60 years ago this month...

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Date: Boxing Day 1962 to early March 63
Result: Football 1 - 9 Weather
Attendances: very low

THE BIG FREEZE
I was born at the end of the cold winter of 1947, so I had only seen the pictures and heard the stories. The big freeze of
1962-63 thus came as a shock to the system - the length of time it lasted, the volumes of snow, the thickness of the ice, the perishing cold, and the impact on life in general are still unique in my experience. My sledging skills improved enormously, both on traffic-free roads and the slopes of Bingham Park, but after a while I was longing to be playing football and to be back at the Lane, and it was to be a long wait.
There were small regional variations, but all football was affected. Bolton, for example, played a home game v Spurs on December 8th, and their next home game was a 3rd round Cup replay v United on March 9th. United fared slightly better, with an away match at Wolves on January 19, and a home match v West Ham on February 16. There were strange inconsistencies- Wednesday’s home game on Boxing Day was postponed, as was United’s game at Man City; but United Reserves played and beat Man City Reserves at the Lane that same afternoon.
The consequences were serious. Football clubs derived almost all their income from cash collected on match days- there were few season tickets sold, and few alternative sources of money. And the football pools companies risked losing all their income, and so came up with the Pools Panel, which decided on the results of all the postponed matches so that the system could continue to operate. The Chelsea player Frank Upton apparently demanded a winning bonus the first week that Chelsea were deemed to have won, only to be told by manager Tommy Docherty that he was ineligible, because he had been dropped that week!
I will return to further memories of the Big Freeze in the days to come, and invite others to post pictures, memories, etc. I finish with one of my favourite United programmes, where whoever was responsible for overprinting the front cover finally resorted to humour:

 

[ancientblade]

Date: Boxing Day 1962 to early March 63
Result: Football 1 - 9 Weather
Attendances: very low

THE BIG FREEZE
I was born at the end of the cold winter of 1947, so I had only seen the pictures and heard the stories. The big freeze of
1962-63 thus came as a shock to the system - the length of time it lasted, the volumes of snow, the thickness of the ice, the perishing cold, and the impact on life in general are still unique in my experience. My sledging skills improved enormously, both on traffic-free roads and the slopes of Bingham Park, but after a while I was longing to be playing football and to be back at the Lane, and it was to be a long wait.
There were small regional variations, but all football was affected. Bolton, for example, played a home game v Spurs on December 8th, and their next home game was a 3rd round Cup replay v United on March 9th. United fared slightly better, with an away match at Wolves on January 19, and a home match v West Ham on February 16. There were strange inconsistencies- Wednesday’s home game on Boxing Day was postponed, as was United’s game at Man City; but United Reserves played and beat Man City Reserves at the Lane that same afternoon.
The consequences were serious. Football clubs derived almost all their income from cash collected on match days- there were few season tickets sold, and few alternative sources of money. And the football pools companies risked losing all their income, and so came up with the Pools Panel, which decided on the results of all the postponed matches so that the system could continue to operate. The Chelsea player Frank Upton apparently demanded a winning bonus the first week that Chelsea were deemed to have won, only to be told by manager Tommy Docherty that he was ineligible, because he had been dropped that week!
I will return to further memories of the Big Freeze in the days to come, and invite others to post pictures, memories, etc. I finish with one of my favourite United programmes, where whoever was responsible for overprinting the front cover finally resorted to humour:
View attachment 150282

unbelievable winter that was 62/63 we had ice slides in school yard for 3 solid months might be wrong but didnt spurs have a 3rd round cup game cancelled about 13 times

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

unbelievable winter that was 62/63 we had ice slides in school yard for 3 solid months might be wrong but didnt spurs have a 3rd round cup game cancelled about 13 times

I don’t think think that tie can have been postponed quite as many times as that. Burnley beat them on January 16th. Impressive video here:

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

unbelievable winter that was 62/63 we had ice slides in school yard for 3 solid months might be wrong but didnt spurs have a 3rd round cup game cancelled about 13 times

I don’t remember it ever being so cold for so for so long in my lifetime .

One thing that struck me as being bizarre at the time and still does , is the fact that they kept on doing the FA Cup draw , even though the vast majority of matches not only from the previous round but also the round before that had not yet been played .

This resulted in draws such as , for example , “ York City or Chelsea or Southport or Liverpool versus Walsall or Aston Villa or Chesterfield or Hereford United “ being declared .

