From Barry Stobart to Neil Young

Matthew Eastley

Description

There was a time, not so long ago, when the FA Cup really mattered. Fans went to extraordinary lengths for tickets, and the whole nation seemed to stop for a football. From Barry Stobart to Neil Young tells the story of the 1960s, focusing on great club sides, previously lesser-known heroes, and stories from the fans who were there.

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing
• Date de parution: 28 avril 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781909626720
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF BARRY STOBART
6 June 1938 to 28 August 2013
A true Wembley hero
First published by Pitch Publishing, 2014 Pitch Publishing A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Matthew Eastley, 2014
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978 1 90962 644 7 eBook ISBN: 978 1 90962 672 0
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers Saturday 7 May 1960
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 6 May 1961
Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 5 May 1962
Leicester City v Manchester United Saturday 25 May 1963
Preston North End v West Ham United Saturday 2 May 1964
Leeds United v Liverpool Saturday 1 May 1965
Everton v Sheffield Wednesday Saturday 14 May 1966
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur Saturday 20 May 1967
Everton v West Bromwich Albion Saturday 18 May 1968
Leicester City v Manchester City Saturday 26 April 1969
Photographs
Acknowledgements
H UNDREDS of people were kind enough to take the time to share their memories with me during the research of this book. I would like to say how grateful I am to everyone who responded with such enthusiasm to my requests for help.
I would like to extend special thanks to Mo Stobart, widow of Barry, who unselfishly and uncomplainingly gave me hours of her time while bearing with fortitude and dignity the cruel illness which befell her beloved husband.
I have no hesitation in dedicating this book to Barry. A big thanks also to Steve Gordos, another man of Molineux, who was kind enough to read through the entire manuscript of both this and the 1970s volume and offer many suggestions as well as providing me with the benefit of both his excellent proofreading and sub-editing skills.
Big thanks also go to the following people, true football fans, every one of them:
Tony Andrews (Burnley), Dunc Anson (Spurs), Joe Baker (Everton), Arnie Baldursson (Liverpool), Ernie Barrow (Manchester City), Ian Bason (Leicester), Muriel Bates (Wolves), Roger Booth (Blackburn), Roger Booth (Man City), Peter Brailsford (Leicester), Ray Brown (Wolves), Andy Burbidge (Chelsea), David Buxton (Manchester City), Alfred Camilleri (Wolves), Alex Channon (Manchester City), Rob Clarke (Leicester), Martin Cloake (Spurs), Mike Collard (Manchester City), Steve Cowell (Preston), Janet Crawford (Manchester City), Bernard Dickinson (Blackburn), Martin Dexter (Leicester), Alan Digby (Leicester), Bob Downing (West Brom), Mick Doyle (Leicester), John Durham (Manchester City), Steve Ellis (Leeds), Terry Fanning (Wolves), Ray Fell (Leeds), Peter Gilkes (Spurs), Peter Godkin (Manchester City), Andrew Goodwin (Leicester), Vernon Goodwin (Leicester), Brian Green (Burnley), Philip Gregory (Manchester City), Lynton Guest (Leicester), Roger Haigh (Manchester City), John Hands (Everton), Peter Hargreaves (Manchester United), John Harmer (Leicester), Gavin Hill (Wolves), Paul Hince (Manchester City), Steve Hodson (Leicester), Tony Holding (Everton), Andrew Holmes (Leicester), Val Hubbard (Leicester), Graham Hughes (Wolves), Tony Hunt (Leicester), John Hutchinson (Leicester), Damian Inwood (Chelsea), Gilbert Ivens (Leicester), John Jennings (Manchester City), Pete Johnson (Leicester), Mick Kelly (Arsenal), John Kelly (Manchester United), Jack Keogh (Burnley), Morris Keston (Spurs), Trevor Kilburn (Leicester), Bernie Kingsley (Spurs), Kelvin Ladkin (Leicester), Grant Leslie (West Ham), Geoff Lilley (Spurs), John Lunn (Manchester United), Pauline Martland (Burnley), Michael Masters (Leicester), Tony Matthews (West Brom), Kevin McCall (Burnley), Ian Mitchell (Leeds), Toni Miziolek (West Ham), Clive Morrick (Leicester), Bob Newton (Leicester), Pauline Nicholas (Liverpool), Ian Noble (Spurs), John Parker (Manchester City), Kevin Parker (Manchester City), Philip Parker (Burnley), Carole Parkhouse (Leeds), Bill Pearson (Burnley), Andy Philip (Liverpool), Malcolm Plaiter (Manchester City), Brian Playfair (Leicester), Andy Porter (Spurs), Jeremy Poynton (Manchester City), Bob Rawlinson (Burnley), Martin Reeves (Leicester), Ray Roche (Everton), Terry Roper (West Ham), Chris Ryder (Manchester City), Frank Sankey (Everton), Ron Schofield (Liverpool), Tony Scholes (Burnley), Bob Scott (Everton), George Sinagra (Wolves), Barry Slack (West Brom), Pat Smalley (Leicester), Alan Smith (Leicester), Rex Smith (Leicester), Neil Stanford (Chelsea), Peter Stubbs (Leicester), Jim Sweeney (Spurs), Keith Taylor (Everton), Newell Thornton (Burnley), Gerry Toms (Chelsea), Alan Trinder (Burnley), Jeff Van Doorn (Chelsea), Steve Van Doorn (Chelsea), Phil Walker (Manchester City), Dave Walsh (Everton), Paul Walshaw (Sheffield Wednesday), Paul Walters (Leicester), Alan Ward (Leicester), Phil Watkin (West Brom), Jim Weedon (Everton), Maureen Wells (Leicester), Bryn Williams (Wolves), Terry Wills (West Brom), Michael Wilson (Manchester City), Chris Wood (Liverpool), Tony Worn (Leicester), Martin Wright (Leicester), Simon Wright (West Brom), Andy Cryer (journalist), Steve Pumfrey (journalist), Jon Rayner (Spurs), Chris Boden, Barney at Red News (Manchester United), Steve Jones at the Blue Kipper website (Everton), Graham Melton ( Leicester Mercury ).
Introduction
T HE FA Cup doesn t matter anymore. Not really. Not like it used to. That is not to say the competition doesn t still have romance and the ability to shock. Just ask the fans of recent winners like Wigan Athletic or Portsmouth or finalists like Millwall or Cardiff City.
It can still mean a memorable day out at Wembley and a shot at Europe and the earlier rounds can still throw up some extraordinary results. But it still doesn t matter like it used to and especially the Cup Final itself. Dare I say that in these times of wall-to-wall satellite television and more live games in one weekend than there once was in the whole of a season, it is just another match, albeit still a fairly high profile one? For the big boys, the FA Cup is a nice to have whereas it used to be a must have.
You see the FA Cup Final used to stop this nation in its tracks. Once the semi-finals had been decided the talk in football was of little else. And, unlike today, everyone knew who was in the final. That is the difference. It is impossible to compare the FA Cup finals of, say, the 1970s, with those of today. Back then, the final was the season s showpiece. Always played at 3pm, usually on the first Saturday in May and it was always live on the two major broadcasting channels, BBC1 and ITV.
The streets would start getting quieter at around lunchtime as people took their places. Friends and relatives would gather at each other s houses. Many people used to dress up for the match, even just to watch it on the television. I remember in May 1974, just after we had acquired our first colour television, my grandfather came over wearing a suit and tie. The reason? It was FA Cup Final day - and it was special.
The FA Cup was instantly popular and the final itself retained its unique glamour and kudos throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Perhaps its most magnetic charm in those days was that it was live during a period when live television of any type was rare. Any live television back then was must-see whether it was the Eurovision Song Contest, Miss World or The Royal Variety Show. But the FA Cup Final was the daddy of them all. The one day of the year when even people with no real interest in football at all would settle down to watch this special, royal-tinged occasion.
It was in the 1980s that a number of factors conspired to start rendering the cup final less relevant or unique than it was. In the early 1980s, terrestrial television companies began tentatively screening live league matches at weekends. Then the arrival of satellite television resulted in several live matches a week which started to remove some of the gloss from the ultra-rare live experience .
Then came the Premier League and its accompanying riches which turned already wealthy clubs into gluttonous behemoths. Winning the Premier League became the undisputed, ultimate domestic achievement and, on the back of that, the Champions League moved the focus even further away from the poor old FA Cup. Before long, clubs were resting players for FA Cup matches, not just those clubs already in the Premier League (who all, without exceptions did it, and continue to do it) but those clubs outside the so-called elite, desperate to scramble into the top tier to feed off scraps from the King s table.
This book and its accompanying volumes takes us back to a time when the FA Cup was without doubt the biggest club competition in the world and the FA Cup Final arguably the most important and famous club football match on the planet.
FOR MY BARRY
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Blackburn Rovers
Saturday 7 May 1960
I N a late-night coffee bar just off Piccadilly Circus, a fit-looking, sandy-haired young man, with boyish features and a soft Yorkshire accent, sits opposite his beautiful girlfriend. It is early summer, two o clock in the morning and the young pair are beaming. In the background, the lilting strings of Percy Faith s waltz Theme from A Summer Place enhance the mood.
The young man is clasping a small box. Resting snugly on the velvet-lined casing is a gleaming medal. The man, exhausted yet eupho