1970-71 (55 years ago today) match reports and photos

[Silent Blade]

The squad at the Town Hall reception

 

[Silent Blade]

4/5/1971

Went to the Lane to see our reserves play Preston (original date for the match was 24th April so I presume it was postponed as it rained heavily when I was at the 1st team match at Boro). Not sure if the line up was the same as the below (the club didnt reprint the programme for the rearranged date). Throughout the game I often looked over my shoulders to look at the 1st teamers at the back of JSS. After the final whistle the 1st teamers in their casual clothes went on the pitch to wave at the crowd. The fans were singing "We are going to win the League", my dad noticed my puzzled look and he said to me "Why not?".

Looking at the pavilion scoreboard it revealed that Luton had beaten Cardiff 3-0 which meant that we finished 3 points ahead of Cardiff.

 

[Silent Blade]

6/5/1971

County Cup semi final

Rotherham 0 Blades 4 (Ford 3, Reece)

It rained heavily that night and in some areas the ball got stuck in the puddles. David Ford took Dearden's place ( Dearden was in hospital having a cartilage op) in the only change from the previous match. I dont remember any of the goals and dont remember being aware that Ford got a hat trick that night! Colin Addison came on as sub replacing Reece. It was the last time I saw him play.



Players enjoying reading the Star promotion Special after the match!

 

[Silent Blade]

7/5/1971

We sign Stewart Scullion from Watford for £25,000 as I remember it wasnt long after the end of the season and I remember reading about it at my twin uncles' house in Hartley Brook Road. I watched the FA Cup final there (I wanted Liverpool to win). He wasnt a name I knew of and didnt remember his shot that hit the bar at the Lane three weeks earlier. He was our only signing between January 1971 and summer 1972

 

[Silent Blade]

Green Un Postbag and middle pages on 8th May 1971

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Silent Blade]

10/5/1971

Len Allchurch testimonial match

Swansea 3 Blades 5 (Staniforth, Currie 2, Salmons, Addison)

Team; Hope, Badger, Ogden, Flynn, Colquhoun, Hockey, Woodward, Salmons, Staniforth, Currie, Ford. subs Hodgkinson, Barlow, Addison replaced Hope, Colquhoun and Staniforth.

I dont remember being aware of the match and for years I had always thought Hodgy's last 1st team game was in the Chesterfield friendly.

 

[Bell4]

7/5/1971

We sign Stewart Scullion from Watford for £25,000 as I remember it wasnt long after the end of the season and I remember reading about it at my twin uncles' house in Hartley Brook Road. I watched the FA Cup final there (I wanted Liverpool to win). He wasnt a name I knew of and didnt remember his shot that hit the bar at the Lane three weeks earlier. He was our only signing between January 1971 and summer 1972

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I’m sure Scullions shot hit the right hand post at the Kop end - half way up the post from what seemed like the half way line

I was stood holding on to the railings at the front Kop side of the wire mesh tunnel

What great days

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Silent Blade]

2/6/1971

Yorkshire v Worcestershire County Championship match at Bramall Lane

Yorkshire v Worcestershire at Sheffield, 2-4 Jun 1971

Cricket was starting to be my "2nd sport". My dad wasnt interested in the sport, I often watched John Player League matches on BBC2 with my twin uncles at their house in Hartley Brook Road and they would explain the scores, rules etc, which ones were the outstanding players to me. My favourite cricketers at the time were Geoff Boycott, Alan Ward (cos he is from Dronfield) and Ted Hemsley so I would check their progress in the papers. My twin uncles then decided to take me to my first professional cricket match especially because Ted Hemsley plays for Worcestershire.

We sat on the wooden benches between the Bramall Lane stand and the pavilion. The first ball I saw was Chris Old bowling from the John Street End to Glenn Turner (New Zealander). I was disappointed that Boycott didnt play in the match because he was ill in bed (he wasnt in the 1st test match against Pakistan in the next day).

The first wicket I saw was Glenn Turner being caught behind by David Bairstow off Richard Hutton's bowling from the Pavilion End . Next in was John Ormrod, I knew Ted Hemsley was going to bat after him and I was getting excited. Ormrod got out first ball (I think) so the waiting was over for Hemsley to step in with his bat. I read years later that Len Badger, Tony Currie and a few other Blades players were in the pavilion sarcastically slow handclapping him as he walked onto the pitch!


