Team from the past

[PS1952]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

Good first post. Welcome, you will find one or two on here that remember that team. Can't go back beyond 1971 myself.

 

[ancientblade]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

you will get on famously with me bert silent and hodgy lol

 

[Jon Bon II]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

A mate's dad played for us around that time. Only a couple of first team appearances I think, mostly reserve outings. His name is Gordon Rose. Do you remember him at all?

 

[blade67]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

Way before my time but I'm guessing you are knocking on 80 if you remember that lot. Do you still get down the lane?

 

[Cheets]

My Blades memory only goes back to the late 70s but I love reading posts like this.

 

[Nade]

My grandad used to go to both Wednesday and United games back then - he'd say he just supported the city.

Was this common back then?

 

[SheepdipBlade]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

My Mum always used to say Shaw (G) and Shaw (B) were her cousins. No idea if it was true, but given the size of the family it wouldn't surprise me.

(She was also related to Raymond Baxter of Tomorrow's World fame and WW2 Spitfire pilot)

 

[Micky Narker]

I would've loved to have seen Hagan in full flow, few decades before my time. Grandad was a Man City fan, oh what might have been eh?

 

[Silent Blade]

My grandad used to go to both Wednesday and United games back then - he'd say he just supported the city.

Was this common back then?

Most football fans worked on Saturday mornings so going to away matches were not an option.

 

[ancientblade]

My grandad used to go to both Wednesday and United games back then - he'd say he just supported the city.

Was this common back then?

it was yes whichever club was at home on a saturday you went

 

[Darnall Siam Blade]

Welcome PS1952- Yes, that team you name rolled off the tongue in the early fifties and was one of my favourites. I first went in 1947. In the late forties and early fifties the team was usually, Smith- Furniss-Cox- Hitchin- Latham -Shaw-Thompson-Nightingale- Smith - Hagan- Collindridge and a few others. The thing about football , in those days, was that you were likely to be sitting , or standing, next to some of the players on the 'tram' on the way to the match. Those were the days. Yes, there are a few , on here, who are around your age ( and good posters too).

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

Good to read your post. A very quick initial response: I attach a couple of pictures of a matchday programme from the period you mention, with exactly the lineup you refer to. And a 6-1 win as well. A match you went to, perhaps? Let me know if you want to see more pages from this programme, or other programmes of the period. I don’t have a full set, but I have quite a lot. My first game was against Cup winners Blackpool in September 1953.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

My grandad used to go to both Wednesday and United games back then - he'd say he just supported the city.

Was this common back then?

From 1947 at the age of 6 to 1950 I went to watch both , my dad taking me to the Lane and my grandad to Hillsborough . Because of my dad’s work commitments and poor health I saw more Wednesday matches than Blades ones , but there was never any doubt which was my team .

From the age of 9 , I was allowed to go on my own and it was always to watch the mighty Blades apart from local Derbies or when Wednesday were up against one of the glamour clubs of the time and which I expected them to lose .

 

[mancunianblade]

My grandad used to go to both Wednesday and United games back then - he'd say he just supported the city.

Was this common back then?

my Grandad did the same although he said football rather than the city.. actually came close to playing for the Blades too

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

New guy; a life long Blade. How's this for a team to jog a few old timers (like myself) memories.
Burgin, Furniss, Shaw(G), Hitchen, Latham, Shaw(J), Ringstead, Hagan, Browning, Brook, Hawksworth. I was a regular at first team and reserve team matches from 1952 to 1954.

Looking at that lineup, I realise that I saw (quite a number of times) 9 of the players play, including Joe and Graham Shaw who were a big presence in my youth. I never saw Harry Latham play, but after retiring, he was a familiar figure with bucket and sponge running on to the pitch to tend to the injured players. No physiotherapists in those days! The player I never saw was Harry Hitchen, who left United in 1953. I hadn’t realised that he was made captain, but broke his leg and only played 16 times in the promotion season of 52-53. He appears to have been tall for that era. Have you any memories of him?

 

[Darnall Siam Blade]

Yes, HBT, not sure about PS1952 being at the match.However,I was at the match versus Lincoln as depicted in your programme. In fact the Lincoln number 7, Troops, was a relation of mine. Also, your first match Versus Blackpool , if it is the one I remember, resulted in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Blackpool. As you said , they had just won the Cup and their team was , practically, the same . From memory I seem to recall Hagan unusualy,marking Matthews a lot and keeping him , relatively, quiet Yes, Harry Hitchin (Hitchen?) was a tough tackling right half and quite slim for a hard man- very popular with the crowd (could do with him now). Incidentally, you just missed another cracking game, the one before Blackpool when we beat Arsenal 1-0 with a Len Browning header, in front of nearly 51,000. Cricket pavilion balcony days. I hope all that is correct as memories getting mixed up , bit, these days.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Yes, HBT, not sure about PS1952 being at the match.However,I was at the match versus Lincoln as depicted in your programme. In fact the Lincoln number 7, Troops, was a relation of mine. Also, your first match Versus Blackpool , if it is the one I remember, resulted in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Blackpool. As you said , they had just won the Cup and their team was , practically, the same . From memory I seem to recall Hagan unusualy,marking Matthews a lot and keeping him , relatively, quiet Yes, Harry Hitchin (Hitchen?) was a tough tackling right half and quite slim for a hard man- very popular with the crowd (could do with him now). Incidentally, you just missed another cracking game, the one before Blackpool when we beat Arsenal 1-0 with a Len Browning header, in front of nearly 51,000. Cricket pavilion balcony days. I hope all that is correct as memories getting mixed up , bit, these days.

