Silent Blade
Well-Known Member
What year was that?I still bear the mental scar of the penalty he scored past me…
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What year was that?I still bear the mental scar of the penalty he scored past me…
Early 70s, in a Cup match. We were losing 4-0, and Fred had been quiet, not advancing much beyond the half-way line. We gave away a penalty with a few minutes to go, and I was absolutely determined to save it - he had, I think, taken a good few penalties for United. I was on my toes and incredibly focused as he WALKED towards the ball, and I heard the ball hit the back of the net before I realised he had kicked it. I understood at that moment how huge the gulf is between professional footballers and the rest of us mere mortals.What year was that?
Early 70s, in a Cup match. We were losing 4-0, and Fred had been quiet, not advancing much beyond the half-way line. We gave away a penalty with a few minutes to go, and I was absolutely determined to save it - he had, I think, taken a good few penalties for United. I was on my toes and incredibly focused as he WALKED towards the ball, and I heard the ball hit the back of the net before I realised he had kicked it. I understood at that moment how huge the gulf is between professional footballers and the rest of us mere mortals.
In line with the rules and regulations of this Forum, I am unable to answer your question until 2052. Perhaps Sue Page could conduct an enquiry into the facts for you.Yes , I talked to a couple of blokes in the past , one of whom had played against Wednesday’s Jack Witham and the other against Charlie Hartfield when both had retired and were way past their best and overweight .
Both remarked as to how easy they made the game look and how poor they made the much younger and fitter players around them appear to be .
With regard to Charlie , I have a recollection of him being out of favour and me banging on to my mates that we needed him back in the side and that when this happened , we went on a great run which took us well clear of the relegation zone .
I’m thinking it was the year that we looked dead and buried by the end of November but can’t be sure and wonder if you or one of our other fine historians on here can shed more light on this since it’s been gnawing away at me for quite some time .
Either way , I still look on him as one of those players whose contribution to our performances at the time was seriously underrated by many and who was just the type of player our current team would benefit from .
Hartfield came into the side in the second half of the 1992/93 season around Jan time and our form did pick up somewhat including winning the final 3 games of the season to finish 14th (we were 19th when he came back into the side).Yes , I talked to a couple of blokes in the past , one of whom had played against Wednesday’s Jack Witham and the other against Charlie Hartfield when both had retired and were way past their best and overweight .
Both remarked as to how easy they made the game look and how poor they made the much younger and fitter players around them appear to be .
With regard to Charlie , I have a recollection of him being out of favour and me banging on to my mates that we needed him back in the side and that when this happened , we went on a great run which took us well clear of the relegation zone .
I’m thinking it was the year that we looked dead and buried by the end of November but can’t be sure and wonder if you or one of our other fine historians on here can shed more light on this since it’s been gnawing away at me for quite some time .
Either way , I still look on him as one of those players whose contribution to our performances at the time was seriously underrated by many and who was just the type of player our current team would benefit from .
Hartfield came into the side in the second half of the 1992/93 season around Jan time and our form did pick up somewhat including winning the final 3 games of the season to finish 14th (we were 19th when he came back into the side).
He played in the cup wins over Man Utd and Blackburn, and the 6-0 against Spurs.
A suspension prevented him from playing in the FA Cup semi final. He was on form at the timeHartfield came into the side in the second half of the 1992/93 season around Jan time and our form did pick up somewhat including winning the final 3 games of the season to finish 14th (we were 19th when he came back into the side).
He played in the cup wins over Man Utd and Blackburn, and the 6-0 against Spurs.
stunning stuffMonday, January 15, 1962
FA Cup 3rd Round, 2nd replay
At Hillsborough
Utd 2-0 Bury
Attendance: 26941
This was not a classic cup match by any means, but it stood out for 2 reasons:
1. It was strange to go to Hillsborough and watch United as the ‘home’ team. There was a good crowd, mainly Unitedites, with a few from Bury and presumably some Wednesdayites taking the opportunity to enjoy an extra visit to their ground and hope to see United giant-killed.
2. United showed great resilience. This was their 3rd game in 6 days, and just 2 days before they had been given a physical battering at Villa. Some of the wounded were patched up and played, but others were replaced by players who had little first-team experience. It was to the credit of both groups that they performed well enough to see off Bury this time without alarms, and set up a 4th round tie against Peterborough, whose manager was Jimmy Hagen. And there was growing optimism that United’s recent good run of form had every chance of continuing, especially with some of the back-up players fitting in well.
