1972-73 match reports and photos (50 years ago today)

[Silent Blade]

15/8/1972

Blades 0 Leeds 2 (Colquhoun og, Giles (pen))

I was on a family holiday at Filey in August 1972 but we still came back to Sheffield to watch the home midweek game against Leeds (we lost 2-0). On the way to Sheffield we stopped at York to see Brigadier Gerard who at the time won all the races he was in. It was the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup race but Roberto ridden by Piggott won beating Brigadier Gerard to 2nd place! After that we went to BDTBL to see us lose and then travel back to Filey!

For years I couldnt remember Leeds' first goal, and I was surprised to discover that it was an own goal by Eddie Colquhoun! I remember Johnny Giles' penalty at the Kop end

 

[Silent Blade]

19/8/1972

Blades 1 (Salmons) Newcastle 2 (MacDonald, Tudor)

Came back home after a week's holiday at Butlin's camp in Filey. I met John Tudor, his wife and his mother in law outside the ground before the game to have a chat. It was agreed that we would meet again after the match.

Before the match our players ran to three parts of the ground and kicked free balls to spectators who had to be quick and agile enough to claim the balls.



The MOTD cameras were there to televise the match. The 1st half was uneventful. Soon after half time, Malcolm MacDonald burst through our defence and fired them into the lead.

Not long afterwards we were awarded a free kick outside the box at the Lane End. The free kick was played short to Geoff Salmons who thundered a ground shot past Iam McFaul.


Then Newcastle had a corner from the right, our defence missed the cross and Tudor popped up to head in the winner at the far post and I didnt like how he celebrated! I was so stunned. Usually I looked up for Newcastle's score and I would be pleased if Tudor had scored but this was totally different and it looked like betrayal to me!

Near the end of the game, the season ticket holder that usually sat next to me stood up and was telling me and others nearby "It shows that we are missing Currie!" before he made his way to the exit. TC was serving the third of the 3 match suspension for the sending off at Peterborough.


At the end of the game I told my dad that I didnt want to meet John as agreed because I was still angry with him for scoring the winner and celebrating. My dad talked me around and eventually I agreed to meet John. On meeting him , his wife etc after the match, my dad told him that he had to persuade me to meet them after the match despite that John scored the winner . John smiled and said "I am so sorry"

 

[Silent Blade]

23/8/1967

Stoke 2 (Hurst, Smith ) Blades 2 (Reece 2)

Went on Branson's coach to the match .

My dad and I were sat in the side stand at the end where the Blades attacked in the 1st half. At first I thought TC had scored the 1st goal heading in a Woody corner to mark his return to the team after a 3 match suspension but the players ran towards Gil Reece to congratulate him and my dad had to assure that it was Reece who nipped in front of TC to get the ball first. It was a well timed run by Reece from the edge of the box and he was too quick for me to notice his run!

Early in the 2nd half new Stoke signing Geoff Hurst broke through and mishit his shot (despite the report saying that he hammered his shot) and this fooled McAlister who was unable to move as the ball rolled into the net. Dont remember Smith's goal to put Stoke into the lead. Near the end Reece's quick thinking as he seized on some hesitancy by the Stoke's defence by nipping in to grab the equaliser.

There were a lot of smiles in the coach on the journey back home to Dronfield.




Scores, scorers , line ups and league tables on this day

1972-08-23

 

[Silent Blade]

26/8/1972

WBA 0 Blades 2 (Woodward, Cammack)

On the previous Sunday there was a new addition to our family. A Jack Russell terrier called Toby, pictured below with me and my sister. I was still keen on the Blades but all week I was concerned that Toby would be missing his family etc so I spend a lot of time making sure that he would feel "at home" soon



My dad and I travelled to West Brom in the Branson's coach with other members of the SUSC Dronfield branch. At the ground we stood in the side terrace.

My most memorable moment of the match was when we won a free kick which was bang in line from where my dad and I stood. While the ref was making sure that the WBA defensive wall be 10 yards away from the free kick, TC and Woody were close together behind the ball having a quiet discussion on what to do with the free kick. I was a few feet away from them and I was trying to lipread Woody as he was using his shirt sleeve to wipe his nose. I grew in confidence that Woody would score as he was assessing which part of the goal he would aim at. TC calmly rolled to Woody whose rocket shot gave debutant keeper Peter Latchford no chance as he despairingly dived to his right as the ball bulged the top corner of the net. One of my favourite goals.

