Blade-on-Tyne
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Bogus RR dealership? Bogus taxi firm. Now we know where the Tuna Chancer got the idea from.
60 years ago this month...
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HodgysBrokenThumb
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So while the present generation of Blades prepares for the 3rd round of the Cup by having a collective nervous breakdown over a possible loan signing, my excitement over the approaching tie v Palace 60 years ago was only tempered by the possibility of snow and ice causing the match to be postponed. The grainy picture attached shows the arctic conditions a couple of days before kick-off. Any disappointment would have reduced by the prospect of an afternoon sledging in Bingham Park. But the main hope was that the match would be on, out would come scarf and rattle, and as a New Year's treat, a rosette would be bought and hopefully witness several rounds of the most exciting competition in football. There would be no problems about fielding a weakened side. (Trust you appreciated the paragraph break, Cerberus Blade ). The same team played league and cup, and the team for January was:
Hodgkinson
Coldwell Shaw (G)
Hoyland Shaw (J). Summers
Lewis. Hamilton. Pace. Russell. Simpson
Hoyland was deputising for the injured Richardson. And Pace was ok to play, as the authorities did not process the suspension for his sending-off for 4 weeks. That 11 remained unchanged until the last day of January.
Anyone who obtained the programme in advance would have noted that the club was concerned that the attendance would be lower because Wednesday were due to play 1st division opposition at the same time. The big crowds for cup games were an important source of revenue; it was important to try to get the pitch ready for play (I doubt they worried much about the terraces). And as a final note for now, by way of preparation for the Barnet match this Sunday, I would point out that my Dad always wrote the half-time scores down in the programme; one of the scores was Tooting and Mitcham 2, Forest 0. One of those teams went on to win the Cup in 1959, and I expect you all know which one it was. Match report of Utd follows in a few days.
HodgysBrokenThumb
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In the brief lull following the shambles against Barnet, it is perhaps a good moment to report on the very different scenario that was developing 60 years ago. Groundsmen and volunteers managed to shift the snow off the pitch, and though the pitch was hard and slippery, the first ever game v 4th-division Crystal Palace went ahead on January 10th; Wednesday's attractive home fixture v WBA was postponed. Draw your own conclusions. The crowd for the Palace match was over 24000, the 3rd biggest gate of the season at that point. Given the awful conditions, that is a measure of how important the Cup was. Palace were managed by George Smith, who had been a coach at the Lane briefly under Joe Mercer, and came back for a while under John Harris. Their star player was a teenage forward, Johnny Byrne, who went on to have a good, but not a great career. He did score a hat-trick for England in Portugal in one of his international appearances. He was a player people had heard of, but I don't remember him making an impression on the ice-rink at the Lane.
United won 2-0, with 2 goals from Billy Russell. I will put relevant pics, including grainy ones from the scrap-book on the next post. The performance was solid, and United, with a virtually full-strength side, were never in danger. There had been concerns that Pace might be suspended after his sending-off at Xmas, but nothing had yet been heard from the FA. Suspensions were rare, and therefore seemed much more important than now. The Telegraph report has Hamilton as United's star player; the conditions suited this skilful and slight inside-forward, who never quite fulfilled his potential. And it gave the Palace keeper Rouse top-rating for them. (As an aside, from memories of playing in goal on snow in the local leagues, was I the only goalie who loved diving around in the snow? Great fun, and you could always blame the conditions when things went wrong.)
So despite not having a manager, we all went home happy that evening, and it was transistor radio taken to school on Monday to hear the Cup Draw at dinner-time. Worcester or Liverpool away. Their match had fallen foul of the weather, but Liverpool were not the force they are now - they were just above us in League, outside the promotion places. And when the match did go ahead, Worcester won 2-1, so it was a late-January outing to Worcester that awaited us. We would surely not lose to a non-league team? I will put a few pictures in the next post.
