60 years ago this month...

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February 28, 1959, and it was my first chance to see United in the 6th round of the Cup. The match against Norwich was all-ticket (the programme from the week before confirms this), and a crowd of just under 57,000 was a wonder to behold. Norwich would have had almost 19,000 tickets, and I remember their fans as very colourful (their colours were new to me), and a very friendly and noisy bunch. Again we were in what was becoming our lucky position for big crowds, to the left of the Kop, and United were firm favourites, on a great run of form, against a team in the middle of the Third Division. It barely mattered that they too were unbeaten for several weeks, or that they had beaten ManU, Cardiff and Spurs on their way to Bramall Lane. United had virtually a full squad (Richardson was still out), and the club had spent time preparing for the game at Lytham St Annes - we were now going posh.

Russell scored after 2 minutes with a lob following a good move, and everything looked just right. (Highlights from Pathe News are at minute 19 on post 46, provided by WalthamstowBlade ) The rest of the first half was end-to-end, and included a great reaction save from Hodgy. The second-half began with Norwich on top, but in a breakaway, the Norwich keeper fell badly, and dislocated his shoulder. No subs in in those days, so he didn't have to throw a tantrum to stay on the pitch; indeed, his captain, Ashman, reportedly told him not worry -'We could beat this lot without a goalkeeper!' United failed to take advantage, survivived a few scares, before the left-winger Brennan went on a penetrating run and crossed for the right-winger Crossan to shoot into an open goal. The last 20 minutes produced no more goals, and suddenly we were facing what looked like a difficult trip to Norwich the following Wednesday. We were still unbeaten since January 3rd, but now a promotion and Cup double was looking more difficult. But whatever happened, I was even more in love with football, and especially the FA Cup. In just 2 weeks we had played 1 league game (v Weds) and 3 Cup games, in front of over 200,000 people. We had seen some of the most famous names in football (or in the Arsenal home replay, glimpsed their shadowy figures through the fog), and I had come to have a soft spot for Norwich that lasted until the antics of Angus Gunn and co. And we could surely win the replay...

Grainy pics follow.
 
It was Ken Nethercott's last game

image.jpg
 
My Norwich mate told me that Nethercott had to retire from football as his shoulder was never "right" again.
You set me off on a Google search with that. I like his comment that it wasn't heroic to carry on - there was only 30 minutes to play, and in any case, he had nothing to do. Regrettably that was true. I find it hard not to compare his attitude with the antics of his successor Angus Gunn at the Lane 2 seasons ago.
 
No we didn`t have to buy tickets for any of the games until the semi-final. At Newcastle there were Blades in both ends of the ground plus those in the seats.
The 3 matches which I am sure we're all-ticket were Norwich in 1959, Wednesday in 1960, and Burnley in 1962, all 6th-round matches. For that reason, I assumed the Newcastle match was all-ticket. My memory of the home matches is that they went on sale on Sunday morning, they opened loads of turnstiles, and that although there were crowds of people there, the tickets were sold pretty quickly. I think the away side got a third of the tickets, so for a crowd of 57,000, there would have been 38,000 tickets on sale.
 
The 3 matches which I am sure we're all-ticket were Norwich in 1959, Wednesday in 1960, and Burnley in 1962, all 6th-round matches. For that reason, I assumed the Newcastle match was all-ticket. My memory of the home matches is that they went on sale on Sunday morning, they opened loads of turnstiles, and that although there were crowds of people there, the tickets were sold pretty quickly. I think the away side got a third of the tickets, so for a crowd of 57,000, there would have been 38,000 tickets on sale.
All 3 were definitely all ticket matches,remember queuing on a Sunday morning to get them.They were sold on the turnstiles ,queuing was the only way to get them in those days.The FA cup really meant something in those days,no reserve teams on show !!
 
