50 years ago today

[XM657]

17/4/1971

Blades 3 (Reece 2, Woodward) Birmingham 0

Before the match the Watford player in the photo below didnt really mean much to me or to SUFC. More of him later on in this post.

View attachment 110794

There was one change to our line up from the last match, Geoff Salmons replacing David Ford who goes on the sub's bench.

A photographer seemed to be keen on taking photos of the 16 year old wonder kid who was to turn 17 two days later.

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You can see in the photo below during a lull in play in the 1st half that it wasnt just the Wendy match that the scoreboard man was providing score updates every 15 minutes. With 4 games left the crowd would be looking out for the latest updates of matches involving other promotion contenders.

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In the match report it stated that Trevor Hockey suffered concussion during the 1st half. I am not sure if it was the same match when the club doctor took Hockey to treat his injury in the changing room and some minutes later Hockey ran back on the pitch to loud cheers from the crowd.

Just before half time, attacking the Kop End, Gil Reece scored a lovely goal after beating two or three players in a mazy run before coolly placing the ball past Mike Kelly.

View attachment 110809

During half time it was decided that Hockey couldnt continue and Ford would take his place.

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Peter Cooper seems to say in his report below that Woody didnt have a good game despite scoring our 2nd goal, I do not remember what his goal was like.

There was another lull in play when we were leading by 2-0 which I remember very well. There was little excitement amongst the crowd which made many fans look towards the scoreboard at the pavilion. It indicated that Watford (4th from bottom of the table and without a win in the previous 8 games) had just scored at 2nd placed Cardiff!! My dad noticed the score before I did and pointing it out to me saying "Watford have just scored at Cardiff!!" and the cheers around the ground grew louder and it seemed cause confusion to some of our players (luckily it happened during a lull in play when the trainer was treating an injured player). I looked toward the centre circle and Eddie Colquhoun was looking bemused at what was happening, Bob Latchford was next to him and seemed to know what had happened so he pointed Eddie to the scoreboard. Eddie's response was that he didnt want to lose his focus on the pitch.

The Watford scorer was Charlie Woods (you saw the photo of him at the start of this post) and the photo is the goal he scored on that day (I found it in a Watford fan's website a few days ago)

View attachment 110813

Now back to Bramall Lane. Gil Reece scored our third goal with a wonderful flying header meeting Woody's cross. Watching from the BLUT I can still picture him flying like a torpedo to meet the cross as if it had happened last week.

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Also memorable was John Hope's full length diving catch to stop Roger Hynd's header. I do not remember Phil Summerill's missed penalty.

Reece was applauded off the field after the final whistle.

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There were a lot of smiling faces outside the ground, we bumped into a friend's of my dad and he gave me the thumbs up saying "Reece" and then mimed Reece's header by leaning forward and heading an imaginary ball.

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From the programme

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Saw the below match on MOTD that evening. I still think the ref made the right decision by allowing Tony Brown to continue in the build up to the 2nd goal.

What a good watch, about every thing that could go wrong, did, especially the collision with the, off field chairs .
Two teams giving their all and also taking it with little complaining, and no little display of skill and football acumen in among the rough and tumble.
Whilst it's not ideal/pure football, very, very exciting, almost a life time away from the sanitised fodder served up today.

 

[bornablade]

17/4/1971

Blades 3 (Reece 2, Woodward) Birmingham 0

Before the match the Watford player in the photo below didnt really mean much to me or to SUFC. More of him later on in this post.

View attachment 110794

There was one change to our line up from the last match, Geoff Salmons replacing David Ford who goes on the sub's bench.

A photographer seemed to be keen on taking photos of the 16 year old wonder kid who was to turn 17 two days later.

View attachment 110796

View attachment 110797
View attachment 110799

You can see in the photo below during a lull in play in the 1st half that it wasnt just the Wendy match that the scoreboard man was providing score updates every 15 minutes. With 4 games left the crowd would be looking out for the latest updates of matches involving other promotion contenders.

