Nostalgia

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johnh
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by johnh »

marziale wrote:That’s where my family all lived. In the Rookwoods to the south of York road and near the Shaftesbury Cinema (sat mornings!) and the pub for the grown-ups, think it was the Nowells, Back Nowell RoadS etc.
And close to the Skelton Road ground where I played many times against East End Park. First played there against Leeds UYMI in 1953. East End Park became a big name in 1957. Jim Milburn (ex Leeds United was their player/manager) and they signed several ex pro's including Len Browning ex Leeds and Sheffield United. They were very strong for 4 or 5 seasons then they disappeared from view. Think they ran out of money.
I once played against Don Revie.
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NottinghamWhite
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by NottinghamWhite »

On my first visit to a Don Revie statue meet up I was in awe meeting Norman, Lash, Mick et al which was incredible but also amongst the Revie Legends was Mike O’Grady who I stand corrected had just retired as a steward at a Leeds golf club. Got chatting to him & a nicer guy you couldn’t wish to meet. I remember Mike playing ( just ) for us before transferring to Wolves. As John said he did play for England on 2 occasions scoring 3 goals a Leeds born player who came good.
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by Wickerman »

johnh wrote:
NottinghamWhite wrote:1967-68 Leeds United v Glasgow Rangers ( dubbed by the press as The Battle of Britain ) sadly the game will be always remembered for the violence that night than the actual game. Rangers were given 3000 tickets for the game but an estimated 10000 rammed into Lowfields Road. Both teams wore black arm bands as Leeds chairman Albert Morris had passed away. Empty whisky bottles were constantly getting thrown into the Gelderd End & onto the pitch. Fighting broke out in the Lowfields but worse was to come outside as fighting now between both sets of fans, hotdog stands & cars were overturned. In all my time I’ve never seen trouble like it, as a young lad I think it’s fair to say I was petrified. Leeds did win the match by the way 2-0 goals from Giles & Pete Lorimer.

John Grieg asking the Rangers fans to behave.


Image
I remember going into Leeds on that day. There were hundreds of Rangers supporters, all in large groups, all over the place. Kept well out of their way!
I never missed a home game through 68 - 69, and I vaguely remember a night like this. My dad took me to home games and remember being hit by pennies, if you remember those old large copper pennies in the 60's, fans were throwing them into the crowd. And I recall seeing a bicycle wheel, without a tire, being hurled across the top of supporters leaving the ground, I was only a kid but I remember being frightened that night.
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by NottinghamWhite »

Here’s something I wrote for Nottingham Whites a few years ago. The question was name your favourite season & why ?

The season 1969/1970 I was a young 17 year old and my love for Leeds United was really starting. Working at a local plastic factory in Pickering, North Yorkshire I earned enough to follow my team home and away that year. I became a fully paid up member of Scarborough Supporters Club which was under the stewardship of Maltese John.

It all started on a warm August afternoon and the opening game of the season at Elland Road, a small matter of the Charity Shield. Manchester City were our opponents, a crowd of over 39000 basked in the sunshine and a 2-1 victory gave us our first silverware. This was going to be our season we thought.

Our first 2 home games were against the North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal, 3 points were our reward. This was followed by my first ever visit to the city I now call home to play Nottingham Forest. A happy journey home ensued with a 4-1 victory under our belts.

In September I saw my first European opposition in the form of Lyn Oslo. A 10-0 win, yes ten, was a great start to my European journey. The away leg was a stroll in the park as Leeds won 6-0, I wasn’t in attendance, I hadn’t that much money to travel abroad. Our next game in the European Cup was against Ferencvaros of Hungary a 6-0 aggregate score was racked up. In the league it was business as usual with the highlight a 6-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest.

The FA Cup, in those days much more highly prized than it is today, started with me being lucky to get a ticket for our 4th round tie at Sutton United of the Isthmian League a proper David v Goliath game. No worries though as we cruised to victory 6-0. Interestingly enough John Faulkner the centre half for Sutton impressed Don Revie so much that a few weeks later John turned professional at Elland Road. 2 days later saw me watching Leeds grab a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in front of over 60000, a massive crowd for he time.

Our European journey continued with a 2-0 aggregate score against Standard Liege of Belgium. Things on the pitch were really on the up and there was much talk of Leeds winning not just the double but the treble, heady days indeed.

I am now into March 1970 on my fantastic journey and it was FA Cup semi final day, the opponents were scum the venue was Hillsborough a 0-0 draw put pressure on the club as our fixture back log was building up. The trouble before and after the game was on a scale I had never witnessed before. A lot of fans reckon this was the game that sparked the bitter rivalry that still stands today. The replay was at Villa Park and another 0-0 draw ensued, it was going to take something special to break this stalemate. A favourite quote from this game came from The Mail I think “ There was barely time to light a cigarette in the wind for fear of missing something dramatic” The 2nd replay was at Bolton’s Burnden Park I said it would take something special to break the dead lock and it was a Billy Bremner goal. Again as with the other 2 semis the games were marred by serious crowd trouble before and after the game.

All these games were taking their toll and a lot of players were out with niggling injuries and points were being dropped in the chase for the league title. against Southampton several players were “rested” resulting in a £5000 fine from the Football League, no mention that the squad players could have played for any other club in the division.

