Retro Football

Retro FootballBringing you football the way it used to be.

Inside:

Great 70s Moments

Football’s Lost Clubs

Programme Collector

Competitions

and much more

GREAT PLAYERS + GREAT GAMES = GREAT MEMORIES

Issue 1 May 2010Free to football fans everywhere

Memories in Black & White No.1

Just four minutes gone and Manchester Unitedgoalkeeper David Gaskell can only watch asJimmy Greaves scores Tottenham Hotspur’sfirst goal of their 3-1 win in the 1962 FA CupSemi Final tie at Hillsborough.

Spurs went on to win the cup, beating Burnley3-1 in the final with Greaves opening thescoring after only 3 minutes at Wembley.

RetroFootball

Bringing you football the way it used to be.

Welcome to this inaugural edition of Retro Football,the web magazine for people who remember howdifferent football was in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Cup upsets, great players, seedy grounds anddodgy haircuts.... you can re-live them all here.

If you enjoy this edition and wish to receive eachmonthly copy, it’s FREE to subscribe by going to:www.retrofootball.homestead.com or email us atretrofootball@btinternet.com, with any commentsor suggestions. Enjoy the magazine.

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In this issue:

Page 4 Whatever happened to the Watney Cup?Goals galore in this short-lived season opener

Page 4 Remember the RefRoger Kirkpatrick - the showman in the middle

Page 6 Football’s Lost SoulsClubs that couldn’t keep up with the financial demands of the game

Page 11 1959-60 - Burnley’s League WinnerPhoto feature. Burnley’s win at Maine Road clinches the title

Page 12 Come home to Wales!How the demands of the Welsh FA let to an off field battle with the clubs

Page 13 The Programme CollectorKeeping your old matchday magazines can lead to fun and profit

Page 14 Profile: Sir Matt BusbyManchester United’s legendary boss

Page 15 Stairway 13Remembering when disaster struck at Ibrox

Page 18 Bob Paisley: ‘It’s about the right ball’The Boot Room’s legacy to Anfield

Page 21 Great 70s MomentsBall vs Bremner

Page 22 Dodgy 70s Haircut CompetitionWin a CD of Computer Games

and

Ask The Editor: Why the Wheelbarrow?A legendary terrace chant is born

Whatever happened to the Watney Cup?In early August 1970, football fans in the country who had previously survived the close seasonby looking forward to a few - often meaningless - friendlies, were introduced to a new pre-seasoncompetition which would see eight teams vie for the Watney Mann Invitation Cup.

Each of the four English league divisions were represented by the two top-scoring clubs in thatdivision during the previous term - so long has they hadn’t also been promoted or relegated thatseason (the latter of course being highly unlikely). Third division teams played host to Division 1sides whilst Division 2 sides travelled to fourth division grounds. In each case, the lower rankedleague team were at home in the first round.

The inaugral competition began on 1st August, with the four first round fixtures delivering no lessthan 23 goals... almost six a match. Manchester United squeezed through to the semi-finals bywinning 3-2 at Reading, Derby County travelled to Craven Cottage and beat Fulham 5-3 in athriller. Neither of the fourth division’s teams managed to get on to the score sheet as Hull Citycame away from Peterborough with a 4-0 win whilst Sheffield United went two better - hittingAldershot for six without reply at the Recreation Ground.

In the semi-finals the following Wednesday, a single goal was enough to ease Derby pastSheffield United, but Manchester United had their work cut out, beating Hull in the first everpenalty shootout held on English soil following a 1-1 draw.

United’s form in the Watney Cup deserted them in he final as Dave Mackay led Derby to a 4-1victory in front of their own fans at the Baseball Ground.

The total of 36 goals scored in the inaugral competition was not to be neared again, although therelativley low-scoring 1971-2 tournament did finally burst into life in the final when visitorsColchester United had the audacity to not only match West Brom in a 4-4 draw at the Hawthorns,they also twisted the knife by winning the cup on penalties. Bristol Rovers also won the 1972-3final on penalties at home to Sheffield United after a goalless draw at Eastville.

The last of the Watney Mann Invitation Cup tournaments took place in 1973-4 when Stoke City -who had finished a creditable 5th in the first division the previous season - won the trophy with a2-0 win at home against second division side Hull City.