View attachment 110804
View attachment 110805
View attachment 110806
In the match report it stated that Trevor Hockey suffered concussion during the 1st half. I am not sure if it was the same match when the club doctor took Hockey to treat his injury in the changing room and some minutes later Hockey ran back on the pitch to loud cheers from the crowd.

Just before half time, attacking the Kop End, Gil Reece scored a lovely goal after beating two or three players in a mazy run before coolly placing the ball past Mike Kelly.

View attachment 110809

During half time it was decided that Hockey couldnt continue and Ford would take his place.

View attachment 110811

Peter Cooper seems to say in his report below that Woody didnt have a good game despite scoring our 2nd goal, I do not remember what his goal was like.

There was another lull in play when we were leading by 2-0 which I remember very well. There was little excitement amongst the crowd which made many fans look towards the scoreboard at the pavilion. It indicated that Watford (4th from bottom of the table and without a win in the previous 8 games) had just scored at 2nd placed Cardiff!! My dad noticed the score before I did and pointing it out to me saying "Watford have just scored at Cardiff!!" and the cheers around the ground grew louder and it seemed cause confusion to some of our players (luckily it happened during a lull in play when the trainer was treating an injured player). I looked toward the centre circle and Eddie Colquhoun was looking bemused at what was happening, Bob Latchford was next to him and seemed to know what had happened so he pointed Eddie to the scoreboard. Eddie's response was that he didnt want to lose his focus on the pitch.

The Watford scorer was Charlie Woods (you saw the photo of him at the start of this post) and the photo is the goal he scored on that day (I found it in a Watford fan's website a few days ago)

View attachment 110813

Now back to Bramall Lane. Gil Reece scored our third goal with a wonderful flying header meeting Woody's cross. Watching from the BLUT I can still picture him flying like a torpedo to meet the cross as if it had happened last week.

View attachment 110823
Also memorable was John Hope's full length diving catch to stop Roger Hynd's header. I do not remember Phil Summerill's missed penalty.

Reece was applauded off the field after the final whistle.

View attachment 110825

There were a lot of smiling faces outside the ground, we bumped into a friend's of my dad and he gave me the thumbs up saying "Reece" and then mimed Reece's header by leaning forward and heading an imaginary ball.

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From the programme

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Saw the below match on MOTD that evening. I still think the ref made the right decision by allowing Tony Brown to continue in the build up to the 2nd goal.

The second Gil Reece goal is a an exact copy of Colin Addidon goal against Everton in the FA Cup in the previous season.

 

[ancientblade]

remember the gil reece goal fantastic jinking past 3 brum players to score very underated player was gil

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

17/4/1971

Blades 3 (Reece 2, Woodward) Birmingham 0

Before the match the Watford player in the photo below didnt really mean much to me or to SUFC. More of him later on in this post.

View attachment 110794

There was one change to our line up from the last match, Geoff Salmons replacing David Ford who goes on the sub's bench.

A photographer seemed to be keen on taking photos of the 16 year old wonder kid who was to turn 17 two days later.

View attachment 110796

View attachment 110797
View attachment 110799

You can see in the photo below during a lull in play in the 1st half that it wasnt just the Wendy match that the scoreboard man was providing score updates every 15 minutes. With 4 games left the crowd would be looking out for the latest updates of matches involving other promotion contenders.

View attachment 110804
View attachment 110805
View attachment 110806
In the match report it stated that Trevor Hockey suffered concussion during the 1st half. I am not sure if it was the same match when the club doctor took Hockey to treat his injury in the changing room and some minutes later Hockey ran back on the pitch to loud cheers from the crowd.

Just before half time, attacking the Kop End, Gil Reece scored a lovely goal after beating two or three players in a mazy run before coolly placing the ball past Mike Kelly.

View attachment 110809

During half time it was decided that Hockey couldnt continue and Ford would take his place.