United won 2-0, with 2 goals from Billy Russell. I will put relevant pics, including grainy ones from the scrap-book on the next post. The performance was solid, and United, with a virtually full-strength side, were never in danger. There had been concerns that Pace might be suspended after his sending-off at Xmas, but nothing had yet been heard from the FA. Suspensions were rare, and therefore seemed much more important than now. The Telegraph report has Hamilton as United's star player; the conditions suited this skilful and slight inside-forward, who never quite fulfilled his potential. And it gave the Palace keeper Rouse top-rating for them. (As an aside, from memories of playing in goal on snow in the local leagues, was I the only goalie who loved diving around in the snow? Great fun, and you could always blame the conditions when things went wrong.)
So despite not having a manager, we all went home happy that evening, and it was transistor radio taken to school on Monday to hear the Cup Draw at dinner-time. Worcester or Liverpool away. Their match had fallen foul of the weather, but Liverpool were not the force they are now - they were just above us in League, outside the promotion places. And when the match did go ahead, Worcester won 2-1, so it was a late-January outing to Worcester that awaited us. We would surely not lose to a non-league team? I will put a few pictures in the next post.
HodgysBrokenThumb
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Apologies for the quality of the scrap-book pictures. The pictures of their keeper punching clear, and of Russell's second goal, just about convey the sense of the Arctic conditions.
HodgysBrokenThumb
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One footnote. I had not noticed before (not surprisingly) that the programmes at the time had road safety slogans, just below the league tables. From the Grimsby post-Xmas match: 'ROAD CARE MEANS CHRISTMAS FAIR'; from the Palace programme: 'Lack of care causes many of the 20 road accidents which occur every day in Sheffield'. I will look out for more pithy gems as the season progresses.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
60 years on this day..... Worcester were preparing for the biggest game in their history vs Liverpool who were in Div 2 at the time but were challenging at the top end and surely would be too strong for the Southern League outfit even though they had a few ex league players in the ranks most notably a certain Roy Paul who had captained Man City to Cup glory only a couple of years beforehand.
But the Sat 10th Jan date like a lot of the other Cup fixtures ended up falling foul of the heavy wintery weather, the Worcester St Georges Lane pitch deemed too waterlogged after the snow had melted.
The Liverpool players walking and inspecting the heavy pitch...Bob Paisley below with Roy Paul the City captain alongside him.
The original dated match program... yes theres the Rolls Royce and Bentley dealers advert, us west midlanders had it posh in them days you know!!
So the game ended up postponed until Thursday the 15th which wouldve served to just stir up the atmosphere and excitement of the Worcester folks even more.....and the draw for the 4th round was made on the monday so we knew that the Blades lay in waiting if we pulled off a gallant noble miracle in slaying the giants from the red side of Merseyside.
But the Sat 10th Jan date like a lot of the other Cup fixtures ended up falling foul of the heavy wintery weather, the Worcester St Georges Lane pitch deemed too waterlogged after the snow had melted.
The Liverpool players walking and inspecting the heavy pitch...Bob Paisley below with Roy Paul the City captain alongside him.
The original dated match program... yes theres the Rolls Royce and Bentley dealers advert, us west midlanders had it posh in them days you know!!
So the game ended up postponed until Thursday the 15th which wouldve served to just stir up the atmosphere and excitement of the Worcester folks even more.....and the draw for the 4th round was made on the monday so we knew that the Blades lay in waiting if we pulled off a gallant noble miracle in slaying the giants from the red side of Merseyside.
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HodgysBrokenThumb
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I look forward to the match itself. I fear that your photos are going to be much better than mine! One question in advance: is it right as stated in the sources on the United side that the crowd for round 4 was 17000, a record for Worcester? I would have expected the crowd v Liverpool to have been just as big.
Newbury Blade
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Reminds me of when I went into the newsagents, straight after the match, so it would be about 4.45, and asking for the Green ‘Un.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
I hope there'll be something going on in the local paper to remember the anniversary of it but I have a few bits and pieces I can put up, quite a few pictures yes, I might try and see if I can let the library let me look at all the old archives of the local papers from that time as well.
Yes, you are right on the crowd for the 4th round game being our official record at home, 17,042...although I have heard from a few ive had the pleasure of talking to who were at those games that it was nearer 20,000 who managed to squeeze in.
