Normanton Lad

Matchday 41 – Saturday 22nd April 1972 & the clash of the top two – Manchester City v Derby County
Man City’s defeat at Ipswich 4 days earlier meant they now needed a miracle to win the title but they still presented significant nuisance value to a Derby side desperate for the points to stay ahead of Liverpool & Leeds.
Here were Brian Clough’s pre-match thoughts;
https://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-21041972-brian-clough-interview-championship-hopes
 
So onto the action at Maine Road;
 
Sadly for the Rams, City signed off their 71/72 season with a convincing 2-0 home win – Rodney Marsh playing a crucial role despite the oft-repeated claim he was a liability to Man City in the run in;

 

 
Programme of the day from Manchester;

 
City’s win in their final fixture meant they regained top spot from Derby but it was a most bittersweet accolade. Liverpool’s 2-0 win at home to Ipswich meant City now had no chance of winning the title (because of the upcoming Derby v Liverpool fixture) & hence had to watch as others passed them. Derby slipped to 3rd behind Liverpool on goal average whilst Leeds moved to within a point of the Rams with a 0-1 win away at West Brom;

Here they are. I wasn't going to post, but there are photos all over Twitter.
L to R: McGovern, Powell, Davies, Todd, Gemmill, O'Hare, Macfarland, Dawes, Gibson.

Texaco Cup Final – Wednesday 26th April 1972 & the return leg against Airdrie at the BBG
The first leg finished 0-0 up in Scotland in January & this second leg had been re-arranged from the original date of March 8th because of an unplayable pitch. Airdrie were towards the bottom of the then Scottish Division One (SPL in new money) but the Anglo-Scottish element meant this was likely to be a testy affair

 
Although not a major tournament, just over 25k turned up at the Baseball Ground that evening & Brian Clough ahead of the title showdown with Liverpool, picked 7 first team regulars in the starting XI. He was rewarded with a 2-1 win & the first silverware of 1971/72 for the Rams, courtesy of goals from Alan Hinton (pen) and Roger Davies. Match report below;

 

 
Original matchday final programme;

 
And here’s Alan Durban (captain for the night) receiving the Texaco Cup from Len Shipman, chairman of the Football League – pic courtesy of Andy Ellis via @Brailsford Ram;

 
 
Small footnote on this night – back in the League, Crystal Palace got a crucial 2-0 win at home to Stoke which meant Notts Forest & Huddersfield were relegated to Division Two. Forest had been beaten the night before by Wolves in front of 16,889 at the City Ground;

Matchday 40 – Saturday 15th April 1972 & the visit of Huddersfield to the BBG
Huddersfield started the day 2nd bottom & had not won in the league since last November but had caused Derby problems already this season with that last win incredibly being a 2-1 win over the Rams. Derby’s last two fixtures were against Man City & Liverpool so they knew a win was absolutely vital here. Fortunately, the Rams eased to a 3-0 win against the relegation battlers – goals coming from McFarland, Hector & O’Hare;

 

 

 
Front page of The Ram carried a promise from Sam Longson that upcoming season ticket money (including price increases) would not be wasted in the fight to keep Derby a top side & improve the Baseball Ground. Elsewhere in the paper, a report looking forward to our debut in Europe the following season & some pundit predictions of how we would fare;


 
Derby’s win opened up a one-point lead at the top as Man City were only able to draw 1-1-at Coventry. Liverpool kept up their red-hot streak of form with a 0-2 win away at West Ham, whilst Leeds were in FA Cup semi-final action - beating Second Division Birmingham to book a place at Wembley but dropping 3 points behind Derby in the table. Both Man City & Leeds had away games in the week before the big Man City v Derby clash 7 days later;

Wednesday 12th April 1972 & title rivals Man City were at Old Trafford desperately seeking a derby day win to put pressure on Derby at the top
Sadly for Derby, Man Utd were unable to stop Man City picking up maximum points in a 1-3 away win – goals coming courtesy of a Franny Lee double & sub Rodney Marsh

 
Man City’s away win took them 2nd, just behind Derby on goal average. Derby, Liverpool & Man City were all due to play 3 days later with Leeds engaged in FA Cup semi-final action;

Matchday 39 – Saturday 8th April 1972 & the visit to Bramall Lane, Sheffield
Sheffield Utd had led the division until early October & although they had now slipped to 9th, they were still having an excellent first season after promotion. Derby meanwhile were desperate for a win after dropping 3 points in their last two games. A good time then for the Rams to turn in their best away result of the season, walloping the Blades 0-4 with goals from Gemmill, O’Hare, Hector & Durban
Extended highlights below ?
https://www.youtube.com/embed/b328z71s440?start=308&end=655
 