Over the four seasons itexisted, a total of 83 goals -not including penaltyshootouts - were scored inthe 28 matches, an averageof over 3 goals a game.

Sheffield United scored thehighest number of goals with13 in five games whilstPeterborough conceded themost, letting in ten goals infour appearances.

Right: Derby County captainDave Mackay lifts the1970-1 Watney Cup afterthe Rams’ 4-1 win overManchester United.

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This 64 page ‘ebook’ is available now fromwww.thescotlanddirectory.org

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Remember the Ref!If you are in your late 40s or older and frequented league football matches in your youth, thechances are that you will have seen a wide assortment of referees

The football referees of the 1960s and 70s were a fairly conservative bunch. Kitted out in all blackwith a white trim, they didn’t appear to have first names, being referred to in the programme onlyby their initial and where they came from, for instance, ‘Mr P. Jones, Manchester’.

Referees were the upholders of the laws of the game on the playing field and their duty was to bedone in a discreet and unintrusive manner.

There were exceptions to this unwritten rule, one of which was the legendary whistle-blowerRoger Kirkpatrick. With whiskery sideburns framing his round face, this portly gentleman fromLeicester could have been a sterotype for a philanthropic Dickensian character.

Once described by a football commentator as ‘completely spherical’, Mr Kirkpatrick was a manwith the ability to run backwards at an amazing speed. If he awarded a free kick some distanceaway, he would stop the game until he had back-pedalled across the pitch, legs pumping like steam pistons whilst the crowd laughed, cheered and jeered. He was a showman and most ofwhat he did whilst he was on the pitch was entertaining but over the top, sometimes to the pointwhere more fans were watching the performance of the referee than the players!

According to football folklore, Mr Kilpatrick once stood chin to chin with the Manchester Unitedhard man Nobby Stiles over a disputed decision and that they had to be pulled apart by players.

During his refereeing career, Roger Kirkpatrick was often controversial. In January 1975 atSheffield United, he took the teams off the field for five minutes because someone in the crowdwas blowing a whistle.

Mr Kirkpatrick is a name not to be mentioned to Liverpool fans of the '70's as many still blamehim for disallowing a goal as offside in the last game of the season against Arsenal in 1971-72,depriving them of the title and handing it instead to Cloughie's Derby County.

During a match at Meadow Lane, he was knocked out after being hit on the head by a clearance.The trainers went to his aid and got Mr Kirkpatrick back on his feet. The crowd applauded thetrainer’s actions then, as if he was an actor acknowledging an encore, the referee waved to thecrowd as he re-started play.

Whether you have fond or hostile memories of Roger Kirkpatrick’s performances as a referee,you would have to agree that the short, bald, bewhiskered, round fella, who ran backwards atspeed and made controversial decisions, always looked like he was vastly enjoying himself!

Do you run a business or a club?

If so, the next time you see this image, you may learn something of interest to you.

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Football’sLost Soul

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Football’s Lost SoulBack in 1960, if you had predicted that under fifty years later footballers would be transferringbetween clubs for fees of £30 million and earning more in an hour than the man in the street got in his wage packet, you would have been laughed at.

Now, 49 years after the Players’ Union fought for, and achieved, the abolition of the £20 a weekmaximum wage for professional footballers it is commonplace to see multi-million pound transferfees, huge salaries and expensive match tickets amongst a select few clubs, whilst others at theother end of the football spectrum are struggling to stay in existence whilst several have alreadyfallen by the wayside.

Take Chester City as a prime example. Founded back in 1889, they joined the Football League in1931 and spent most of their existence in the lower reaches of the league.

For 84 years, Chester played at The Stadium, Sealand Road until 1990 when the clubs ownerscontroversially decided to move out after the club was refused a ground safety certificate for itsaway standing areas, meaning a reduction in capacity and a loss of revenue.

The club spent two years ground sharing with Cheshire neighbours Macclesfield Town at theMoss Rose stadium before moving in to the new Deva Stadium in 1992, but thereafter repeatedfinancial problems and, after relegation to the Football Conference in 2009, the club were placedinto admisinstration with debts of some £7 million.

