60 years ago this month...

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of course these were the days return fixtures within the week were played early in the season if my memory serves me correctly think same reverse fixtures happened at christmas and easter hodgy and silent will correct me if im wrong utb
 

ancientblade said:
of course these were the days return fixtures within the week were played early in the season if my memory serves me correctly think same reverse fixtures happened at christmas and easter hodgy and silent will correct me if im wrong utb
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Quite right. We then played Spurs the following Monday, and were supposed to play them away in midweek later in the month. That match was postponed, perhaps because Spurs were playing in Europe? I don’t know why we played many of these matches at home on Mondays; it certainly wasn’t because they were live on TV🤣
 
Silent Blade said:
In fact we didnt sign anyone from a league club between March 1961 and summer 1965
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Didn’t realise that. A lot of pressure on the kids coming through- fortunately there were outstanding ones, but 4 years is asking too much. And I recognise the reference to non-league - infamously in the incident of Hodgy’s broken thumb, we went for a non-league option for a replacement. We were top of the league at the time…
 
Am I correct that most reserve and junior players that played for The Blades in the early sixties. were born in and around the Sheffield area ?.
 
Saturday Sept 2, 1961
United 0-2 Villa
Attendance: 21336

The old problem for newly-promoted teams - inconsistency - came back to haunt United in September 1961. After 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, it was back to defeat against a Villa team in transition. It was not a bad performance, and United made plenty of chances, but poor finishing and good goalkeeping meant we failed to score, and Villa scored once in each half, including one from a young Derek Dougan.
The marks for individual players given by me and my brother suggest that some consistent performers had an off-day (Richardson, Summers, Pace), and that the 2 Shaws and Hodgson were the best performers, with Graham Shaw our man-of-the-match. The reports, again courtesy of Silent Blade , suggest somewhat different emphasis.
There are several points of interest in the programme, a few of which are:
1. Matches were coming thick and fast, with recent Double-winners Spurs at the Lane just 2 days later, followed by an away trip to Chelsea, and then a welcome to the Lane for last season’s runners-up, our friends from S6.
2. The match against Spurs had been put back from 6.15 to 7.15; that experiment had failed. Crowd size continued to be a major concern.
3. The Spurs and Wednesday matches were to have home fans sitting in the cricket Pavilion. I had forgotten that happened. Did anyone on here ever sit there for football? Must have needed binoculars!
4. Stan Lynn, the Villa full-back, in the 57-58 season had become the first full-back to score a hat-trick in the top division. 2 of the goals were penalties. Has anyone done that since?
5. The referee was Ken Aston, an authoritative figure. A quick search shows what an influential figure he was. He introduced the referee’s black outfit, having bought a multi-pocketed black jacket in an army surplus shop. He introduced the red and yellow flags for linesmen, having struggled in the fog to see the ones previously used (home team used their own colours). He introduced red and yellow cards, to make clear to everyone what was happening. Impressive.
Pages from the programme below. Match reports in the following post.
B39CA65A-5080-4021-ACB3-C2D1F2B4FCC2.jpeg97E8349B-6E1A-4495-A9F6-7525EF182229.jpeg0F670356-0DC1-4F5C-8190-924493EEB0FB.jpeg6B96B89C-116C-42F8-BA4C-6BA68B175C3C.jpegEB583B8D-EA94-4E58-B68C-AE19B6CAE194.jpeg
 
Monday Sept 4, 1961, at 7.15 p.m.
United 1-1 Spurs
Attendance: 32902

Apologies for the delay; I have been living a life of idleness on holiday.
This was a big game, and the crowd was larger, but not the bumper gate that the Board were hoping for. Spurs were the team of the moment, having just won the double. But this is one of the games where my memory disappoints me; Spurs were my ‘second team’, and the previous season I had gone to Nottingham to see them beat Forest 4-0, a game I can remember very clearly. Playing Spurs was one of the big attractions of getting promoted, and I was really excited about them coming to the Lane. But I remember nothing about the match, except for a vague recollection of Richardson’s equaliser, and that was an 89th minute equaliser, which should be a highlight of the season. And what is more, the goal was a rarity, as he only scored 9 goals in 336 appearances for the Blades. It is truly annoying to remember so little of that game.
I attach details of the programme, with added player-ratings and the detail that United finally made a change because of injury (Shiels for Allchurch). And I was surprised of the report (again provided by Silent Blade ) that the crowd booed the announcement of the change. I will add the report and photos from the newspaper in the following post. Chelsea away to follow when I get back home.2E4B3AF8-5D52-48C2-AABC-C87084928323.jpegEB7BC69A-5E20-450C-B28B-2614BC729201.jpegF875CCC1-8420-4C77-8206-2B3B638B882B.jpeg5F308A56-2C74-49AD-BDE5-9677D79F693A.jpeg4C08329D-6769-43F4-9EBF-9F503D803797.jpegF6ACDFE9-7AE4-487E-B838-E7B0935B9DE4.jpeg
 
