of high achievers.

That is interesting, the sewage works are still there

 

[Silent Blade]

This made me smile, Silent. Not because Auntie Florrie had passed away, but how your Dad dealt with it. Your memories never fail to amaze me. Did you write a diary, or do you have a photographic memory? Either way, keep 'em coming.

My dad was like that, he would quickly talk about something positive just after revealing bad news. It surprised me that evening and that is why I can still picture being in the car receiving both news.

 

[Silent Blade]

20/2/1971

Blades 1 (Hemsley) Sunderland 0

The first time I saw a photo of Jim Montgomery (similar to the photo below) was during the 1969-70 season and it made me think "The reason why Sunderland are around the bottom of the first division is because their keeper is cross eyed"



How wrong was I to judge a footballer by how he looked! He gave one of the finest goalkeeping displays I have ever seen and I have always been a fan of his and I was to meet him 6 years later (more of that later). He made a string of fine saves when I first saw him on a rainy day. The pitch was heavy but it seemed almost impossible that we would score against him. Eventually a header by Ted Hemsley late in the game had him beaten. After that he continued to make brilliant saves and eventually when Sunderland got a meaningful attack at the Kop End, John Hope made a fine full length dive to flick away a shot by Bobby Kerr.

Two years later I was at my Uncle Pete's house (he had colour tv) watching the 1973 FA Cup final. Uncle Pete and I were cheering for Sunderland to beat L**ds. We cheered when Ian Porterfield (who became our manager 8 years later) scored the goal in the first half but the most memorable moment was Monty's legendary double save from a header by Trevor Cherry and a close range follow up by Peter Lorimer. Just after that Uncle Pete and I looked at each other open mouthed as we found it hard to believe what had happened! During the 1976-77 season one afternoon at my boarding school after a games lesson, a Sunderland fan called Mark (his grandfather was a director at Sunderland AFC) was telling me that Jim Mongomery was going to pop in our school to pay him a visit after attending a meeting down south. I dont think he wanted some fuss from the pupils but word had gone round that Mark was showing Jim round the school, the pupils gathered quickly with their pen and paper. Mark looked at me as if he thought I had been a big mouth but Jim was happy to sign every autograph request and shaking hands with pupils. The head boy (who was the school's 1st team keeper at the time) refused to wash his hand for a week!







At last the goal!



















From the match programme