Silent Blade
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Currie blowing kisses to the Kop during the game with the ball at his feet, lads jumping in the fountain at the end of Shoreham St, chanting in Platform A at Pond St.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!
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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.
View attachment 111787
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)
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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)
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First half action
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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)
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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
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Ted Hemsley chaired by fans
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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.
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John Harris acknowledging the crowd
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In the dressing room
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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!
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From the programme
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A great day and a great season.
Thanks to Silent for patiently posting these just after midnight on the appropriate days. Also thanks to Hodgysbrokenthumb for posting the events of the season 60 years ago - a season before my time but many players I remember watching a few years later as I started following the Blades.
The one constant in these seasons and over that 10 year period is John Harris. Arriving in 1959 (about the same time that Bill Shankly was taking over at Liverpool) he inherited a number of good players particularly that 'back 5' and developed a team that won promotion in 1961 finishing just above Shankly's Liverpool .
The first few years were successful but as old age crept up on many players he turned to the talents of Archie Clark to unearth yougsters from Sheffield and the Don and Dearne valley. Badger, Bernard Shaw, Matthewson, Mallender, Fenoughty, Wagstaffs, Jones and others were all tried. The formula didn't quite work and we were relagated in 1968.
Over the next 3 seasons the astute Harris changed the philosophy of the club and the Blades started purchasing players, Hemsley, Colqhoun, Flynn, Dearden, Powell, Tudor, Addison all arrived for modest sums. January 1971 and the push to promotion needed another dip into the transfer market. Harris took the unusual step of allowing Tudor to go to Newcastle and in return we received John Hope and David Ford. On the same day we bought Trevor Hockey. It proved a masterstroke by Gentleman John.
It resulted in those events 50 years ago today.
Warnock, Bassett, Wilder all have good reason to be seen as our best ever manager. In my opinion there is only one - John Harris.
He had a vision way above those others. TC, Dooley, Joe Shaw all have tributes at the Lane but there remains no mention of John Harris.
Bill Shankly at Liverpool won promotion the following season (1961/62) and developed the Liverpool we all know today. In 1970 (ironically after a cup defeat at Watford) Bill Shankly started to break up his 'old' Liverpool team and create another that would remain at the top and bring European honours. Even though the 4 seasons following our 1971 promotion were enjoyable we never made that extra push that Dick Wragg spoke about in those articles. We all know about our history from 1976.
John Harris was equal to Bill Shankly and the words 'Think Liverpool' should have been used and followed 50 years ago.
Yeah what a day that was everyone diving in the fountain outside the Howard Hotel, Straight on the bus home for tea and a quick wash then on the bus back into town to top up the afternoons ale, usual pub crawl and Top Rank at 10.30 when the boozers kicked out. Not a pig fan to be seen anywhere absolutely blind drunk at 2.00am.great memories thanks to hodgy and silent with this thread got chucked out of boys queue that day by big sergeant after queing for 45 minutes mind was 19 at the time and ended up watching the game round by cricket pitch lol followed by great night in town awash with pissed up celebrating blades and ended up getting drunk on barley wines in the old top rank suite also packed with blades no wednesday fans in town that night lol
The Cardiff and Watford games made for a great end to the season, great to re-live it, and I freely acknowledge that it was a better climax than the 1960-61 league season. But the Cup wins at Everton and Newcastle in 1961 remain my all-time favourite moments, partly because the Cup was so big then, and partly because I was the right age to enjoy it. It is probably difficult to enjoy the experience of football more than in your early years as a football fan. And it is a reminder of how things can change, which is good to know in the current situation. My kids were the right age to enjoy promotion from Division 4 (that was a good season), and I have been delighted to watch my grandkids enjoy 2 promotions under Wilder. Happy days!
On the pitch that day, 50 yrs where's it gone. Thanks for this Silent, puts a smile on my face remembering a great day. They were a joy to watch that team, the way John Harris was treated by the club was appalling, a great football man in every way. We are at a crossroads now as a club and the appointment of our next manager is probably the most important in the last 50yrs, the person has to buy into that very special relationship the supporters have with this club, let's hope and pray they make the right decision.
Funny...I thought that was what happened as wellFor 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.
We tried to sign him in late 1967 but he turned us down so we concentrated on TC instead and signed him two months later (Watford didnt want to sell him until they were out of the FA Cup)Funny...that was my memory of the day as well
And I thought we bought him because of his performance against us that day. Don’t tell me that’s wrong too!![]()
The Cardiff and Watford games made for a great end to the season, great to re-live it, and I freely acknowledge that it was a better climax than the 1960-61 league season. But the Cup wins at Everton and Newcastle in 1961 remain my all-time favourite moments, partly because the Cup was so big then, and partly because I was the right age to enjoy it. It is probably difficult to enjoy the experience of football more than in your early years as a football fan. And it is a reminder of how things can change, which is good to know in the current situation. My kids were the right age to enjoy promotion from Division 4 (that was a good season), and I have been delighted to watch my grandkids enjoy 2 promotions under Wilder. Happy days!
If you can’t cope with Old Trafford in October 1971, the 60 years ago thread won’t help either - we got hammered at Leicester the first Saturday in October 1961.what a great week on this thread this has been great stuff hodgy and silent and more to come in august and september just a pity about the first saturday in october
Chelsea too?If you can’t cope with Old Trafford in October 1971, the 60 years ago thread won’t help either - we got hammered at Leicester the first Saturday in October 1961.![]()
Indeed; that was in early September. Things did get better though; I am beginning to feel competitive already...Chelsea too?