April 1st 1970 and the visitors were Celtic in the European Cup semi final, Celtic had won the EC 3 years earlier. Despite Celtic’s allocation been 6000 it was believed well over 10000 made the journey south. My memories of the game Jimmy Johnstone aka Jinky, ran Terry Cooper ragged. Celtic won the game 1-0. The 2nd leg due to the number of Celtic fans who wanted tickets was moved from Parkhead to Hampden Park. We sent a lot of tickets back unable to sell them after the 1st leg defeat. 5000 of us made the journey north and we were initially rewarded with a Bremner goal but lost the game 2-1, 3-1 on aggregate. The crowd that night was an incredible 136505, still a record today though many people believe it was even higher than that.

With us virtually having conceded the league for awhile to Everton we had one more big game the FA Cup final at Wembley against Chelsea. The game took place 4 days before our long trip to play Celtic. Some of players from the final have said since that they were physically and mentally exhausted. If this game had been played in todays touchy feely game most of the players from both sides would have been red carded such were the tackles flying all over the pitch. We as fans were pretty confident as to the outcome as we had already witnessed Leeds winning 5-2 at Stamford Bridge at the turn of the year. Leeds again dominated the game only for a late equaliser by Chelsea’s Hutchinson. Ex players today still say Gary Sprake was at fault for the goal. History was now in the making as extra time was going to be played for the first time in a Wembley final, just what the players needed another half an hour of football. The replay due to United’s commitments didn’t take place for almost 3 weeks.

So it was on to the replay at Old Trafford we were to witness another tense and fiercely contested game. Chopper Harris of Chelsea was doing a proper man marking game on Eddie Gray, some of the tackles were horrendous. A Mick Jones goal wasn’t enough as in extra time David Webb scored the winner, despite constant pressure in the 2nd half of extra time Leeds could not break through. A season that started on such a high had finished on a low.

What a season where Leeds played football light years ahead of their opponents. Alas though the league title eluded them, the FA Cup eluded them and the biggest prize of all the European Cup eluded them. Geoffrey Green of The Times said at the time “ Leeds like Sisyphus, have pushed 3 boulders to the top of 3 mountains and are now left to see them all back in the dark of the valley”

After all of the above I wouldn’t have missed that particular journey for the world. Little Billy, Big Jack, Norman, Eddie, Allan, Mick etc all thanks for the memories. Seeing Peter Lorimer and Mick Jones in The Pavilion yesterday afternoon, now gentlemen of pensionable age but still involved with this great club had memories going back to that fateful season.

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Re: Nostalgia

Post by Westminster »

Great post, Nottingham White. Thanks for sharing.

I remember an interview with Billy Bremner after he'd retired and he said that semi-final at Hampden Park was the only time he ever felt intimidated at a football match, such was the hostility and the size of the crowd that night - and Bremner played in a few grudge matches over the years!

Over 136,000 at a football match. It is, as you say, incredible.
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johnh
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by johnh »

Grew up in Liverpool supporting Everton. Dad's job moved us to Leeds in 1951. Leeds were in the (old) second division so I wasn't much interested. I played football (under 18) for Old Farnley Boys Club and was invited for trials by Leeds United. Signed up and played for Leeds United Colts. Played for two seasons then went in the Army for National Service. When I came out I had some trials at Leeds but they weren't interested. Still in the second division, Leeds signed Don Revie as a centre forward. Poor signing, over the hill was the general consensus. Maybe, as a player, but turned out to be the best manager Leeds ever had. I remember the development of the Revie team from the young lads coming through to the astute signings. Non more so that Bobby Collins and Johnny Giles. Even though I now live in the south, I still support Everton and Leeds though don't see many games.
I once played against Don Revie.
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NottinghamWhite
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by NottinghamWhite »

Westminster wrote:Great post, Nottingham White. Thanks for sharing.

I remember an interview with Billy Bremner after he'd retired and he said that semi-final at Hampden Park was the only time he ever felt intimidated at a football match, such was the hostility and the size of the crowd that night - and Bremner played in a few grudge matches over the years!

Over 136,000 at a football match. It is, as you say, incredible.
It was a very intimidating atmosphere that night but both Rangers & Celtic were fanatical in those days ( I’m sure they still are ) I still dread to think what have happened had we actually won that night. Celtic fans queuing to get into the ground that night.

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Re: Nostalgia

Post by Westminster »

Great photo :thumbup:
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ChilwellWhite
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by ChilwellWhite »

I believe that’s what’s referred to as an orderly queue. We had a city break in Glasgow a few years ago and I managed to procure tickets to watch the Old Firm game at Ibrox Park that was scary enough.
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Re: Nostalgia

Post by SCOTTISH LEEDS »

NottinghamWhite wrote:
Westminster wrote:Great post, Nottingham White. Thanks for sharing.

I remember an interview with Billy Bremner after he'd retired and he said that semi-final at Hampden Park was the only time he ever felt intimidated at a football match, such was the hostility and the size of the crowd that night - and Bremner played in a few grudge matches over the years!

Over 136,000 at a football match. It is, as you say, incredible.
It was a very intimidating atmosphere that night but both Rangers & Celtic were fanatical in those days ( I’m sure they still are ) I still dread to think what have happened had we actually won that night. Celtic fans queuing to get into the ground that night.

Image
Well as being a Glaswegian i can tell you that the photo is not of Hampden Park its actually Parkhead and it actually tells you on the building.
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