Whilst debates about whether the club should be allowed to compete in the Conference due to itsfinancial problems, in February 2010 Chester City failed to fulfil a league fixture at Forest GreenRovers when the players - alleging that they had not been paid for three months - refused toboard the team bus.

At first, Chester City FC were suspended from the Conference for a week, then finally expelledafter a vote by member clubs who were ‘unconvinced that the club could fulfil all of its fixtures’. The club was wound up on 10th March 2010.

Another team that ceased to exist recently was Halifax Town. Formed in 1911, they played in theYorkshire Combination and the Midland League and were one of the founder members of FootballLeague Third Division North in 1921, and remained in that division until restructuring in 1958.

The club nearly always struggled financially as well as with its discipline. It was relegated fromthe Football League Third Division in 1963 and was re-elected several times in the FootballLeague Fourth Division in the 1980safter finishing near the bottom of thefootball league.

Following the introduction of automaticpromotion and relegation between theFourth Division and the Conference, theclub continued to struggle before beingfinally relegated in 1993.

The club's fortunes were turned aroundin 1967 when Alan Ball Senior tookover as manager of the club. Heachieved promotion with the club in1969, but left soon after, however theclub enjoyed some measure of successin the Football League Third Division inthe early seventies, finishing one placeshort of promotion in 1971.

A floodlight lies where it toppled onto the pitch after Chester Cityabandoned their spiritual home at Sealands Road stadium.

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Many of the club's supporters tout this era as the "Glory Days" as it was also in 1971 thatHalifax Town beat the mighty Manchester United 2–1 in the Watney Cup. United fielded a fullstrength squad that included Bobby Charlton,George Best and Denis Law. Best scored for Unitedbut goals from Atkins and Wallace won it for the Shaymen.

However, Halifax were relegated back to the fourth division in 1976 and afterwards, the club sawa long period in the fourth division with very little success, but a lot of financial problems.

The club always languished near the bottom of the football league, managing no better than asingle mid-table finish in 1983. Many say that the goals of Steve Norris were what allowed theclub to survive in the football league. However, Norris left in 1992, and the subsequent year,Halifax were relegated.

They regained their league status by winning the conference in 1997-8 season but four seasonslater were relegated and never returned.

Millions of pounds in debt, HalifaxTown were excluded from the2008-9 Conference fixture lists inspite of making an appeal againstthe decision and the club waswound up.

The club was reformed as FC Halifax Town soon afterwardsand they were accepted to play inDivision One North of the NorthernPremier League the followingseason, a league that they stillcompete in today.

Financial problems and winding up is not exclusive to football league clubs however. The recenteconomic climate has had its effect on the lower echelons of the football pyramid too.

When the axe fell upon Kings Lynn Football Club it was far from unexpected by everyoneinvolved with the club. The biggest warning sign was when the Linnets were demoted from the

Blue Square North because their ground did not meetthe required standards for that league.‘The Walks’ is a fine old stadium but it required workafter the club were promoted into their new league afterwinning the Premier Division of the Southern League in2007-8. It was rumoured that the local council hadoffered to pay towards the cost of the repairs, howeverthe work was not done and the club was demoted intothe Unibond League at the end of the following season.

One can only guess whether the failure to do therequired work was merely incompetence or an earlywarning of the serious financial matters at Kings Lynn.What is certain is that is that the financial situationat the club was deteriorating rapidly, yet that theycontinued to spend. The tax bill was up to £77,000 bythe time that Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customsissued a winding up order against them and they haddebts that were said to be in the region of a further£150,000, but money was still being frittered away andthe wage bill was said to be £4,000 per week.

The Shay, Halifax

Plenty of ‘bums on seats’ in this photo but taxand other debts put paid to Kings Lynn FC.

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At the first hearing at the court the matter was adjourned for seven days to try and give the cluba little breathing space, but this was a futile attempt at delaying the club’s inevitable demise.

The hearing was adjourned for a second time after talk of a last minute takeover bid but thiscame to nothing. The club’s majority shareholder gave up the ghost a few days later and as theclub was wound up, one hundred and thirty years of Kings Lynn Football Club came to an end.