View attachment 110811

Peter Cooper seems to say in his report below that Woody didnt have a good game despite scoring our 2nd goal, I do not remember what his goal was like.

There was another lull in play when we were leading by 2-0 which I remember very well. There was little excitement amongst the crowd which made many fans look towards the scoreboard at the pavilion. It indicated that Watford (4th from bottom of the table and without a win in the previous 8 games) had just scored at 2nd placed Cardiff!! My dad noticed the score before I did and pointing it out to me saying "Watford have just scored at Cardiff!!" and the cheers around the ground grew louder and it seemed cause confusion to some of our players (luckily it happened during a lull in play when the trainer was treating an injured player). I looked toward the centre circle and Eddie Colquhoun was looking bemused at what was happening, Bob Latchford was next to him and seemed to know what had happened so he pointed Eddie to the scoreboard. Eddie's response was that he didnt want to lose his focus on the pitch.

The Watford scorer was Charlie Woods (you saw the photo of him at the start of this post) and the photo is the goal he scored on that day (I found it in a Watford fan's website a few days ago)

View attachment 110813

Now back to Bramall Lane. Gil Reece scored our third goal with a wonderful flying header meeting Woody's cross. Watching from the BLUT I can still picture him flying like a torpedo to meet the cross as if it had happened last week.

View attachment 110823
Also memorable was John Hope's full length diving catch to stop Roger Hynd's header. I do not remember Phil Summerill's missed penalty.

Reece was applauded off the field after the final whistle.

View attachment 110825

There were a lot of smiling faces outside the ground, we bumped into a friend's of my dad and he gave me the thumbs up saying "Reece" and then mimed Reece's header by leaning forward and heading an imaginary ball.

View attachment 110826
View attachment 110827
View attachment 110828
View attachment 110829
View attachment 110830
View attachment 110831
From the programme

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Saw the below match on MOTD that evening. I still think the ref made the right decision by allowing Tony Brown to continue in the build up to the 2nd goal.

That brings across clearly the ups-and-downs of life as a football fan, and of Blades in particular. Today, nothing is going right. The day you describe exactly 50 years ago, everything was beginning to fall into place. It was a good time to be a Blade (though I note in the newspaper report the comment about Hope dropping a simple high ball; little did we know...)

 

[Bert]

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For more than 80 minutes we had majority of the play but failed to convert the chances against the defensive minded Millwall. During the 2nd half the ball was in the Millwall half for about 90% of the time as we attacked the goal at the Lane End, Millwall's striker Barry Bridges looking a lonely figure in the centre circle.

In the 82nd minute Millwall's keeper Bryan King caught a corner and was about to boot the ball upfield, Trevor Hockey closed him down , used his right hand to knock the ball off King's hands and and Hockey then slid on the ground to put the loose ball into the net. I wasnt impressed with Hockey's horseplay and saw it as a waste of time. Hockey seemed to be surprised when Dearden ran to congratulate him and that confused me too. I noticed some spectators near me were cheering half heartedly then my dad pulled me up from my seat encouraging me to cheer, my next reaction was to look at the ref and I couldnt believe my eyes that he pointed his finger towards the centre spot allowing the goal to stand. Not surprisingly the furious Millwall players surrounded the ref in protest and persuaded him to speak to the linesman but the ref stood firm. It was a big relief that we eventually scored but I found it a bit embarrassing!

The controversy !
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Players running to congratulate Hockey
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In injury time a bizarre own goal made sure of the win.

Leicester, Hull and Cardiff drew their matches and with four games left to play we were still in 3rd place behind Cardiff (who have a game in hand over us) on goal average.

The run in for the top 3 were

Leicester (52 points) Sunderland (a), Charlton (h), Bristol City (a), Portsmouth (a)

Cardiff (49) Watford (h), Norwich (a), Blades (a), Orient (h), Luton (a)

Blades (49) Birmingham (h), Boro (a), Cardiff (h), Watford (h)

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From the programme

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The only home game Bert missed that season for reasons beyond his control.

