Grandad, What Was Football Like in the 1970s?

Richard Crooks

Description

Grandson Charlie attending a Championship game at Hillsborough prompts Richard Crooks to transport himself back to the 1970s and recall what football was really like for supporters in the 1970s. Crooks provides an engaging and comprehensive narrative on all things football in that decade, and brings out the social context of the time. Reflecting on what it was like getting to a game, the grounds, the crowds, the clubs, the managers, players, referees, reporting the game, growing commercialism, the World Cups, and through to the spectre of the rise of hooliganism and racism. Using written and broadcast material of the time, as well as Crooks's own experiences, Grandad, What Was Football Like in the 1970s? provides a fascinating insight and description of a decade when things really started to change in football - and also sheds light on the oft-asked question 'Was football better then or in the modern era?'

Sujets

• Reino Unido
• United Kingdom
• Great Britain
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 17 avril 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785313363
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2017 Pitch Publishing A2 Yeoman Gate Yeoman Way Durrington BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Richard Crooks, 2017
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 978-1-78531-263-2 eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-336-3
--- Ebook Conversion by www.eBookPartnership.com
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Foreword
1 Charlie, the Owls and the Bees
2 Rivalry and the Divide Widens
3 Disappointment at School
4 On the Turnstiles
5 Five Semis in a Row
6 Go East Young Man
7 And Now Essex
8 The Roller Coaster: Down, Down it Goes, and Then
9 Getting to the Game
10 Grounds
11 At the Grounds
12 The Spectre Grown
13 Racism
14 Programmes
15 Players
16 Alleged Bribery, Illegal Payments and More
17 George Best
18 Showmen, Mavericks or Both?
19 Control of the Game and Competitions
20 Clubs and the League Competition
21 FA Cup
22 And the League Cup
23 New Competitions
24 Commercially
25 Football in Scotland
26 Europe, Further Afield and More
27 World Cup
28 International Games
29 Managers
30 Referees
31 Reporting the Game
32 Football Pools, Competitions and Lotteries
33 It Happened in the Seventies
Afterword
Postscript: A Darker Side
Appendix 1 - Football League Tables
Appendix 2 - FA Cup Finals
Appendix 3 - Football League Cup Finals
Appendix 4 - Football League Attendances
Appendix 5 - Footballer of the Year
Appendix 6 - European Footballer of the Year and Ballon D Or
Bibliography
Photographs
For my grandsons Charlie, Edward, Cameron and William
Acknowledgements
MY GRATEFUL appreciation to Jennifer Ann Wiles for her support in the writing of this book - her thoughts, comments and suggestions on the narrative have been unerringly helpful.
Thank you to Norman Giller who provided helpful advice.
Thank you to Duncan Olner for the design of the cover, and to Gareth Davis for editing the book. And thank you particularly to Paul and Jane at Pitch Publishing for their continued support and advice in producing this book.
Quotations used in this book are referenced by their source - the book, author and publisher. Permission for quotations used in this book has been sought from the publisher.
Extract from FA Confidential by David Davies reprinted by permission of Peters Fraser Dunlop ( www.petersfraserdunlop.com ) on behalf of David Davies.
Preface
THE INSPIRATION for this book came from my grandson Edward, aged five, who wanted me to write a book about him.
He should be pleased he was the catalyst for the book albeit the subject is focussed on football in the 1970s, and the context of those times.
My experiences of following football are interwoven through the book providing a thread to the narrative.
Foreword
WHAT ABOUT me, Grandad? a plea from Edward, my grandson, aged five. The place? The garden of his home in Surrey. The occasion - a photo taken of his brother Charlie, aged seven, with his grandad. Charlie holding a copy of the book, Grandad - What Was Football Like in the 1960s?
What about you Eddie?
I want you to write a book about me.
What do you mean a book about you?
You wrote a book about Charlie, I want you to write a book about me.
Eddie had heard that Grandad had written a book, seen it and thought it was about his older brother Charlie. He had seen the chapter called Charlie s First Game . There was no sign of Eddie s name.
No doubt Eddie thought it only fair that he should be the focus of a book by his grandad.
It was of no interest to Eddie that Grandad explained the book was not about Charlie - it was about football and the 1960s. Eddie could see the chapter heading and he could see that Charlie was having his photo taken with the book with his grandad. The suggestion that Eddie could have his photo taken with the book and Grandad cut no ice. He wanted his own book.
Grandad thought about it - Eddie s interest in football was little more than a passing one, rudimentary at best. He recollected Charlie s seventh birthday party held in the local sports centre the previous November - a football party with all his mates, Dad as referee and Grandad guesting in goal for most of the game.