The Liverpool 3rd round game attendance was 15,111 (some say it was probably 17,000 though) , our 2nd round game where we beat Millwall 5-2 was a 12,525 , the 1st round game and replay vs Chelmsford attracted 5200 and 5800 and our 4th round qualifying game vs Brierley Hill was a healthy 5225.
It made our average home gates during that 58/59 season a wholly respectable 5258 for league and Cup games combined.
Our actual record attendance was achieved the season before when Roy Paul was the player manager and we played a pretty epic bunch of games vs Aldershot in the Cup 1st round having just beaten local rivals Bromsgrove in a replay (3-3 draw away with a 7400att, then 2-1 at home with a 10,303att). First game ended 0-0 at Aldershot (8520), the replay 5 days later ended 2-2 with 10,887 watching and the second replay then went to a neutral venue just 4 days after that...played up at St Andrews, Birmingham where i've never stop ceasing to be amazed by this, 22,926 turned up and Aldershot ran out 3-2 winners.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
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As if by magic..our historian not half an hour ago posted these few pics up from the day the game was postponed..
HodgysBrokenThumb
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Astonishing crowds, particularly for that match at St Andrews. Looking back at all this in the context of the recent years decline in the Cup has made me think that in some ways it has been deliberate (Premier League, Champions League, etc.), but some of the decline has perhaps resulted from unintended consequences. Looking at League tables from Jan 1959, you can se that a large number of teams realistically already had nothing to play for, given it was 2 promoted, 2 relegated, and only 2 points for a win. This contrasted with the Cup, where it is always winner takes all, right through to the final. The more important the single game, the worse it is to lose and the better it is to win. In league football, the championship or promotion is rarely decided by a single game at the end of the season. The Walsall game in 1981 was especially painful, the Leicester game for promotion was especially joyful. We have had the suffering of play-off final defeats, so when we eventually win one, the elation will be all the greater. The leagues are much better now for maintaining interest for much longer, but we have unfortunately lost the passion of the all-or-nothing FA Cup games. The decline in numbers going to Cup games reflects this.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
Conversely in recent years the numbers going to watch non league games and turning up for the big Cup games when their hometown team are involved has risen, but not like how it used to be granted.
It really does highlight that attendance for our replay at St Andrews even more yes..I have asked around about it, from what ive gleaned a good 17/18k of the 23k were Birmingham folk piquing their curiosity and appetite to watch football...and with Roy Paul as the player manager then he would also have played a factor in that because of the utmost respect fans had towards him and his career...it boggles the mind today that we signed him from Manchester City (£750 which he described as a years wages and couldnt refuse!) but unlike the majority of footballers of today being secure after retiring his story ends in quite a sad manner...he returned back to his native Wales to live a quiet life and ended up sleeping rough on the streets and destitute, and passed away far too early as it took its toll on him. He deserved better.
I was going to save this picture but it feels right to post it after writing about him...here he is the 'lone figure' after our finest hour beating Liverpool swamped by jubilant Worcester folk trying to make his way back to the dressing room!
HodgysBrokenThumb
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A moving story. The 1955 and 56 finals were the 3rd and 4th finals I watched (neighbours' black-and White TV). Because there was so little football on TV, the players in the final seemed like gods to a young kid.
HodgysBrokenThumb
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Forgot to say, for those not conversant with 1950s football, that Roy Paul was Man City captain in those 2 finals. They lost in 55, and won in 56. And going back to JonnyRed(WCFC) 's post, Birmingham were the losing finalists in 56, and their fans would have had huge respect for Paul and Man City following the 'Trautmann broken neck' final.
Silent Blade
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Roy Paul's nephew is Alan Curtis
MoscowBlade
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Lewis.....Hamilton........Pace A very interesting name combination
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
Aha nice work adding more flesh to the bones Hodgy, all makes much more sense now...that really makes me wish I had been around back then to witness it, humbling stuff. I wonder what the atmosphere was like, not sure i've even ever seen any photos from that game, I have a mission now!
1973Blade
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Was the referee a giant, he looks about 15 ft tall!?
JonnyRed(WCFC)
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Must be on stilts as he probably sunk 5ft down into the mud swamp!