Below, there is a page from the scrapbook, programme, and newspaper report provided by Silent Blade . The annotations in the programme are in my brother’s hand-writing, and I would add the following observations. The size of the attendance, 26, is an underestimate. To fit in United’s changes, he uses first-names and nicknames only, in a somewhat informal way : ‘Rocko’, Joe and Ron are the absent players. However, full marks for the correct use of ‘whom’ in that sentence, which shows that he took something from his grammar school education! And I love the way he used our player ratings to obliterate all details of the Wednesday hierarchy
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As a United fan on the Kop that night, I will take that as a compliment. I hope our old rattle didn’t frighten you. And anyway, shouldn’t you have been in bed by then?remember this game well hodgy my dad and me sat in the north stand first time i had been in there only 8 at the time but can remember united fans on the kop making it a great atmosphere cant believe its 60 years ago
cheeky devil hodgy i was 10 at the time was a very happy young blade walking back up herries road that nightAs a United fan on the Kop that night, I will take that as a compliment. I hope our old rattle didn’t frighten you. And anyway, shouldn’t you have been in bed by then?
harshWhilst looking for something else among my chaotic programme collection, I came across the programmes for 2 ‘recent’ matches, which I assumed had been lost for ever. First, the initial match in the Cup at Bury:
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A couple of facts surprised me:
1. In all 5 Cup Finals from 1899-1903, either Bury or United were one of the finalists. Wow, just wow…
2. I knew that Bob Stokoe was manager of Bury, but I had forgotten that he played over 80 games for them, as he was player-manager. He did not play in this Cup-tie for some reason.
The other programme is another 0-0 draw, at Villa:
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Both these programmes are for 0-0 draws; and perhaps not surprisingly, in both matches our player ratings had Joe Shaw as man of the match. No surprise there.
Just like pommpey with Norwood!harsh
Richardson was deffo a 14 - you always underscore him
My brother was quite a fan of Richardson (mainly for his hairstyle). I presume I marked him low to annoy my brother! We averaged our marks. My brother was a huge fan of Joe Shaw, so was quite happy to vote for him.harsh
Richardson was deffo a 14 - you always underscore him
The rest of this post follows tomorrow. I clearly pressed the wrong part of the phone screen, intending to leave it until tomorrow. And yes, I am enjoying a glass of Laphroaig…27 January, 1962
FA Cup, 4th round
Peterborough 1-3 United
Attendance: 28174
Now here is a coincidence, and for those of a superstitious nature, a good omen. Last Saturday in January, 1962, an away trip to Peterborough, and a very good 3-1 win; 60 years later, the last Saturday in January again sees United travel to Peterborough, and a similar result would be very welcome. Not long to wait to see how that works out…
If there is one thing that has become clear to me in this thread, it is how lucky we were to have grown up enjoying success in the most prestigious competition at the time, the FA Cup. The previous 4 seasons had provided trips to Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle, and we had gone through to the next round in each case. We had visited grounds we never expected to, such as Worcester. And now, we were about to have our first ever game against Peterborough, who were on the crest of a wave. They had finally been allowed into the Football League in 1960, gained promotion from League 4 in 1961, and in January 1961 they were in 3rd position in League 3. Their manager was Jimmy Hagan (no introduction needed), and their centre-forward was Terry Bly, a player who had given us trouble in the Cup previously with Norwich. We were expecting a difficult game in front of a sellout crowd of over 28000, with over 9000 Unitedites heading for a first taste of football against the Posh.
was this the year burnley knocked us out in the quarter final at the lane hodgy ?27 January, 1962
FA Cup, 4th round
Peterborough 1-3 United
Attendance: 28174
Now here is a coincidence, and for those of a superstitious nature, a good omen. Last Saturday in January, 1962, an away trip to Peterborough, and a very good 3-1 win; 60 years later, the last Saturday in January again sees United travel to Peterborough, and a similar result would be very welcome. Not long to wait to see how that works out…
If there is one thing that has become clear to me in this thread, it is how lucky we were to have grown up enjoying success in the most prestigious competition at the time, the FA Cup. The previous 4 seasons had provided trips to Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle, and we had gone through to the next round in each case. We had visited grounds we never expected to, such as Worcester. And now, we were about to have our first ever game against Peterborough, who were on the crest of a wave. They had finally been allowed into the Football League in 1960, gained promotion from League 4 in 1961, and in January 1961 they were in 3rd position in League 3. Their manager was Jimmy Hagan (no introduction needed), and their centre-forward was Terry Bly, a player who had given us trouble in the Cup previously with Norwich. We were expecting a difficult game in front of a sellout crowd of over 28000, with over 9000 Unitedites heading for a first taste of football against the Posh.
