1971-72 season scrapbook

[strawhillram]

On 08/04/2022 at 08:41, PistoldPete said:

Wonderful again Brailsford. Did Alan Woodward have extravagant mutton chop whiskers? 

Tony Currie?

[Roboram]

I remember the Sheff United game well. It was actually my first Rams away game. Although being from Chesterfield it was geographically closer to home. There were a number of Blades fans in my area which made the following week even more pleasurable 

 

[LeedsCityRam]

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;

[angieram]

Bloody Franny Lee! ?‍♀️

[Sufferingfool]

We’ve no chance of winning this watch our form drop off a Cliff ?

[TimRam]

That's what I call a title race! How different would the forum have been at that time. Can we stay up? v Can we win the title? Both - My nerves cannot stand it!

Edited April 12, 2022 by TimRam

[uttoxram75]

When Alex Ferguson spoke about "squeaky bum time", he really didn't have a clue did he?

 

 

[Guest]

On 12/04/2022 at 22:46, uttoxram75 said:

When Alex Ferguson spoke about "squeaky bum time", he really didn't have a clue did he?

 

 

That’s a very good point uttoxram but that’s not how I remember it for Derby fans at the time, although Crewton, Reggie Greenwood and others who were around at the time, may have a different perspective.

I think there was more anxiety for the fans of the other three teams. City, from 1968 -71, in successive seasons, had won the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup and then lost to Chelsea in the next year’s ECWC final. Leeds and Liverpool had experienced winning the title and losing it at the death and had won and lost cup finals. We hadn’t, this was all new to us. We were in Wonderland and loving it, just glad to be at the party. I think that subconsciously we were somewhat protected from anxiety about not winning the title because we hadn’t been here before. Of course we would be disappointed not to win it now but there’d always be a next time because we were the new kids on the block and we were here for the long term and going places with Clough and Taylor.

Anyway, all we had to do was win our next three games and then we would be the champions.....if only it could be that easy.

At this time, we had all read about Coventry’s wish to take them away from us to Highfield Road. But we were dismissive of that. We couldn’t imagine in our wildest dreams that they’d walk away from this club now. But we didn’t know what was really going on behind the scenes.

There’s more to come about that very soon.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Brailsford Ram

[Foreveram]

As an 18 year old fan at that time I don’t think we knew what pressure was, when you are winning every week you just expect it will always be like that. Can’t ever remember losing sleep over it.

[SirBrian]

Having such a great team and going to home and away games, never noticed pressure till after our final game and then we had to wait till midweek for one outstanding match then that was pressure, and the 90 mins was an eternity, do not want to name the teams and spoil it for others for the lads who are putting this season together are doing a great job.

 

[uttoxram75]

4 hours ago, Brailsford Ram said:

That’s a very good point uttoxram but that’s not how I remember it for Derby fans at the time, although Crewton, Reggie Greenwood and others who were around at the time, may have a different perspective.

I think there was more anxiety for the fans of the other three teams. City, from 1968 -71, in successive seasons, had won the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup and then lost to Chelsea in the next year’s ECWC final. Leeds and Liverpool had experienced winning the title and losing it at the death and had won and lost cup finals. We hadn’t, this was all new to us. We were in Wonderland and loving it, just glad to be at the party. I think that subconsciously we were somewhat protected from anxiety about not winning the title because we hadn’t been here before. Of course we would be disappointed not to win it now but there’d always be a next time because we were the new kids on the block and we were here for the long term and going places with Clough and Taylor.

Anyway, all we had to do was win our next three games and then we would be the champions.....if only it could be that easy.

At this time, we had all read about Coventry’s wish to take them away from us to Highfield Road. But we were dismissive of that. We couldn’t imagine in our wildest dreams that they’d walk away from this club now. But we didn’t know what was really going on behind the scenes.

There’s more to come about that very soon.

Excellent points Brailsford. Might have been a tad different for the managers though.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, uttoxram75 said:

Excellent points Brailsford. Might have been a tad different for the managers though.

For sure they were burningly ambitious and they wanted to win trophies. But they were a little bit new to all of this as well. Neither of them had won anything as a player. Clough was always bitter about the fact that his playing career had been so tragically terminated by serious injury. Many who knew him pointed to that as being a major factor in his driven desire to reach the top of the managerial tree.

I was lucky enough to spend an hour and a half with him in a bistro in West Bridgford three months before he died. Almost the entire conversation was about his time at Derby. It was clearly very special to him and he expressed deep regret that he and Taylor had left. He was adamant that if they had stayed Derby would have dominated English and European football for at least the next decade and who could really argue with that?

