I would just like to thank everybody who have taken the time to read the rantings of mine,and for those who have left messages i thank you for your kind words.
As you know in five days time it will be the 6th of February,a day that was to shape the history of Manchester United,a big hole was left to those of that time, but a void that has since been filled for all too see and enjoy.
I was just sat here reflecting on a day of transfer activity yesterday that has made me realise the football world has gone absolutely mental.
In five days time i will be at Old Trafford paying my respects as i have done for over fifty years,i will walk from Warwick road station down Warwick road(not Sir Matt Busby way) where i will stop and take in the atmosphere as if a match day of times gone by,where flat caps,heavy overcoats with thick belts will be plentiful,where men will walk and talk still with the woodbine,senior service or pasha cigarette stuck to there bottom lip as hands are firmly in there pockets on this cold winters day in '58.I will be transported in thought to the times when i started going to football and was lucky(no very lucky)to have witnessed the 'Babes',again just for this one day i will witness 'Big Dunc'waiting on the corner near 'The Trafford' for 'Peggy's' bus,the pair would then stroll down to the ground together followed by a scurrying mass of youngsters all looking on in awe.
At the crossroads i will stop,look round and envisage the men stood outside 'The Trafford' with pint pots in one hand and cigarette in the other swapping yarns about either work or the team for that day.I'll also stop and remember the young lads trying to interest people into buying there wares,other young lads stood on the side with trays with the strap round the neck as they tried to sell there pies(didn't need much persuading),they were baked at a shop just up the road therefore they were still warm,they also had the three wheeler bike with the box on the front parked close by,so they could dash back and fill up when required.Then I'd set of and as i get close to the bridge the memory's of hanging on the bridge as the smoke came up from the funnel of the steam train and danced across our faces prior to it pulling into United's station.As another horde of fans alighted and stood in awe at the size of this magnificent stadium.As i carry on i will next look up and see the floodlight pylons rising into the sky where floodlights would be so bright they would throw of more light than any lighthouse,looking on to the forecourt i wont see the shop it will just be a brick scoreboard end with turnstiles with the ticket office just to the side and looking up I'll see the top of the actual scoreboard due to there being no roof in them days.I'll then start my walk to the Stretford End past the players entrance and seeing in my mind the likes of 'Peggy''Dunc' 'Liam'who would have been to mass first without fail,sometimes Roger Byrne would be there making sure they were all in the changing room on time,or even Sir Matt sometimes with cigarette in hand telling them to get in as it was getting to that time.....passing the paddock i will then come upon the Stretford End where my best times where,swaying Masses,chanting till hoarse crushed against barriers but still having a smile on your face....looking up at the turnstile that said Adults 2/-(10p) Juniors 1/-(5p).The memories will come flooding back of times where i've waited with great expectations to see my hero's of years gone by running out onto that hallowed turf,with there red short sleeve shirts with a white 'v' neck,how many times i ran out as Duncan Edwards i wouldn't like to guess.It'll only be when i've done a full tour of the ground that i'll see the shop in all it's splendour and with that i'll make my way to the clock and it's there that i will pay my respects for a team for me that will never die.
I know some of you reading this (if you've got this far) will think i go over the top.but believe me i don't,that team,to me were worth more than an hour per year,they were a team that money couldn't buy,thus when i sit here and reflect on what teams are paying for two players who would not have made it into United Reserves,which included the likes of Charlton....Dawson....Webster etc,....... i just do not understand and cannot comprehend!.....to me it made the 'Babes' priceless !! and for all the enjoyment they gave me in there short and illustrious life ...'What is an hour to stand and reflect and remember...................'
I will stand for a minutes silence and with that i will turn and make my way back up'Sir Matt Busby Way' because now i will be back in the present....but for that hour my memories which cannot be taken away will flood back and i will be a child...a believer....another Duncan Edwards....and as i slowly come back down to earth my parting thoughts will be the same as they have for over fifty years...............'IF ONLY'
Thank you for the tear in my eye and lump where my breathing used to happen. I for one will never forget the tears of me mum every time she thinks of the Babes. cheers pal for every word!
"CAN YOU SPARE A SHILLING FOR A PINT........................"
This was the week-end that has to come round every once in a while.....the one you dread,and for me this was it.I woke up Saturday at about 4.30 (am) and started my usual routine(no i don't get up that time at week-ends i just couldn't sleep)i checked everything was in place for the game,tickets,money,scarf...utd shirt.All done ready,wasn't setting of till 1 o'clock but just to be on the safe side i checked again.T hen i sat down and started to remember.......after 2 hours of beating myself up i had a decision to make.....suddenly the phone goes and whose on the other end but Unc,"can you come round ...",anybody whose read my diaries knows what this man means to me,he'd been my rock,he'd taken me to my first United game,through him i'd seen the 'Babes'....he'd put me on the straight and narrow.I'd walk on broken glass for this man(still wouldn't go and watch city though if he asked,mind you Unc wouldn't give any kid nightmares!!!)it was at that point that i decided i couldn't go to Wolves,in truth i wouldn't be able to watch it properly being to close to the 6th,so with mind made up i went to Unc's,Unc's not been well now for a few years but still manages to get to O.T when able.....anyway Unc asked if i was going to O.T tomorrow(Sun) strange knowing i had been every year since '58 but the long and short of it was he wanted to go with me, but he wanted to go as though it was match day all those years ago,no explanation why but did i fancy it.With this agreed upon i said i'd see him at 11.30 and off i set.