 
Programme of the day from South Yorkshire;

 
Derby’s win meant they stayed top but the other 3 title challengers all won also. Rodney Marsh scored his first two Man City goals in a 3-1 home win against West Ham whilst Liverpool also won 3-1, at home to Coventry. Leeds meanwhile belied their ordinary away form with a 0-3 win away at Stoke to stay 2nd & a point behind the Rams;
Man City highlights   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TiGLhRgQNM
Liverpool highlights   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzFcFGCa7Y0
 

 

Matchday 38 – Wednesday 5th April 1972 & the visit to The Hawthorns to meet West Brom
West Brom came into the game 6th bottom but had been improving since starting the New Year bottom of the table – they had also held Derby to a scoreless draw at the BBG back in September. Derby knew they needed a win to stay clear of the chasing pack, all of whom would have a game in hand over the Rams after this match. Unfortunately, Derby were only able to grab a point here with another 0-0 draw – pic below of WBA keeper punching clear before John O’Hare could nip in

 

 

 
Programme of the day from the West Midlands;

 
Derby’s point kept them top despite Leeds beating Huddersfield 3-1 at Elland Road. The chasing pack all now had a game in hand & were within 2 points of the Rams ahead of a full fixture list 3 days later;

Jim Walker should write a book. I can remember he had small role in "Big Ron Manager" nearly 20 years ago. Jim and Andy Legg could be seen standing in the background looking bemused while Ron Atkinson and Barry Fry shared their wisdom or ignorance with a stroppy Peterborough team. To me it seemed like a football version of This is Spinal Tap. Peterborough even had their own David St Hubbins in the form of Sean St Ledger, who seemed to cause Ron and Barry the most trouble. I bet Jim has some great stories about all that.
There’s a bit in the show where Ron is telling the players how to cross the ball. I’m not sure if they were listening to him or laughing at him. I don’t think Ron was much of a player himself. He played for Oxford at Derby in the late 1960s and I thought he looked very good but years later when I mentioned this game to someone it appears that I’d got the wrong Atkinson. It was his brother Graham Atkinson who had played well. My interlocutor said Ron was a very average player.
Big Ron Manager Ep5 (4/4) - YouTube

Jim Walker should write a book. I can remember he had small role in "Big Ron Manager" nearly 20 years ago. Jim and Andy Legg could be seen standing in the background looking bemused while Ron Atkinson and Barry Fry shared their wisdom or ignorance with a stroppy Peterborough team. To me it seemed like a football version of This is Spinal Tap. Peterborough even had their own David St Hubbins in the form of Sean St Ledger, who seemed to cause Ron and Barry the most trouble. I bet Jim has some great stories about all that.
There’s a bit in the show where Ron is telling the players how to cross the ball. I’m not sure if they were listening to him or laughing at him. I don’t think Ron was much of a player himself. He played for Oxford at Derby in the late 1960s and I thought he looked very good but years later when I mentioned this game to someone it appears that I’d got the wrong Atkinson. It was his brother Graham Atkinson who had played well. My interlocutor said Ron was a very average player.
Big Ron Manager Ep5 (4/4) - YouTube