 

[reedy63]

Was it that winter the floodlights John StreetBramall Lane collapsed due to stormy winds. ?.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Was it that winter the floodlights John StreetBramall Lane collapsed due to stormy winds. ?.

That was the February before. One match v Forest in December 1962 for the re-opening of the lights, and the freeze arrived. But no more gales, fortunately, so that set of lights lasted.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Saturday, January 5, 1963
FA CUP, Round 3
United v Bolton: Match Postponed
Attendance: 0

The previous January had seen an attendance of over 25000 for the 3rd Round replay v Bury, so a crowd of approaching 30000 would have been expected in 1963 for the visit of a top division side. This illustrates the financial problems that were about to hit football- gate money was the principal source of income. United had got away with the league game at Ipswich because it had been played on the Friday; Saturday December 22 dawned with severe frost and fog, resulting in 18 postponements across the 4 leagues, and 8 more games abandoned, probably because of the denseness of the fog. On Boxing Day there was heavy snow, and United (like most clubs) lost their Xmas programme (Man City away and home), which meant the loss of big takings from the home game. A couple of non-football photos show the volumes of snow:

Football was severely affected; but, more importantly, so was life.
January 1963 ended up being the coldest month of the 20th century in Britain. On 3rd Round Saturday (all games played on the same day then), just 3 games out of the 32 were played:
Plymouth 1-5 West Brom
Preston 1-4 Sunderland
Tranmere 2-2 Chelsea
This meant that the following Monday there was a farcical 4th Round draw involving 62 clubs. The Lincoln v Coventry match was postponed a mere 15 times, and in all the 3rd Round took 66 days to complete,with 261 postponements. It was only completed on March 11th, when Middlesbrough beat Blackburn 3-1. A great deal of catching went on from March onwards, but the Final had to be delayed 3 weeks, and was finally played on May 25th.

 

[ancientblade]

Saturday, January 5, 1963
FA CUP, Round 3
United v Bolton: Match Postponed
Attendance: 0

The previous January had seen an attendance of over 25000 for the 3rd Round replay v Bury, so a crowd of approaching 30000 would have been expected in 1963 for the visit of a top division side. This illustrates the financial problems that were about to hit football- gate money was the principal source of income. United had got away with the league game at Ipswich because it had been played on the Friday; Saturday December 22 dawned with severe frost and fog, resulting in 18 postponements across the 4 leagues, and 8 more games abandoned, probably because of the denseness of the fog. On Boxing Day there was heavy snow, and United (like most clubs) lost their Xmas programme (Man City away and home), which meant the loss of big takings from the home game. A couple of non-football photos show the volumes of snow:
View attachment 150460View attachment 150461
Football was severely affected; but, more importantly, so was life.
January 1963 ended up being the coldest month of the 20th century in Britain. On 3rd Round Saturday (all games played on the same day then), just 3 games out of the 32 were played:
Plymouth 1-5 West Brom
Preston 1-4 Sunderland
Tranmere 2-2 Chelsea
This meant that the following Monday there was a farcical 4th Round draw involving 62 clubs. The Lincoln v Coventry match was postponed a mere 15 times, and in all the 3rd Round took 66 days to complete,with 261 postponements. It was only completed on March 11th, when Middlesbrough beat Blackburn 3-1. A great deal of catching went on from March onwards, but the Final had to be delayed 3 weeks, and was finally played on May 25th.

was that the year spurs beat crewe 13 - 2 hodgy ?

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

was that the year spurs beat crewe 13 - 2 hodgy ?

No, that was February, 1960, in a replay. 10-1 up at half-time, which is going some! There is some old video of it from newsreels, but the only one I could find was poor quality:

 

[ancientblade]

No, that was February, 1960, in a replay. 10-1 up at half-time, which is going some! There is some old video of it from newsreels, but the only one I could find was poor quality:

thanks for that hodgy

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Saturday January 12, 1963
Not a day to remember.

As if things were not bad enough as the Big Freeze continued, this day was a particularly annoying one. Just one game in Division 1 saw Wednesday travel to West Brom and win the game 3-1, in front of a crowd of 14766; with so little action that day, I include below a photo from that game, mainly to illustrate the harsh conditions which were perhaps surprisingly deemed fit for a football match:

And if a win for Wednesday was not bad enough, United Reserves managed to play their fixture away at Liverpool, and lost 3-1. A forgettable day, indeed.