what a team that tottenham side were like uniteds of that era picked itself week after week dont remember the game but sounds like united could easily have beaten them that night
 
ancientblade said:
what a team that tottenham side were like uniteds of that era picked itself week after week dont remember the game but sounds like united could easily have beaten them that night
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The memory is a strange thing. I also remember clearly the Spurs match at S6 the previous year - they were the first team to beat Spurs that season, 2-1, and I was on the Kop, horrified by what I was witnessing. But the match at the Lane I can hardly remember.
 
HodgysBrokenThumb said:
The memory is a strange thing. I also remember clearly the Spurs match at S6 the previous year - they were the first team to beat Spurs that season, 2-1, and I was on the Kop, horrified by what I was witnessing. But the match at the Lane I can hardly remember.
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wasnt there but can remember wednesday beating em 2 - 1 mind coming up on this thread this season will be united doing the double over wednesday seem also to remember a 3 - 3 draw at the lane with spurs in the early 60s
 
ancientblade said:
wasnt there but can remember wednesday beating em 2 - 1 mind coming up on this thread this season will be united doing the double over wednesday seem also to remember a 3 - 3 draw at the lane with spurs in the early 60s
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The bad news is that there is a horror show coming up before the first local derby in the league for several years…
 

I can remember my Late Dad telling me one of the Spurs players White got struck by lightning and killed on a golf course.i did not attend the game I was four years old.
 
Sept 9, 1961
Chelsea 6-1 United
Attendance: 22,026

(Apologies for late posting: just got back from holiday in time for yesterday’s match)

It is less painful to do the write-up of this heavy defeat at Chelsea, having just seen United put 6 goals past Peterborough: in this case the present is more enjoyable than the past. I did not go to the Chelsea game - I guess school football had got going on Saturday mornings, limiting my chances of getting to away games. My brother must have gone, as the notes in the programme are his, as are the player ratings. Strange to to think that whereas Deadbat ’s analysis has a ‘first’ response within seconds, these jottings have remained unread for 60 years🤣
After a mixed start to the season, this 6-1 defeat felt alarming. Chelsea were not doing particularly well, and had injury problems which had led to the signing of Tommy Docherty, the experienced hard man from Arsenal, and he made his debut for Arsenal that day. The result was perhaps not as bad as it appears at first sight, because a huge factor was an injury to Joe Shaw in the first half, which meant that he moved to the right-wing, eventually being forced to leave the pitch altogether after 75 minutes. The 1-1 at half-time proved impossible for United to protect, and (almost a mirror image of the Peterborough match yesterday), United eventually conceded 5 goals in the 2nd half. Of greater concern than this result, though, was the replacement for Joe Shaw, arguably our most important player, as the main candidate was Dennis Finnigan, a part-timer who had made only a handful of appearances. There was a midweek League Cup match at Fulham to come, followed by the little matter of the visit of Wednesday to the Lane on the Saturday. Wednesday were 3rd in the League, and had played 1 less game than United. This was no game for an untested reserve centre-half; optimism did not abound.
I attach below pics from the (very good) programme, and in the following post, reports on the game.
377F25D4-4D53-4342-8896-6D71361BF561.jpegC243B120-C696-4D6D-8544-AA76007DE2E4.jpeg7A4BFF2C-EE4B-4810-9544-6CF8895DA4D7.jpegC23D792A-F1DC-43BB-AB45-AB206890FEF9.jpeg4B98E3D1-E850-41E0-BAD6-53968181C531.jpegEDD6A089-F720-43BA-B9CB-C5BF824102FE.jpeg
 
Wednesday Sept 13th, 1961
League Cup Round 1
Fulham 1-1 United
Attendance: 5517

4 days after the 6-1 defeat at Chelsea, it was back to London to play Fulham in the First Round of the second year of the League Cup. Craven Cottage still did not have floodlights, so it was a low attendance for a 5.45 kick-off, to watch 2 teams who had never won a League Cup game. A 1-1 draw meant that there was no change to that, and a replay at the Lane would be necessary for one of these teams to gain a first win. Both goal-scorers were inexperienced, with Docherty scoring a late equaliser in a rare appearance. Importantly, the inexperienced Finnigan appears to have coped well replacing the injured Joe Shaw, as the local Derby was only 3 days away, and Joe Shaw was a serious injury doubt.
I attach below some pics of the rather dull programme, and a report and photos from the scrapbook, which for some reason I had decided to return to for this unimportant game. Teenagers, eh?
ECF12103-0340-4ABF-B882-C4C4EEB0BDDC.jpeg55127F46-2407-4034-84F0-53708C900B7B.jpeg38CC65E0-2632-4F2B-BE37-524584046DC9.jpeg3D8C31F1-B28C-4F5F-8B7E-24ED8C2E6F40.jpeg
 
