57,000 at the lane, I was one of them

[finlaytheblade]

Walth Snr...

"This set the scene for the 6th Round FA Cup tie. This was at home against Sheffield Wednesday, and the city was in great excitement about it. Tickets were in great demand and hard to come by. Bramall Lane still had the cricket pitch then and a temporary extension was erected from the pavilion seating. I managed to get a ticket for this area and got to see the game. Wednesday at that time were in their first season back in Division 1 after getting promoted in 1958-9. To be fair, they had some good players. Ron Springett was an athletic goalkeeper, the full backs Johnson and Megson were steady and dependable. Right Half was Tom McInearney who was a class player. The other two half backs were Swan and Kay. Both were crude, Swan as a stopper, Kay in midfield. The forward line was very handy. Alan Finney and Bobby Craig were both very skilful players, while Wilkinson, Ellis, and Fantham were effective strikers.

On the day United were the best team by a long way. They had Wednesday pinned back in their own area for much of the game but Springett had one of his best ever games. Wednesday were obviously scared stiff of Doc Pace and Swan played a game not so much as sweeper but rather more like an ale-house bouncer. He played dirty and got away with it. Wednesday had two break-away attacks and Wilkinson scored from both of them. He took his chances well and we got stuffed. Bugger!"

Good memory Walthamstow I was on Bramall lane end for that match(there was no segregation in them days and it was,nt needed it's a big disappointment to me that it is necessary. These days)and your spot on with your comments we were the better team and Springett had an,inspired game he pulled off at least 5 top drawer saves

 

[EddieColquhoun]

Bert was also on their Kop in '71 but so were 3,000 other Unitedites.

Despite my username, I was far too young for this one. Was the top part of the kop all Blades?

 

[Woodwardfan]

Forgive me if this has been put on before but I've only just started exploring youtube, looking for clips of matches I remember as a kid.
I'm old enough to remember the cricket pitch & this match but couldn't remember the score so it had an unhappy ending for me.

Back to the OP. I remember the shock of that diverted shot by Pointer like it was yesterday. Good goal by a good player in a good team mind, Another one of those Blades memories that are etched on your mind.

 

[Bert]

Despite my username, I was far too young for this one. Was the top part of the kop all Blades?

It was, we were all in the top corner, got there early and didn't move. A line of police kept us apart, just.

 

[Bert]

I remember big chunks of the game but the everlasting memory is of Peter Swan doing a momentous celebration all over the pitch at the final whistle. He knew full well it was daylight robbery but he was Pratt No.1 on anybody's scale. He milked it to the full and by the time he reached the half way line he was jumping and bounding, arms aloft and waving like helicopters. He ran right across the half way line and on;y just got his arms down by the time he reached the players exit which was a netted tunnel at that time; he could have lost an arm actually. It was one of those electric moments one remembers as a very young kid - maybe even the first feeling of hatred in my young life!!!

That was the action of a mean-hearted man although it has to be acknowledged that the tribal rituals were very strong in those days.

How sweet it was to pick up the News of the World one Sunday morning not long after to read of the SWFC Bribing Scandal and who was at the forefront - Peter Swan: good eternal riddance.

Being a Blade is not too rewarding. That particular tie set the scene for so many, many disappointments and so many "hard to take" results ever since in my life time.

Swan had a lifetime ban from all forms of football, however Bert did see him play for a pub team on the old sloping pitch at Whitley Lane, Ecclesfield in the 60's. He shouldn't have been playing but it was definitely him.
They later rescinded the ban and he made a comeback, but he was too old and it wasn't a success.

 

[Silent Blade]

Swan had a lifetime ban from all forms of football, however Bert did see him play for a pub team on the old sloping pitch at Whitley Lane, Ecclesfield in the 60's. He shouldn't have been playing but it was definitely him.
They later rescinded the ban and he made a comeback, but he was too old and it wasn't a success.

Came back to play for the 1st team in 1972. Played only 13 more games plus two as sub during the 1972/73 season. Bronco Layne signed again for Wendy but never got to play in the 1st team again

http://www.wsc.co.uk/reviews/64-Players/643-peter-swan

 

[Silent Blade]

Despite my username, I was far too young for this one. Was the top part of the kop all Blades?

Not really, in Sept 1966 (match ended in a 2-2 draw) many Blades fans threw eggs from the back of the kop at many fans (more likely to be Wendy fans) in front of them. Some weeks earlier many Blades fans had eggs thrown at them by Burnley fans at Turf Moor so these Blades fans agreed to do the same thing to Wendy fans in the Sheffield derby match at S6