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[Alan Birchenall's hair]

Saturday January 12, 1963
Not a day to remember.

As if things were not bad enough as the Big Freeze continued, this day was a particularly annoying one. Just one game in Division 1 saw Wednesday travel to West Brom and win the game 3-1, in front of a crowd of 14766; with so little action that day, I include below a photo from that game, mainly to illustrate the harsh conditions which were perhaps surprisingly deemed fit for a football match:
View attachment 150875
And if a win for Wednesday was not bad enough, United Reserves managed to play their fixture away at Liverpool, and lost 3-1. A forgettable day, indeed.

Peter Swan and John Fantham (or maybe Don Megson)
Ron Springett in goal?
Who's the player in the centre?

 

[Silent Blade]

Peter Swan and John Fantham (or maybe Don Megson)
Ron Springett in goal?
Who's the player in the centre?

Peter Johnson in the centre

 

[ancientblade]

wont be many more games for a couple of months for you to review on this thread silent lol

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Never was a poor quality video more evocative of an era. It brings home how awful conditions were, and, indeed, how farcical it was to even attempt to play. And 2 things that make it feel like a very innocent era: players did not roll around pretending to be injured and trying to get opponents sent off; and how great it was for spectators to be allowed to stand in the snow right by the side of the pitch.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Peter Johnson in the centre

Peter Johnson in the background, Tom McAnearney in the foreground, I think.

 

[finlaytheblade]

Date: Boxing Day 1962 to early March 63
Result: Football 1 - 9 Weather
Attendances: very low

THE BIG FREEZE
I was born at the end of the cold winter of 1947, so I had only seen the pictures and heard the stories. The big freeze of
1962-63 thus came as a shock to the system - the length of time it lasted, the volumes of snow, the thickness of the ice, the perishing cold, and the impact on life in general are still unique in my experience. My sledging skills improved enormously, both on traffic-free roads and the slopes of Bingham Park, but after a while I was longing to be playing football and to be back at the Lane, and it was to be a long wait.
There were small regional variations, but all football was affected. Bolton, for example, played a home game v Spurs on December 8th, and their next home game was a 3rd round Cup replay v United on March 9th. United fared slightly better, with an away match at Wolves on January 19, and a home match v West Ham on February 16. There were strange inconsistencies- Wednesday’s home game on Boxing Day was postponed, as was United’s game at Man City; but United Reserves played and beat Man City Reserves at the Lane that same 2afternoon.
The consequences were serious. Football clubs derived almost all their income from cash collected on match days- there were few season tickets sold, and few alternative sources of money. And the football pools companies risked losing all their income, and so came up with the Pools Panel, which decided on the results of all the postponed matches so that the system could continue to operate. The Chelsea player Frank Upton apparently demanded a winning bonus the first week that Chelsea were deemed to have won, only to be told by manager Tommy Docherty that he was ineligible, because he had been dropped that week!
I will return to further memories of the Big Freeze in the days to come, and invite others to post pictures, memories, etc. I finish with one of my favourite United programmes, where whoever was responsible for overprinting the front cover finally resorted to humour:
View attachment 150282

We must be a similar age
Hodgy I was born on the 7th March 47 was told of walls of snow on the pavements at that time must have been a nightmare for pregnant woman as we lived on Belhagg Road Walkley.That real freezup started in Feb !
from what I've been told and lasted into April,where the 62/63 started on boxing day.
Communication was poor in them days! me my brother and my friend Brian were walking it to town to catch an SUT coach to the match at main rd.
The news broke as we reached town (no buses)frozen pitch was the cause the real snow hadn't arrived at that time,we didn't have to wait long.
No football for over 2 months a real frustrating period.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

wont be many more games for a couple of months for you to review on this thread silent lol

I was hoping to find the results given by the Pools Panel, and compare them with real matches when they were eventually played, but I have not found them yet…

 

[Silent Blade]

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

We must be a similar age
Hodgy I was born on the 7th March 47 was told of walls of snow on the pavements at that time must have been a nightmare for pregnant woman as we lived on Belhagg Road Walkley.That real freezup started in Feb !
from what I've been told and lasted into April,where the 62/63 started on boxing day.
Communication was poor in them days! me my brother and my friend Brian were walking it to town to catch an SUT coach to the match at main rd.
The news broke as we reached town (no buses)frozen pitch was the cause the real snow hadn't arrived at that time,we didn't have to wait long.
No football for over 2 months a real frustrating period.