Jim Walker the forgotten man
As many of you know I have been for the last 18 months meeting up with the old brigade, the proper DCFC legends, the ones that put us on the map in footballing terms, the ones that made us the best team in England and got us to the European Cup semi finals, the teams of 71/72 and 74/75.
It started off as way to spend time with my Dad who was a bit lost after the loss of my mum, he is a season ticket holder now and was back in the day so I started off out on a journey that has lead us to meet most of them, one of them remains elusive and one didn’t wish to participate.
All of them have been fantastic, eager to tell stories of the great Brian Clough and the amazing fortunes of Derby County who in those bleak years of three day weeks, power blackouts, strikes and Rolls Royce nearly going under taking thousands of local jobs with it gave the people of Derby something to be proud of.
Upon meeting one of those legends, Jim Walker I was particularly struck by how at peace he was with the world, very relaxed, very friendly and by far the best story teller of them all.
Jim had not long ago lost his wife to illness so immediately him and my dad had something in common other than the love of football, he made us very welcome and gave us an open invite to go round when ever to continue with the tales.
Now most people may remember Jim as the guy who was signed by Clough & Taylor from non league football to play for Derby County and was a major part of the team that won promotion from division two in 1968/69.
He lost his place in the team to John Mcgovern but captained the reserves and stepped in when required to cover injuries of suspensions, this meant that he played only a few games in the 1971/72 season but it was his goal in a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in late march that gave Derby both points and if you remember we won the league and finished first above dirty Leeds who were just one point behind and had a greater goal difference, so in effect Jim scored the goal that won us the First Division Championship.
Aswell as a footballer Jim is probably better known as the Aston Villa physio, he was there for around twenty years and served under many managers including Graham Taylor, Ron Atkinson, Brian Little and John Gregory, he was also the man charged with looking after Paul McGrath for many years both on and off the pitch and is spoken of in very high regard in Pauls autobiography.
He had a private practice at the Belfry for the golfers and was also the go to man at the NEC when any pop stars suffered an injury or needed attention from a physio, he worked with George Michael, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Michael Hutchence and Kylie to name a few hence him having so many fantastic stories.
Jim has also had illnesses this however does not dampen his spirit or take a smile from his face.
One thing that I was amazed to hear that Jim did not receive a medal for winning the league title despite being only one of sixteen players in that 71/72 season to have donned the shirt and scoring such a valuable goal.
When ever you see the pictures of the team celebrating and holding up their medals jim does not have one.
I approached Andy Ellis the club historian and the writer of many Derby County books and the fount of all knowledge and he confirmed it.
So we the approached the club and asked if they would support an application to Gordon Taylor of the PFA to ask if he would inturn support an application to the football league to present Jim with the medal that he should have received 46 years ago.
The club agreed and they sent the letter to Gordon Taylor who gave it his blessing and the approach was then made to the football league, this was back in February this year after the ball was started rolling in June of 2017 so it took a while.
I am delighted to say that the agreement was given and Derby County approached the very same jewellers who had made the original ones to make one for Jim, to the exact specifications of the original medals and in the same box and made from 9ct gold with all of the hall marks.
For some reason the club at this time can not be seen to publicly present Jim with the medal which is a great sadness as I thought that he was going to be able to step out on the pitch at Pride Park on the opening home game against Leeds (quite fitting as he stopped them winning the league with his goal), it is a litigious matter so I will comment no further other than to say that they did everything that they could.
So to wrap up the story I had the great honour of going to Jims house today with my dad and my son and presenting him with his long overdue medal, he had no idea that it was coming and to say that he was over whelmed is an understatement.
It was great to see his face and to have the privilege to do something like that, I had the medal at my house for a while but obviously didn’t want to post any pictures until now as it was a secret.
Not very often that you get to present a league championship winning medal on behalf of Derby County and to one of the few from those great days and can be called the legends.
We are hoping that Jim will still be able to have amore public presentation at sometime in the season at Pride Park when what ever issues are resolved.
Up the Rams !!

Leeds City Ram has provided a great service in starting this thread. It's wonderful to be reminded of those past games and players, but I'm not sure what the younger posters make of it.
Around 1975 I was talking to an old chap called Horace who like to draw and he showed me one of his drawings of a footballer. I think was someone he copied from a cigarette card. "Who's that ?" he asked pointing at the player. I had no idea. "You call yourself a Derby supporter and you don't who that it is". "It's Harry Bedford", he said shaking his head at my ignorance. Harry Bedford played his last game for Derby in 1930. I thought he was nuts expecting me to know about a player from all those years ago. I am the same time distance from 1975 as he was from 1930 in 1975 and for me 1975 feels like yesterday. I'm not sure if young people will ever understand how recent the past feels to old people. 
I've talked to players from different eras and as far as I can tell modern players, i.e. from the start of the Premier Division, have little interest in or knowledge of the game from previous eras. In my opinion I don't think these modern players thought these earlier players were that good. Unless you mention big names like Best and Greaves they won't know the names of many players unless these earlier players went into management or scouting. I've not done this but I guess if I told these modern players that they earned X times more than the old players they would probably argue that they are X time better than those players.
The obvious reason for modern players getting more money is that the TV companies are paying more but I think there is an additional reason. Modern players are being paid extra because they are doing PR work for our elites. I can't remember anyone asking Kevin Hector for his opinion about the war in Vietnam. Footballers then were there to play football. They were not expected to participate in organised political demonstrations. Today I would guess any players who refused to go along with all this would be cancelled and they would lose their share of the big money. Paul Breitner is only earlier player I know who made political statements but he was very anti-establishment.  He would have been cancelled in the modern game. Just before the kick off in the famous Real Madrid game at Derby I can remember him walking up to Francis Lee to shake his hand.