He's still angry about it.

 

[Eskimo]

Yep, great game. We started to believe

 

[XM657]

The only home game Bert missed that season for reasons beyond his control.

He's still angry about it.

Havana with glass of rum, to calm down and fortify for later in the day.
Mr Cool .

 

[Silent Blade]

My dad and I were sat in the South Stand where the tv cameras were. Just before half time TC floated in a free kick from the right and Bill Deaden met it with a header at the far post to put us in the lead (see from 5 mins 30 secs in below video). My dad and I jumped from our seats and celebrated in front of the Boro fans.






It looked like it was going to be our 8th consecutive clean sheets until late in the game when John Hope claimed a corner but there was a scramble and I didnt find it easy to see what had happened before ex Wendy John Hickton put the ball into the net and I saw John Hope running towards the ref claiming that he was fouled. My dad was in agreement (and Joe Laidlaw too in his post match admission) with Hope. After the match we learned that Cardiff won at Norwich (see video further down) which meant that they are one point behind us and had one game in hand. We needed to win against Cardiff at the Lane three days later.

 

[bornablade]

My clearest memory of the game was the rain. It seemed to pour all day. We were stood on the terrace behind the goal, it was to the right of the goal as you looked on to the pitch. I think it was the end Billy scored. It was an open end and we got soaked.

I bought a Daily Express for the coach, it was a broad sheet in those days and ran a front page colour supplement of the game. it referred to the game as a Yorkshire derby. I realised Middlesborough was in Yorkshire but it never felt like a derby.

Great reports there about the forthcoming Cardiff match. I'm already getting nervous!!

 

[ancientblade]

My clearest memory of the game was the rain. It seemed to pour all day. We were stood on the terrace behind the goal, it was to the right of the goal as you looked on to the pitch. I think it was the end Billy scored. It was an open end and we got soaked.

I bought a Daily Express for the coach, it was a broad sheet in those days and ran a front page colour supplement of the game. it referred to the game as a Yorkshire derby. I realised Middlesborough was in Yorkshire but it never felt like a derby.

Great reports there about the forthcoming Cardiff match. I'm already getting nervous!!

we were on the boro end that day 3 or 4 hundred blades and all was well till about 2.40 when the bulk of boros fans turned up mostly leather clad and they didnt mess about clearing united fans to one side very similar to bolton that january great and vital point though the next 2 threads on here are going to be very nostalgic on a side note i had never been to a more miserable foggy dire place than middlesbro no wonder they called em smoggies lol

 

[Bert]

we were on the boro end that day 3 or 4 hundred blades and all was well till about 2.40 when the bulk of boros fans turned up mostly leather clad and they didnt mess about clearing united fans to one side very similar to bolton that january great and vital point though the next 2 threads on here are going to be very nostalgic on a side note i had never been to a more miserable foggy dire place than middlesbro no wonder they called em smoggies lol

Bert was in that group, a rough do as usual. Rain, fighting and a snooker ball (white) chucked at us.

A normal sort of Saturday afternoon in those days.

A good away point though and then on to the big clash with Cardiff.

 

[reedy63]

I have been waiting for the Cardiff match build up and report with great excitement.

 

[Silent Blade]

What a night it was! My dad bought tickets in advance for our usual seats in the BLUT. I was expecting a close game but it turned out to be a brilliant performance by us!

Just before the kick off the crowd booed when ex-Wendy Alan Warboys' name was mentioned as the announcer was naming Cardiff's line up and there was a smirk on his face.

Early in the game Billy Dearden broke through at the Kop End and placed a low firm shot past keeper Eadie for the first goal of the night



Billy's usual goal celebration was polite handshaking with his teammates, he had a serious look on his face while trotting back to the centre circle but this was an exception as he went wild with delight . In the below photo Len's left elbow is blocking the photographer's view of me and my dad.