Believe this or not i didn't watch the game and only found out the score Sunday,anyway Sunday arrived i'd listened to the flowers of manchester with a lump in my throat and i got out my scarf from my first game(so tattered it's an embarrassment....but not to me...)and set off for Unc's,one problem was the pub we first used to go in was pulled down but Unc suggested another one ,as the norm we were in early just one old man sat in the corner Unc picked seats and i went to the bar(this was going to be cheap nearly all the lads from the first game i went to are no longer with us...on reflection as i ordered two pints i wished it would have been the full round ...)As i was waiting for the beers Unc said he was going to the toilet and the papers were at the table....Suddenly from nowhere the old man sat in the corner sidled up and said" Can you spare a shilling for a pint..." i thought it was someone who'd lost his marbles,turned to say something...and remembered those eyes....it was none other than Smidge...oh my god! last i'd heard of him he was living in Australia!Well to cut a longer story shorter three of us had tears in our eyes and were swapping stories,Then we remembered what this day was about,then through everything i realised you could smile on this day...especially being as old as we three were because we could sit and remember what the 'Babes' did and how good they were.....and we being the lucky one's had witnessed them.After swapping countless stories about the 'Babes'( i must admit it was mainly from the old dodderers i was with...)it made a difference to be going to pay respects thinking 'not what could have been....but what we saw ,and how really lucky we'd been to have seen these legends.Unlike all those years ago there was no train journey,it was taxi to the top of Warwick road.
Off we set each one with a different tale to tell about our hero's,our beliefs of what they would have achieved....and how good were they really? When i looked across at these two i realised people were willing to go to great lengths to see their beloved United,maybe more so nowadays when transport comes in all shapes and forms therefore giving you more choice,but we believed(in our eyes)we were the best...hadn't we thumbed it nearly everywhere,slept rough...even done things we shouldn't, too see the United and why! cos they were worth every bit of discomfort.As we walked down Warwick rd stopping every 100 yds while Unc got his breath and Smidge told stories and even shocked me by telling me the first game i'd seen and how he looked at me and kept nudging everyone because i had eyes like saucers and a mouth that never shut.....eventually we arrived at the crossroads and more stories started to come but with less enthusiasm and at this point Unc and Smidge just looked down Warwick rd to the ground and i swear you could see them transported again to the 50's,as one without speaking they both looked in the same direction on a few occasions as each other without choreography,it was at that point that a tear welled up in Smidge's eye and he looked at me and said"i will never forget nor will i ever come back....."
We slowly and i mean slowly with these two went down towards the forecourt and believe me or believe me not,six eyes raised simultaneously to where the floodlights would have been,after a slow walk to the old players entrance we stood silently as our own little memories come flooding back and a little chill crept from nowhere to the hairs on the back of my neck ,but it didn't take long for the warmth of my memories to take over as the thoughts of men who had give their lives in the name of Manchester United came flooding back,and if you closed your eyes tight enough you could touch them just once more......
After a quick(45 mins it took having to stop every 50 yds now..)we reminisced over games gone by ,each with a different tale about the same game! and till this year had never bothered me but Smidge brought it up....the first game after 'Munich' how we'd all stood in the ground that night with our arms round each other,not just us but the majority of people with heads bowed for a while till the tannoy started to name the teams...
By now it was dark as we stood beneath the clock with heads bowed each with there own little memories of players and games past and it was as one we raised our heads and slight trickles of tears fell from three supposedly grown men's eyes......and with that we turned and started back up 'Sir Matt Busby Way'
At the crossroads a car was parked which we found to be Smidge's daughter waiting to take the old sod home.....just before getting to the car Smidge turned and wanted to say his goodbyes,but as he did so he looked over our shoulders one last time.....it was then that he told us that the reason for getting in touch with Unc was so the three of us could make the last journey together......he had been given six months to live,and that was three months ago.He'd travelled over from Australia just to pay his respects for the last time,and was staying here to be near O.T..............enough said!
Great read, mate. Highlights exactly what United means to people. I arrived at Old Trafford for 2:30pm and left just after the minute silence. Was sad.
It always is......but after sadness it can only get better..and if everybody who ever follows United goes through that sadness then there is a possibility that they will learn and pass it on to there children, and as long(in my humble opinion)they learn and understand and just don't pass it off as the past and it doesn't matter ,then the feelings for United will not just come with every trophy they win, but with every beat of there hearts whether it be for a team that is not doing well(as i know)but for a team that is part of them,as my team was and always will be....United are not just a football team or somewhere to go every week,they are an institution,they are a belief,not just a thought,theyre the itch that can only go when you set foot on the hallowed road to that famous ground and when you leave and make your way home that itch comes back till the next game you can get too ............my god i love that itch.