What do you mean, ’similar age’? You’re about 10 weeks older than me! We didn’t go to away matches at Xmas, because of family parties (apart from S6 much later, but we won’t mention that one!) Did you always go by SUT to away games? We normally went by train, just occasionally on the Supporters’ Club coach, including one which ended up in a ditch somewhere inhospitable in the Peak District on the way to Port Vale. The Big Freeze did become tedious, apart from sledging.

 

[finlaytheblade]

What do you mean, ’similar age’? You’re about 10 weeks older than me! We didn’t go to away matches at Xmas, because of family parties (apart from S6 much later, but we won’t mention that one!) Did you always go by SUT to away games? We normally went by train, just occasionally on the Supporters’ Club coach, including one which ended up in a ditch somewhere inhospitable in the Peak District on the way to Port Vale. The Big Freeze did become tedious, apart from sledging.

Mostly with SUT, also went with Jeffcock coaches he was chairman of supporters club at some point . Used to drink like a fish ! No breathalysers at that time so didn't get caught how on earth he could drive a coach is beyond me.
I went to Port Vale ( cuptie)one of his drivers called Syd drove the coach he got lost somewhere near Leek ! We ended up in a village with a narrow lane to negotiate ,some how got through with inches to spare ( I don't think he'd been drinking)it looked like we were gunna get stuck !just managed to get through and got to the match ,I think we won 2-0.A
Anyway Hodgy young man !!
Nice to still be full of Blades stories with the enthusiasm still very strong.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Mostly with SUT, also went with Jeffcock coaches he was chairman of supporters club at some point . Used to drink like a fish ! No breathalysers at that time so didn't get caught how on earth he could drive a coach is beyond me.
I went to Port Vale ( cuptie)one of his drivers called Syd drove the coach he got lost somewhere near Leek ! We ended up in a village with a narrow lane to negotiate ,some how got through with inches to spare ( I don't think he'd been drinking)it looked like we were gunna get stuck !just managed to get through and got to the match ,I think we won 2-0.A
Anyway Hodgy young man !!
Nice to still be full of Blades stories with the enthusiasm still very strong.

I’d forgotten the Jeffcock coaches name, but as soon as I saw it, it brought back the memory. What you say probably explains why we ended up in a ditch on the way to Port Vale, eventually picked up and crammed onto one of the other coaches. A Cup match, I think.
Like you, my enthusiasm for the Blades is still strong. If you survive a lifetime of following United, everything else in life is easy

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

January 19, 1963
Wolves 0-0 United
Attendance: 10481 (snowmen not counted in official attendance figures)

4 weeks and 1 day after their last match, United finally returned to action away at Wolves, but conditions were such that the game was fairly meaningless, except for the fact that players put in a great effort and attempted to entertain a small crowd - did any Blades supporters make it to the game, given the conditions? The poor quality video below is very much worth watching, to appreciate the extraordinary conditions, and the enthusiastic commitment of the likes of Hodgson (not just a mud lark), and Hodgkinson, risking life and limb on the ice:



The programme has an unusual and enjoyable section on United, which captures very well the United of the late 50s and early 60s:

The match reports (courtesy of Silent Blade ) complement the video and include interesting points, and Heap’s cartoon, as ever, is inventive:

3 final bits of information about this extraordinary period:
1. It was a further 4 weeks before United played again. Keeping the players fit must have been difficult, and financing the club will have been an even greater problem
2. There were just 2 other League 1 matches that day: Villa drew 0-0 with Blackburn (attendance 18276), and Spurs beat Blackpool 2-0 (25710).
3. The Pools Panel met for the first time 1 week later.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

THE BIG FREEZE CONTINUES
January 26th, 1963
FA Cup, Round 4
Burnley 1-1 Liverpool

As we look forward to the 4th Round of the Cup in 2023, spare a thought for everybody involved in 1963. By the time 4th Round Saturday arrived, few 3rd Round ties had been played, and the 4th Round Weekend witnessed just 1 game - and that was a draw! So the 5th Round draw on the following Monday was a string of either/ors that were difficult to get excited about.
On the same Saturday, just 3 3rd Round ties were played, and one of those was also a draw!
Luton 0-2 Swindon
Portsmouth 1-1 Scunthorpe
Swansea 2-0 QPR

Because of the lack of real football, the famed pools panel was created by that weekend, and announced the result of each postponed game, so that the Pools Companies would have some revenue:

Unfortunately I have so far failed to find their decisions, and do not remember how Utd fared in their eyes!