Billy didnt seem to know where he should be running to so he celebrated with his teammates on the touchline near the cricket square



Nearly half hour later John Flynn made it 2-0 heading in a low cross






Not long after, Cardiff's Steve Derrett tried a long shot from outside the box but it took deflection off Trevor Hockey's back and wrongfooted John Hope who could only watch the ball go in the opposite top corner of the net.

Just before half time John Hope had a long treatment from trainer Cec Coldwell after suffering a cut nose after an aerial clash with Warboys.

In the opening minutes of the 2nd half, Cardiff were putting pressure towards our goal.



Then in the 55th minute TC headed in a Woody corner and immediately I noticed keeper Eadie falling flat on his back as if he was injured. After the match Cardiff's manager , Jim Scoular claimed TC had punched the keeper, looking at the photos it didnt seem to be the case.




Midway in the 2nd half Gil Reece scored the best goal of the night by volleying in an assist my Woody, it happened too quick for the cameras

In the last 10 minutes Dearden made it 5-1 to top off a memorable night!



After the final whistle there was a bit of a pitch invasion and there were smiles around the ground, the Cardiff fans must have left the ground before the final whistle! The scoreboard revealed that Leicester had beaten Bristol City so they go up as champions. We need to beat Watford at the Lane to get the 2nd promotion place.


An ex-workmate of mine told me of when he went to the Nags Head pub (now the Bowshaw) near Dronfield to celebrate the win, he saw Cardiff fans crying in their beer. It was the first time he had seen grown men crying.












From the match programme

 

[ancientblade]

oh yes what a night what a week never seen the shoreham kop as packed as it was that night so much so that for the first and last time ever we watched the match on the steps along with hundreds of others all across the kop fantastic memories looking forward to saturday

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Great night, great post. One thing that the 1960-61 season can’t compete with is the size of crowds for the League games; in 60-61 we never even got 30000 for a League game. I am guessing 2 reasons: the general lift in interest in football, following England’s World Cup win; and the more extravagant football played by the likes of Currie and Woodward. The 60-61 success was built on solid defence. Any other thoughts on this?

 

[reedy63]

Great post thanks Silent Blade. great memories my all-time favourite match.

 

[bornablade]

Great night, great post. One thing that the 1960-61 season can’t compete with is the size of crowds for the League games; in 60-61 we never even got 30000 for a League game. I am guessing 2 reasons: the general lift in interest in football, following England’s World Cup win; and the more extravagant football played by the likes of Currie and Woodward. The 60-61 success was built on solid defence. Any other thoughts on this?

There was always talk that Jimmy Hagan could add another 10,000 to a gate.

I remember talking to a Chesterfield fan a couple of years ago. He said him and his brother never liked the Blades but would go to matches in those early 1970's seasons to watch Tony Currie.

I am sure there were many more.

 

[Uncle mick]

I was there what a night my old mums birthday too who was also there

 

[Silent Blade]

Forgot to include this

 

[metalblade]

Great night, great post. One thing that the 1960-61 season can’t compete with is the size of crowds for the League games; in 60-61 we never even got 30000 for a League game. I am guessing 2 reasons: the general lift in interest in football, following England’s World Cup win; and the more extravagant football played by the likes of Currie and Woodward. The 60-61 success was built on solid defence. Any other thoughts on this?

Probably more money around in the 70's than at the start of the 60's. Men were still doing national service until 1963 to complete their 3 years the country had just come out of austerity after WW2.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Probably more money around in the 70's than at the start of the 60's. Men were still doing national service until 1963 to complete their 3 years the country had just come out of austerity after WW2.

Good point. I forgot to include the possibility of Wednesday finishing 2nd in the top division in 1961 taking the neutral and kids support at the time. Several people I know came to Sheffield in the 60s, and tended to go to S6 for their football for some years; most of them ended up season-ticket holders at the Lane, with kids also now Blades fans. The Currie-Woodward era converted them.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

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What a night it was! My dad bought tickets in advance for our usual seats in the BLUT. I was expecting a close game but it turned out to be a brilliant performance by us!