Maidstone United’s Football League life was short. Formed in 1897 they played in the variousamateur leagues before joining the Southern League, the major semi-professional league insouthern England, in 1971-72. They continued to progress and during their 6 year spell in theleague they finished in the top five on four occasions. In 1979 they became founder members ofthe Alliance Premier League (now the Football Conference), and won that league title twice.

At the time of their first championship, Maidstone failed to gain promotion to the Football Leaguebecause they lost out in the re-election system that the League employed at the time. By thetime Maidstone United won the Conference again in 1989, the promised automatic promotionand relegation had been introduced. Maidstone thus became members of the Football LeagueFourth Division. Coincidentally, Kent's only existing League club, Gillingham, had been relegatedto Division Four in the same season, thereby setting up the League's first ever Kent derby.

In 1988 the Stones had left their ground in Maidstone having sold the land on which it stood forretail use, and switched to ground-sharing with nearby Dartford for their home matches. After a shaky start in their first season in the Fourth Division Maidstone reached the promotionplay-offs but lost to eventual winners Cambridge United.

Maidstone’s form in the following season went from good to very poor in a short space of time.Uninspiring performances brought poor results, leading to dwindling attendances as club lurchedinto serious financial problems. They had spent vast amounts getting into the Football Leagueand the spending continued now they were there. Running costs were huge and gates droppedmeaning the club's finances spiralled out of control, with large debts being run up. The club thentook a massive gamble, and without any kind of planning permission, purchased a piece of landeast of Maidstone for £400,000 with a view to build a ground on it. With a ground in the townthe club believed they would be able to afford to continue in the Football League. However, thegamble did not pay off and the planning application to build on the land was turned down.Things could only get worse for Maidstone. The ground bid had failed leaving the club with auseless piece of land and £400,000 further out of pocket. Inevitably, the entire squad of playerswere put up for sale to raise cash, and the cherry-picking made the first team even worse.

They were due to play their first game of the 1992-93 season at home to Scunthorpe United, butby this stage they had only two players still registered to the club. Unable to come up with thenecessary backing, they resigned from the leagueon 17 August and went into full liqudation.Dartford, whose ground Maidstone had shared,also went bankrupt soon afterwards.

Perhaps the cruellest fate was that which befellScarborough. Promoted as Conference winners in 1987, they were relegated from the league onthe last day of the 1998-99 season when JimmyGlass, Carlisle’s goalkeeper, scored in the finalminute of their match against Plymouth to avoidrelegation and send Scarborough down instead.

Scarborough fans were already celebrating the club’s ‘survival’ on the pitch at the McCain Stadium - known as ‘The Theatre of Chips’ - when the news of Carlisle’s late goal broke.

Now desolate, Scarborough’s stadium - which was oncesponsored by McCain’s frozen foods group - was known

to the club’s fans as ‘The Theatre of Chips’, an ironylinked to Manchester United’s home ground of OldTrafford being known as ‘The Theatre of Dreams’.

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Memories in Black & White No.21959-60 saw Burnley go into their final game needing to beatManchester City at Maine Road (City’s former ground) to win

the League Championship. Burnley’s 20 year-old reserveforward, Trevor Meredith, scored to give them a 2-1 win

which meant that they overtook Wolves and securedthe title by just one point on the last day of the season

Main picture: Meredith scores the winner.Inset: Burnely FC: League Champions 1959-60

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Come home to Wales!When news broke in October 1991 that the Football Association of Wales was to create a newLeague of Wales, it was not greeted with universal acclaim by the Principality's football clubs.The FAW announced that it would withdraw a sanction for all the Welsh non-league clubs thatwere playing in the English pyramid.

Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport AFC, Newtownand Rhyl all argued the case for their right to play where they wished. A subsequent appeal washeard by the FAW and all the clubs - with the exception of Merthyr Tydfil, who continue to play atthe seventh level of the English football pyramid in the Southern League - were told that theymust return to the Welsh system.

Bangor and Newtown joined the new set-up, but Rhyl were too late with their application andplayed season 1992-3 in the Cymru Alliance, but several clubs defied the FAW which resulted inthem being forced to play their games on English grounds.

