I will have been at that game stood on the railings right next to the photographer of that goal, that's where my Mum and I stood every home game, me with long Blades scarf and woolly hat. Every home goal I'd stand on the wall and swing the scarf around above my head. My Dad stood with pals higher up the Kop. I had a rattle and took it to games for a good while but stopped for some reason. May have grown out of it but they might have been banned.
Standing right on the front row in the same place had it's own routine. We arrived at the same early time to get our places, we stood next to the same people every game and just behind the same St Johns Ambulance crew who sat in front of the railing. For some reason those ambulance crews were busy in those days, where do poorly people go now? The danger time was when charity collections were made by catching thrown coins tossed down the Kop onto a big sheet held by about 10 blokes on the pitch. Old supporters will recall the pennies raining down at speed above the crowds heads, Health and Safety didn't exist in those days! One week one of my pals needed the ambulance crew to patch up a big gash in his scalp.
For the 57000 crowds at cup games or local derbies we took the high ground in the corner between the Kop and the John Street stand. There was a wall up there with a fantastic view and we got our places around two hours or more before kick off. The sense of occasion at those games was electrifying. Arriving early stocked up with snacks and drinks and watching the massive crowd fill up the ground was just magic. Imagine looking down on a crowd of 57000, masses of swaying bodies with deliberate avalanches caused to get more fans in the ground. Big time SUFC and what glamour in a modest life without TV, telephones at home and very few cars in our area.
Derek Pace was an unlikely looking legend. He always looked 20 years older than he was, thin legs with knobbly knees and an unathletic figure, not tall for such a good header of the ball, no "pace"!! but he knew the game inside out and knew where to be at the right time and how to use his body to shield the ball and to ease out the opposition. A wily craftsman with a natural instinct.