Early in the 2nd half Steve Cammack made it two with an impressive diving header to convert a cross from Woody. It was his first senior goal and I was thinking that he would be having a bright future at the club!








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

1972-08-26

 

[Silent Blade]

29/8/1972

Blades 0 Ipswich 0

The only moment of the match that stood out happened at the Kop End (I was watching from BLUT as usual). It looked that a shot from an Ipswich player had hit the right post then hit under the crossbar and then hit the left post before it got cleared away in a scramble. Dont think I have ever seen any shot that happened like that!

Ipswich's manager Bobby Robson saying in his post match comments that Woody is the best corner taker he has ever seen!








From the programme





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

1972-08-29

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

The first photo is remarkable - it looks as if the Ipswich defender has amputated Currie’s left leg at the knee!

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

The photo of TC caught my eye because my mother-in-law’s cousin won the League twice with Wednesday, and seems to have had the same problem with his right leg:

 

[HarryHaslam]

The photo with the balls under the arms which were kicked into the crowd brings back a memory I had totally forgot about. I managed to get a ball on one of the occasions they did it, couldn’t tell you what game as I remember the players doing it on quite a few occasions over the years back then but I managed to grab one which a gave to my young brother. It was not touched for weeks and took pride of place with other memorabilia until it was then kicked around, think the balls lifespan was about a couple of weeks, great memories.

 

[Silent Blade]

2/9/1972

Blades 3 (Woodward, Dearden 2) Southampton 1

The only two memories I have of the match was our 3rd goal (as I was wondering afterwards if the goal should have been credited to Billy Dearden or it was an own goal by John McGrath) and the other was knowing that the highlights of the match would be on YTV in the next day.

I wasnt expecting that it would be Gil Reece's last appearance for us.

I remembered the next day better because not long after watching the highlights on tv, I fell hard on the kitchen floor in a freak accident which broke my arm. I was horrified at my left arm being disfigured and yelled for my mum's attention. She rushed towards me and nearly passed out at the sight of my arm. I feared an amputation would happen. As my dad was at work she ran down to a friend of hers to ask if her husband could take me to the old Chesterfield hospital and he agreed to take us. While I was in the hospital ward waiting for the X ray, examination by the specialists, there were excitement in the Ward as there was a tv showing Mary Peters going for the Olympic gold in the pentathlon. My dad at work got to hear about my accident and then came straight to see me at the hospital. When he saw my disfigured arm , he said "that happened to me too when I was about 12 when a mate and I jumped onto the back of a lorry and then I fell on the road!" . I then realised that it wouldnt mean my arm would be amputated!

As my arm got straightened and having a plaster cast, the doctor gave me disappointing news when he said "No sports for a month!". At the time I was always on the field next to my house playing football also in the next day it was the first day of what I knew that potentially would be the last schoolyear for me at Maud Maxfield, I was looking forward to playing football with the senior boys during PE games lessons but that had to wait!

Our goals start from 10 mins in below link


















From the programme




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

1972-09-02

 

[Silent Blade]

6/9/1972

League Cup 2nd Round

Workington Town 0 Sheffield United 1 (Dearden)

Only time we played against Workington in history. No, I didnt go to the match.

A bit of history about Dronfield (my home town)

When the Wilson Cammell steelworks closed in Dronfield in 1884 there was a mass exodus of families who followed the company to its new location in Workington, Cumbria. You could seek out the 'Dronnies' in their new homes in the Workington census of 1891.

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Silent Blade]

9/9/1972

Norwich 1 (Cross) Blades 1 (Dearden)

During breakfast I discovered that my dad was annoyed with our new puppy, Toby, for peeing on the carpet so he decided that Toby stayed outside in the rain despite that it tried to get our attention through the door window pleading to be allowed back in our house. It was allowed back in the house just when my dad and I set off for Dronny Bottom for Branson's coach to pick us and other members of the SUSC Dronfield Branch for the trip to Carrow Road.

On arriving at the pick up we had discovered that the coach had broken down and that a replacement coach was on its way to pick us up. While we were waiting, some of the branch members were asking me what had happened to me after noticing the plaster cast on my left arm. Eventually the coach arrived and it wasnt a Branson's coach and it wasnt the usual driver, Colin. The driver was a Buddy Holly lookalike!