Barry Town, who went on to win the Welsh Premier title seven times, shared the ground ofWorcester FC for one season, before deciding to return to Wales. They spent the 1993-4 seasonin the Welsh Football League First Division but it was a memorable one as they stormed to thechampionship, the League Cup, the Welsh Cup for the first time since 1955 and were promotedto the League of Wales.

Caernarfon and Colwyn Bay opted to remain in the Northern Premier League. The Canaries wereforced to play their 'home' games more than 100 miles away from Caernarfon at Manchester clubCurzon Ashton, while the Seagulls played at the Drill Field, the ground of Northwich Victoria.This inevitably affected their support and for the following season they moved closer to the Welshborder and to Ellesmere Port.

Newport County have been known as the Exiles since they were forced to play their inauguralseason in the Hellenic League at Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire. Despite returning to theirSomerton Park home for two seasons, more football politics consigned them to a further twoseasons of exile at Gloucester and the club had to resort to legal action to protect themselvesfrom being forced out of the English football pyramid.

Matters were finally resolved by the High Court in April 1995 when the three remaining clubs inexile - Newport, Caernarfon and Colwyn - won their case against the Welsh FA and were able toreturn to play in Wales, but, following a series of mediocre performances over several seasons inthe Northern Premier League's First Division, Caernarfon decided to leave the English set upand joined the League of Wales four months later although, as this copy of ‘Retro Football’ isbeing produced, it appears the club may be inthe process of folding.

Newport County remain in the English systemand, after several years in the lower tiers ofthe pyramid, re-ignited their dream of returningto the Football League by winning promotion tothe Conference in 2010.

UEFA may yet take a hand in the destiny of theexiled clubs and, indeed, this situation whichcurrently sees Welsh clubs Cardiff City,Swansea City and Wrexham also playing overthe border.

Photo: Action from a Welsh League match betweenElements Cefn Druids and Port Talbot Town.

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The Programme CollectorCollecting football programmes

can be a fascinating andsometimes profitable hobby

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The Programme CollectorIf you are interested in football then collecting football programmes may be an area that youcould provide you with great enjoyment. Football programmes represent many aspects of thesport. These nostalgic articles record the triumphs, upsets andpersonalities of the great game and for this reason hold theutmost importance in the history of the game.

Your reasons for collecting can be varied and when deciding onhow to begin building a collection you have a number of thingsto consider. The following guide is intended to give you a help-ing hand as you begin collecting.

You may want to group your collection around different Eras ofthe sport. How you define those Eras is up to you. The 90'sWorld Cup Final may be one of your earliest memories, or youmay be in your later years and remember the heyday of theBusby Babes. Either way, particular dates, teams, games ortimes may play a large part in deciding which collections tobuild. Many places that you search will list items both by dateand team, which makes searching for particular items easier.

Another way of grouping your collection is to focus on yourteamof choice. If you are devoted to, and obsessed with,one team then this may be the route that you wish to take.You will have the added benefit of knowing more about thehistory of the team which will help your judgment furtherdown the line especially when you are purchasing thoseunique, more expensive programmes. If you wish to build acollection that will be worth decent money in the future thenthis may be a good choice. Knowledge really is the key whenbuilding your collection.

If you are torn between the two previous groups you canalways concentrate your collection on items from significantfootballing events.

Programmes from FA Cup and World Cup games canbecome excellent additions to your collection. This is a particular niche area of interest to many other collectors and, as with all collectables, as demand increases so doesthe price.

These programmes can be highly sought after examples andwill no doubt set you back more than the average pro-gramme - but they will generally increase in value as timegoes on. It is not uncommon to see pristine articles sellingfor hundreds, if not thousands of pounds depending on thehistory behind the item. However, money isn't everythingand you may have reason not to be bothered about futureresale prices. If you were at Holland v Scotland in the 1978World Cup Finals and have kept your match programme tothis day, then it is likely that the sentimental value outweighsthe monetary one.

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As you start hunting around for items to add to your collection,you will find that there are so many places to look. Onlineauctions and classified sales sites are an obvious place tostart. These make your search a little easier as you canbrowse thousands of products in seconds. You can evenpinpoint the exact products you require, get them orderedand delivered without even leaving your chair. This doeshowever take some of the excitement out of the hunt!

