HodgysBrokenThumb
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February 3rd, 1962
Wednesday 1-2 United
Attendance: 50397
There are occasionally times when the next match cannot come round soon enough, and this was very much the case in January/February 1962. Having adjusted to life in the top division, United were now on a run of results in the League and Cup which made you just want the next match to come along. There was a consistent lineup, especially in defence, which meant that any Unitedite at the time could recite that back 6 as if it was a couplet taken from a famous English poem:
Hodgkinson, Coldwell, Graham Shaw;
Richardson, Shaw (J), Summers.
It always seemed to be ‘Graham Shaw’, but ‘Shaw (J)’, to make it scan more rhythmically. And that back 6 was by now one of the best in England. The forward line was also more settled, with Pace scoring for fun, wingers Allchurch and Simpson contributing assists and goals, and inside-forwards Russell and Kettleborough beginning to look as if they belonged at this level. So we went to Hillsborough in February 1962 just 2 points behind Wednesday (who were runners-up just 2 points behind champions Spurs the previous season), confident that we could catch them on points, though we were unlikely to score enough goals to bridge the gap in goal average.
And so we took our places on a packed Kop, and though the reports agree that it was not the best of games, I don’t remember sharing any of those concerns at the time! A Derby double over Wednesday was a day to celebrate, and if that was deemed to be because Wednesday were rubbish, I could live with that. Whenever the opposition is rubbish, it can because we have played well; and if the journalists agreed with us that Wednesday are rubbish, that in itself was ammunition for a good ‘discussion’ at school the following week.
Standing on the Kop was a mixed blessing. Great for the noise, but all the goals were scored at the other end of the ground, and I am ashamed to say that, without a scrapbook of photos or film of the match to give me reminders over the years, I have no direct memory of the goals. It is easy to forget that Pace scored goals in all sorts of ways, not just headers from Simpson’s crosses. I can’t believe I have forgotten him twice in a minute outwitting Swan and Springett - those were real pleasures in life.
The player-ratings from me and my brother are not in line with the press - we went for the safe option of giving the goal-scorer man-of-the-match, rather than join in with rave reviews of Kettleborough. I thought of him as ok, but was never totally convinced.
So, a wonderful start to February. Level with Wednesday, and a game in hand; we were still in the Cup, and there was a League Cup tie to squeeze in before the next league match. And there no complaints from us about the fixture pile-up. Bring it on! Pictures follow in next post; thanks as ever to Silent Blade for the newspaper reports.
Wednesday 1-2 United
Attendance: 50397
There are occasionally times when the next match cannot come round soon enough, and this was very much the case in January/February 1962. Having adjusted to life in the top division, United were now on a run of results in the League and Cup which made you just want the next match to come along. There was a consistent lineup, especially in defence, which meant that any Unitedite at the time could recite that back 6 as if it was a couplet taken from a famous English poem:
Hodgkinson, Coldwell, Graham Shaw;
Richardson, Shaw (J), Summers.
It always seemed to be ‘Graham Shaw’, but ‘Shaw (J)’, to make it scan more rhythmically. And that back 6 was by now one of the best in England. The forward line was also more settled, with Pace scoring for fun, wingers Allchurch and Simpson contributing assists and goals, and inside-forwards Russell and Kettleborough beginning to look as if they belonged at this level. So we went to Hillsborough in February 1962 just 2 points behind Wednesday (who were runners-up just 2 points behind champions Spurs the previous season), confident that we could catch them on points, though we were unlikely to score enough goals to bridge the gap in goal average.
And so we took our places on a packed Kop, and though the reports agree that it was not the best of games, I don’t remember sharing any of those concerns at the time! A Derby double over Wednesday was a day to celebrate, and if that was deemed to be because Wednesday were rubbish, I could live with that. Whenever the opposition is rubbish, it can because we have played well; and if the journalists agreed with us that Wednesday are rubbish, that in itself was ammunition for a good ‘discussion’ at school the following week.
Standing on the Kop was a mixed blessing. Great for the noise, but all the goals were scored at the other end of the ground, and I am ashamed to say that, without a scrapbook of photos or film of the match to give me reminders over the years, I have no direct memory of the goals. It is easy to forget that Pace scored goals in all sorts of ways, not just headers from Simpson’s crosses. I can’t believe I have forgotten him twice in a minute outwitting Swan and Springett - those were real pleasures in life.
The player-ratings from me and my brother are not in line with the press - we went for the safe option of giving the goal-scorer man-of-the-match, rather than join in with rave reviews of Kettleborough. I thought of him as ok, but was never totally convinced.
So, a wonderful start to February. Level with Wednesday, and a game in hand; we were still in the Cup, and there was a League Cup tie to squeeze in before the next league match. And there no complaints from us about the fixture pile-up. Bring it on! Pictures follow in next post; thanks as ever to Silent Blade for the newspaper reports.
) so far never been repeated. The preparations for a big cup-tie (the 5th successive year in Round 5) suddenly took second place to the deaths and destruction visited by Mother Nature on the city. The context of this game was a scene which we expect to see only in distant lands:
