HodgysBrokenThumb
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August 29, 1953
United 3-4 Blackpool
(Hagan, Wragg 2)
Attendance: 35,171
Forgive me the self-indulgence of some reflections on an important anniversary for me, but I hope some of them connect with the present in perhaps surprising ways, and will be of some interest.
70 years ago today, I attended my first match at Bramall Lane, aged 6. Near-neighbours had, like many other families, acquired this strange new-fangled machine, a black-and-white 12-inch screen TV, and we were invited to watch the main reason for the acquisition, the Coronation of the Queen. I was not impressed. But when it came to an invite to watch the 1953 Cup Final (Bolton 3-4 Blackpool), a 6-year-old who was always kicking a ball around fell in love with the idea of watching football. My dad and older brother were regulars at The Lane, so although I missed the first home game of the 1953-54 season (Monday evening), there was no keeping me away from watching the game the following Saturday, against Cup-winners Blackpool, and the most famous footballer of the era, Stanley Matthews. The 1953 Cup Final has always been known as the ‘Matthews Final’, despite the fact that centre-forward Stan Mortensen scored the only hat-trick ever scored in a Cup Final at the old Wembley. Years later, when Matthews attended Mortensen’s funeral, one wag commented that it would always be known as the ‘Matthews funeral’.
We stood at the front of the Bramall Lane end, I assume for safety reasons, given my tender age, but I was soon a regular on the Kop. I have no recall of details of the game, but a clear memory of being totally bowled over by the experience - the noise, the power and the skill of the players, the emotion of goals scored and goals conceded. I was hooked. And now to some links to the present, and a wish that some youngsters going to their first games now end up getting as much out of football as I have.
1. United had just won promotion to the top division, and the first 2 games were against the League champions, Arsenal, and Cup-winners, Blackpool. 70 years later, and we have just won promotion, and 2 days ago we played the League champions and Cup winners on the same day, Man City. 1953 went a little better, with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, and a 4-3 defeat against Blackpool. Our brief moment near the top of the League soon passed, but we did not get relegated.
2. I have spent 70 years watching United, and we are basically where we were when I started. In between, we have been down to the 4th Division, and everwhere in between. We have won little, and the immediate future is not exactly positive. But it has been a big part of my life, shared with family and friends. 70 years ago, it was celebrating goals with father and brother (and sharing the downs, of course). 2 days ago, still on the Kop, behind the goal, it was celebrating Bogle’s goal against Man City with members of 2 younger generations. A sublime moment, even though (inevitably?) disappointment soon followed.
3. United are not a club for the glory-hunter, but 70 years on we are back where I started. That means that for every relegation there has been a promotion. For every Walsall game, there has been a re-birth, as in the Division 4 season. For every Boxing Day Massacre, there has been a Bouncing Day. For every Nigel Adkins, there has been a Chris Wilder. There has been the joy of watching Hodgy and Joe Shaw, Currie and Woodward, Edwards and Morris, Deane and Agana, etc. And pride in seeing youngsters like Badger and Bernard Shaw established in the first-team; if only we could have kept Naughton and Walker for a few more years… And all this with the ritual of walking in anticipation to The Lane on match days with family and friends. That, for me, is how football should be.
4. And, finally, a recognition that football is much, much better now than 70 years ago. The 2 things I would love to bring back, but fear they never will, are: a more equal distribution of money, so that the height of ambition for promoted teams is no longer finishing 1 place above relegation; and a return to a situation where other clubs’ fans are fellow football fans rather than the enemy. There was much fun to be had mingling with other fans in the 1950s and early 1960s, and the game today is the worse for it.
For the historians, below are some pages from the match programme:
United 3-4 Blackpool
(Hagan, Wragg 2)
Attendance: 35,171
Forgive me the self-indulgence of some reflections on an important anniversary for me, but I hope some of them connect with the present in perhaps surprising ways, and will be of some interest.
70 years ago today, I attended my first match at Bramall Lane, aged 6. Near-neighbours had, like many other families, acquired this strange new-fangled machine, a black-and-white 12-inch screen TV, and we were invited to watch the main reason for the acquisition, the Coronation of the Queen. I was not impressed. But when it came to an invite to watch the 1953 Cup Final (Bolton 3-4 Blackpool), a 6-year-old who was always kicking a ball around fell in love with the idea of watching football. My dad and older brother were regulars at The Lane, so although I missed the first home game of the 1953-54 season (Monday evening), there was no keeping me away from watching the game the following Saturday, against Cup-winners Blackpool, and the most famous footballer of the era, Stanley Matthews. The 1953 Cup Final has always been known as the ‘Matthews Final’, despite the fact that centre-forward Stan Mortensen scored the only hat-trick ever scored in a Cup Final at the old Wembley. Years later, when Matthews attended Mortensen’s funeral, one wag commented that it would always be known as the ‘Matthews funeral’.
We stood at the front of the Bramall Lane end, I assume for safety reasons, given my tender age, but I was soon a regular on the Kop. I have no recall of details of the game, but a clear memory of being totally bowled over by the experience - the noise, the power and the skill of the players, the emotion of goals scored and goals conceded. I was hooked. And now to some links to the present, and a wish that some youngsters going to their first games now end up getting as much out of football as I have.
1. United had just won promotion to the top division, and the first 2 games were against the League champions, Arsenal, and Cup-winners, Blackpool. 70 years later, and we have just won promotion, and 2 days ago we played the League champions and Cup winners on the same day, Man City. 1953 went a little better, with a 1-0 victory over Arsenal, and a 4-3 defeat against Blackpool. Our brief moment near the top of the League soon passed, but we did not get relegated.
2. I have spent 70 years watching United, and we are basically where we were when I started. In between, we have been down to the 4th Division, and everwhere in between. We have won little, and the immediate future is not exactly positive. But it has been a big part of my life, shared with family and friends. 70 years ago, it was celebrating goals with father and brother (and sharing the downs, of course). 2 days ago, still on the Kop, behind the goal, it was celebrating Bogle’s goal against Man City with members of 2 younger generations. A sublime moment, even though (inevitably?) disappointment soon followed.
3. United are not a club for the glory-hunter, but 70 years on we are back where I started. That means that for every relegation there has been a promotion. For every Walsall game, there has been a re-birth, as in the Division 4 season. For every Boxing Day Massacre, there has been a Bouncing Day. For every Nigel Adkins, there has been a Chris Wilder. There has been the joy of watching Hodgy and Joe Shaw, Currie and Woodward, Edwards and Morris, Deane and Agana, etc. And pride in seeing youngsters like Badger and Bernard Shaw established in the first-team; if only we could have kept Naughton and Walker for a few more years… And all this with the ritual of walking in anticipation to The Lane on match days with family and friends. That, for me, is how football should be.
4. And, finally, a recognition that football is much, much better now than 70 years ago. The 2 things I would love to bring back, but fear they never will, are: a more equal distribution of money, so that the height of ambition for promoted teams is no longer finishing 1 place above relegation; and a return to a situation where other clubs’ fans are fellow football fans rather than the enemy. There was much fun to be had mingling with other fans in the 1950s and early 1960s, and the game today is the worse for it.
For the historians, below are some pages from the match programme:
Brilliant!
) in footballing systems, the number 5 was a central defender, one of the wing-halves was defence-minded and the other more creative and further forward, and one of the inside-forwards was a midfield creator, and the other more of a goal scorer/second-striker. So in effect, it was on the way to a 4-2-4 formation. The big difference was that the 2 full-backs and the centre-half rarely crossed the half-way line, and the wingers would not lower themselves by going back beyond the halfway line to do a bit of defending.