Whilst trawling the internet for your next bargain you willprobably come across articles advertising football programmefairs. These fairs are the’ car boot sales’ of the football collect-able world, where hundreds of collectors just like you gettogether to buy and sell programmes, with the aim of addingto their own collections.

Apart from the obvious attraction of being able to browsethrough countless articles, these fairs are an excellent place to

meet other enthusiastic collectors. You will be able to pick upsome useful information from these ardent fans, especiallyconcerning future values of your collection and items to watchout for to push up your figures.

Without wishing to state the obvious, another place to sourceyour programmes is the games that you may go to week in,week out. They may only cost you a few pounds now andmay not have the allure of examples from many years ago,but these items will become rarer as time goes on and nocollection would be complete without programmes coveringrecent times.

Collecting programmes is a personal hobby and carries far moresentimental value than many other collections. Your passion forthe great game is allowed to spill over into the items you beginto collect and you can start a collection to be proud of.

Whether you are buying as an investment or because of yourlove for the game, you are guaranteed to get great enjoymentfrom your collection along the way.

More information about football programme collecting is available at the following websites:

Soccer Corner: www.soccer-corner.comProgramme Monthly: www.pmfc.co.ukFootball Programmes: www.footballprogrammes-uk.co.uk

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Do you sell or buy football programmes?Why not advertise in ‘The Programme Collector’

feature in next month’s Retro Football?

Call 01294 227548 or emailretrofootball@btinternet.com

for no obligation details

Beginning with our next edition which will come out in June, we are offering a limited number of low cost advertising spaces in Retro Football for use bybusinesses, clubs, individuals or organisations.

A full page advert in Retro Football costs just £125, that’s with everythingincluded so there are no hidden costs to find.

What better way to let football fans everywhere know about your productsand services?

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For more informationcall 00001111222299994444 222277777777555544448888(Office hours: 10am - 4pm,Monday-Friday)or email us at:rrrreeeettttrrrrooooffffoooooooottttbbbbaaaallll llll@@@@bbbbtttt iiiinnnntttteeeerrrrnnnneeeetttt .... ccccoooommmm

Profile

Sir Matt Busby

Name: Alexander Matthew Busby

Birthplace: Bellshill, Scotland

Date of Birth: 26 May 1909

Playing Positions: Right Half & Inside Forward

Playing Career: Apps (Goals)

1928 - 1936 Manchester City 226 (14)

1936 - 1939 Liverpool 118 (3)

International Career:

1933 Scotland 1 (0)

Managerial Career:

1945 - 1969 Manchester United

1948 Great Britain

1958 Scotland

1970 - 1971 Manchester United

Playing Honours:

Manchester City:

FA Cup Winner

Managerial Honours:

Manchester United:

First Division winners five times

FA Charity Shield five times

FA Cup twice

European Cup

Date of Death: 20 January 1994 (aged 84)

Place of Death: Cheadle, Greater Manchester

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Stairway 13

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Stairway 13Glasgow’s Old Firm game, Rangers against Celtic at Ibrox on Saturday January 2 1971, lookedlike it was heading for a 0-0 draw when Jimmy Johnstone broke the deadlock to give Celtic thelead in the 89th minute. The Celtic fans celebrated what seemed to be the match winning goal.

With just seconds left on the clock, though, Rangers’ Colin Stein snatched a dramatic equaliserand it was the turn of the blue section of the 80,000 all-ticket crowd to go wild. The green half ofthe crowd went quiet. Two goals in a minute! An unbelievable end to the match.

Unseen amid this thrill of emotions, a disaster was beginning to unfold at the Rangers end of theground at Staircase 13 which provided the access to the East end of Ibrox.

On hearing the crowd roar when Rangers scored, it is thought that some supporters leaving theground by way of the staircase tried to go back up to see what had happened, pushing againstothers who were making their way down, leading to a heaving mass.

Some fans stumbled halfway down the steep steps whilst others around them didn't see them falland continued their descent, until suddenly a huge knot was engulfed in a terrifying crush. Steelbarriers crumpled under the impact.

Once the turmoil had cleared, 66 people had lost their lives and more than 140 were injured. Among the dead were 31 teenagers. The youngest victim was Nigel Pickup, who had travelled tothe game from Liverpool. He was just nine years old.