The 3 matches which I am sure we're all-ticket were Norwich in 1959, Wednesday in 1960, and Burnley in 1962, all 6th-round matches. For that reason, I assumed the Newcastle match was all-ticket. My memory of the home matches is that they went on sale on Sunday morning, they opened loads of turnstiles, and that although there were crowds of people there, the tickets were sold pretty quickly. I think the away side got a third of the tickets, so for a crowd of 57,000, there would have been 38,000 tickets on sale.
Agree, apart from away allocation. I`m pretty sure it was a quarter for away fans.
 
Agree, apart from away allocation. I`m pretty sure it was a quarter for away fans.
You are probably right. 60 years ago is a long time to remember! The large away followings for Cup games certainly made for a great atmosphere.
 
March 4th, 1959, and the dream is over, as John Lennon wrote and I didn't, because I have no musical talent. Norwich 3, United 2, and that dream of a first cup semi-final at the age of 11 had gone. Norwich might have been mid-table 3rd Division, with a goalkeeper making his debut (the 2 previous cup matches we had managed to end the opposition keepers' seasons by [unintentionally] injuring them), and they might have produced a programme devoid of interesting content, but in the end they were too good for United, who had Hamilton limping on the left-wing for more than half the match. The debutant keeper, Kennon, who became a regular for several seasons, gifted us our first goal, but it seems that for much of the game we were outplayed. Highlights again appear in post 46 above, provided by WalthamstowBlade .

There was another big crowd, 38,000, but I wasn't one of them. A mid-week match in Norwich was not an option for an 11-year old; my memory (very vague and possibly wrong) is that we listened to the second-half on the radio. Can that be right? I have a memory of hearing Summers score United's second with a header (I don't remember ever seeing him score a header!), bringing the score back to 3-2, and willing them to get a third. Or is that false memory syndrome? I would love to know. We clearly had problems all night containing Terry Bly, a very good striker, who scored 2 goals that night. The first one actually produced a wonderful photo of Hodgy leaping in vain - a bad moment for United, but I love that photo of Hodgy (see next post). If you're going to let a goal in, you might as well provide some acrobatics.

So that was that. We didn't know that the following season we would reach the sixth round again, and the season after that play 3 semi-finals v Leicester. I remember feeling disappointed, but there was a vital league match coming up on the Saturday, and this might sound vaguely familiar: we were just outside the promotion places; we had been on a great run in the league (1 defeat in the whole of December, January and March); we had had a disappointing result away on March 4th; but we were about to play at home against a team that was in one of the relegation spots (Leyton Orient). I was still young and innocent, and I remember setting off early to that match with autograph book, confident that by the end of the afternoon I would have plenty of new autographs and that United would be catching up on their promotion rivals. I won't set off with that confidence of youth for the Rotherham match on Saturday.:(
 
I am mightily relieved that United survived the potential banana skin of our first home match of March 2019. There was no such luck v Leyton Orient on March 7th, 1959. The dream of Cup glory had disappeared at Norwich 3 days before, and in front of just 14,765 fans United's hopes of promotion were severely dented in another 3-2 defeat, against second-from-bottom Leyton. We began the day 9 points behind second-placed Fulham, with 3 games in hand, and ended the day 10 points adrift.

I suspect that this was the first time in my life that a Blades pessimism began to develop. After a wonderful January and February, the first week of March saw us dumped out of the Cup by a mid-table 3rd Division team, and then defeated at home by a relegation-threatened Orient. And again we conceded 3 goals , despite having the best defensive record in the whole football league. And what was worse, there was a pattern developing. 1956-57, we lost at home to Leyton 3-2; 1957-58, we lost 2-0; 1958-59, we lost 3-2. What score would you predict for 1959-60? Correct, 0-2. Somewhere around this time, the expression 'bogey team' must have entered my consciousness, long before the 'footballing gods' began to mess up my mind. And the man who started my football nightmares was Tom Johnston, a Scottish centre-forward who even in 1959 looked like a throwback to a previous era: see the picture in the following post. Joe Shaw and Hodgy could deal with best forwards in England, but put them up against big Tom Johnston (or John Atyeo of Bristol City), and they just seemed unable to cope. Johnston scored 2 goals that day.