Indeed it is. I have always felt we were really unlucky that day, but maybe the reports etc. will suggest otherwise. We had 10 men and a limping Summers for almost the whole game, and their goal had a large element of luck. But those Cup runs were great. We always bought rosettes outside the ground for the 3rd round; I don’t know why they had always disappeared by the following January.was this the year burnley knocked us out in the quarter final at the lane hodgy ?
was it 58k on a very foggy march day hodgy ?Indeed it is. I have always felt we were really unlucky that day, but maybe the reports etc. will suggest otherwise. We had 10 men and a limping Summers for almost the whole game, and their goal had a large element of luck. But those Cup runs were great. We always bought rosettes outside the ground for the 3rd round; I don’t know why they had always disappeared by the following January.
Seeing as it was foggy 🌫 it would have been especially difficult to expect total accuracy and for H to count everyonewas it 58k on a very foggy march day hodgy ?
57000 is the official attendance. It was certainly very misty, but not like the fog of the Arsenal replay a few years before, which must have been close to being abandoned.was it 58k on a very foggy march day hodgy ?
There was a heck of a crush behind the goal at Peterborough where most Blades were. I seem to remember we were allocated 8,000 tickets for that tie, but more managed to gain entry.(Peterborough continued)
As I was saying before I touched the wrong bit of the screen and accidentally posted a half-finished account of the FA Cup match, over 9000 Unitedites, many with scarves, rosettes and rattles, set off for our first-ever meeting with Peterborough. The Cup had been good to us in recent years, and with our improving league form, there was confidence that another good Cup run was about to happen. There was always something special about the trainloads of fans heading for a Cup match, as around a third of the total number of tickets had to be made available to the away side, and always seemed to allow access to various parts of the ground. A good performance, and ‘Ilkla Moor’ would ring out from all 4 sides of the ground, as at Everton and Newcastle the previous season. And let’s face it, the 3-sided ground at Bramall Lane was always lacking something for atmosphere.
The walk from the station was noisy, and I think we felt that East Anglia was a backwater in need of a bit of livening up; to my surprise, inside, the ground was packed, and the atmosphere was very loud. We went directly behind one goal, and did our best to compete with the home fans; without a hint of a threat, let it be said. As I remember it, nothing was made of the fact that Jimmy Hagan was their manager; managers then were not very visible, and tended to be in their suits in the directors’ box.
It turned out that we were behind the goal United were defending in the first half, and my one clear memory of a detail of the match is (what else?) a great diving save in the opening minutes by Hodgy. Reassuring that we had him in goal, worrying that the Peterborough player had evaded our defenders rather easily. But it soon became clear that we needn’t worry - at the other end of the pitch, a repeat of the Newcastle game unfolded, and in a little over 20 minutes, thanks to 2 goals from Russell and 1 from Pace, we were 3-0 up. Cue ‘Ilkla Moor’, and relative quiet from the Peterborough crowd. As at Newcastle, we conceded a late goal which mattered not, and a happy train ride home was assured, as well as the prospect of a 5th Round tie yet again. Happy days. One minor blot on the horizon: Wednesday had beaten Forst 2-0 in the Cup, so the prospect of another tie v Wednesday was possible: but there was no time to worry about that, as we were away to Wednesday in one week’s time. We were just 2 points behind them, so a victory would… Did we dare dream?
Pics below, again with thanks to Silent Blade for the newspaper reports, and for the final picture, of Russell’s 2nd goal:
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Was that the end where Utd scored all 3 goals? We were at the other end, and I remember the ground looking packed, but I don’t remember feeling crushed. I could just have forgotten, as Cup matches were often crushed.There was a heck of a crush behind the goal at Peterborough where most Blades were. I seem to remember we were allocated 8,000 tickets for that tie, but more managed to gain entry.
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