Early in Ted's innings he hit a four and the ball reached the boundary not too far from where I was sitting but soon after he got bowled for only 6 runs by Geoff Cope. I was disappointed and felt like going home! My twin uncles werent happy a few overs later when I asked them if I could go home! Then they made a compromise that we would go home after the end of West Indian Ron Headley's innings. Headley was eventually bowled by Cope for 80 runs. I do not recall Andrew Dalton and Dennis Schofield who played for Yorkshire in the match.

My parents werent too happy with me when they learned that I wanted to go home much earlier than my uncles expected. It was in 1975 when I followed cricket a lot more after watching the exciting Prudential Cup matches on tv and then watching the Ashes series through my school summer holidays.

 

[Bell4]

2/6/1971

Yorkshire v Worcestershire County Championship match at Bramall Lane

Yorkshire v Worcestershire at Sheffield, 2-4 Jun 1971

Cricket was starting to be my "2nd sport". My dad wasnt interested in the sport, I often watched John Player League matches on BBC2 with my twin uncles at their house in Hartley Brook Road and they would explain the scores, rules etc, which ones were the outstanding players to me. My favourite cricketers at the time were Geoff Boycott, Alan Ward (cos he is from Dronfield) and Ted Hemsley so I would check their progress in the papers. My twin uncles then decided to take me to my first professional cricket match especially because Ted Hemsley plays for Worcestershire.

We sat on the wooden benches between the Bramall Lane stand and the pavilion. The first ball I saw was Chris Old bowling from the John Street End to Glenn Turner (New Zealander). I was disappointed that Boycott didnt play in the match because he was ill in bed (he wasnt in the 1st test match against Pakistan in the next day).

The first wicket I saw was Glenn Turner being caught behind by David Bairstow off Richard Hutton's bowling from the Pavilion End . Next in was John Ormrod, I knew Ted Hemsley was going to bat after him and I was getting excited. Ormrod got out first ball (I think) so the waiting was over for Hemsley to step in with his bat. I read years later that Len Badger, Tony Currie and a few other Blades players were in the pavilion sarcastically slow handclapping him as he walked onto the pitch!

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Early in Ted's innings he hit a four and the ball reached the boundary not too far from where I was sitting but soon after he got bowled for only 6 runs by Geoff Cope. I was disappointed and felt like going home! My twin uncles werent happy a few overs later when I asked them if I could go home! Then they made a compromise that we would go home after the end of West Indian Ron Headley's innings. Headley was eventually bowled by Cope for 80 runs. I do not recall Andrew Dalton and Dennis Schofield who played for Yorkshire in the match.

My parents werent too happy with me when they learned that I wanted to go home much earlier than my uncles expected. It was in 1975 when I followed cricket a lot more after watching the exciting Prudential Cup matches on tv and then watching the Ashes series through my school summer holidays.

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Brilliant

Can I ask you a question?

Do you ever research a game / event and just imagine you were there , reliving it with favourite relatives / friends ?

 

[LSF]

I was at the Worcestershire game Silent and yes, Badger, Currie and one or two more were sat on the terrace steps giving a bit of "encouragement" to Ted Hensley when he came in to bat

 

[Silent Blade]

Brilliant

Can I ask you a question?

Do you ever research a game / event and just imagine you were there , reliving it with favourite relatives / friends ?

My dad died in 1999, we did relive matches from the early 1970s now and then. He remembered matches from the 1950s and players. His favourite was Jimmy Hagan.

My Wendy supporting Uncle Pete died in 2009 and he was good at remembering United/Wendy matches from the 1930s, 1950s and 1960s. His favourite was Derek Dooley but admitted Jimmy Hagan was the best ever he has seen from either Sheffield clubs.

My twin Uncles played for strong local football teams (Brown Bayleys also Steel, Peech and Tozer) from 1950s to early 1970s. Both played golf regularly, liked watching cricket and horse racing on TV. Both were never married. David died in 2011, John died last year.

My Uncle Ronnie is now in his mid 70s and looked good when I bumped into him at Sainsbury's in Dronfield last week. He wrote two books "Sharpe as a Blade" and they sold well, in the book he has a good recollection of memories of Blades matches and the Blades fans he knew.

There are not many from my first school (Maud Maxfield) that can recall matches like I do but there are more than handful that sit the same row as me in the South Stand. From my second school (Mary Hare, near Newbury) there is a Norwich fan, a Hibs fan (from my class) and a Swansea fan (a year above me) who are good at remembering matches and I am in constant touch with them.

 

[ancientblade]

having read both of ronnie's books i must at some point have been stood next to him on the shoreham and might even have spoken to him at games i can relate to lots of his recollections of games especially the 1967 september derby at the lane great times great memories