By the end of January 1959, the Worcester City match was out of sight and out of mind (and thanks to
JonnyRed(WCFC) for your contributions - I hope more forum members are able to contribute as the season moves on). This month has seen the differences between Utd in 1959 and 2019 grow wider, as the Cup has been and gone this season in the non-event of the match v Barnet, whereas the 1959 team had successfully come through 2 potentially tricky ties to set up a clash with Arsenal. On the other hand, the 2019 side has managed to keep in touch with the automatic promotion places, whereas the 1959 side was 7 points adrift of second-placed Fulham, with a game in hand, but the system of 2 points for a win made it seem like a huge gap. Still, as an 11-year old crazy about football, I trusted a team made up of heroes (Hodgy, the Shaws, Pace, Lewis) and solid players (Coldwell, Richardson, Summers, Russell...). There was no transfer window to make fans neurotic, and for whatever reason I did not worry about transfers, even though I had heard the story from before my time of the Board agreeing to sell Hagan to Wednesday, and I had been disappointed when they sold Grainger and Iley. But replacements had been found, and not even the lack of a manager bothered me in the slightest (we scarcely knew who the manager was in the 1950s). So, full of optimism we set off to Huddersfield (managed by Bill Shankly, though that meant nothing at the time) on January 31st, by train; cheap-day return cost 4 shillings and 7 pence according to an advert in the programme, and that was valid for any train, any day...such simple times! United badly needed a win.
There were several points of note in the background to the game. Over many seasons, Huddersfield had won most of their meetings at the Lane, and United had won most of the matches at Leeds Road. Pace was finally suspended after his sending-off at Xmas, so Dennis Shiels made a rare appearance; he was an interesting signing from Ireland, a trainee accountant, but he never really looked the part in the first team. Hoyland was still deputising for the injured Richardson, and at the last minute, Mason replaced Graham Shaw. On the other hand, Huddersfield were without wonder-kid Denis Law. And of particular interest was the fact that the clubs had swapped Simpson and Hawksworth the previous summer, so this would be Simpson's first return to Leeds Road. No doubt on the train there was talk of the curse of the return of former players, particularly as Hawksworth had scored for United with a penalty in the 1-1 draw at Huddersfield the season before. And a Huddersfield player of note that we knew nothing about at the time was Ray Wilson, England left-back in the 1966 World Cup.
United did win the match 2-0, with Hamilton and Russell the scorers, in front of a crowd of just over 17000. I include some pictures in the next post. Unfortunately, there is no match report in my scrapbook, and my only memory is of Hodgy saving a penalty taken, of course, by Hawksworth; we must have been standing behind the photographer, as I remember we knew as soon as the ball was kicked that it was a routine save for Hodgy. Or perhaps it is the photo I remember, rather than the incident...
So the scene was set for an interesting February, even though United had not gained ground on the leaders. The next match was a comfortable-looking home derby v Barnsley, followed by a trip to Highbury to face the mighty Arsenal, who had beaten Colchester 4-0 three days previously. A Valentine's Day massacre surely awaited the Blades...
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