1974-75 match reports and photos (50 years ago today)

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15/3/1975

Liverpool 0 Blades 0

My dad went to the game and said in his letter to me that we played well and could have won. I had to wait until the end of the England v Scotland Rugby match (I hate Rugby!) on Grandstand before finding out the score at Anfield.


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

22/3/1975

Blades 3 (Currie 2, Woodward) West Ham 2 (Gould, Jennings)

Got home for the school Easter holidays in the previous day. Glad Easter was early that year as I was able to be at this memorable match. Bobby Gould put the Hammers into the lead early in the game, a minute later TC got the equaliser from close range despite being in an already offside position when Steve Cammack's effort had hit the post.

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Midway in the first half the Hammers got back into the lead when Jim Brown spilled a harmless overhead kick by Billy Jennings over his shoulder. Jim Brown had been consistently been brilliant for us all season and I was feeling aghast that he had let in this howler in front of the MOTD cameras!

In the 2nd half we equalised again with a brilliant 3 man move starting from a throw from Brown straight to Cammack who carried the ball for a few yards before playing a delightful ball to Woody who kept cool trapping the ball before sending two defenders the wrong way and firing the ball past keeper Mervyn Day.

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Soon after the equaliser, TC hit the winner but from my view in the BLUT I thought there was a bit of luck in the way he hit the shot. I think he meant to blast the ball to the top corner. It did look like that the ball had bobbled causing TC to slightly mishit and Day seemed to be ready to dive to his right but could only watch the ball slowly enter the net. Seeing the goal again on MOTD I was surprised that the goal looked a lot better from the pavilion side! I remember my dad saying to the regulars sitting near us "TC will be leaving us this summer". They all disagreed with him and didnt believe him having the conversation with TC at a supporters function early that season. I was at school at the time of the supporters function and my dad telling me in his letter to me that TC had told him that the club will sell him! We didnt sell him until 15 months later!

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I was at Anfield that day. We could/should have won.
I remember my dad asking what it was like to see hear kop in full voice.
Truth is, they hardly made a peep that day.

Edit:
I guess what's more surprising is that me and my mate were allowed to go on our own to Liverpool (SUT coach) as 12/13 year olds!!
 
28/3/1975

Coventry 2 (Craven, Cross) Blades 2 (Speight, Woodward)

Played on the Good Friday evening. Me and my dad were sat in our seats behind the goal but the problem the seats we were allocated had restricted viewing, my dad asked the stewards if we could have two seats elsewhere but they werent interested so my dad demanded to see someone more senior than the stewards and he missed about 10 minutes of the match trying to find someone while I was sat on my own on my seat. Eventually he found someone from the ticket office (might have been the club secretary as he was wearing a suit). To my surprise the man agreed to my dads request and he ordered the stewards to find better seats for us. Another eventful moment during the goalless first half was that a Boxer dog had invaded the pitch and play had stopped because the dog was in possession of the ball and chasing it around. The crowd cheered appreciating the dog's ball skills and booed at the steward who managed to catch the dog and carried it off the pitch.

After nearly a hour Mick Speight opened the scoring hitting a firm shot from about 20 yards. Then Coventry hit back with two quick goals. Woody equalised in the last minute with a wonderful goal (my goal of the season), he carried the ball to the left side, looked up, executed a lovely chip over keeper Neil Ramsbottom hitting the inside of the post and into the net.

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


From the Green Un middle pages that evening

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Silent Blade said:
28/3/1975

Coventry 2 (Craven, Cross) Blades 2 (Speight, Woodward)

Played on the Good Friday evening. Me and my dad were sat in our seats behind the goal but the problem the seats we were allocated had restricted viewing, my dad asked the stewards if we could have two seats elsewhere but they werent interested so my dad demanded to see someone more senior than the stewards and he missed about 10 minutes of the match trying to find someone while I was sat on my own on my seat. Eventually he found someone from the ticket office (might have been the club secretary as he was wearing a suit). To my surprise the man agreed to my dads request and he ordered the stewards to find better seats for us. Another eventful moment during the goalless first half was that a Boxer dog had invaded the pitch and play had stopped because the dog was in possession of the ball and chasing it around. The crowd cheered appreciating the dog's ball skills and booed at the steward who managed to catch the dog and carried it off the pitch.

After nearly a hour Mick Speight opened the scoring hitting a firm shot from about 20 yards. Then Coventry hit back with two quick goals. Woody equalised in the last minute with a wonderful goal (my goal of the season), he carried the ball to the left side, looked up, executed a lovely chip over keeper Neil Ramsbottom hitting the inside of the post and into the net.

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


From the Green Un middle pages that evening

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Do they need any corner flags ?
 
31/3/1975

Arsenal 1 (Kidd) Blades 0

The day I became a teenager! My dad took me, my mum and my sister to the match. I had arranged to meet my classmate, Rupert, who supported Arsenal and Watford (his local club). We met him and his dad outside the players entrance to have a chat before the game before we went separate ways to our seats.

It was a vital match for both sides, we needed a win to increase our chances of finishing in the top four and would you believe it that Arsenal were battling against relegation! Arsenal's tactics were to kick us black and blue and the ref made terrible decisions throughout the game. Brian Kidd scored the only goal of the game in the first half hitting a free kick from outside the box, it went through our defensive wall leaving Jim Brown stranded. In the second half my dad yelled "Get the twat in black off the pitch". My mum was embarrassed as the spectators turned and looked at my dad. After the game we met Rupert and his dad again. My dad told them what he had thought about the ref!