For someone with a bad memory, you remember correctly an awful lot of things! I attach below 2 pics of the Lincoln programme, the last paragraph of the ‘Our Visitors’ page has a nice reference to your relative. Then a couple of pictures of the Blackpool game. I was only 6, and mainly remember the crowd and the ground - for my first few games we went at the Lane End, before my dad presumably deemed I was ok to survive the big crowds on the Kop. I missed the victory over Wednesday a couple of weeks later (presumably because of the big crowd), but I attach a picture of that game from the programme of the next match I went to (v Huddersfield). I have always liked that photo, particularly as it shows the view of Bramall Lane as I first experienced it. Hope the pics bring back more memories for you to share with us.

 

[Darnall Siam Blade]

Well, HBT I would be hard pressed to remember who scored any of the 7 goals. If I had to guess I would put my money on Stan Mortensen having scored 1 or 2. Definitely cannot remember anything about our 2-0 win against Owls , 2 weeks later. Those old programmes are fantastic. Thanks.

 

[MJM]

Knickers?!

Love it

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Well, HBT I would be hard pressed to remember who scored any of the 7 goals. If I had to guess I would put my money on Stan Mortensen having scored 1 or 2. Definitely cannot remember anything about our 2-0 win against Owls , 2 weeks later. Those old programmes are fantastic. Thanks.

Wragg (2) and Hagan for Utd, so there must have been a late change for Wragg to score. Having trouble finding the Blackpool scorers!

 

[peniblade]

An excellent post.

My first match at Bramall Lane as a young 5 year old was on the 18 April 1953 against West Ham when we won 3-1 which guaranteed promotion & as I have posted previously this was the season when we won the Division 2 title which was our last major honour.

I have got all the programmes from the 1952/53 season apart from the home game against Everton on 25/8/52 & Blackburn Rovers away on 21/2/53 & if any poster has got these & want to sell please advise accordingly.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

An excellent post.

My first match at Bramall Lane as a young 5 year old was on the 18 April 1953 against West Ham when we won 3-1 which guaranteed promotion & as I have posted previously this was the season when we won the Division 2 title which was our last major honour.

I have got all the programmes from the 1952/53 season apart from the home game against Everton on 25/8/52 & Blackburn Rovers away on 21/2/53 & if any poster has got these & want to sell please advise accordingly.

I have only got a few from that season, and those 2 are not amongst them. Good luck.

 

[peniblade]

A mate's dad played for us around that time. Only a couple of first team appearances I think, mostly reserve outings. His name is Gordon Rose. Do you remember him at all?

A mate's dad played for us around that time. Only a couple of first team appearances I think, mostly reserve outings. His name is Gordon Rose. Do you remember him at all?

Yes I remember the name and apparently he played two first team friendly games in season 1956/57 namely 26/9/56 Number 11 against Worksop Town (A) in a charity match losing 0-1 in front of 2400 & on 12/2/57 Number 11 against Royal Signals 3Tr Rgt. winning 4-1.

This information is in Dennis Clarebrough's Bible of Sheffield United records. Apparently he was born on 22 March 1935 & he was transferred to Halifax Town date not known. A photo of the Royal Signals game teams is shown below.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jon Bon II]

Yes I remember the name and apparently he played two first team friendly games in season 1956/57 namely 26/9/56 Number 11 against Worksop Town (A) in a charity match losing 0-1 in front of 2400 & on 12/2/57 Number 11 against Royal Signals 3Tr Rgt. winning 4-1.

This information is in Dennis Clarebrough's Bible of Sheffield United records. Apparently he was born on 22 March 1935 & he was transferred to Halifax Town date not known. A photo of the Royal Signals game teams is shown below.

Hope this helps.
View attachment 121661

Thanks peniblade, that's great. I'll send it to my mate. He might already have it but if he hasn't, he'll love it.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Thanks peniblade, that's great. I'll send it to my mate. He might already have it but if he hasn't, he'll love it.

My match programmes for that period are patchy. The best bit of info about your mate’s dad I have is from the programme below. He was playing plenty of games for the reserves.