I'm speechless - FANTASTIC READ, COMPLIMENTS, MANY THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
btw - every time when I come to Old Trafford I go to see the clock and the, always nice and fresh, flower decorated rememberance plate and I do my respect for several minutes - than I walk on .......
April 30th 1960
After the Wolves game United had 10 games left and of those we won seven and lost three,there was no half measures with the 'reds'.It was attack and score more than the opposition or perish! Never hold out for a draw. We played what i used to call 'shit or bust' football. The blend still wasn't right but the 'mindset' was.Matt knew what he wanted and he would get it right no matter how long it would take !
We won all our five remaining home fixtures, some with a style and panache that was easy on the eye,childish mistakes intermingled with brilliance.Attacking that had you gripping the barriers or some poor sods shoulder in front of you till they screamed, up on your toes and either jumping up and down in the sheer hysteria of a goal celebration or oohing and aaarrring at another goal chance gone begging,(in the last 5 home games we scored 16 goals and conceded 4. I'd loved every minute).Our last home game and last game of the season was against Everton.
Here we were , last match of the season against Everton walking down Warwick road with great expectations (sounds good for a book title that....lol)but also with regret, you want your side to win and win well,after all it is United , but then the thoughts start to circulate round your (god i nearly said 'brain ' then....haha)head, 'whens the fixture list come out ?'...'It's a long time till the next match...' So with that you stop and take in the atmosphere and the sights,it's a bright sunny day and fans are approaching Warwick road in short sleeved shirts , some with no collars,some wearing short sleeved jumpers (wife or mother has most probably give them they'll catch there 'death of cold without it' speech).The flat caps would be out in force some shining with age and to what trade the wearer did,some still had the pencil tucked into the cap from writing there betting slips out and giving it to the bookies runner found in all backyards of pubs.Some still with half smoked cigs behind there ears,there was the thick wide trousers with turn ups held up by a thick leather belt (that was only taken off to give the kids a belt round the arse for the slightest misdemeanour) or well thumbed braces (where they used to put thumbs behind and then grip the braces (i'm sure they thought it stopped 'em from falling over when drunk.....lol))Men still wearing overall having come straight from work smelling of all different aroma's oil,grease,coolant etc that used to intermingle with fag and pipe smoke and the smells coming from the nearby industrial plants that all used to waft around your nostrils during the game......sheer bliss!.Men who still had there 'billy cans' that by now the tea had gone cold with still an inch of tea leaves in the bottom which they still drank regardless, and when they turned round and smiled at you there teeth looked like a chess board as tea leaves used to stick to them where they'd drained the tea through the leaves....tea bags have got a lot to answer for...haha. The hob nail boots they wore made sparks as the metal studs in the bottom used to scrape across the cobbled streets....This day always felt like the end of the world,you never wanted this game to end,(not unless the new season started next week).
Anyway enough of this claptrap...where were we... a yes Everton...home..last game of the season if you didn't know..nearly 44,000 turned up that day,nothing special but true reds one and all,the United team that day read...Gregg,Foulkes,Carolan,Setters,Cope,Brennan, Bradley(in for Giles),Quixall,Dawson,Pearson(in for Violet) and Charlton.
Still not the right blend but the football played that day warmed the 'cockles of your heart', it was vintage United, you could almost see and feel the likes of Byrne,Edwards,Taylor out there as we cut through Everton like a hot knife through butter.They just had no answer to United that day , the wing play of Bobby Charlton was out of this world,Quixall showed at last why we paid so much money to take him from Sheff Wed,Brennan a winger who went on to become a dependable left back played out of his skin,Dawson a centre forward was a handful, he'd put his body on the line all the time and today was no exception they just couldn't handle him. Wave after wave of United attacks bore down on the Everton goal,and if by some chance they dared to venture into our half Big 'Mo'(Setters) and Folksy would stop them in there tracks with a look of indignation and send them scurrying back into there own half like little boys caught with there hands in the sweet jar ! really it was no contest as united ran out 5-0 winners with goals from Dawson(3). Bradley and Quixall.
It was with heavy heart i left the ground,even after a performance like that, knowing it would be so long till seeing United again(another 3 months)...ooh what would i do.....it was then i looked down and realised i had a bigger problem to face.....I had played every pass, every shot every move United made during the game while stood on the terraces and i'd scuffed all the front of my new shoes..they were a mess....DAD WOULD KILL ME !!!
AS ONE ERA ENDS ANOTHER BEGINS............................