Just before the kick off the crowd booed when ex-Wendy Alan Warboys' name was mentioned as the announcer was naming Cardiff's line up and there was a smirk on his face.

Early in the game Billy Dearden broke through at the Kop End and placed a low firm shot past keeper Eadie for the first goal of the night

View attachment 111466

Billy's usual goal celebration was polite handshaking with his teammates, he had a serious look on his face while trotting back to the centre circle but this was an exception as he went wild with delight . In the below photo Len's left elbow is blocking the photographer's view of me and my dad.



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Billy didnt seem to know where he should be running to so he celebrated with his teammates on the touchline near the cricket square

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Nearly half hour later John Flynn made it 2-0 heading in a low cross

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Not long after, Cardiff's Steve Derrett tried a long shot from outside the box but it took deflection off Trevor Hockey's back and wrongfooted John Hope who could only watch the ball go in the opposite top corner of the net.

Just before half time John Hope had a long treatment from trainer Cec Coldwell after suffering a cut nose after an aerial clash with Warboys.

In the opening minutes of the 2nd half, Cardiff were putting pressure towards our goal.

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Then in the 55th minute TC headed in a Woody corner and immediately I noticed keeper Eadie falling flat on his back as if he was injured. After the match Cardiff's manager , Jim Scoular claimed TC had punched the keeper, looking at the photos it didnt seem to be the case.

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Midway in the 2nd half Gil Reece scored the best goal of the night by volleying in an assist my Woody, it happened too quick for the cameras

In the last 10 minutes Dearden made it 5-1 to top off a memorable night!

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After the final whistle there was a bit of a pitch invasion and there were smiles around the ground, the Cardiff fans must have left the ground before the final whistle! The scoreboard revealed that Leicester had beaten Bristol City so they go up as champions. We need to beat Watford at the Lane to get the 2nd promotion place.

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An ex-workmate of mine told me of when he went to the Nags Head pub (now the Bowshaw) near Dronfield to celebrate the win, he saw Cardiff fans crying in their beer. It was the first time he had seen grown men crying.

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From the match programme

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I remember the big headline on the back page of the Star on the night of the match. It said " This is it United ".

Someone I knew heard the roar which greeted the Gil Reece goal from the Prince of Wales pub in Ecclesall (top of Carterknowle Road).

 

[reedy63]

Silent Blade. were some of those photos against Cardiff from the from of the Star?.and the crowd just under 43,000 the biggest in div 2 that season.
The photo of the 55th min goal with the kop absolutely packed in the background is one of the best photos I have seen. they must have been more than
43,000 at the lane that wonderful night. when we got home after the match my mother told me the scores were flashed up on Yorkshire tv. brilliant stuff.
Any more photos if anyone has them post them on here.

 

[reedy63]

Sorry with all this excitement. I meant to say were some of the photos on the front page of the star the next day?.and was the attendance the biggest in div2 that season?.

 

[Silent Blade]

Silent Blade. were some of those photos against Cardiff from the from of the Star?.and the crowd just under 43,000 the biggest in div 2 that season.
The photo of the 55th min goal with the kop absolutely packed in the background is one of the best photos I have seen. they must have been more than
43,000 at the lane that wonderful night. when we got home after the match my mother told me the scores were flashed up on Yorkshire tv. brilliant stuff.
Any more photos if anyone has them post them on here.

Newspaper cuttings from the scrapbook I bought a few years ago, photos also from our programmes and history books

 

[Silent Blade]

Sorry with all this excitement. I meant to say were some of the photos on the front page of the star the next day?.and was the attendance the biggest in div2 that season?.

Easter Monday at S6 was the biggest attendance

 

[reedy63]

Oh yes forgot about that. thanks Silent Blade.onto the Watford match cant wait.

