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Thanks for this. Quite a privilege to see 2 World Cup winners in Moore and Hurst, and Bobby Moore always looked good. It was quite a surprise to me to see Hurst do so well in the World Cup. Indeed I was watching the World Cup final on TV with my dad (my brother was at Wembley), and seconds before the ‘They think it’s all over’ goal, I said to my dad ‘ He won’t score, he can’t kick with his left foot’. One of my many slightly inaccurate comments over the years!
Shame on you for posting this a day early! I was planning to spend today preparing for the trauma of this report, but I woke up this morning to find the full horror of it staring me in the face
Am going to Edinburgh tomorrow and coming back on Saturday so I thought it would be best to post today. Mrs Silent and I will be attending a Robert Burns night on FridayShame on you for posting this a day early! I was planning to spend today preparing for the trauma of this report, but I woke up this morning to find the full horror of it staring me in the face
got those photos in my scrapbook silent we were well beaten on a very cold snowy day at the swill
At this game with a couple of Owls fans on Leppings Lane. Can remember Layne, who was an England cert if not for. roaring down the pitch and smashing the ball in just in front of us. Thought the ball was going to go through the net and take my head off.
It is ironical that I have few of the programmes for the remainder of the 63-64 season, but do have the one for this match. I have been putting off the trauma of reminding myself of this disastrous afternoon (spent freezing on the Kop at S6), but in fact re-reading the programme wasn’t too bad.
My son played in the same Staveley Miners u15s team as Mark Pearson's niece's son. I think Mark still lives in RidgewayIt is ironical that I have few of the programmes for the remainder of the 63-64 season, but do have the one for this match. I have been putting off the trauma of reminding myself of this disastrous afternoon (spent freezing on the Kop at S6), but in fact re-reading the programme wasn’t too bad.
1. Wednesday had lost at Newport in the 3rd Round of the Cup, described in the programme as Wednesday’s worst humiliation ever in the Cup. The Cup was much more important in the 60s, and we, of course, had reached at least the 5th Round every year since 1958. And we were about to play Swansea in the 4th Round at home the following Saturday, so we were confident that the run would continue.
2. The programme is quite fair about United, expressing the view that all Sheffielders hope Utd have success v Swansea. I don’t think such noble thoughts would be expressed today!
3. There is a very fair summary of United’s rise, followed by a decline largely because of injuries. There is even an honourable mention of Hodgy’s Broken Thumb
4. Despite all the warmth, they can’t resist a comment comparing attendances at Bramall Lane and Hillsborough.
So, here are some pages from the programme, a memento of a cold and miserable afternoon:
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According to the programme notes .... 'Finney drove the ball on to the John Street post'.It is ironical that I have few of the programmes for the remainder of the 63-64 season, but do have the one for this match. I have been putting off the trauma of reminding myself of this disastrous afternoon (spent freezing on the Kop at S6), but in fact re-reading the programme wasn’t too bad.
1. Wednesday had lost at Newport in the 3rd Round of the Cup, described in the programme as Wednesday’s worst humiliation ever in the Cup. The Cup was much more important in the 60s, and we, of course, had reached at least the 5th Round every year since 1958. And we were about to play Swansea in the 4th Round at home the following Saturday, so we were confident that the run would continue.
2. The programme is quite fair about United, expressing the view that all Sheffielders hope Utd have success v Swansea. I don’t think such noble thoughts would be expressed today!
3. There is a very fair summary of United’s rise, followed by a decline largely because of injuries. There is even an honourable mention of Hodgy’s Broken Thumb
4. Despite all the warmth, they can’t resist a comment comparing attendances at Bramall Lane and Hillsborough.
So, here are some pages from the programme, a memento of a cold and miserable afternoon:
View attachment 178014View attachment 178015View attachment 178016View attachment 178017
Hadn't realised Mark passed away last September
was at this game swansea played really well but a poor display from united
This game was a further indication that our season was beginning to fall apart. A home tie against a bottom half Division 2 side was a great opportunity to make progress towards that elusive Wembley Final, but in the end we were lucky to get a draw. And this was at a time when the Cup was in many ways regarded as more important than the League. The previous league game, v West Ham, attracted a crowd of just over 18000, but for this match v Swansea the crowd was over 25000. I think that we can be certain that this weekend’s Cup game v Brighton will attract a lower crowd than last week’s league game v West Ham. Priorities have changed.
If I ever knew that, I had forgotten it. A few weeks later, just before he left United, he had his say in the programme, and he gives a clear indication of where his future lay - coaching. I can confirm what he says about his contact with schools - I loved a 6-week spell at King Edwards in 1963(?) when he and Hodgy came and did coaching sessions with us each Wednesday afternoon in the paddy fields of Whitely Woods. They were both enthusiastic, approachable, and got us working hard. It is no surprise that they went to have good careers as coaches. I also love the fact that his favourite game was the away win at Newcastle in the Cup, even if he does get the score wrong (printing error, shall we say). My only reservation is the last sentence, the mantra that anyone can be a top sportsman if they want. I could have dedicated my life to becoming a top-class goalkeeper, but my natural ability would have prevented me. I prefer the idea of helping youngsters be the best they can be, but we all have our limits.
All that optimism from the autumn was really evaporating. And it was the beginning of the end of the virtually unchanged line-ups of the previous 6 or 7 years. I feel privileged to have spent the best years of my footballing life watching a good and skilful group of players give the club an identity and togetherness which I assumed was just how things were at football clubs. That sense of identity has occasionally been re-created (the Bassett and Wilder [mark 1] eras immediately come to mind), but it is far from being the norm.
And so the decline that set in in November gathered pace, and United were now struggling to stay in the top half of the League, having been top for several weeks in the autumn. Plan B, playing an offside trap, only succeeded in annoying the Liverpool crowd, as their team seems to have worked out quickly how to overcome it, and soon started scoring goals for fun. Further thoughts:
And so the decline continues, but at least we got a point. The crowds were getting smaller (just over 14000), the team was being changed regularly (after several years of virtually no team changes, this came as a shock), I continue to be surprised by reports of Richardson’s attempts on goal, and if we needed confirmation of things going against us, the report that John Harris was away on a scouting mission is confirmed in the next home match programme, along with the information that the player being watched was injured in the first few minutes of the game…
I obviously bought my first flat cap sometime between 1964 and 1970
Something of a recovery was beginning after a run of awful results culminating in the 6-1 hammering at Liverpool. A second draw in a week was more encouraging, particularly away at one of the main title contenders. The defence seems to have been back to its usual self, against a very talented Spurs front line, and it sounds as if we came close to getting a winning goal on more than one occasion. A little optimism was returning.
The improvement continued, even if it did mean very few goals being scored. But successive 0-0 draws against two of the main title-contenders were encouraging, and the youngsters continued to show their promise, particularly Mick Jones. But my direct memory of this game is not of one of Utd’s players; when a goalkeeper plays well, it always catches my attention, and Gordon West, a young record-for-a-goalkeeper signing, was outstanding for Everton. He had caught my eye before,playing for Blackpool as a very young keeper. I was convinced he would be the next England keeper, but in fact he only won 3 caps. Whether this was because I was wrong about him, or he didn’t develop as much as hoped, or he had the misfortune to coincide with another Gordon from this part of the world, Gordon Banks, I don’t know. But he was outstanding that day.
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