Well that's it,the fifties were over and the sixties have marched in.On reflection looking back it was a period i'll never forget(hopefully) i had had the highest highs and the lowest lows,i had seen greatness in the making only for it to be whipped away in the blink of an eye.I had whooped and hollered at some of the best football ever,a team in the making that was going to rule Europe only to be dealt a cruel blow.I had seen (my opinion only...no read others who saw, some are actually as daft as me!!)the greatest player ever to don a united shirt whose potential held no bounds,of course i'm talking of the great Duncan Edwards , for a few sweet seasons that was my privilege.I'd seen my beloved United for the first time and go onto win the league not once but twice and looking like more to come,i had seen Bobby Charlton emerging to go on to be a legend at Old Trafford,we had again in my opinion bought the best keeper i've seen at O.T in Harry Gregg , the man was a monster and a gentleman(he even tried to revive players he knocked out)(sportsman)who went on to be voted best goalkeeper of the world cup.There was Tommy Taylor who if he could get low enough would still head a ball harder than most shooting!Roger Byrne one of the biggest men you'll see a man mountain both as a captain and a player i've seen him play after having his teeth knocked out and with stitches put in an eye wound that today's players would have been off for a month with!Geoff Bent would have walked into any other side but was unfortunate to have Byrne playing his position,Eddie 'snakehips' coleman what can be said about this man that already hasn't,just that he was so underrated,a creator but most of all an artist,he could paint pictures with a ball on his day.Mark Jones a solid centre half who very few mastered he was so commanding in the air.David Pegg(he spoke to me once)He was the complete left winger he could do things with a ball that only others dreamed of...a gem!Liam Whelan a great player whose one and ONLY fault was that he just lacked that extra touch of pace but he had a bucketful of skill and was a dedicated professional.Denis Violet would score goals for fun and would be the great foil for Taylor.Big Bill Foulkes what a gent and what a rock,one who after Munich players would look on for leadership,versatile but made centre half his home,Jackie Blanchflower never played again after Munich but the memory lived on with a dip of the shoulder and he was off and gone another whose dedication was seeing to be believed.
This i had seen and was privileged nay honoured to see,i had been to away matches that even though there was little violence in them days it was intimidating( north/south divide) i had laughed at other young supporters when we'd whipped them in there own backyard (Blackpool springs to mind...haha) and been laughed at for crying because the naughty team from Spurs had dared to come and play us off the park at O.T. I had seen my first European cup games as United and Sir Matt defied everybody and entered this great competition.Seeing the great Real side dazzle and look every bit a side in a kit that was daring(shorts.....shouldn't they come half way down your leg?)all white (get the persil out..)i had been kissed by a Spanish senorita (with a Manchester accent.....(johnny foreigner learns the language quick!)) i'd been knocked off my soap box.....so on reflection i had been very,very lucky,it will be a period i will always cherish.
My dream team then of the fifties would be.
I know ,i've picked two in one position,before Munich i would lean to Liam but after it had to be Bobby................Well as i've said the fifties are over and Sir Matt was trying to get us back to where we belonged, at the top table,but as we entered the sixties it was not going to be a formality,as great sides had the edge because we were having to rebuild nearly from scratch,other sides had been watching and learning at our expense and as it was to prove it would be no easy task to get where we belonged,The Wolves side was in there pomp and Bill Nicholson had his spurs side playing some dream football,Burnley under Adamson was coming along and had watched Uniteds youth policy and had put the same kind of structure into place,Ipswich under Ramsey had come from nowhere and where a force....this we all had to overcome......but with Sir Matt and the best supporters in the land we could not fail.......COULD WE ?
GREAT WT - GREAT - MY COMPLIMENTS !!!
I was born in 1958 and I hadn't the joy you had with the lads of the 50's - my time started mid 60's - Best (my alltime favourite), Charlton, Stiles, Law, Crerand +++ It's very interesting to read your time-table and there are some thoughts, maybe facts, coming back currently ....
BYE BYE FIFITIES..........BRING ON THE SWINGING SIXTIES
What would be in store for us surely something good ,after all we had Sir Matt, but looking at it now , the sixties would bring changes to our lives that we would never envisaged both on the football pitch and in life in general.Television was to change peoples outlook as nights out playing with the children was slowly overtaken with " not tonight there's a new programme i want to see....coronation street.....it'd never last it was shit!who wants too watch all about people in a street...when you could go outside and see real life!....
Someone who thinks they know something about music sez there's a group called the Beatles who were going to be big....with a name like that they've no chance...it's not as though it rolls of the tongue like 'Bill Haley And the Comets'.....real music! Rolling Stones....must be a folk group.....
Footballers was about to break through the wage barrier and able to negotiate there own worth.....makes a change from the greedy chairmen who for years had used players,playing to 50,000 plus and still paid peanuts while the cigar smoking men at the top drove round in Daimlers and Rolls Royces....one day the boot will be on the other foot..mark my words..
The americans had started to break into comic lore and started to develop rockets (to carry they said people to the moon....."you've got to laugh haven't you" as if something weighing that much would stay up in sky that long...lol....after all it's not as if there are petrol stations up there are there....typical 'just no forward planning! Even the brits had gone a bit soft in the head by saying that they were developing a plane that would fly to U.S.A non-stop in a few hours and too make it even bigger fools of themselves they said it would have a pointed nose and would be able too move....lock 'em up and throw away the key...nutters.