During the discussion, I said my favourite season of all following Derby was the 1968-69 Second Division Championship win because in my previous seven seasons we'd won nothing. He said that was his favourite season too because it was the first thing he'd won in the professional game. I didn't doubt that for one minute. He also said that the 1971-72 side was the best team he had managed and it would have won the European Cup the following year but for the fact we were cheated.

That's why Derby won the Watney Cup and the Texaco Cup too because Clough and Taylor believed that if a competition was worth entering, it was also worth winning. They believed it instilled in their players, the desire to win. It was why the first trophy they won at Forest was the Anglo-Scottish Cup because it was important that his players learned just how good it felt to be winners.

[LeedsCityRam]

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;

Edited April 15, 2022 by LeedsCityRam

[Guest]

Following the triumphant visit to Bramall Lane could the Rams now see off relegation threatened Huddersfield Town at the Baseball Ground? The Terriers had pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the season when they beat the Rams at Leeds Road at the end of November. Derby could not afford a repeat of that disappointment at this late stage of the season.

Clough named an unchanged side and straight from the kick off it was obvious that the Rams were not going to underestimate their opponents. They were quickly on the attack and McFarland, with his head still bandaged from the Bank Holiday injury, powered in a header which ‘keeper Lawson did well to save. However, after 15 minutes the Rams won a corner on the left from which Hinton curled over a near perfect cross and this time Lawson was well beaten by McFarland’s powerful header. An early lead was just what the nervous crowd wanted and seven minutes later they had more to shout about when Hector made it 2-0 after McGovern’s shot had been deflected into his path by a Huddersfield defender.

A one-sided affair remained 2-0 at the break but seven minutes after the resumption Hector crossed from the right beyond Lawson’s near post and in came O’Hare to place a delicate header which had the ’keeper scrambling across his line but he was unable to prevent the ball edging inside the far post.

After that the game faded. There was no way back for the Terriers who hadn’t mounted a serious attack all afternoon as the Rams cruised to victory. Clough described his side’s performance as a very ordinary one, adding, “In fact we were rubbish.” Only the highest standards could satisfy the manager but his comments did sound rather harsh for a team that had just put itself in touching distance of winning the League title.

Leeds had beaten Birmingham in an FA Cup semi-final that afternoon and Manchester City, having won their previous two matches, had been held to a draw at Coventry. Liverpool won 2-0 at West Ham to remain in contention. Derby had two more games left; away to Manchester City and at home to Liverpool. No wonder our nerves were jangling.

Now, wherever we were to finish in the final table, today’s result, ensured that the Rams would be playing in Europe in the following season. All that had to be decided now was whether it would be in the European Cup or the UEFA Cup?

Tim Ward signed Alan Durban, aged 22, for Derby County, paying Cardiff City £10,000 for him in the summer of 1963. He had played over 50 games in the First Division and had been capped for the Wales U23 team. His career had two distinct phases at Derby; the first as a free scoring inside forward under Ward and the second as an intelligent midfielder under Clough. He went on to play for Wales 27 times, sometimes as captain, scoring two international goals.

Former Rams player and Radio Derby pundit Ian Hall succinctly summarised what Alan Durban brought to Derby County in one paragraph in his book, ‘The Legends of Derby County.’ He wrote:

‘SPEED is being there. On the training ground, Alan Durban was slow. On the pitch he was ‘there.’ He was there often enough to score 133 League goals in a career of 15 years that spanned 538 full League games plus 16 as a substitute. For Derby County, he played a total of 388 matches plus 15 as a substitute and scored 112 goals. Essentially a midfield player, Durban’s scoring record was tremendous. Being there was his secret; timing was the key. Running speed had very little to do with it. Like it was said of Kenny Dalglish: ‘The first three yards was in his head.’

At first he hadn’t got on with Clough, forming the opinion that the new manager was ‘a pain in the arse.’ But fortunately for Durban he soon came to realise that the more disciplined approach caused him to focus fully on the job he was paid for doing. In fact he became so focussed that he was soon an integral part of the team, which so quickly rose to the very top of the English game.

This was Alan Durban’s ninth season at Derby and it was the pinnacle of his career. He was one of the few to survive Clough’s cull since he swept into the club in 1967. It hadn’t taken Clough long to appreciate what he had inherited and Durban went from strength to strength. All the same, he may have been slightly unsure of his place in the team when the season began for Clough had opted for a two-man midfield. He was named as substitute in the first four League games before his start in the home game with Southampton. But with the conversion to three in midfield, a regular place alongside McGovern and Gemmill became almost inevitable.