September 16, 1961
United 1-0 Wednesday
Attendance: 38497

United were just 2 points clear of the relegation places, had won one point in the last 3 games, and had Joe Shaw out injured. Wednesday had finished 2nd in the League the previous season, and were 3rd from top in the League. But on a sunny, windy September afternoon, in front of a crowd of under 40000, it was one of those days when it was good to be a Blade. United dominated the game, did everything but score for 89 minutes, before Russell scampered away down the right towards the Kop, centred, and as the photograph shows well, Pace reached the ball just before Springett to score with a powerful header, and wild celebrations followed.
The victory must have fired my enthusiasm for the scrapbook, which came back to life for a few more months. It is one of those matches which stayed long in the memory. I went to the match with my best pal from school, who was and is a Wednesdayite. Each with our scarves, and me with my rattle, we stood almost at the front of the Kop, between penalty area and corner flag, at an angle very similar to that of the cameraman for the winning goal. Celebrating a victory in the company of the losing teams fan(s) was one of life’s pleasures; how have we managed to become so uncivilised that we cannot be trusted to attend matches together? Though he no longer lives in Sheffield, my school pal has continued to go to games at Hillsborough, and when we meet up, I occasionally mention Pace’s goal🤣
A few more details, in no particular order:
1. Dennis Finnigan deputised well for Joe Shaw, though he made only a handful of appearances as a part-timer over several seasons. He once played centre-forward for the reserves v Villa, and scored a hat-trick of headers.
2. Graham Shaw was marking Derek Wilkinson, who had scored both goals at the Lane in the Cup 6th Round 2 seasons before. Graham Shaw was outstanding this time, as reported in the newspaper report and our marks out of 20 in the programme. Proof that I have always been a good judge of footballers🤣
3. Wednesday played in black shorts in the first half, and white in the second. The officials looking into the sun could not distinguish between the kits easily.
4. The Heap cartoon in the Green ‘Un is a classic. ‘Post has hit the Pace again’ became a family saying for years whenever we were confused.
5. Does anyone know the story of Tunstall’s shirt reported in the programme?
6. It was good to learn in the Lines from the Pavilion that there were no plans to get rid of cricket at the Lane.
7. And most of all, it was good to be a Blade. It felt as if we belonged in the top flight again, and that we were beginning to catch up with our more powerful neighbours. Happy days!
Pictures of the programme below, and from the scrapbook in the next post. Enjoy!
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HodgysBrokenThumb said:
Saturday Sept 2, 1961
United 0-2 Villa
Attendance: 21336

The old problem for newly-promoted teams - inconsistency - came back to haunt United in September 1961. After 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, it was back to defeat against a Villa team in transition. It was not a bad performance, and United made plenty of chances, but poor finishing and good goalkeeping meant we failed to score, and Villa scored once in each half, including one from a young Derek Dougan.
The marks for individual players given by me and my brother suggest that some consistent performers had an off-day (Richardson, Summers, Pace), and that the 2 Shaws and Hodgson were the best performers, with Graham Shaw our man-of-the-match. The reports, again courtesy of Silent Blade , suggest somewhat different emphasis.
There are several points of interest in the programme, a few of which are:
1. Matches were coming thick and fast, with recent Double-winners Spurs at the Lane just 2 days later, followed by an away trip to Chelsea, and then a welcome to the Lane for last season’s runners-up, our friends from S6.
2. The match against Spurs had been put back from 6.15 to 7.15; that experiment had failed. Crowd size continued to be a major concern.
3. The Spurs and Wednesday matches were to have home fans sitting in the cricket Pavilion. I had forgotten that happened. Did anyone on here ever sit there for football? Must have needed binoculars!
4. Stan Lynn, the Villa full-back, in the 57-58 season had become the first full-back to score a hat-trick in the top division. 2 of the goals were penalties. Has anyone done that since?
5. The referee was Ken Aston, an authoritative figure. A quick search shows what an influential figure he was. He introduced the referee’s black outfit, having bought a multi-pocketed black jacket in an army surplus shop. He introduced the red and yellow flags for linesmen, having struggled in the fog to see the ones previously used (home team used their own colours). He introduced red and yellow cards, to make clear to everyone what was happening. Impressive.
Pages from the programme below. Match reports in the following post.
View attachment 120243View attachment 120244View attachment 120245View attachment 120246View attachment 120247
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That’s day I was born, just up the road at the Jessop.
 

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