I think for a lot of youngsters those big moments like the World Cup are important. For me a big part of it was a neighbour on our road getting a TV set for the Coronarion, and inviting us round to watch the Cup Final. The Matthews Final, 4-3 to Blackpool, and the most famous English footballer of the time finally got a winner’s medal. I was hooked; fortunately they played at the Lane in the September, and I was taken to see United for the first time. Unfortunately Blackpool again won 4-3, but I had found my ‘footballing home’.My dad told me that he started to take me to Bramall Lane when i was six 1964-65 season.i can not remember much from then.however i 100% i remember the 1966 world cup final.that we won.that got me really interested in football.but my dad did not take me to Bramall Lane very often .he was working away from Sheffield a lot.In the building trade. from the Everton Game at the lane 1968 we lost at home to Everton on the saturday and beat Liverpool on easter monday at the lane if my memory serves me correct.we got relegated .the following season 1968-69 i rarely missed a match at the Lane from the untill e beat Leeds 3-0 in 1971.in that period i remember playing football in the street waste ground anywere you could.and you got to know all the other kids in the neighbourhood.a lt of camardre sorry if i have spelt that wrong.but you get the drift.it was great mid sixties to early seventies.emigrated to Austrailia day after beating Everton away 21/08/1971.i have mentioned this many times on 60 years ago and old photos for no reason.just my bleeding luck to leave the country when The Blades were top of division one.came back in 1977 sirrel was manager and you could see the decline.what struck me most on our return from Austrailia.no kids playing football in the streets or wasteground.did have many a great game on the ponderosa thoughi hope this int boaring.i like to reminice again sorry for spelling wrong.i woner if any other fan fell in love with football in 1966 when we was World Champions.
What a day and what a week it was. The Cardiff game was the only one I ever watched from cricket pavilion and my dad was struggling to tell the players from that distance - I had to keep telling him who'd scored. Like your dad, mine decided to treat my mom and younger brother to tickets for the Watford match., we bought them at the ground just before the Cardiff match. I remember my dad saying 'Well if we lose tonight, we'll be the only buggers here on Saturday.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!
View attachment 111783
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.
View attachment 111787
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)
View attachment 111790
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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)
View attachment 111798
First half action
View attachment 111799
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)
View attachment 111801
View attachment 111803
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
View attachment 111802
View attachment 111804
Ted Hemsley chaired by fans
View attachment 111805
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.
View attachment 111807
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View attachment 111809
John Harris acknowledging the crowd
View attachment 111810
In the dressing room
View attachment 111811
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!
View attachment 111812
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View attachment 111815
View attachment 111816
From the programme
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The 2-1 win was at Anfield, we played them again the following Saturday, 1-1 draw. TC scored in both gamesMy dad told me that he started to take me to Bramall Lane when i was six 1964-65 season.i can not remember much from then.however i 100% i remember the 1966 world cup final.that we won.that got me really interested in football.but my dad did not take me to Bramall Lane very often .he was working away from Sheffield a lot.In the building trade. from the Everton Game at the lane 1968 we lost at home to Everton on the saturday and beat Liverpool on easter monday at the lane if my memory serves me correct.we got relegated .the following season 1968-69 i rarely missed a match at the Lane from the untill e beat Leeds 3-0 in 1971.in that period i remember playing football in the street waste ground anywere you could.and you got to know all the other kids in the neighbourhood.a lt of camardre sorry if i have spelt that wrong.but you get the drift.it was great mid sixties to early seventies.emigrated to Austrailia day after beating Everton away 21/08/1971.i have mentioned this many times on 60 years ago and old photos for no reason.just my bleeding luck to leave the country when The Blades were top of division one.came back in 1977 sirrel was manager and you could see the decline.what struck me most on our return from Austrailia.no kids playing football in the streets or wasteground.did have many a great game on the ponderosa thoughi hope this int boaring.i like to reminice again sorry for spelling wrong.i woner if any other fan fell in love with football in 1966 when we was World Champions.
Funny...I thought that was what happened as well
And I thought we bought him because of his performance against us that day. Don’t tell me that’s wrong too!![]()
By definition, anyone who has been watching Utd as long as we have has got to be barmyMe too . I must admit I don’t have a clear recollection of any of our goals but I do have one of Scullion producing a lovey bit of trickery out on the left very early in the match , then cutting inside and hitting a great shot against the bar at the kop end .
Hope this helps confirm you’re not going barmy .![]()
i was at that game on the kop man utd were 4 - 2 up at half time i think and playing some unbelievable attacking football but jack witham scored 4 that day for wednesday but great gameThanks for correcting me Silent Blade.one of regular places we went too was parkwood springs.an old man told me you can see Bramall Lane and Hillsbrough.i asked him to show us.and he told nay lad just turn you head to the left look towards town.yes i can see the floodlights.now look the other way i saw the ground and i heard this noise .wednesday roar. playing united next min i heard United United i said to the old bloke are wednesday playin united his reply was yes but not the one you think.scratching my head who else could it be .Manchester united he said.turns out it was 5-4 and over 50,000 there.i was 9 years old never been to that ground at that point.the old bloke said thas learnt summat lad.we lived at lower walkley so it was easy to get to parkwood spring from there down wood st pass the farfield pub and up the hill to a footpath over the railway line.houses was there then.all gone now.
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