HodgysBrokenThumb
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Thanks for that. I had seen bits of it before, but not the whole thing. I wonder what the football would look like if the film was re-worked in the same way as the WW1 film 'They shall not grow old', where the wrong-speed black-and-white film was turned into natural speed and natural colour film, and the soldiers from that war suddenly became human-beings. I am convinced the football was not as bad as it looks on the film.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
You'll never forget a day like that, a non-League club beating Liverpool. I remember we had to report to a hotel in the town on the Saturday for lunch, and we're sitting there wondering what all the noise was in the street outside. It was crowds walking through the town with flags, waving and shouting. We'd never seen anything like it in Worcester before. It ended up being postponed for a few days because of a frozen pitch. We were all built up to play it on the Saturday but it was one of those things. Mind you, there was still ice and water on it when we did play.
During that Cup run, local farmers used to come in when we were training and they'd bring a sack of potatoes. One farmer came in and he had 11 chickens. "Here you are, this is for the lads," he said. Another used to bring swedes. That's what they thought of the team.
I went into work on the morning of the game, until 11.30, then I had to get ready to play Liverpool. They were in the old Second Division then, but they were a good side. They had three internationals playing for them. The manager had been to see them and he said they were all big lads so they'd take anything in the air, but if we could keep it on the ground, and the ground being in the condition it was, we'd have a chance. That's what we did, and it led to two goals from mistakes in their defence.
I had a hand in our second goal, the winner. I went down the right wing and pulled the ball back, hammered it across goal and the centre-half put it through his own net. I would claim that, because if I hadn't pulled it across goal it wouldn't have gone in.
After the game the crowd came on to the pitch and we were carried back to the dressing room. They reckoned there were 15,000 there but before the match we were watching from the dressing room as people climbed over a fence to get in. The police tried to stop them, but in the end they gave up.
Some of the lads went out after the game, and I went for a while. I'm not a drinker, and I never have been. The only thing I used to have was a small sherry. We'd go to a place called Dudfields. The moment we walked into the bar, the barman would reach up behind him and he had a bottle of Bristol Cream sherry. He'd say as long as I was scoring goals that was my bottle. I had my sherry and that was it. I lived in Wolverhampton so I was glad to get home.
Then what happened
Harry Knowles scored 148 goals in 200 games for Worcester. Now 85, he lives in Penzance. Worcester lost 2-0 to Sheffield United in the fourth round
During that Cup run, local farmers used to come in when we were training and they'd bring a sack of potatoes. One farmer came in and he had 11 chickens. "Here you are, this is for the lads," he said. Another used to bring swedes. That's what they thought of the team.
I went into work on the morning of the game, until 11.30, then I had to get ready to play Liverpool. They were in the old Second Division then, but they were a good side. They had three internationals playing for them. The manager had been to see them and he said they were all big lads so they'd take anything in the air, but if we could keep it on the ground, and the ground being in the condition it was, we'd have a chance. That's what we did, and it led to two goals from mistakes in their defence.
I had a hand in our second goal, the winner. I went down the right wing and pulled the ball back, hammered it across goal and the centre-half put it through his own net. I would claim that, because if I hadn't pulled it across goal it wouldn't have gone in.
After the game the crowd came on to the pitch and we were carried back to the dressing room. They reckoned there were 15,000 there but before the match we were watching from the dressing room as people climbed over a fence to get in. The police tried to stop them, but in the end they gave up.
Some of the lads went out after the game, and I went for a while. I'm not a drinker, and I never have been. The only thing I used to have was a small sherry. We'd go to a place called Dudfields. The moment we walked into the bar, the barman would reach up behind him and he had a bottle of Bristol Cream sherry. He'd say as long as I was scoring goals that was my bottle. I had my sherry and that was it. I lived in Wolverhampton so I was glad to get home.
Then what happened
Harry Knowles scored 148 goals in 200 games for Worcester. Now 85, he lives in Penzance. Worcester lost 2-0 to Sheffield United in the fourth round
HodgysBrokenThumb
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There's a sentence I never thought I'd see: 'I lived in Wolverhampton, so I was glad to get home'.