Football pitches would radically change due to England being awarded the World Cup....again the soothsayers were out in force....ENGLAND could actually win it!!....i ask you where do these people come from.....they might as well go completely daft and have a £1 win double and back England to win the World Cup and man to land on the moon in the sixties...what a joke must be at least 1,000,000-1....even i wouldn't back at that odds (too short..i'm not daft...).
The things people say.."flower power" what the hell is that all about...as if people would be daft enough to walk round in 'flared trousers' with bits of greenery in there hair...and having pop concerts in the open air....does it never rain!...these predictions are really getting potty now!
Football grounds would become stadiums too be proud of....a roof , some say all the way round....without big metal stantions in front of you.You've got to be off your trolley if you stood under that....What no stantions...no way!!
One day in the sixties Dallas would be infamous.....'thats got to be a shot in the dark by somebody'....Dallas is already well known for it's American football team,other than that nowt happens in Dallas.....does it.
Kits would change for the better so rumour has it.....does that mean i have to get rid off my wool 'keepers jersey that stretched so long when it rained that the sleeves trailed on the floor and by the time you managed to pick your arm up the ball had passed you and was nestled in the back of the net (that's if it wasn't holey and the ball had gone through down the banking and in the stream where some muppet had to go and get in with boots on to retrieve the ball.....they called me kermit for some strange reason....allways wonder why i had webbed feet?)They also mentioned something about nylon shirts....do they not realise that kids would look like punks through the static going through the shirt as you pulled it over your head.....it'll never catch on!!!....What boots that came BELOW the ankle and didn't need dubbing for a month too soften them,boots that left rings round your leg above the ankle that had removed the skin due to fastening them to tight....god those were the days!
On the club front a side from the yokel side of britain would be champions.....Ipswich...yeh right! And one of the biggest laughs ...City would play in the European cup......now whoever made that up should join Jack Nicholson in 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest'....do the dizzy pillocks not understand that before that was possible ...YOU HAD TO WIN THE LEAGUE...now do me a favour and pick me up off the floor,my stomachs killing me from laughing.......
On a down side would be that the great Man would relenquish his hold on his beloved Manchester United and retire with a record that other managers would look back on with envy and with wonderment.......so meaning that for the second decade on the trot my beloved Manchester United would be starting from scratch again and it will be a setback that will take some time to turn around........
Well if that all came true i'll go back to reading fairy stories....hahaha....anyway back too reality...i'll take you through the sixties and tell it as it really happened , not as far fetched as what you've just read,and hopefully you'll believe my version,after all my imagination isn't as vivid as that. THE JOURNEY BEGINS............................
WT, another great read!! I admit I have to read it more often as my mother tongue is not english and I'm looking very much forward to your follow up contributions. Many thanks for your fantastic work - for me it's very interesting to follow your diaries as I want to find out what happened in the days my interest and support turned to United as I grew up many miles to the east of Manchester!!!
I made my way back just for you, WT. I spot a Dallas comment somewhere & tempted 2 start there b/ I'll refrain & start where I left off. X 2 play catch-up.
Hi,
would just like to say a big thank you to you WT. reading your memories has been an emotional roller coaster. being born in 1975 iv had to learn all about the great united sides before me from books and statistics, which only tells you so much. I acquired a copy of the flowers of Manchester a year or so back and when I played it I had my old man in tears ( he must have been about 5 or 6 back then ) i also met and had a good chat with Nobby and he graciously signed my two 68 European final programmes. anyway thanx again and i look forward to reading more.
Entering the sixties different thoughts go through your head,i had seen a great team and it made you thirsty too see more,when you think about it a lot of clubs in the century plus of the football league had never won anything and here was United trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered past and trying to carry on a tradition of being one of the top sides and standing out by winning trophies.This could only be done by putting back together the jigsaw of the past teams to play in the future....but we had the man in Sir Matt.
The 60/61 season started disastrously we were beaten 3-1 to Blackburn at home and coming out of the ground we knew it was going to be a hit and miss season straight away,the team that M.B had put out that day lacked something,though it was a team of triers with some skill it just wasn't United(no disrespect to those who played but....)Sir Matt was trying to blend the experience with our youth and it wasn't working ,the young players were either just not up to it or too young ,maybe it was just a blip after all we only had four days to wait to get it out of our system because on the Wednesday night we were playing Everton.
It was a cold night as the bus parked up on the park at goodison,but with eager anticipation we got off,this was going to be the start of the season for us we would show theses toffee eating buggers a thing or two.(in those days they used to have people come out at goodison and walk round the pitch throwing Everton mints into the crowd....)