There was one woman was among the fatalities. Eighteen Year old Margaret Ferguson, who livednear Falkirk, had made a doll for the baby daughter of Rangers centre-forward Stein - the manwho scored the late equaliser - and had delivered it to his home just before Christmas.

Five schoolboy Rangers supporters from Markinch in Fife - four of whom lived in the samestreet - went to to the game together. They never returned.

Harrowing tales from eye-witnesses were soon heard. "When the barrier gave way I was carriedalong a passageway for 20 yards with three people on top of me and at least another threeunderneath", said one man whilst another supporter told how, ‘there was so much pressure frombehind me that I was tossed down on top of others. People were on the ground and I was tossedover them. I was just carried forward by the surge."

After the disaster, both sides of the Old Firm put aside their rivalries and to play a match to raisefunds for the victims' families. A combined Rangers and Celtic team took on a Scotland XI atHampden Park. It was watched by 81,405 fans.

On the 30th anniversary of the tragedy in 2001, a service was held at Ibrox and a bronze statueof John Greig was unveiled on top of a memorial to those who had been killed.

Each year at the home game closest to the anniversary, the club pays its respects to thosesupporters who died by laying a special wreath at the Memorial which was built in honour ofthose who died and other victims at the stadiumin previous years.

Ten years earlier, two people died on Stairway 13and another 44 were injured and there were twoother incidents in the following years, althoughfortunately, these brought no fatalities.

However, these were not the first disasters tohave occurred at Ibrox. Way back in 1902, with80,000 watching the 31st Scotland v Englandmatch, the old wooden terracing collapsedunder the weight of too many spectators and26 horrified fans fell to their deaths with a further547 people being injured.

Photo: The collapsed terracing in 1902

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Bob Paisley:‘It’s about the right ball’

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Bob Paisley: ‘It’s about the right ball’

In July 1974, the father figure of Merseyside football, Bill Shankly rocked the very foundations ofthe city of Liverpool with the announcement that he was retiring.

The Ayrshire-born Scot had led Liverpool to a wealth of silverware in the previous twelve yearsand the club’s directors knew thay had a nigh impossible job to do as the pondered on who toappoint as the great man's successor. Great names were mentioned and discounted. Eventually,the job was offered to the unassuming Bob Paisley who reluctantly, took on the enornous task offollowing Shankly.

In 1954, Bob Paisley retired from playing football for Liverpool and joined the back room staff as aself-taught Physiotherapist. A one-club man, he had a knack of being able to diagnose a player'sinjury just by looking at them. He later became a coach for the club’s reserve team.

The arrival of Bill Shankly as manager in December 1959 transformed the fortunes of the club.Shankly utilised The Boot Room for a second purpose, a room for coaches' meetings. Paisleywas one of Shankly's founder members of the boot room staff along with Joe Fagan and ReubenBennett. Under Shankly's management Liverpool won three league titles, two FA Cups and aUEFA Cup over the next fifteen years.

Paisley’s record would better that of Shankly. winning at least one trophy in eight of the nineseasons he managed the club. He was disappointed the Reds finished second in his first seasonas manager, but the following year, Liverpool won the title.

This was the start of Liverpool's dominance of the game in England - in Paisley's nine seasons incharge, Liverpool won six League titles and finished second twice, won 3 League Cups (the firsttime that Liverpool had won the trophy), 1 UEFA Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 5 Charity Shieldsand, most significantly, they won the club's first three European Cups.

Liverpool's dominance of the era in English and European football was only challenged byBrian Clough's Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa under Tony Barton. He remains the only manin history to coach three European Cup-winning sides (1977, 1978 & 1981).

His success was honoured with six Manager of the Year awards. Only the FA Cup eluded Paisley,although Liverpool would be runners-up in 1977 and beaten semi-finalists in 1979 and 1980.

Paisley retired in 1983 after spending 44 unbroken years at the club. He was replaced by anotherof the Boot Room old boys, Joe Fagan. He continued to serve Liverpool as a director, until hewas diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in 1992.