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

February 2, 1963
Utd v Villa

No surprise, match postponed because of the BIG FREEZE. In fact, not a single match was played in our league that week.
So, nothing much to report. The BIG FREEZE was becoming tedious; and now history is repeating itself 60 years later with my reports

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

February 9, 1963
Spurs v United

Surprise, surprise, this match was postponed. Just 1 game escaped the big freeze, with Leicester beating Arsenal 2-0. Any positives to report? Well, we had not been defeated since before Xmas… But most of us were getting bored with sledging or skating or whatever winter activity we had taken up, we just wanted our football back. The good news is: our next fixture on February 16 went ahead in spite of the weather; the bad news is: well, you can probably guess…

 

[Silent Blade]

February 9, 1963
Spurs v United

Surprise, surprise, this match was postponed. Just 1 game escaped the big freeze, with Leicester beating Arsenal 2-0. Any positives to report? Well, we had not been defeated since before Xmas… But most of us were getting bored with sledging or skating or whatever winter activity we had taken up, we just wanted our football back. The good news is: our next fixture on February 16 went ahead in spite of the weather; the bad news is: well, you can probably guess…

The incident is from 5 min 24 seconds. A spectator runs on to the pitch from the distant stands and throws punches at Theo Foley who is attempting to help the injured Bedford. He is quickly restrained by both sets of players before being handed over to the police.

"Two players hurt in White City brawl" is a headline in The People following this Third Division game between QPR and Northampton. The scenes in the second half at White City Stadium are quite shocking - Theo Foley and Terry Branston suffering cuts and bruises after being attacked by an irate QPR fan. Final score 3-1 to Northampton, who go on to win the League. QPR's stay at White City Stadium was short lived, despite manager Alec Stock's claim that this would put QPR 40 years ahead of any other football club in the country. This proved to be a tad over-ambitious and they returned to Loftus Road at the end of the season.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

The incident is from 5 min 24 seconds. A spectator runs on to the pitch from the distant stands and throws punches at Theo Foley who is attempting to help the injured Bedford. He is quickly restrained by both sets of players before being handed over to the police.

"Two players hurt in White City brawl" is a headline in The People following this Third Division game between QPR and Northampton. The scenes in the second half at White City Stadium are quite shocking - Theo Foley and Terry Branston suffering cuts and bruises after being attacked by an irate QPR fan. Final score 3-1 to Northampton, who go on to win the League. QPR's stay at White City Stadium was short lived, despite manager Alec Stock's claim that this would put QPR 40 years ahead of any other football club in the country. This proved to be a tad over-ambitious and they returned to Loftus Road at the end of the season.

That is shocking in many different ways, including why they ever started the match on a pitch like that. And my eyesight has deteriorated at least 10% trying to watch that video The good old days, eh? You never cease to amaze me…

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Saturday February 16, 1963
United 0-2 West Ham
Attendance: 18176

Writing this the day after a disappointing defeat (v Middlesbrough, for the benefit of readers in years to come), it is easy to slip into the negativity of fans (or ‘supporters’ as we were called then; ‘fans’ was reserved for rock singers and Hollywood actors) who are always convinced that whenever we are looking forward to a match, we will inevitably be let down. It was just over 2 months since the last home game, and it was exciting to be getting back to some sort of normality with a home game again; but, on a pitch that was covered in snow except for the goal areas, United were always second best against West Ham, Graham Shaw had a penalty saved, and we ended up losing 2-0. Heap’s cartoon, drawn on the Saturday afternoon in the office, summed it up well as usual:

I don’t get the reference in the first picture: the England test cricket team were playing out a boring draw at the time, and failed to re-gain The Ashes.
I had been wondering for a while why I had lost the programme for the West Ham match, which I cannot find anywhere; it turns out it was a single sheet of paper, so it either got mislaid or has disintegrated.
The following reports and photos have been kindly sent to me by Silent Blade:



One final picture, showing Pace as ever prepared to improvise in search of a goal. This effort missed, and the ball had already been given out of play; sort of sums up a frustrating return to football on the snow:

And one final personal memory. Very occasionally, I played in goal on snow-covered pitches, both at school and in local leagues; I used to love the diving around in the snow, safe in the knowledge that any howlers could be blamed on the terrible playing conditions…