50 years ago today

[Keen Blade]

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Billy Dearden , total hero of mine but never lauded like Woody & TC.
What's that book ?

 

[Silent Blade]

Billy Dearden , total hero of mine but never lauded like Woody & TC.
What's that book ?

My Kind of Town magazine. You can buy them from shops in Sheffield area

 

[Corkblade]

Great memories Silent, half day from school and what better way to spend it. Billy was a hero of mine as well, £10,000 from Chester one of the biggest bargains ever, could teach a certain centre forward at the club a thing or two

 

[Bell4]

There must have been some generous headteachers around. That was a decent crowd for a midweek afternoon match.

Went to the game myself - my grandad took me as he was on strike from Treeton at the time

 

[Greenwich Blade]

Great memories Silent, half day from school and what better way to spend it. Billy was a hero of mine as well, £10,000 from Chester one of the biggest bargains ever, could teach a certain centre forward at the club a thing or two

He's our striker, he's our number 9
Scoring goals in the red and white
Ten-thousand pound and he came from Chester
And he goes by the name of Billy D

It could catch on, that one.

 

[Pedro Verde]

Remember having time off school for the West Ham match and got into trouble for that
The pig fans in our school got the afternoon off to go and see Pele without any problem, my argument that I went to see amongst others Bobby Moore didnt wash

 

[Silent Blade]

4/3/1972

Coventry 0 Blades 2 (Woodward, Blockley og). Match abandoned after 62 minutes

A few weeks earlier my dad asked if I would be interested to go to the League Cup final between Stoke and Chelsea at Wembley although the Blades were scheduled to play at Coventry that day. I did have a long think and agreed that my dad would try to get the tickets for the final but failing that, we would go to Coventry. My dad succeeded in his application for the Wembley tickets by post. I think he kept our ticket stubs for the League Cup semi final replay at S6 in January and that probably helped in getting the Wembley tickets. It would be my first visit to Wembley, my dad went to the 1949, 1955 and 1961 FA Cup finals plus a few England international matches. My uncle Ronnie still has some of the tickets, if not all, in a frame at his home.

We travelled down the M1 in my dad's car. On arriving at Wembley we find that we were stood with Stoke fans behind the goal that Peter Osgood scored Chelsea's equaliser and George Eastham hitting Stoke's winner. Terry Conroy's early lead was at the other end. During half time we were checking the football half time scores and we were delighted that the Blades were winning 2-0.

We enjoyed the Cup final and we were pleased to see Stoke win their first ever trophy. As I was often the goalkeeper when I was having a kickabout with the lads at my local park, I had a soft spot for Gordon Banks (he was a Sheffielder too!). My dad and I were checking the full time scores on the Wembley scoreboard and it still said "Coventry City 0 Sheffield United 2" so we were pleased in thinking that we had won and still were in contention for a place in the following season's UEFA Cup.

On the way home on the M1 we stopped at a service station for tea. My dad bought the local Saturday evening newspaper and handed it over to me to look at the scores and the league table. To my horror I saw the print, Coventry City 0 Sheffield United 2 (Abandoned after 62 minutes) and showed it to my dad and he couldnt believe our bad luck too! I do not remember seeing any rain or snow during the day!

Were any of you at Highfield Road that day? If so, what can you remember please?




I couldnt find any Green Un report of the 2nd half in the Library Archives



Scores, scorers and line ups of that days matches are in the below link (no mention of our abandoned match!)

1972-03-04

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

Brian Clough thought he was going to sign Forest's Ian Storey-Moore and paraded him at the Derby home game against Wolves that day but a few days later Storey-Moore signed for Man U!




Below video are the highlights of the League Cup final

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

4/3/1972

Coventry 0 Blades 2 (Woodward, Blockley og). Match abandoned after 62 minutes

A few weeks earlier my dad asked if I would be interested to go to the League Cup final between Stoke and Chelsea at Wembley although the Blades were scheduled to play at Coventry that day. I did have a long think and agreed that my dad would try to get the tickets for the final but failing that, we would go to Coventry. My dad succeeded in his application for the Wembley tickets by post. I think he kept our ticket stubs for the League Cup semi final replay at S6 in January and that probably helped in getting the Wembley tickets. It would be my first visit to Wembley, my dad went to the 1949, 1955 and 1961 FA Cup finals plus a few England international matches. My uncle Ronnie still has some of the tickets, if not all, in a frame at his home.