We arrived at Norwich knowing that we would miss the whole of the first half, as the coach was going through the City Centre slowly in the traffic jam, half time scores were being announced in the coach's radio and my friend was delighted to inform me that we didnt miss any goals because it was 0-0 at half time! On realising that the ground was at the other side of the city centre, we knew we would miss the start of the second half. Interestingly Ian MacKenzie had similar problems in getting to the ground in a car driven by the Commercial Manager Harold Rumsey after Harris had informed him by phone that he was needed at the ground to replace Colquhoun who had fallen ill at the team's hotel

As soon as our coach arrived at the ground, we rushed quickly to the River End stand. When my dad and I settled on a place to stand, we saw Billy Dearden breaking away at the other end, beating off a defender to the ball before shooting us into the lead! My dad and I couldnt believe that we had arrived at the right time to see us score!

Late in the game, Norwich's David Cross headed in the equaliser despite Steve Goulding's efforts to head the ball off the line and it was a sickener. There was a Norwich fan somewhere at the Barclay's stand that was to become a good friend of mine nearly a year later and we are still good mates. Ironically he will be staying at our house tonight as he will be attending my son's wedding!

As the coach was leaving the ground we drove past the SUFC team coach and noticed that one of the coach windows was smashed . Probably an irate Norwich fan had thrown a brick through the window!






Captain Ted!








Scores, scorers, line ups and league table on that day are in below link

1972-09-09

 

[Silent Blade]

16/9/1972

Blades 2 (Dearden, Woodward (pen)) Chelsea 1 (Garland)

Chris Garland's goal was the only one that I remember out of the three goals scored in the first 16 minutes. When I saw our goals in the YTV video (produced in 1993), it was like it was the first time I had seen our goals!



Billy heading in the opener

https://www.bounder.friardale.co.uk/Match%20Reports/1972/19720916.jpg

From the programme


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

1972-09-16

 

[Blade1959]

I remember seeing TC dribble past 5 or 6 players in the first half.
I think it was shown on football focus or saint & greavsie years later, maybe when they were previewing the Sheffield Derby in 1991/2?

 

[Silent Blade]

19/9/1972

Texaco Cup

Blades 1 (Currie) WBA 1 (Alistair Brown)

The night before three late teenage girls came to our house to discuss with my dad about travelling to future away matches in Branson coaches. I had known them from previous away matches in the same coach. I asked them if they were going to the Texaco Cup match at the Lane, they said "No, not bothered about the Texaco Cup". They didnt share my excitement about the cup as I felt we had a good chance of winning it. My dad then said to me "Not many will be going to tomorrow night's match"

We were poor that night and Woody was carried off in the 1st half after injuring his ankle as it rolled on the top of the ball when he set off on a right wing raid. We struggled to find the equaliser and eventually TC headed in a Ford cross. After the game I was thinking "Maybe the three girls I spoke to last night were right!"








From the programme

 

[Silent Blade]

We sign Alan Warboys from Cardiff, Gil Reece and Dave Powell move in the opposite direction

 

[Silent Blade]

Just realised I forgot to include this in the Chelsea report

 

[Silent Blade]

23/9/72

Liverpool 5 (Boersma, Lindsay, Heighway, Cormack, Keegan (pen))

I didnt go to the match as I was at the Maud Maxfield School Golden Jubilee celebrations. John Hampshire (Yorkshire and England cricketer) was the guest of honour and I presented a bouquet of flowers to his wife. As soon as my dad heard the final score at Anfield he said to me "Glad we were here rather than at Anfield!"













There are plenty more reports and photos at the bottom of the below link. Up to you if you want to read them!

Matchdetails from Liverpool - Sheffield United played on Saturday 23 September 1972 - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!

LFChistory.net is all about the history of Liverpool FC. We have got all the match results from 1892 to today along with great player profiles

www.lfchistory.net

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

1972-09-23

 

[Bert]

23/9/72

Liverpool 5 (Boersma, Lindsay, Heighway, Cormack, Keegan (pen))

I didnt go to the match as I was at the Maud Maxfield School Golden Jubilee celebrations. John Hampshire (Yorkshire and England cricketer) was the guest of honour and I presented a bouquet of flowers to his wife. As soon as my dad heard the final score at Anfield he said to me "Glad we were here rather than at Anfield!"