United had made the change of dropping Cope and bringing Brennan from winger to full back and bringing in Nicholson to play a deeper wing role(rather than hit the by-line and cross he used to swing it in from the corner of the box)it worked great....well it did for the first fifteen minutes then next thing the ball was in the back of the net,only trouble was it was the wrong end!The noise was unbelievable as 51,000 plus scousers went into dreamland.We just looked at one another(unc,smidge and myself)and knew...we were treated to some good football that night as Everton ran out 4-0 winners....it was to be a long journey home with plenty of pondering to do on where do we go from here,we'd shipped seven goals in two games and in truth it could have been a lot more,we'd missed big Bill Foulkes for the first two games and it was with a big sigh of relief when he was back for our next game,a quick return for revenge against Everton, Matt also made another change for that game leaving out Scanlon and bringing in the robust Dawson(he was a fearsome sight for any defender to face he had a broken nose and shoulders as though he'd left the coat-hanger still in his shirt!)who was more powerful than Scanlon but not as graceful,but this was an Everton side who didn't stand on ceremony so grace was something we didn't need.
The usual routine was done and dusted and in no time i was at Old Trafford and taking in the atmosphere.....nothing's better than a night match....floodlights...crisp night air....and crowds seem louder as sound seems to carry in the still of the night.goose pimples are always there(even nowadays) standing outside looking up at those massive floodlights and the glare that came of those millions of bulbs(so it seems to a young boy)was awe inspiring....it made you believe...how could any team dare to come to O.T. and not be already a goal down as they looked at this magnificent stadium...it'd never be any better...would it?
That night was ours as we battered at the blue shirted Everton,Dawson was at his best putting one after another on there arse,shoulder charging defender after defender out of the way.
Foulkes and Setters were immense at the back,Quixall and Giles ran midfield like maestro's,and up front Charlton....Viollet and Dawson pulled them all over the place as we ran out 4-0 winners with Dawson getting two and Charlton and Nicholson getting one apiece,if this was how we were going to be this season we would take some beating(strange after all we'd lost our first two(o the minds of kids...lol)) at the final whistle the crowd rose as one to applaud off the team for a job well done....surely this would put us in good stead for the next encounter against the great Spurs away from home....we would show them that this year playing as we did today we were title contenders!.......Then unc brings you down to earth..."i fear the worst Saturday ....."...Why hadn't we just taken a good Everton side to the cleaners,we'd defended well ,was competitive in midfield and had a cutting edge up front....Typical of unc ...glass was always half empty.......COMING TO THINK OF IT ,HIS NORMALLY WAS !!
The day started as usual for a match day the only difference being that it was earlier than norm,we were going down to the smoke , today was a big game ,a game were we showed that we were back on track having beaten Everton in the previous match,Spurs were the next team going to feel the force!We piled on to the coach got into our seats .....and then it started....the piling on of the beer,crate upon crate was stacked on all in the aisle and before the buses air brakes were let off to go the popping of the beer bottle tops were in full flow.
As beer after beer was supped talk got onto the game,how setters would sort out Smithy,and who did they have to stop Charlton,Dawson and Viollet.We were on the way and we had us 2 up by half time only for reality hit home when the first...'can you stop driver....i need a pee!...'and off they piled lined up on the side of the dual carriageway backs to the road and loud sighs as relief was earned..(we were only 20 minutes into the journey)the amount of times this ritual was carried out was uncountable....it seemed every five minutes that people were piling off and back on.Then the signs showed London 5 miles....right my old cockers we were here!
The northern boys were here to show the football world we were back.First things first though...park near the ground and make a note as to where we were parked and find a boozer...make a note as to how long it will take to get to the ground....right now lets show those southern shandy drinking bastards how to drink................!!
'My god there's no bloody head on it! was the cry as the first pint was poured...people stood around all examining this first southern pint.....no froth....'That's not bloody beer....where's tha head' as the lads looked at each other with bemused expressions Smidge came up with a bright idea...A brown split...(1/2 a pint of beer and a bottle of brown ale poured in...)The look of satisfaction on the faces when a head appeared and stayed down the side of the pot as you drank it .....northern nous!It soon came time too leave and get to the ground and off we set,the pre match nerves were getting to me as we looked down white hart lane and looked at the Spurs ground......not as good as O.T.....but still impressive to a young lad.
The tannoy started giving out the teams and with every one off the Spurs names a nod of approval,they had such a good team,Brown the keeper,Blanchflower,Dave Mackay,John White(a really good Scottish midfield player who sadly died at the age of 27 when he was hit by lightening)Cliff Jones the welsh wizard of the wing,Terry Dyson,Les Allen,Maurice Norman a towering centre half and Bobby Smith a goal machine....to name but a few,Bill Nicholson had put together a formidable side,as he said 'built off watching how United had done it in the past'
The game started at a frantic pace with both teams playing football that was easy on the eye,it was all end to end stuff and played as all Spurs v Utd games are with great sportsmanship,no quarter was asked or given,United ended up beaten 4-1 with both Bobby Smith and Les Allen getting 2 apiece for Spurs with United replying through Viollet,if truth be known 4-1 was flattering to Spurs but by the same rule you couldn't begrudge them the scoreline as they played some marvelous one touch football, as united had played before Munich...all United fans rose and clapped off both sides in appreciation as both sets of players deserved it.