We travelled down the M1 in my dad's car. On arriving at Wembley we find that we were stood with Stoke fans behind the goal that Peter Osgood scored Chelsea's equaliser and George Eastham hitting Stoke's winner. Terry Conroy's early lead was at the other end. During half time we were checking the football half time scores and we were delighted that the Blades were winning 2-0.

We enjoyed the Cup final and we were pleased to see Stoke win their first ever trophy. As I was often the goalkeeper when I was having a kickabout with the lads at my local park, I had a soft spot for Gordon Banks (he was a Sheffielder too!). My dad and I were checking the full time scores on the Wembley scoreboard and it still said "Coventry City 0 Sheffield United 2" so we were pleased in thinking that we had won and still were in contention for a place in the following season's UEFA Cup.

On the way home on the M1 we stopped at a service station for tea. My dad bought the local Saturday evening newspaper and handed it over to me to look at the scores and the league table. To my horror I saw the print, Coventry City 0 Sheffield United 2 (Abandoned after 62 minutes) and showed it to my dad and he couldnt believe our bad luck too! I do not remember seeing any rain or snow during the day!

Were any of you at Highfield Road that day? If so, what can you remember please?

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I couldnt find any Green Un report of the 2nd half in the Library Archives

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Scores, scorers and line ups of that days matches are in the below link (no mention of our abandoned match!)

1972-03-04

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

Brian Clough thought he was going to sign Forest's Ian Storey-Moore and paraded him at the Derby home game against Wolves that day but a few days later Storey-Moore signed for Man U!

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Below video are the highlights of the League Cup final

Our usual foursome was at Highfield Road that day Silent and what a big disappointment it turned out to be .

There is absolutely no doubt that the ref no option but to call the match off since when he did so conditions were appalling bordering on farcical , with players boots visibly sinking into the ground when they tried to run .

Up to that point we had played really with several outstanding performances , notably from TC , Woody and Len and we looked extremely comfortable with our lead which heightened our sense of disappointment .

I well remember as we were walking back to the car one of us saying that just to make matters worse , we would probably lose when the match was replayed and I believe that’s how it turned out . Grrrrr....

The other thing I remember from that day is being served the biggest bag of chips I’ve ever seen ! I had a decent appetite in those days but , in spite of eating them continuously for 20 minutes or so ,didn’t even manage to get through half of them !!

Oh , and by way of consolation we treated ourselves to an extra couple of pints on our customary stop off on the return journey .

 

[Blade1959]

We never did well at Coventry in the 70’s, one draw in 1975 was the best result

 

[Silent Blade]

We never did well at Coventry in the 70’s, one draw in 1975 was the best result

Brilliant last minute equaliser by Woody

 

[Silent Blade]

11/3/1972

Stoke 2 (Smith, Ritchie) Blades 2 (Smith og, Scullion)

The only memory I have of that day was that I was surprised to see John Farmer in goal for Stoke instead of Gordon Banks. I read years later that Stoke paraded the League Cup to the crowd before the kick off but I dont remember this despite being at Wembley to see Stoke win the cup the previous week. Maybe my dad had arrived at the ground late? Dont remember the goals too and hadnt realised until this week that Dennis Smith scored for both sides! For some reason the Green Un report wasnt available at the Library Archives. Maybe there wasnt one that weekend?



Scores, scorers (Woody didnt score despite the link thinking he did) and tables are in below link

1972-03-11

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

 

[Bladesince61]

I was at Highfield Road that day. I remember Len Badger going mad at the Ref, I assumed he had sent one of our players off as I don't think red and yellow cards were in use at the time. Obviously I realised when everyone started to walk off!