I always reckon hat I am not a bad loser. But I have to confess that my scrapbook has nothing about the Orient match, or about almost all the remaining matches of that season. So I have little to prompt my memory of the details of the remaining matches, and no grainy pictures to include of the games. Only of the programme ('Matchday programme, 3 pence'), and of Tom Johnston staring at the camera and giving me nightmares...
 

February 28, 1959, and it was my first chance to see United in the 6th round of the Cup. The match against Norwich was all-ticket (the programme from the week before confirms this), and a crowd of just under 57,000 was a wonder to behold. Norwich would have had almost 19,000 tickets, and I remember their fans as very colourful (their colours were new to me), and a very friendly and noisy bunch. Again we were in what was becoming our lucky position for big crowds, to the left of the Kop, and United were firm favourites, on a great run of form, against a team in the middle of the Third Division. It barely mattered that they too were unbeaten for several weeks, or that they had beaten ManU, Cardiff and Spurs on their way to Bramall Lane. United had virtually a full squad (Richardson was still out), and the club had spent time preparing for the game at Lytham St Annes - we were now going posh.

Russell scored after 2 minutes with a lob following a good move, and everything looked just right. (Highlights from Pathe News are at minute 19 on post 46, provided by WalthamstowBlade ) The rest of the first half was end-to-end, and included a great reaction save from Hodgy. The second-half began with Norwich on top, but in a breakaway, the Norwich keeper fell badly, and dislocated his shoulder. No subs in in those days, so he didn't have to throw a tantrum to stay on the pitch; indeed, his captain, Ashman, reportedly told him not worry -'We could beat this lot without a goalkeeper!' United failed to take advantage, survivived a few scares, before the left-winger Brennan went on a penetrating run and crossed for the right-winger Crossan to shoot into an open goal. The last 20 minutes produced no more goals, and suddenly we were facing what looked like a difficult trip to Norwich the following Wednesday. We were still unbeaten since January 3rd, but now a promotion and Cup double was looking more difficult. But whatever happened, I was even more in love with football, and especially the FA Cup. In just 2 weeks we had played 1 league game (v Weds) and 3 Cup games, in front of over 200,000 people. We had seen some of the most famous names in football (or in the Arsenal home replay, glimpsed their shadowy figures through the fog), and I had come to have a soft spot for Norwich that lasted until the antics of Angus Gunn and co. And we could surely win the replay...

Grainy pics follow.
I had my special place to the left of the dugout. Thanks to my Uncle Frank he gave me a ticket someone had given him. Imagine today, someone giving a ticket to a copper out of the goodness of their heart.

I only seem to be able to recollect things not related to the game, sometimes even the score. The thing I remember about this game was some Norwich fans parading a coffin round the ground with the names of the teams they had beaten on the side. Imagine being allowed to bring in a coffin in nowadays, let alone parade it round the ground.

To clarify, it wasn't a full size coffin, but far too big to hide under your coat.
 
I had my special place to the left of the dugout. Thanks to my Uncle Frank he gave me a ticket someone had given him. Imagine today, someone giving a ticket to a copper out of the goodness of their heart.

I only seem to be able to recollect things not related to the game, sometimes even the score. The thing I remember about this game was some Norwich fans parading a coffin round the ground with the names of the teams they had beaten on the side. Imagine being allowed to bring in a coffin in nowadays, let alone parade it round the ground.

To clarify, it wasn't a full size coffin, but far too big to hide under your coat.
I had completely forgotten the coffin, but as soon as I read your post, it came back to me.I assume they took it to the semi-final with our name on it! I do remember being impressed with the colour and noise of their fans, all in good humour. Did you stand close enough to where the teams came out to get on photos of the captain leading the team out carrying the leather ball?
 