Coming out of the ground the talk was of the game and how United had a long way too go to match this Spurs side.....but we knew deep down that Sir Matt would get it right.
Like most that have been away on coaches, drink ,euphoria and tiredness crept in .....could we remember where the coach was ...could we hell!!It took nearly an hour to find a coach that was parked ten minutes away....(another visit to the pub hadn't helped)...getting on the coach we found that we weren't the last,they were waiting another four who turned up carrying a few crates of beer...so it was cheers all round ...and of we set....we managed to find a toilet about ten minutes into the journey...all off,all back on...and this continued all the way home....stopping and starting,arriving back home tired and bedraggled but still talking about the game and speaking of Spurs in awe........but they had to come to O.T. yet...we'd have 'em 'wouldn't we unc'......"possibly...if they have an off-day"..............We Had To Believe cos WE WILL KEEP THE RED FLAG FLYING HIGH !!
Today (Saturday 23) at the Everton game i learnt that i'd lost a very dear friend,i would just like to say this man was one of the people who got me following United to the extent that i have,he was a man who could have nothing in his pockets but with will and determination he would be in the ground too see his beloved United,he was one that spread the gospel of United far and wide and left no stone unturned to change the mind of people who wanted to support other teams........he even came back to this country after emigrating so he could die near Old Trafford,i was lucky to have spent time in his company and be with him on his last pilgrimage to O.T. for remembrance of Munich.....he was a legend in his own lifetime....R.I.P SMIDGE..
WT - great words, my genuine respect, you're a exciting storyteller - please keep on writing.
Sad to read that your friend passed away - I don't know you personally neither I knew your friend in person but the words you wrote about him a few weeks ago where emotional, touching and moving. I feel yery sorry for your loss.
Well after a game i saw last week against spurs it taught me that we're not as good as i thought,not as bad as other people thought and we all thought spurs to be a great side!
This week though it was Leicesters turn to feel the wrath,United were surely up for it,somebody had to be on the end of a good hammering one day,we'd played well at spurs and got spanked but when you looked back spurs oozed class in all departments,but today would be different ,after all who played for Leicester,errrmmm.....somebody called Gorden Banks,and there was old chisel head Frank McLintock,one was a great English goalkeeper(the best i've seen play for England)the other was a never say die Scotsman who would run through brick walls for his team.Other notables in the Leicester side was the inside forward wee Jimmy Walsh another scot who had a never say die attitude,there was also Colin Appleton an accomplished wing half and another English lad on the wing called Riley(if memory serves me ,i think his name was howard) those are the ones i remember,on the whole Leicester was a compact side that Matt Gillies had put together who would give teams a run for there money on there day and play some attractive football.That season Leicester went on to be in the final of the F.A.cup only to be beaten by Spurs.
Anyway onto the game,the usual routine took place ,no thought went into anything by now on a Saturday it just came automatic,in fact if truth be told i could now walk in my sleep and only came alive when the train pulled into Warwick road,half the times i don't remember getting there but when those goosebumps appeared and the hair on the back of the neck stood up in conjunction with that bloody ball that knots in your stomach.......you know.....it's match-day!......Leicester used to bring a fair contingent of fans.....mind you i cannot blame them wanting to set eyes on the magnificence of Old Trafford(especially after seeing there place(no disrespect.....but cooommmeee-oonn)) anyway the marathon of Warwick road was started and finished as always unc and co into the pub for a quick un me across the road for a pie and a stop ans stare in bewilderment as throngs of people walked down warwick road and nobody bumped into anybody..amazing!looking down towards the ground as steam curled over the bridge as another train with hordes of united fans are delivered safely once again to there shrine,men coming straight from work walking down Warwick road some still with dirty faces as the only wash they could have till they got home was a spit on the sleeve and a wipe across the face,some still in overalls smelling of oil and coolant....all intermingled made Old Trafford and United what it was....a working mans club,a club for all,there was no distinction between Prawn sandwiches and Dripping butties our goal was the same to be as one and get behind the lads.(sorry don't know where that waffling come from really.....)
Today i walked down with Smidge ,unc had gone somewhere and was meeting us in the ground,as usual he'd give Smidge my entrance money but Smidge being Smidge he had a plan.As we got up to the turnstile Smidge dropped something on the ground and as i bent to pick it up Smidge put his boot on my back keeping me close to the floor and pushed me under the turnstile at the same time in a loud whisper 'run for it'......looking up i saw a pair of size twelves coming towards me..the police... by then Smidge had payed and was through where he pretended to try and grab me knocking the police out of the road and pushing me towards the Stretford end....so off i set and went down to where we normally stood keeping a low profile...Smidge joined a few minutes later with a big grin on his face ....'i needed a bob(shilling....=5p)cos i didn't have enough to get in'....i was still in shock and living on the edge of my nerves in case i was spotted(the thoughts that go through your head is unbelievable,i've done far worse since to get into grounds.....but that first time i bricked it).When Unc came and he found out he nearly put Smidge all over O.T. he was livid,me i felt as though i'd robbed United....and like the morning after a good session the words'never again' spring to mind.