That is a brilliant recollection of what was obviously a great cup-tie. I hope to post about the 4th round later today, so brace yourself for the bad news. I hope you have something similar to the Harry Knowles post to put up.
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
There's a sentence I never thought I'd see: 'I lived in Wolverhampton, so I was glad to get home'.
We havent officially beaten Liverpool yet!
Tomorrows the day!
Back to Harry Knowles for a moment... one of our most revered players the directors and matchday sponsors lounge in the 'white cottage' in the corner above the dressing rooms overlooking the pitch was named 'The Harry Knowles Suite' after his exploits, the lad would literally run through walls for us..... and I mean literally.....as in the replay vs Aldershot in '58 at St Georges Lane he was on one of his usual charging runs down the left flank towards the Canal End and didnt seem to want to stop until...
'I fought the wall, and the wall won'
the fairly newly erected wall behind the goal just about won the battle and stopped him from running on and on and having a swim in the old cut!
A plaque was later placed on the wall to commemorate the incident and remained until the final sad demolition in january 2014 (I believe its now kept in storage with the other bits and pieces we kept from the old girl to hopefully be incorporated into our new home when we one day return) so alas what Harry tried to do the bulldozer finally finished the job off!
The wall injury did lay him off for a bit but he was soon back doing what he did best and here he is in full action against Coventry in another FA Cup game in 1960 in front of 7751 which still looked packed..
The 15,000 and 17,000 for the Liverpool and Blades matches wouldve been tighter than the proverbial sardines in a tin..a chap I spoke to recently who was at them said he was only 12 and literally just had to stand there and couldnt move his arms!
HodgysBrokenThumb
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Ŵ
The next post in this series is coming a little early, as I am off abroad for nearly 2 weeks. I will deal with January 17 and 24, 1959, and save the last day of the month for when I'm back. The league is going better for the 2019 Blades, who have moved into the 2nd automatic promotion spot, than it did for the 1959 team. Having lost the first match in January, the second league game, at home v Cardiff on Jan 17, was postponed, presumably because of the weather. The match was eventually played as the last home game of the season. So by mid-January we were still 5th, but 7 points behind Fulham in 2nd place; we now had a match in hand. But the Cup was looking a better prospect, as 60 years ago today Worcester were beating Liverpool 2-1, to earn a home tie v the Blades on Saturday January 24th. And the possibility of defeat for United seemed improbable, but Worcester's victory over Liverpool, who were just above us in the League, ensured that we would be taking it seriously. A performance like the one v Barnet last week would have been unthinkable.
(A brief aside, perhaps depressing for those of you young enough to be supporting the Blades for decades to come: of the 22 teams in League 2 in 1958-59, Liverpool are the only one to have established themselves in the top tier. Fulham, Burnley, Brighton, Huddersfield, Cardiff are there at the moment, but are not long-term residents.)
The pitch at Worcester on Jan 24 was playable, but not perfect. The record crowd of 17000 was packed into the ground, but I have known it more uncomfortable at the Lane when 57000 were in for a big match. There were plenty of Blades in the ground, and a noisy build-up. One of the pictures I have included in the post below shows that the club took it seriously - they apparently spent a couple of days at a nearby spa to relax. This was at a time when for away matches at places like Bristol the team travelled on the same trains as the fans; I always believed that the club secretary bought about 20 cheap day returns on the day - the same tickets we all bought. It was great for autograph-hunting, with most of the players having no airs and graces. Hodgy, needless to say, was simply the best.
The match was surprisingly stress-free. Lewis scored with a good shot after 5 minutes, United took control, and Simpson scored a clever goal early in the second-half, bringing a ball coming over his shoulder down with his right foot and stroking it in with his left. After that, all was calm, except for Knowles getting booked for flattening Hodgy, and the rare sight of Coldwell overlapping like Baldock, and putting in a great centre. It all became comfortable, as summed up by Heap's cartoon in the Green'Un, which for some reason I can only insert at the beginning. By the time of the next home game, on March 7th, the Worcester match was worth only 1 short sentence. All attention had turned to the next round.
Some grainy pictures follow below.