Ringstead was still playing! Must have been one of his last few games!
Very well spotted! He also played in the last home game of the season, v Cardiff, but that was all, I think. He didn't play in the County Cup matches at the end of the season, and then he moved to Mansfield In the summer. But his career was very much coming to an end.
After all the games played in the previous 2 months, injuries took their toll, and there were a lot of changes (not nearly as many as nowadays, mind), with all sorts of fringe players like Nibloe, Gould, Orr, Shiels, etc., playing games, without ever looking like long-term prospects. The established players varied little for another few years.
 
Joe Shaw could put the best centre forwards in his pocket as he could read the game and embarrassing them.
These big bruises didn't do the normal things and Joe had big trouble trying to contain them,there physically upset Joe standing 5 -8 against these physical centre forwards he found it hard going.International strikers no problem.
Leyton were our boggy side in them days
Bristol rovers were another.
Going back to the Norwich game,I don't think they had 25% but had the terrace .I reckon that held 10,000 + in those days,I was on the Bramall lane end and it looked easy when Billy Russell scored after 3 minutes how wrong we were and Norwich played 2 nd half with nethercott (goalie ) having to play with one arm strapped up.
Norwich were mid table at the time but had a number of games in hand and got promotion,we faded away a bit and finished with nowt
 
March 14th, 1959, and United's Cup and promotion hopes had disappeared with successive 3-2 defeats, so the away match at Derby, who were in 5th place, one above the Blades, with neither of them with a realistic chance of getting the second promotion spot, was nothing like the Leeds game tomorrow. With only 2 teams promoted, and 2 points for a win, the end of season feeling often came early, and with 13 games left, we were basically going through the motions. I am sure I didn't go to this game, and my scrapbook has nothing about it, but it appears that my brother did go, as I have the programme, which he only annotated with the score (2-1 defeat), United's scorer (Hodson), and the fact that Russell went off injured after a few minutes, and was out for the rest of the season. United were now 12 points behind 2nd placed Fulham.

There are several bits and pieces of interest in the programme. Sheffield youngster John Nibloe made his debut for United at inside-left; he left the club after a handful of appearances, and was playing for Stockport when he was killed in car accident in 1964. I had completely forgotten that. Derby's central defenders were Les Moore and Frank Upton, who for years I regarded as the dirtiest pair in the league. Les Moore was from Sheffield, and after he retired I came across him through his work in insurance, and he was a truly delightful man. Sadly, he died in 1992, aged 59. And finally, the programme has notes on our 2 right-wingers, Alf Ringstead and Kevin Lewis, who were at opposite ends of their careers; it seems they both came to United via Ellesmere Port. Just a coincidence? I was never aware of United having a link there.

So, my conclusion today is that we are lucky to be alive to watch Chris Wilder's Blades, who appear to be sustaining a promotion challenge unlike the team of 58-59. But all was not lost: the programme for the following home match did not once mention the match v Derby. They were too busy spinning an announcement which was to have a major impact on the Blades for years to come. Some of you will immediately know what it was.

Pictures of the Derby programme follow below.
 
March 14th, 1959, and United's Cup and promotion hopes had disappeared with successive 3-2 defeats, so the away match at Derby, who were in 5th place, one above the Blades, with neither of them with a realistic chance of getting the second promotion spot, was nothing like the Leeds game tomorrow. With only 2 teams promoted, and 2 points for a win, the end of season feeling often came early, and with 13 games left, we were basically going through the motions. I am sure I didn't go to this game, and my scrapbook has nothing about it, but it appears that my brother did go, as I have the programme, which he only annotated with the score (2-1 defeat), United's scorer (Hodson), and the fact that Russell went off injured after a few minutes, and was out for the rest of the season. United were now 12 points behind 2nd placed Fulham.

There are several bits and pieces of interest in the programme. Sheffield youngster John Nibloe made his debut for United at inside-left; he left the club after a handful of appearances, and was playing for Stockport when he was killed in car accident in 1964. I had completely forgotten that. Derby's central defenders were Les Moore and Frank Upton, who for years I regarded as the dirtiest pair in the league. Les Moore was from Sheffield, and after he retired I came across him through his work in insurance, and he was a truly delightful man. Sadly, he died in 1992, aged 59. And finally, the programme has notes on our 2 right-wingers, Alf Ringstead and Kevin Lewis, who were at opposite ends of their careers; it seems they both came to United via Ellesmere Port. Just a coincidence? I was never aware of United having a link there.