 

[Silent Blade]

15/3/1972

England Youth 4 Spain Youth 1

Watched the match in the John Street Stand with my dad. Steve Cammack scored one of the goals

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Just shows how talented youngsters often fall by the wayside. Out of all the England team that night, I think only (Kevin) Beattie (is it him?) went on to be a top player.

 

[Bert]

Just shows how talented youngsters often fall by the wayside. Out of all the England team that night, I think only (Kevin) Beattie (is it him?) went on to be a top player.

Peter Eastoe has a decent career.

 

[Bell4]

11/3/1972

Stoke 2 (Smith, Ritchie) Blades 2 (Smith og, Scullion)

The only memory I have of that day was that I was surprised to see John Farmer in goal for Stoke instead of Gordon Banks. I read years later that Stoke paraded the League Cup to the crowd before the kick off but I dont remember this despite being at Wembley to see Stoke win the cup the previous week. Maybe my dad had arrived at the ground late? Dont remember the goals too and hadnt realised until this week that Dennis Smith scored for both sides! For some reason the Green Un report wasnt available at the Library Archives. Maybe there wasnt one that weekend?
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Scores, scorers (Woody didnt score despite the link thinking he did) and tables are in below link

1972-03-11

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

The trim blond carrying the goal times board -

1st paragraph on lead article

Wonder if I could use that in the recruitment criteria doc I’m about to put together for a customer

 

[Bell4]

Peter Eastoe has a decent career.

As did Sarah Green

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Peter Eastoe has a decent career.

Yeah a couple of season at Everton. But he never came close to being a top player

 

[Silent Blade]

Just shows how talented youngsters often fall by the wayside. Out of all the England team that night, I think only (Kevin) Beattie (is it him?) went on to be a top player.

Yes, also Phil Thompson

 

[Blade1959]

Kevin Lock took over from Bobby Moore at West Ham & helped them win the FA Cup

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Yes, also Phil Thompson

Fair dos. Didn't realise it was Phil Thompson.

 

[Silent Blade]

18/3/1972

Blades 1 (Woodward pen) Everton 1 (Wright)

I wasnt aware that Everton had recently signed Bernie Wright from Walsall. In the past few days all the football fans were aware that Man City had signed Rodney Marsh from QPR but it seemed to escape the football fans attention that Bernie Wright was already an Everton player for over a month! Wright proved to be a real handful to our defence and he opened the scoring for Everton.




For most of the game Everton were easily the better side but they were frustrated by the ref's decisions and my dad was saying that the ref's decisions kept us in the game.

1st half action



2nd half action



In the last few minutes of the match, I could see from the BLUT TC trying to weave his way with the ball to the edge of the penalty area at the Kop end before he got flattened by a tackle and the ref then immediately awarded us a penalty despite the protests by the Everton players. I wasnt sure if it was the right decision but my dad disagreed with the decision.



Then up stepped Woody who blasted the spot kick to Gordon West's left and my dad said that we had got a lucky point!













Scores, scorers, line ups and league tables are in below link. Man City looking good at the top of the table after beating Chelsea 1-0 and giving a debut to Rodney Marsh.

https://www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk/season/S1971-72/1972-03-18.html.

From the programme

 

[Silent Blade]

21/3/1972

Huddersfield 0 Blades 0

I hadnt realised until a hour ago that the scheduled date for this fixture was Tuesday November 23rd and I do not remember why the fixture was postponed and re-arranged for 21st March.

My dad couldnt go to the match because of work. Instead my twin uncles (both Wendy fans although they were still playing local football on Saturday afternoons) travelled from their home in Shiregreen to pick me up in Dronfield to take me to the match. Somewhere on the A629, the car broke down as the gear cable had snapped. It was decided that uncle John (I told him by text this weekend that it is 50 years ago since the trip to Huddersfield. His reply was "Thanks for reminding me!") had to stay in the car to wait for the breakdown recovery. A passer by kindly took me and uncle David (sadly no longer with us) to the match.

David and I were sat on the side stand. I remember in the 2nd half, Gil Reece scoring a good goal from outside the box but for some reason it was disallowed by the ref. When the ball entered the net I jumped out of my seat celebrating and I was surprised that my Wendy supporting uncle David did the same! Maybe he was like Michael Palin who likes to see both Sheffield teams to do well or he wanted to cheer with me! Not long after we had but the ball into the net again but it was disallowed too, just like at Blackpool last Wednesday!