The next post in this series is coming a little early, as I am off abroad for nearly 2 weeks. I will deal with January 17 and 24, 1959, and save the last day of the month for when I'm back. The league is going better for the 2019 Blades, who have moved into the 2nd automatic promotion spot, than it did for the 1959 team. Having lost the first match in January, the second league game, at home v Cardiff on Jan 17, was postponed, presumably because of the weather. The match was eventually played as the last home game of the season. So by mid-January we were still 5th, but 7 points behind Fulham in 2nd place; we now had a match in hand. But the Cup was looking a better prospect, as 60 years ago today Worcester were beating Liverpool 2-1, to earn a home tie v the Blades on Saturday January 24th. And the possibility of defeat for United seemed improbable, but Worcester's victory over Liverpool, who were just above us in the League, ensured that we would be taking it seriously. A performance like the one v Barnet last week would have been unthinkable.(A brief aside, perhaps depressing for those of you young enough to be supporting the Blades for decades to come: of the 22 teams in League 2 in 1958-59, Liverpool are the only one to have established themselves in the top tier. Fulham, Burnley, Brighton, Huddersfield, Cardiff are there at the moment, but are not long-term residents.)
The pitch at Worcester on Jan 24 was playable, but not perfect. The record crowd of 17000 was packed into the ground, but I have known it more uncomfortable at the Lane when 57000 were in for a big match. There were plenty of Blades in the ground, and a noisy build-up. One of the pictures I have included in the post below shows that the club took it seriously - they apparently spent a couple of days at a nearby spa to relax. This was at a time when for away matches at places like Bristol the team travelled on the same trains as the fans; I always believed that the club secretary bought about 20 cheap day returns on the day - the same tickets we all bought. It was great for autograph-hunting, with most of the players having no airs and graces. Hodgy, needless to say, was simply the best.
The match was surprisingly stress-free. Lewis scored with a good shot after 5 minutes, United took control, and Simpson scored a clever goal early in the second-half, bringing a ball coming over his shoulder down with his right foot and stroking it in with his left. After that, all was calm, except for Knowles getting booked for flattening Hodgy, and the rare sight of Coldwell overlapping like Baldock, and putting in a great centre. It all became comfortable, as summed up by Heap's cartoon in the Green'Un, which for some reason I can only insert at the beginning. By the time of the next home game, on March 7th, the Worcester match was worth only 1 short sentence. All attention had turned to the next round.
Some grainy pictures follow below.
HodgysBrokenThumb
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JJ Sefton
Live, Laugh, Love
HodgysBrokenThumb
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I am amazed that footage exists. It was really hard to make out, but thanks for posting it. I shall never complain about modern technology again. Actually, I'm sure I will...
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
Pictures i've not seen before, lovely!
I knew the players had stayed at Droitwich Spa, the special brine baths there mustve given them an extra boost.
Perhaps the media attention, achievement, euphoria and everything that went in and came out of beating Liverpool just over a week before possibly took an edge off Worcester for the Blades game as they didnt seem at the same level where we had pressed, hustled and harried Liverpool into mistakes and feeling uncomfortable. Of course, homework wouldve been done on us as well and in amongst the 15,000 vs Liverpool were im sure a few keen observers from S2!
JonnyRed(WCFC)
Don't fear the reaper....
Today's the day....60 years ago....excitement, anticipation tinged with a hint of apprehension was abound for the visit of Liverpool to 'The Lane' (our Lane )
8 of the Worcester team were at work in the morning before being let off their duties... schools and a lot of shops were closed early for the afternoon with kick off at 2:30, an early morning fog descending from the canal had threatened to hinder or even have the game postponed a second time but thankfully it dispersed.
At our game on saturday a few of our 'weathered but forever young' fans shared their abiding memories of that special day that put Worcester on the map for more than just the Sauce!
) 8 of the Worcester team were at work in the morning before being let off their duties... schools and a lot of shops were closed early for the afternoon with kick off at 2:30, an early morning fog descending from the canal had threatened to hinder or even have the game postponed a second time but thankfully it dispersed.
At our game on saturday a few of our 'weathered but forever young' fans shared their abiding memories of that special day that put Worcester on the map for more than just the Sauce!
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