And Eddie at the birthday party? At five years old he lacked the stature or speed to compete with boys a couple of years older than him, who were tearing around the sports hall, chasing a football like a swarm of bees. Eddie recognised the hazards in participation after being knocked over a couple of times in the pre-match kick-about. This was underlined by Charlie explaining he was not big enough to play with the big boys . While accurate, his brother s advice had not gone down well with Eddie.
Taking the cue that he would not play in the game, he positioned himself by the side of Grandad s goal - sitting, and then standing, as the whim took him. More particularly he was positioned next to a loose assortment of spare footballs. Eddie knew an opportunity when he saw one and decided to roll the balls on to the pitch from behind the goal. The swarm were busy chasing the match ball elsewhere on the pitch - until their attention was taken by balls appearing unannounced from the other end of the sports hall. Cue mayhem, and an upset Charlie coming down to remonstrate with his brother and urging, Grandad get control! Stop Edward sending balls on to the pitch!
Eddie was grinning from ear to ear. He may not have been playing in the match with the big boys but he was certainly making an impact, his roguish grin a testament to how he felt.
It was this image and recollection that flashed through Grandad s mind in response to Eddie s request to write a book about him. Eddie had sparked the idea for a book - the natural focus was football in the 1970s. And there was now the opportunity for Eddie to come to his first Sheffield Wednesday game. Except, when the time came, Eddie decided there were better things he could be doing.
For his brother Charlie it was different altogether. His keenness on football is razor sharp - playing, watching, reading, and collecting football stickers. He d seen ten Wednesday games and wanted to see more. He d seen them win, lose and draw and seemed to be affected emotionally by the game s outcome, as his grandad had been when he was a lad.
Only one element of Charlie s support for his team had caused Grandad to be a little perturbed; this came to the fore in the second half of the game at Griffin Park, Brentford, in September 2015. Sheffield Wednesday substitute Jeremy Helan had come on early in that half and committed a foul wide on the Wednesday left - That s a yellow card, Grandad ; Hang on Charlie, he s a Wednesday player, Jeremy Helan ; It s a yellow card, Grandad. Grandad was concerned at the level of detachment and objectivity his grandson was displaying. The referee agreed with Charlie - yellow card it was.
Less than 30 minutes later and the same player committed a similar foul on Wednesday s left flank. That s another yellow card, Grandad. Hang on Charlie, if it s a yellow card he ll be sent off, he s had one already ; Yellow card offence, Grandad. For Grandad there was something awry with the lack of partisanship displayed by Charlie. The referee agreed again with Charlie s assessment, and Helan was sent off. Reflecting on the incidents, and Charlie s perspective and objectivity, Grandad was bothered and shamed at the same time. Good job that Wednesday won the game 2-1.
Coincidentally the next Wednesday home game Charlie would go to was against Brentford, the one that his brother Eddie had decided to forego.
Grandad mentioned to Charlie he would be writing another book and the title would be Grandad - What Was Football Like in the 1970s? Grandson pulled a face of disapproval, Can t you write something better than that, Grandad? Charlie had a way with words, he d got form - little more than a couple of years earlier he d observed, Grandad, you ve got a spider up your nose. No, I haven t, Charlie, nostrils brushed with his finger to make sure. Yes, you have, you ve got cobwebs up there.
1
Charlie, the Owls and the Bees
EIGHT YEARS old, living in Surrey, Charlie loves his football, playing for his local team, Albury Boys. Defensive midfield my position, Grandad - this caused Grandad a little concern, given Charlie had moved back from his previous position of striker where he scored goals; Grandad had given him tips on how to strike the ball. The positional change was of no concern to Charlie who liked his new position and, most importantly, he was in the team.
Except not on this Saturday morning in February 2016; he had made the decision to forego an Albury Boys game to leave home at 7.30am and make his way, with his dad, to S6 to watch Sheffield Wednesday. He wanted to see his first home game of the season and his dad would take him up to the game by train - train to London Waterloo, across the capital by London Underground, and then to Sheffield from London St Pancras. Grandad lived in Hertfordshire and would drive up to see them outside the ground.
Why Wednesday? Simply, Charlie was born into a family of Wednesdayites - his father, grandad, great-grandad, great-great-grandad and no doubt generations before that. While the latter three had all been born and raised in Sheffield it was a little more challenging for Charlie, 180 miles away in Surrey.
Charlie s first Wednesday