So, my conclusion today is that we are lucky to be alive to watch Chris Wilder's Blades, who appear to be sustaining a promotion challenge unlike the team of 58-59. But all was not lost: the programme for the following home match did not once mention the match v Derby. They were too busy spinning an announcement which was to have a major impact on the Blades for years to come. Some of you will immediately know what it was.

Pictures of the Derby programme follow below.
Harry Storer was Derby's manager at the time. I read a funny story about him and Joe Mercer (who was Blades manager at the time). Not sure if the match in question was in 1956-57 or 1957-58. A few days after a match between the Blades and Derby (Harry Storer missed the match as he was away scouting) an incensed Mercer rang Storer to let him know that all Derby players except for two played very dirty causing injuries to some of the Blades players. Storer aske Mercer to name the players, Mercer replied saying that he wouldnt want to name them. Storer then said "please name them as I want to crucify the two!"
 
Harry Storer was Derby's manager at the time. I read a funny story about him and Joe Mercer (who was Blades manager at the time). Not sure if the match in question was in 1956-57 or 1957-58. A few days after a match between the Blades and Derby (Harry Storer missed the match as he was away scouting) an incensed Mercer rang Storer to let him know that all Derby players except for two played very dirty causing injuries to some of the Blades players. Storer aske Mercer to name the players, Mercer replied saying that he wouldnt want to name them. Storer then said "please name them as I want to crucify the two!"
A brilliant story. The 2 referred to will definitely not have been Moore and Upton.
 
It is good to be a Blade today, after another good home win, in a season which is going to keep us interested to the end. 60 years ago today, as the Beatles didn't quite sing, United were embarking on one of those weeks that long stay in the memory, for the right reasons. Valentine's Day 1959, as an 11-year old in love with the Blades and no idea what Valentine's Day was (Mrs HBT would add that I still haven't), I was one of many thousands who had caught Cup fever. Here was the best competition in world football, the final of which I began watching on TV in 1953 at a neighbour's house, and United were in with a chance of getting into the 6th round for the first time in my 'career'. There was the little matter of Arsenal away to negotiate first. They were second in League 1 only because Wolves had a better goal difference, and we were on the fringes of the League 2 promotion race. But the previous season in the 4th round we had gone to the about-to-be-mighty Spurs, and demolished them 3-0, with a master plan of Bill Hodgson (think Montgomery at his best) standing next to Danny Blanchflower for 90 minutes, so that he would never get a kick. Blanchflower commented afterwards that he was never lonely that day, as he always had the little Scottish terrier by his side to talk to!

The Midland Station was packed with United supporters (had 'fans' been invented in 1959?), a red-and-white sea of scarves, rosettes, woolly hats and rattles. For my Dad's generation, this was the chance to right the injustice of the 1936 Final, where it was generally agreed that second Division United had outplayed the Mighty Arsenal, but lost 1-0. There was a huge number of Blades in the crowd of over 55,000, so Highbury was totally red-and-white (and of course, grey - this was still the 1950s). United were at full strength, except for the continuing absence of Richardson, whereas Arsenal were without Tommy Docherty (suspended) and Jimmy Bloomfield (injury), thus missing 2 of their key players. And both teams were managed by ex-Arsenal players (George Swindin, and Archie Clarke, who was still our acting manager).