Bob Paisley died on Valentine’s Day 1996,and after his death he was honoured by the club with the opening of the PaisleyGates at one of the entrances to Anfield,complementing the existing Shankly Gates.

He was made an Inaugural Inductee of theEnglish Football Hall of Fame in 2002 inrecognition of his impact on the Englishgame as a manager.

Many memorable quotes made by BobPaisley during his career and have outlivedhim especially one which sums up his viewon football in just a few short words: “It’s not about the long ball, or the short ball,it’s about the right ball”. Bob Paisley and Bill Shankly with the FA Cup in 1974, which

Liverpool had earlier won by beating Newcastle United 3-0.

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Great 70s Moments: No 1. Ball v Bremner

The classic photo below shows a moment from a 1969 game between Leeds United and Evertonin the old First Division. Everton’s Alan Ball - just 5’5” in height - is sent flying by a tackle fromLeeds’ equally diminutive skipper, Billy Bremner.

The youngest member of England’s World Cup winning team in 1966, Ball's playing careerspanned 22 years, with a further 17 on top of that in management.

Ball was a dynamic and passionate player for whatever club he was playing for. When he left theToffees to join Arsenal in 1971, it cost the London club a then British record fee of £220,000 .He had won the League at Goodison Park but was always a runner-up after this with all his otherclubs. Opposing fans loved to hate the little, shrill-voiced midfielder but all respected him as afootballing genius and wished he was on their side.

Also standing 5’5” tall, Billy Bremner was a flame-haired Scotsman who was the embodiment ofLeeds United for 17 years. In 772 games he scored 115 goals and along with Johnny Giles,formed part of the most feared midfield in Football League history.

Legendary manager Don Revie gave Bremner the Leeds captaincy in 1966 after the another Scotof small stature, Bobby Collins, suffered a serious injury. Bremner held the armband for ten yearsand also chalked up 54 appearances for Scotland.

It’s amazing that Bremner was rejected by both Arsenal and Chelsea for being too small, buttheir loss was the Elland Road club’s gain.

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Dodgy 70s Haircut Competition Enter our competition and you could win one of two prizes of 10,000 computer games on CD.

Just tell us the name of the long haired QPR player in the foreground of the photo below.

Email your answer to retrofootball@btinternet.com by 30th May 2010. Two correct entries drawnat random will get the prizes.

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Ask the Editor: Why the Wheelbarrow?The same day that the launch of Retro Football was announced, we received our first emailwhich was from Joseph Malienco of London who said: “I was at Fulham’s FA Cup with NottsCounty in March. Several times during the game the County fans started singing a song about awheelbarrow. I have never heard it sung anywhere else... can you enlighten me?

We can Joseph. There are different stories about how ‘The Wheelbarrow Song’ originated, butit’s commonly believed that the song came about on Tuesday 17th April 1990 when Notts Countyvisited Shrewsbury’s former home ground of Gay Meadow in the old Third Division.

A Dean Spinks double had put Shrewsbury in control, they were 2-0 ahead and they lookedcertain to be the to be victors with only ten minutes left. The Shrewsbury fans were alreadycelebrating and were singing a terrace chant to the tune of the folk song ‘On Top of Old Smokey’.

To the ears of the disillusioned County fans the strong accent of the Shrewsbury supporters madeit sound like they were singing ‘I had a wheelbarrow, the wheel fell off’.

Making light of their own disappointment, a group of the travelling Magpies supporters began totake the mickey out of the home fans by singing the song back to them. Soon, others joined inuntil the whole terrace was belting out what has come to be known as ‘The Wheelbarrow Song’.This seemed to have a magical effect as Notts lifted their game and came back to draw 2-2.

The song heralded a run which culminating in a Wembley appearance where 25,000 Notts fanssang it beneath the twin towers and, twenty years later, the chant is still regularly heard bouncingback and forth between the stands at Meadow Lane.

The Wheelbarrow Song has been mentioned on in numerous football commentaries and wasfeatured in the BBC show Paradise Heights in which actor Ralf Little played a Notts County fan.

Memories in Black & White No.3This flying save by Peter ‘The Cat’

Bonetti was to no avail as Chelsea lost thesemi final

tie of the 1965 FA Cupagainst Liverpool 2-0

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