Not sure if it was the same driver who took me back home after the match and my uncle David was in the car too. Either the same driver or my dad took David home.









Scores, scorers, line ups and league tables are in below link

1972-03-21

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

 

[Blade1959]

I didn’t know that the game was originally scheduled for November, I always assumed it was from the 5th February when Huddersfield played in the FA Cup.

 

[Silent Blade]

I didn’t know that the game was originally scheduled for November, I always assumed it was from the 5th February when Huddersfield played in the FA Cup.

5th Feb was 4th round day

 

[Silent Blade]

25/3/1972

Spurs 2 (Chivers, Gilzean) Blades 0

My dad and I were sat in the upper stand behind the goal (not sure which one), I cant remember the two goals but I think they were scored at the other end as I think it was in the first half when I was studying how Pat Jennings took his drop kicks as my dad told me earlier in the week that he once scored a goal (Some years later watching a video I was able to see his goal against Man U in the 1967 Charity Shield). I was a keen goalkeeper at the time and I got to study some keepers and at that time Jennings seemed to be one of the few keepers that didnt wear gloves. When John Hope took the goal kicks in the 2nd half, through the hearing aids, I heard fans making noises. I asked my dad the reason for this, my dad said that they were trying to put Hope off.

There were no Green Un reports of the match available at the library archives (dunno why) so I found the below report from a Spurs fan history website.

What was a disappointing match ended 2-0 to Spurs, who could not create a chance until 14 minutes had passed, when captain Mike England headed wide. Tottenham then turned the pressure on the Blades defence and scored both goals in this period. Martin Chivers had opened the scoring with a shot from the edge of the six yard box at the Park Lane end, shooting past the keeper John Hope and two defenders on the line after Ralph Coates mis-kicked Cyril Knowles' low cross. Ten minutes later, Alan Gilzean took Roger Morgan's pass that left the United back four static and the Spurs striker had time to shoot home, minutes after heading a good chance over the bar. The second half was less memorable, with John Hope twice denying Gilzean and near the end, Alan Woodward cut through the Spurs defence with a good run, only to screw his shot wide at the end of it.

The first goal





It is not often we see two photos from different angles that captured an incident exactly the same time





Scores, scorers, line-ups and tables are in the below link. Man City still looking favourites to win the league title

1972-03-25

www.englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk

 

[Silent Blade]

Over the weekend my dad had found out that TC was involved in a car crash on the Saturday night and of course like most Blades fans we wondered if those who were in the crash were all ok. We were wondering whether TC would still continue playing for the rest of the season.

 

[Bert]

Over the weekend my dad had found out that TC was involved in a car crash on the Saturday night and of course like most Blades fans we wondered if those who were in the crash were all ok. We were wondering whether TC would still continue playing for the rest of the season.

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Bert seems to recall the Currie was nicked for drink driving after that incident.

Bert was also at the Tottenham game.

 

[Karaoke Blade]

Bert seems to recall the Currie was nicked for drink driving after that incident.

Bert was also at the Tottenham game.

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Interesting how they used to present the teams in the old 2-3-5 formation, even in 1972. Pretty sure we always had the straight back 4 back in those days. (e.g.Badger, Flynn, Colquhoun, Hemsley ).
Can anyone even older than me remember teams actually playing anything like a 2-3-5 back in the day?

 

[Silent Blade]

Interesting how they used to present the teams in the old 2-3-5 formation, even in 1972. Pretty sure we always had the straight back 4 back in those days. (e.g.Badger, Flynn, Colquhoun, Hemsley ).
Can anyone even older than me remember teams actually playing anything like a 2-3-5 back in the day?

Most of the clubs in the 1960s copied Alf Ramsey's 4-3-3 formation. We were the same. Back 4 of Len, Eddie, Enoch and Ted, midfield were Hockey, TC and Sammy. front 3 were Woody, Dearden and Reece