The match turned out to be one of our great Cup performances. Their manager said afterwards that they were lucky to scrape a draw, and the newspapers all wrote glowingly of United's superiority on the day. Our forwards were dangerous throughout, and the 2 Shaws excelled in defence. Just as at Tottenham the season before, we started off with great purpose, and in the 2nd minute Pace lived up to his name with a run out wide (in general the surname 'Sharp' would have reflected his qualities better than 'Pace'), put in a perfect cross, and the photos to be included in the next post show Simpson running in with perfect body shape to volley into the net. We continued to dominate, but Arsenal equalised with a soft penalty for an alleged foul by Coldwell. In the second half the Unitedites continued to roar the team on, and on 65 minutes were celebrating another classy goal - a hard cross from the teenager Lewis, and a beautiful glancing header from Pace. Cue 'Ilka Moor...'. And despite creating further chances (see the pic 'The slide that could have meant 3-1), United conceded an equaliser in the last 10 minutes. If you will allow me the little joke, the match ended in a 2-2 victory for us.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, little 3rd Division Norwich were drawing at White Hart Lane, which meant a lot of colourful celebrations around the railway stations in London. When the Cup draw was made on the Monday, Arsenal and Spurs fans will have been looking forward to a north London derby, but strange things happen in the Cup. United's replay with Arsenal was on the Wednesday evening, not all-ticket, but on a working day it would be difficult for many Arsenal supporters to make it to Bramall Lane. Everything was set for a rousing Cup replay. Oh, and did I mention that Wednesday were coming to the Lane 3 days later? This was going to be some week... Pictures to follow shortly, below.
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/...NAL-V-SHEFFIELD-UNITED/query/sheffield+united
 
Many thanks for that. I have finally had a chance to have a proper look at the footage, and given the mist and the quality of the old film, my eyes have suffered! I am sure I have never seen any footage of that game, and it was a real pleasure to see it. What is most pleasing is that it so obviously was a cracking match - all end-to-end and goalmouth action. The wing-play was excellent, and was only lacking the overlapping central defenders to complete the job. Hodgy had much more to do than I recalled, and it was wonderful to see him and Joe Shaw and Pace (among others) in action. The first goal (which because of the way the film has been put together is shown midway through rather than in the first minute) was a cracker, with Pace playing like a seasoned winger to create the chance.
Thanks again.
 
Many thanks for that. I have finally had a chance to have a proper look at the footage, and given the mist and the quality of the old film, my eyes have suffered! I am sure I have never seen any footage of that game, and it was a real pleasure to see it. What is most pleasing is that it so obviously was a cracking match - all end-to-end and goalmouth action. The wing-play was excellent, and was only lacking the overlapping central defenders to complete the job. Hodgy had much more to do than I recalled, and it was wonderful to see him and Joe Shaw and Pace (among others) in action. The first goal (which because of the way the film has been put together is shown midway through rather than in the first minute) was a cracker, with Pace playing like a seasoned winger to create the chance.
Thanks again.
My dad said Hamilton was good to watch and he showed some lovely skills in the film. Who was our trainer that came over to Hodgy when he had hurt his arm?
 
My dad said Hamilton was good to watch and he showed some lovely skills in the film. Who was our trainer that came over to Hodgy when he had hurt his arm?
It was a real pity Hamilton did not make it in the long term. He was very easy on the eye.
I'm pretty sure the trainer was Harry Latham, who was trainer for what seemed an age. It certainly looks like him. His magic sponge clearly worked - Hodgy was soon back in full action.
 
It was a real pity Hamilton did not make it in the long term. He was very easy on the eye.
I'm pretty sure the trainer was Harry Latham, who was trainer for what seemed an age. It certainly looks like him. His magic sponge clearly worked - Hodgy was soon back in full action.
Jock Stein managed Hamilton at Hibs. Years later he told Alex Ferguson that Hamilton was the most talented player he has ever worked with but despaired at his lifestyle.
 

Jock Stein managed Hamilton at Hibs. Years later he told Alex Ferguson that Hamilton was the most talented player he has ever worked with but despaired at his lifestyle.
I remember it being said that his lifestyle was wild. I don't know how widespread it was, but he was referred to quite widely as 'Wee Willie Harris', who was a rock singer whose behaviour terrified parents in the late 50s. We didn't have social media to fill in the alleged details.
 

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