Leeds City Ram has provided a great service in starting this thread. It's wonderful to be reminded of those past games and players, but I'm not sure what the younger posters make of it.
Around 1975 I was talking to an old chap called Horace who like to draw and he showed me one of his drawings of a footballer. I think was someone he copied from a cigarette card. "Who's that ?" he asked pointing at the player. I had no idea. "You call yourself a Derby supporter and you don't who that it is". "It's Harry Bedford", he said shaking his head at my ignorance. Harry Bedford played his last game for Derby in 1930. I thought he was nuts expecting me to know about a player from all those years ago. I am the same time distance from 1975 as he was from 1930 in 1975 and for me 1975 feels like yesterday. I'm not sure if young people will ever understand how recent the past feels to old people. 
I've talked to players from different eras and as far as I can tell modern players, i.e. from the start of the Premier Division, have little interest in or knowledge of the game from previous eras. In my opinion I don't think these modern players thought these earlier players were that good. Unless you mention big names like Best and Greaves they won't know the names of many players unless these earlier players went into management or scouting. I've not done this but I guess if I told these modern players that they earned X times more than the old players they would probably argue that they are X time better than those players.
The obvious reason for modern players getting more money is that the TV companies are paying more but I think there is an additional reason. Modern players are being paid extra because they are doing PR work for our elites. I can't remember anyone asking Kevin Hector for his opinion about the war in Vietnam. Footballers then were there to play football. They were not expected to participate in organised political demonstrations. Today I would guess any players who refused to go along with all this would be cancelled and they would lose their share of the big money. Paul Breitner is only earlier player I know who made political statements but he was very anti-establishment.  He would have been cancelled in the modern game. Just before the kick off in the famous Real Madrid game at Derby I can remember him walking up to Francis Lee to shake his hand.

I read the Pickwick Papers as a teenager and I found it funny, but tastes change and I don't know what I'd make of it now. I'd forgotten about Roger Kirkpatrick until I read your post. I liked him. He was totally different from "the computer says no" refs we've got today. Perhaps he tried to hog the spotlight a bit too much but he made you realise that refs are part of the game. He reminded me of that ref in the Play for Today who headed in a goal at the end of the game. Here's Roger's obituary :
https://ratetheref.createaforum.com/i-spy-old-refs!/roger-kirkpatrick-obituary/
I never enjoyed a visit to the Victoria Ground. I always thought the ground looked a bit run down like the rest of Stoke.
Your memory of past games is very impressive. Perhaps you should start more threads for different seasons. Some of us will be dead by the time you get to the 1980s.
 
 

Around 1965 or 1966 I read something about Spurs trying to sign Webster. That's when he was a right half.
Just looking at that Ipswich team reminded me of how Derby ended up being a kind of elephant's graveyard for a few years around 1980. Whymark played a couple of games for us but I can't remember them. We also had players like Mick Coop and John Richards who were well over the hill. 

Around 1965 or 1966 I read something about Spurs trying to sign Webster. That's when he was a right half.
Just looking at that Ipswich team reminded me of how Derby ended up being a kind of elephant's graveyard for a few years around 1980. Whymark played a couple of games for us but I can't remember them. We also had players like Mick Coop and John Richards who were well over the hill. 

I was on the Popside almost level with Charlie George when he scored his famous goal against Real Madrid and I can’t still remember the stunned silence before the cheering started. His goal in the return leg was even better. The best Derby goal I saw was in a reserve game in the late 1970s. It was a volley from a corner at the Normanton End and a bit further out than the goal in the link below. 
 

It was even better than that goal. The scorer was Steve Ketteridge. It’s a pity there weren’t many there to witness it. When Grealish scored a similar goal a few years ago I asked someone who’d played a handful of games in the Premier Division - not for Derby - if he had ever scored a goal like that and he replied not in a game but he’d scored many like that during training. Perhaps he was right but I spent a lot of time at Sinfin Lane in the 1960s watching training and  practice games and I can't remember any spectacular goals. Maybe standards have improved.
 