Durban had the ability to ghost through the opposition’s defence and feed his colleagues with accurate, penetrating passes as well as nipping in with some important goals. If Martin Peters was really 10 years ahead of his time, as Alf Ramsey had so famously claimed, then Durban was in that category too.

His positional sense, intelligence and football brain made up for any lack of pace and he went on to prove what an important player he was, adding balance and subtlety along with those vital goals. Six in the First Division might have represented a modest return by his standards but he was more prolific in the FA Cup this season with four goals in five matches.

For the £10,000 transfer fee that Tim Ward had paid Cardiff City, Alan Durban repaid it ten times over.

[LeedsCityRam]

Tuesday 18th April 1972 – ahead of their weekend showdown with Derby, Man City travelled to mid-table Ipswich to seek the 2 points they needed to go back top of the table & take charge of the title race

It was a disastrous night for City though, losing 2-1 at Portman Road & realistically destroying their title challenge;

 

Man City’s defeat kept them second but they now only had one game left to play (v Derby 4 days later) whilst all their title rivals had games in hand. Although their title challenge wasn’t officially over, the highly unlikely sequence of results they needed meant bookies were now offering odds of 100-1 for them to win the title. All eyes now turned to the North East for the Newcastle v Leeds clash the following day;

[GB SPORTS]

On 14/04/2022 at 17:12, SirBrian said:

Having such a great team and going to home and away games, never noticed pressure till after our final game and then we had to wait till midweek for one outstanding match then that was pressure, and the 90 mins was an eternity, do not want to name the teams and spoil it for others for the lads who are putting this season together are doing a great job.

 

Was going to say the same, without trying to pull the thread forward a couple of weeks, all the stress was after we finished playing our games!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, LeedsCityRam said:

It was a disastrous night for City though, losing 2-1 at Portman Road & realistically destroying their title challenge;

City ultimately got their revenge over Ipswich. I suppose this was the first phase of lightning striking twice for in 1975, I was in Bailey's night club at the club's annual awards dinner on a Wednesday night. The Rams sat top of the table with just one game to play at home to Carlisle on the coming Saturday. Ipswich had two games to play and were the only team who could overtake Derby to clinch the title. To do so, Ipswich had to win both of their remaining games. As we started the evening with the team and management, Ipswich and City kicked off at Maine Road. Sometime past nine o'clock, the music stopped and it was announced that City had held Ipswich to a draw and Derby had won the title. Then the party really began.

[LeedsCityRam]

Wednesday 19th April 1972 – with their FA Cup Final spot confirmed, Leeds resumed their chase of league leaders Derby with a game in hand away at Newcastle

Newcastle of course had beaten Derby on Easter Monday & they caused another shock here with a 1-0 win, courtesy of a late winner from Malcolm McDonald;

 

 

Leeds’ defeat kept them 4th & three points behind Derby but with only one game in hand now over the leaders. The result meant Derby’s title destiny was in their own hands again – beat Man City & Liverpool and they would be Champions of England for the first time;

[Guest]

Don Revie, for the past few weeks had been loudly complaining about how Leeds’ chances of success were again being hampered by the end of season fixture congestion that his team faced in their chase for honours. His proclamations now seemed to be an annual Springtime event.  He was at his most voluble when Leeds were brought down to earth with this defeat at Newcastle, just four days after the cup semi-final victory over Birmingham.

The rearranged trip to St. James’ Park followed an earlier postponement. But, according to Football League Secretary Alan Hardaker, this latest instance had been entirely of the Leeds manager’s own making. Newcastle had offered to play the game the previous month, the day after the lifting of the ban on midweek floodlit games. No night games had been allowed during the three-day week sanctions imposed by the Government in the wake of the miner’s strike. Hardaker passed on Newcastle’s offer to Elland Road but Revie turned it down, saying Leeds did not play on Thursdays. It meant that the game eventually took place less than two-and-a-half weeks before the end of the season.

Compared to the chaos Leeds had faced towards the end of the 1969-70 season when they were chasing the treble, the run did not seem too arduous – apart from the final game of the league campaign at Wolves, being scheduled for just two days after the FA Cup final.

Injuries though were beginning to mount with Terry Cooper having broken a leg in the recent victory over Stoke to join Gary Sprake on the sidelines. Fatigue was also becoming an increasing problem among the rest of the squad. The swagger that had seen Manchester United and Southampton humbled so emphatically just a few weeks earlier had disappeared.

[Foreveram]

Anyone going to QUAD tonight