The match itself was a bit of an bore in the sense of we didn't turn up till the second half properly and Gorden Banks had another of those games ,he seemed to reserve them for United...the game petered out to a 1-1 draw with Johnny Giles grabbing a goal for United,it wasn't a game i remember to well as i spent most of it looking round and ducking down every time i saw a police helmet.On the way home the talk was on what was going wrong and who we needed.....'and if you do that again Smidge i'll bloody kill you...' was all you could get of unc.....i felt at the time what we really needed was a change of luck,we'd played well at Spurs and been walloped(score wise)we'd started off well against Everton away and got walloped in turn we'd well beaten Everton at home and been kept away from two points today by a great keeper(we hadn't made many chances but we had made three clear-cut ones that Banksey had somehow managed to keep out....so all in all i wasn't as down as the others....but believe me it would come.....FROM THE BANKS OF THE RIVER IRWELL...
The next visitors to O.T. was West Ham who under Ted Fenton played football as it should be,it was Ted Fenton who brought through the continental style to West Ham,he and Malcolm Alison who was coach at the time studied the great Hungarian side of the fifties and copied some of there training methods,and it showed in there football,played on the ground and less of in the air ,United played a similar style of football but because of the munich setback we where finding it hard to piece together the jigsaw we had built before,there was a lack of consistency and concentration over ninety minutes but with a steely determination and a good eye for players of the future Sir Matt would put it right.....in him we had faith!!
A few of the West Ham players around or starting in the 60/61 season most notable was Bobby Moore,there's no need for words everybody knows how good Bobby was,also Geoff Hurst ,remembered more for his goals in the world cup final in 66.....but he was good ask any Hammer,Ken Brown ,John Dick,Ronnie Boyce and another was Malcolm Musgrove who eventually came to United as first team coach during the FrankO'Farrell era.
Nine days before we had been beaten 2-1 at West Ham and it was time for revenge,it was Wednesday night and like all night games it was special,there's something about night games that brings out that feeling,floodlights,crisp night air an atmosphere that seems to double that of a day game.The tannoy starts to reel of the team sheet and looking up to the sky as daylight starts to dim and smoke drifts across the Old Trafford stands you start to play the game through your mind and as a young lad it's always some ridiculous score (and you've been picked and justified it by scoring a hat trick.....i know i've scored more goals at O.T.in a season than anybody.....believe me!)just as we were about to score another a roar went up....the teams were entering the arena,brought back to earth i was ready,is it me but don't West Ham look confident!Their claret and blue kit made them look good,was i worried....well just a little bit....
Well did i get proved wrong!we were treated..and i mean treated to United at there best West Ham couldn't live with the free flowing football of the Red Devils,nobody had to look for anybody,Bobby Charlton was majestic inside and outside he went round his marker and how he only scored twice is anybodies guess,he struck the post twice and hit one shot so hard it hit the back of the net and we'd kicked off again before the keeper dived!Viollet was another who ghosted all over the place and dragged men all over,he was another who was unlucky only to score two,The blonde bombshell Quixall got on the score sheet as did Scanlon.Why oh why haven't we done this more often , alright it was against West Ham but they were still a decent side and we'd ran out 6-1 winners,United left the field to a standing ovation and very few left the ground till the last man had received his just acclaim(fans didn't leave in droves as they do nowadays)(ok so there was only just over 33,500 fans in that night)but all seemed to turn as one as we ducked under the barriers on our way to the top of the Stretford End and over the top and out of the ground mixing in with the mingling masses as they made there way to Warwick road......all the talk was how we'd turned the corner and we were back on the way up...we had Villa saturday(a)....Wolves(h)...Bolton(a)...Burnley(a). ..the next four matches before the league cup game against the mighty Exeter(WHO!) so as usual we played the next four games and we worked it out 6pts.....yes we were looking up...we were on the way back....Beware the rest of the league we were coming to get you!...................UNITED ARE THE GREATEST AND NO-ONE CAN DENY...
just as a footnote,i don't mind people criticising my writing,i don't mind people correcting me when I'm wrong(all these writings are done from diary i found in the attic last year,and if truth be known i wrote for myself and to get the demons of Munich out of my mind which thankfully S.E.A allowed me to di was not expecting to carry on after that but was asked to do so,i don't mind people not agreeing with what i say about players and games,but i do mind about the personal abuse I've had recently about the diaries on my twitter account, and if it carries on i will either shut the account or stop writing......all i ever want to do is let people know what it was like in the 'old days' and where United come from......'nuff said.
I didnt know you had received personal abuse, WT? I'm sorry to hear about that, mate. I hope you continue to write as I and others enjoy reading your thoughts.
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i was not expecting to carry on after that but was asked to do so,i don't mind people not agreeing with what i say about players and games,but i do mind about the personal abuse I've had recently about the diaries on my twitter account, and if it carries on i will either shut the account or stop writing......all i ever want to do is let people know what it was like in the 'old days' and where United come from......'nuff said.
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