 

[Steelcitysenior]

The ground was so full we watched from the Cricket Pavilion. Ran on the pitch at the end, what a night.
Where did 50 years go?

 

[ancientblade]

yeah waiting for saturday now what a day and night that was not many sober blades around that night

 

[Silent Blade]

1/5/1971

Blades 3 (Woodward pen, Reece 2) Watford 0

An unforgettable day for me and for many Blades who were there. My dad decided to buy 4 seat tickets in the BLUT so that my mum and my little sister could attend the promotion party with us (they dont have much interest in football but both enjoyed the day and the atmosphere)..

Fast forward to nearly 40 years later I was at the 1971 promotion squad reunion in the South Stand and the club showed some footage of the match filmed by a Blade at the back of the BLUT. There were some incidents of the match from the footage that I remembered and some I couldnt remember. Watford were wearing light blue shorts and I had always thought they wore black shorts. The Watford team had 4 players who went on to play for the Blades in the next few years. They were Keith Eddy, Colin Franks, Terry Garbett and Stewart Scullion. The ref was the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick!



Early in the game a Watford defender got in the way of a Woodward shot and it got the wind knocked out of him as he was on the floor for a while before needing treatment from the trainer. For some years I had been reading about a shot Stewart Scullion hitting the bar at the Kop End before we had scored the first goal but I didnt remember that and the footage at the reunion did include that incident. The footage didnt capture Eddy's foul on Gil Reece for the penalty but it did show the fans cheering at the penalty decision.


Now back to 1/5/1971 I was wondering if we would have a new penalty taker because Ted Hemsley had missed our last penalty so I looked at my dad who showed excitement on his face when Woodward placed the ball on the spot. I was thinking at the time "Why didnt we have him before as he is our best striker of the ball?". The last penalty he took was when Ken Mulhearn saved Woody's effort in our home game against Man City in January 1968. I wasnt aware of that at the time but it looked like Woody didnt want to take the responsibility again for a long time? Back to the footage you could see Kirkpatrick bending down like an eccentric but he wanted to make sure there was no encroachment and he was letting the players at the edge of the box know. Woody didnt disappoint as he blasted the penalty to the roof of the net (the camera at the back of the stand went off focus and difficult to control as soon as the ball got into the net because of the cheering)




Three Blades fans ran on the pitch celebrating the opener but soon ran towards the pavilion because the policemen were chasing after them. Two of the fans managed to jump over the railings and disappearing into the crowd but the luckless third fan was caught by a policeman as he was about to jump over the railing and I think he got escorted out of the ground. The footage captured this incident and it brought laughs at the reunion 40 years later!

Not long after celebrating we looked at the scoreboard at the pavilion and it revealed that Cardiff had just scored in their home game against Orient and that had made me a little nervous. Soon after Reece hit a thumping volley from a Woody cross that ended up in the net to increase our lead (there is footage of that too but the camera went off focus a fraction of a second after because of the cheering)


First half action


Not long after half time we went 3 up when Bill Dearden's good work on the right drew the keeper out of the goal and he laid a low cross for Reece to have an easy chance but Reece fluffed his shot against either the post or a defender on the line but recovered quickly enough to nod in the rebound (the footage did capture this too)




There crowd were singing "We are going up" and clapping, even Eddie Colquhoun in the centre circle when the ball was still "live" on the pitch joined in the chorus and clapping his hands above his head.

At the final whistle I watched from the BLUT at the fans swarming on the pitch from all areas



Ted Hemsley chaired by fans



From the BLUT I was aware that our players got into the directors box in the John Street stand to acknowledge the crowd but it was difficult to make out what was happening. I wasnt aware of Colquhoun's crafty fag till I saw the photo in the papers.




John Harris acknowledging the crowd


In the dressing room



After the match outside the John Street players entrance, I got to meet Roger Kirkpatrick who said "Congratulations, I hope you will enjoy the first division" also chairman Dick Wragg who said a few words saying that it is an unforgettable day or something like that!





From the programme