I don't think most people today could understand what it felt like for the normal working man in 1971. If one of those men had been in a coma since 1971 - just imagine he'd been a spectator hit on he noggin by a Hinton thunderbolt  - and he woke up today then he would refuse to believe he was in the same country or universe.  Even for some of us boiled frogs the changes seem mind boggling. 
Although all the success in the early 1970s was great I was still a bit nostalgic for the Tim Ward days when you could watch a game without the excessive crowds and queues. You also didn't have so much hooliganism. 

I don't think most people today could understand what it felt like for the normal working man in 1971. If one of those men had been in a coma since 1971 - just imagine he'd been a spectator hit on he noggin by a Hinton thunderbolt  - and he woke up today then he would refuse to believe he was in the same country or universe.  Even for some of us boiled frogs the changes seem mind boggling. 
Although all the success in the early 1970s was great I was still a bit nostalgic for the Tim Ward days when you could watch a game without the excessive crowds and queues. You also didn't have so much hooliganism. 

I don't think most people today could understand what it felt like for the normal working man in 1971. If one of those men had been in a coma since 1971 - just imagine he'd been a spectator hit on he noggin by a Hinton thunderbolt  - and he woke up today then he would refuse to believe he was in the same country or universe.  Even for some of us boiled frogs the changes seem mind boggling. 
Although all the success in the early 1970s was great I was still a bit nostalgic for the Tim Ward days when you could watch a game without the excessive crowds and queues. You also didn't have so much hooliganism. 

Very few things are genuinely funny. The laughter generated by comedians or TV shows is all faked or forced. Social conformity is why you laugh. You want to fit in with others in the audience.
If you listen to some old live comedy show from the 1940s or 1950s on something like Radio 4 Extra you wonder why on earth they are laughing. That's because you are socially distant from them. There is no peer pressure and you listen objectively. You are the child who sees the Emperor has no clothes.
You people who say this or that is hilarious are kidding yourselves.

I don't know if that is funny or not. I don't find much funny nowadays, but your post has reminded me of something I was told years ago. I used to work with a guy in the early 1970s who said that during the war he could see Coventry burning from Derby. He wasn't the type to make things up but I found that hard to believe.  I wonder if someone a bit smarter than me can say if that was possible.

Football games are a great way to organise your memories. I have no idea what I did on any day in January 1969 apart from the 25th when, like you, I was in Bury to watch the Rams.
Only two memories remain from that day. I can remember waiting for a bus, I think, after the game near the Bury ground when a bus full of rival fans went by. There was a bit of light hearted booing but nothing unpleasant. The second memory was of standing in the corridor of a train listing to the conversation of some men who'd got seats. One of them was reading a paper and he exclaimed with astonishment that Swindon had scored 11 or something like that. His friends all started laughing when he realised that he had misread Swinton the rugby league team.
I don't know why pointless memories like that have stuck in my mind while everything useful has long been forgotten.
 

Another memory I have from the Bury game is speaking to a lad who was a Spurs supporter and had come up from London to see Dave Mackay playing for us. Mackay suferred a head injury and had to be substituted. He said 'He's got a cut behind his ear' to me in his cockney accent which I was totally unfamiliar with and I heard 'He's got a cat behind his ear'. I spent ages trying to work out why Dave would have a cat behind his ear!

Football games are a great way to organise your memories. I have no idea what I did on any day in January 1969 apart from the 25th when, like you, I was in Bury to watch the Rams.
Only two memories remain from that day. I can remember waiting for a bus, I think, after the game near the Bury ground when a bus full of rival fans went by. There was a bit of light hearted booing but nothing unpleasant. The second memory was of standing in the corridor of a train listing to the conversation of some men who'd got seats. One of them was reading a paper and he exclaimed with astonishment that Swindon had scored 11 or something like that. His friends all started laughing when he realised that he had misread Swinton the rugby league team.
I don't know why pointless memories like that have stuck in my mind while everything useful has long been forgotten.
 

Football games are a great way to organise your memories. I have no idea what I did on any day in January 1969 apart from the 25th when, like you, I was in Bury to watch the Rams.
Only two memories remain from that day. I can remember waiting for a bus, I think, after the game near the Bury ground when a bus full of rival fans went by. There was a bit of light hearted booing but nothing unpleasant. The second memory was of standing in the corridor of a train listing to the conversation of some men who'd got seats. One of them was reading a paper and he exclaimed with astonishment that Swindon had scored 11 or something like that. His friends all started laughing when he realised that he had misread Swinton the rugby league team.
I don't know why pointless memories like that have stuck in my mind while everything useful has long been forgotten.