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There are plenty more reports and photos at the bottom of the below link. Up to you if you want to read them!

Matchdetails from Liverpool - Sheffield United played on Saturday 23 September 1972 - LFChistory - Stats galore for Liverpool FC!

LFChistory.net is all about the history of Liverpool FC. We have got all the match results from 1892 to today along with great player profiles

www.lfchistory.net

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

1972-09-23

Bert and his mates went on the train.

Right outside the station a gang of loveable scousers ripped the brand new sheepskin coat off one of Bert's mates.

It wasn't a good start to the day although it did get us a lift to the ground in a police Land Rover.

 

[Silent Blade]

26/9/1972

Texaco Cup

West Brom 1 (Gould) Blades 0

Didnt go.

 

[Jon Bon II]

We sign Alan Warboys from Cardiff, Gil Reece and Dave Powell move in the opposite direction

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That was the equivalent of losing a fiver and finding 10 bob!

 

[Silent Blade]

30/9/1972

Blades 1 (Woodward pen) Man U 0

My dad had bought 2 or 3 BLUT tickets for a family from the Barnsley area we befriended at Filey in the previous month but the family didnt turn up!

Man U boasted 5 big name attacking players in their line up. Bobby Charlton, George Best, Wyn Davies, Ian Storey Moore and Willie Morgan. When either Best, Storey-Moore or Morgan ran with the ball towards the Kop, all had similar hair and running style, it could be confusing which is which!

We were comfortable playing against them despite that Warboys didnt really impress me in his home debut. With 10 minutes left Woody got chopped down in the penalty box at the Lane End but the ref turned down the strong appeals for a penalty. Woody required treatment as he was laying prone on the floor during stoppage and the ref was loudly booed by the crowd. In the dying minutes a Woody corner missed everyone in the penalty box but the crowd were stunned when the ref awarded us a penalty. No one in the ground except for the ref spotted an offence. There were strong protests by the Man U players at the award. Woody blasted the penalty in for the winner!























Scores, scorers and League table from that day

1972-09-30

From the programme

 

[Blade.com]

15/8/1972

Blades 0 Leeds 2 (Colquhoun og, Giles (pen))

I was on a family holiday at Filey in August 1972 but we still came back to Sheffield to watch the home midweek game against Leeds (we lost 2-0). On the way to Sheffield we stopped at York to see Brigadier Gerard who at the time won all the races he was in. It was the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup race but Roberto ridden by Piggott won beating Brigadier Gerard to 2nd place! After that we went to BDTBL to see us lose and then travel back to Filey!

For years I couldnt remember Leeds' first goal, and I was surprised to discover that it was an own goal by Eddie Colquhoun! I remember Johnny Giles' penalty at the Kop end




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Great read Silent. Just surprised to see Lenny Badger down as Mexborough born? Knew Geoff Salmons and Frank Barlow where both Mexborough lads, but never knew Lenny was. After all these years, you learn something new every day.

 

[Silent Blade]

Great read Silent. Just surprised to see Lenny Badger down as Mexborough born? Knew Geoff Salmons and Frank Barlow where both Mexborough lads, but never knew Lenny was. After all these years, you learn something new every day.

Len was born in Darnall

 

[Blade.com]

Len was born in Darnall

 

[Blade.com]

Len was born in Darnall

Thought it wasn't Mexborough. Got it from the previous image. Thanks for confirming Darnall.

 

[Silent Blade]

Thought it wasn't Mexborough. Got it from the previous image. Thanks for confirming Darnall.

Yes it was a mistake by the printer

 

[LSF]

Just catching up with this brilliant thread and reading the Chelsea 2-1 home win programme brought back sad memories for me.
My former team mate and pal Cliff Cartledge was mentioned in the chatter section.
I played in the benefit match referred to in the notes and around 2 or 3 thousand turned up on the Ball Inn that evening.
What a tragic story too. Cliff was on the verge of signing a pro contract with United when as a passenger in a works van involved in an accident, he sustained shocking spinal injuries and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair totally dependant on others for care.
Fate certainly delivered a horribly cruel blow to a thoroughly likeable lad who was small and wiry but a tough and skilful player.

 

[Digger]

Great work Silent Blade . Appreciated

 

[reedy63]

Great stuff brilliant thanks Silent Blade.