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Scores, scorers, line ups and league table in below link
 
1/4/1975

Blades 1 (Cammack) Leeds 1 (Madeley)

I only remember the final minutes of the match. We were attacking the Kop End and then a firework display in front of the New stand had set off (I dont think many in the crowd were expecting this), it was a spectacular display and smoke flowed over the pitch. I think the Leeds players were still in a bit of a shell shock when our attack was still in progress and sub Steve Cammack fired in the loose ball into the roof of the net. The Leeds players went berserk and complained to the ref. It looked like we had kicked off the second half later than expected, I dont know what had gone wrong but I think the timer to set off the firework display was probably already timed for 9.15pm!

After the game me and my dad were outside the players entrance in John Street, when Cammack came out of the players entrance, my dad said "great goal!" to him. Cammack nodded his head and winked replied "Cheers!". Cammack didnt play again for the rest of the season in the league.

0-1 Madeley

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1-1 Cammack
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Scores, scorers, line ups and league table in below link


From the programme

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Silent Blade said:
1/4/1975

Blades 1 (Cammack) Leeds 1 (Madeley)

I only remember the final minutes of the match. We were attacking the Kop End and then a firework display in front of the New stand had set off (I dont think many in the crowd were expecting this), it was a spectacular display and smoke flowed over the pitch. I think the Leeds players were still in a bit of a shell shock when our attack was still in progress and sub Steve Cammack fired in the loose ball into the roof of the net. The Leeds players went berserk and complained to the ref. It looked like we had kicked off the second half later than expected, I dont know what had gone wrong but I think the timer to set off the firework display was probably already timed for 9.15pm!

After the game me and my dad were outside the players entrance in John Street, when Cammack came out of the players entrance, my dad said "great goal!" to him. Cammack nodded his head and winked replied "Cheers!". Cammack didnt play again for the rest of the season in the league.

0-1 Madeley

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1-1 Cammack
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Scores, scorers, line ups and league table in below link


From the programme

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In the programme notes there's a mention of the hostel we bought in Nether Edge (Moncrieffe Road)

I must admit I always thought it was Jimmy Sirrell who implemented that initiative.
 

2/4/1975

My dad took me and Stephen Lavender (my dad's workmate's son who used my season tickets for home games if I am at school) to the meeting. Ken Furphy answered most of the questions and he agreed a lot of what my dad said about the referee at the Arsenal game!

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Barnsley 3 (Butler 2, Howard) Blades 3 (Dearden, Speight, Bradford)

Match abandoned after the 27th minute of the second half.

Dont remember this at all.

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11/4/1975

Until I obtained the reports from the Library Archives a month ago, I wasnt aware that Geoff Salmons of Stoke City was allowed to train with us in the days leading up to our vital match against Stoke City. No way it would happen nowadays!

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12/4/1975.

Blades 2 (Eddy pen, Field) Stoke 0

Before the game the newspapers billed the match as the "TC v Alan Hudson show". It was TC who ran the show with a 10/10 performance (one of the four 10/10 performance I have seen from a Blades player).

In the 1st half Bill Dearden broke through, Peter Shilton ran out of goal, Dearden pushed the ball past Shilton and tried to run on the other side to get a 2nd touch but Shilton body checked Dearden (Harald Schumacher-style) for a definite penalty. The crowd loudly booed at Shilton while Dearden had a lengthy treatment from Cec Coldwell (our bucket and sponge man). Geoff Salmons (who said in the papers in the previous day that he knew of all our secrets!), thinking that Woodward was going to take the penalty, ran to Shilton advising him to dive to his left for the penalty. To Salmons' surprise, Keith Eddy stepped up to take the penalty and sent Shilton the wrong way putting the ball to Shilton's right. When Shilton got up, he was furious by booting the ball into the net a few times while the gleeful Blades fans in the BLUT bellowed a long laugh towards him before chanting "Shit-on, Shit-on"

Tony Field put us 2-0 up in the 2nd half. In the latter stages TC did his showman stuff on the left wing at the Kop End waving both his arms towards the crowd when he went past a defender and then did it again going past another defender before crossing the ball into the box!

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An angry Blade fan writing to the Green Un saying TC was childish! :oops:
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Scores, scorers, line ups and league tables in below link


From the programme
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Well that 'very best period to be a Blade' (1970 - 1975) was about to come to an end.

What a game that was against Stoke City. TC showboating before the word was even invented. We won't see the likes of that again as today's players are encouraged to play like robots.

Take your pick - sitting on the ball against Arsenal (September 1973), a quality goal from a quality player against West Ham (March 1975), his showboating skills against Stoke (April 1975). There were many more.

Just as my father's generation was blessed to have witnessed Jimmy Hagan we were all fortunate to have seen TC.

Unfortunately next season things would alter.

As an aside - interesting to read the Tony Pritchett programme notes about Mick Speight's reaction to being barracked by a fan in a Central League match. Those reserve team games could be brutal as everything that was shouted from the John Street terrace could be heard on the pitch. Those old time Blades didn't hold back.

Mick's reaction got him a fine. There was no 'snowflake' comment from the manager describing the fan's barracking as 'disgusting' Different world.
 
Butlers second goal was miles offside btw
 
Silent Blade said:
The Stoke game? Dont remember seeing tv cameras during that match?
Click to expand...

It might have been in one of the reports, or it might have been in another thread, and it might not have been the Stoke game. But I read it somewhere on S24SU about a United match being shown on Cable TV, and then a work colleague emailed me today to say he had found an article about a Sheffield Cable TV channel in the 1970s.
 

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