1971-72 season scrapbook

[dodger37]

Brilliant thread, i got into Derby around that time, i was very young and being in Scotland you needed an English team, so relatives said i was Aries which of course is the ram

remember my parents buying me mugs, badges etc posters on my wall McFarland, hector etc

[loweman2]

[loweman2]

[loweman2]

[Elwood P Dowd]

I remember thinking when I first heard the news that we had signed Colin Todd that Derby would never pay £170,000 for any player.

I am glad we did at £170k he was a bargain

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Wistaston Ram said:

Thank you Brailsford Ram, for a fascinating personal insight into our history. Unfortunately the glory years were just before my time, but I well remember some of those Wolves players who I watched regularly from 1976. Standing on the South bank with my dad, a wolves fan, we had the privilege of seeing players like John Richards, Kenny Hibbert and Willie Carr.  Although I loved the trips to Molineux as a kid, I was never quite converted, but am constantly reminded of the role Wolves played in our success that season!

As is life, it's always a case of being in in the right place at the right time Wistatson Ram. Those of us who who saw these great years know how lucky we were to witness it. I was just 19 when we became champions for the first time.. Most who saw it have now passed on. It is important that those of us who are left can pass on our memories to those who want to hear about it. From the time I. took an interest in the Rams as a young boy, I had a thirst for knowledge of the history of the club. For me, LeedsCityrRam, loweman2 and many others , like you, who show interest in our past are to be congratulated. If you don't know what came before, how can you form your future expectations? How can you be proud and understand what a great club DCFC really is or isn't?

It disappoints me when I read this forum and I see current fans who say they don't care what happened before. They started in 1989, 1997 or whatever and that's all that matters to them and what came after. I think they are missing a trick but it's up to them.

There are many books now on the history of the Rams but they give little insight about how the fans at the time thought about what happened. If there's an opportunity to pass on what we experienced as supporters of the Clough and Mackay teams, I think we have a duty to express ourselves. Otherwise the testimonies of what we witnessed will disappear into the ether.

Your early experiences of watching Wolves with your dad is brilliant. Like Derby, Wolves were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888. Like Derby, Wolverhampton is a real football city. Their heritage is rich. I expect your dad probably saw the great Wolves years of the 50s and if he did, he had a great time. 

Willie Carr eh? Flicked the ball up between his two feet from the free kick for Ernie Hunt to volley home. They called it the donkey kick and they outlawed it. I think they both played for Wolves but at that time they played for Coventry. Great memories and that's what's important in football. Memories have to be passed on or they are lost forever.

But I'm glad you became a Ram and not a Wolf. Thanks also to you my friend.

 

 

[Pearl Ram]

I remember a Wolves player, Peter Knowles, giving the game up at quite a young age to become a Jehovah’s Witness. Seem to remember it raised a few eyebrows at the time.

*edited as I actually thought he’d become a vicar but a bit of research confirmed the JW situation.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Pearl Ram

[LeedsCityRam]

2 minutes ago, Pearl Ram said:

I remember a Wolves player, Peter Knowles, giving the game up at quite a young age to become a Jehovah’s Witness. Seem to remember it raised a few eyebrows at the time.

*edited as I actually thought he’d become a vicar but a bit of research confirmed the JW situation.

I read about this fairly recently. Apparently a Jevovah Witness knocked on his door one day & converted him as a 23 year old top flight footballer...must be why they still bother...

Here's the story from Wolves' perspective;

https://www.wolvesbite.com/2019/09/peter-knowles-50-years-on-wolves-icon-on-a-different-planet-played-a-blinder/

Edited November 14, 2021 by LeedsCityRam

[Reggie Greenwood]

1 hour ago, Pearl Ram said:

I remember a Wolves player, Peter Knowles, giving the game up at quite a young age to become a Jehovah’s Witness. Seem to remember it raised a few eyebrows at the time.

*edited as I actually thought he’d become a vicar but a bit of research confirmed the JW situation.

Cyril’s ( Spurs “nice one Cyril”) older brother 

[loweman2]

On 06/11/2021 at 20:47, LeedsCityRam said:

Brilliant insight as ever ?

Re Frank Wignall, what was the story with him leaving Derby in 1971? He scored 5 goals in the 10 games he played this season, then left to join Mansfield who got relegated into Division 4 by the end of 71/72. Seems bizarre.

 

Edited November 15, 2021 by loweman2

[loweman2]

[LeedsCityRam]

Matchday 18 – Saturday 20th November 1971 & Sheffield Utd were the visitors to the BBG

The Blades had a fantastic start to the season as a newly promoted club & led the division until mid-October – an impact not unlike Derby’s first season back in 1969/70. Although they had slipped off the summit since then, they came into the game in 4th place & only behind the Rams on goal average..

 

 

Pre-match Cloughie column ignores the game & gives his views on Muhammad Ali (or Cassius Clay as he insists on calling him) & politics instead…

 

Derby’s win kept them in 2nd place, goal average keeping them ahead of Man City who won at West Ham. Man Utd won again also, beating Leicester to keep the gap over Derby to 3 points;

[angieram]

I really look forward to these summaries, @LeedsCityRam. 

Can you imagine a player throwing the ball at the referee in anger and remaining on the pitch these days? 

Oh, and Brian Clough getting away with talking politics on the Forum. We'll let you off, seeing as it's you, Brian! ?

[LeedsCityRam]

37 minutes ago, angieram said:

I really look forward to these summaries, @LeedsCityRam. 

Can you imagine a player throwing the ball at the referee in anger and remaining on the pitch these days? 

Oh, and Brian Clough getting away with talking politics on the Forum. We'll let you off, seeing as it's you, Brian! ?

Yes I was a bit surprised the ref didnt send the Sheff Utd player off. From what Ive seen of 70s matches, the only sending off offence seemed to be for punching someone in the face!

Typical Cloughie in his column...wonder if anyone dared to suggest 'vetting' them  ?

[Guest]

This was only the third meeting between the two clubs since 1961. In the Rams promotion season of 1968-69, Derby lost 2-0 at Bramall Lane to goals from Colin Addison and Willie Carlin, Just a week later Carlin transferred to Derby. Derby won the return at the BBG on Easter Monday with Alan Durban scoring the only goal of the game in the 86th minute. United had returned to Division One as runners-up to Leicester City in 1970-71.

Sheffield born winger, Alan Woodward made 538 appearances for the Blades between 1964 and 1978, scoring 158 goals. Full back Len Badger, also born locally, played 458 time for the club between 1962 and 1976, before joining Chesterfield where he brought his career to a close with 46 appearances. Full back Ted Hemsley was one of the last of the English professional football-cricketers. His football league career between 1961 and 1979, saw him play a total of  534 games for Shrewsbury Town, the Blades and Doncaster Rovers. He scored 30 goals. He played cricket for Worcestershire between 1962 and 1982, winning a county championship winners medal in 1974. He was a more than useful right handed batsman and right arm medium fast bowler, who was once close to breaking into the England team. He played 243 first-class and 219 one-day games. In total, Hemsley scored 9,740 first-class runs for Worcestershire. He also, uniquely, played cricket on his home football ground, for Worcestershire v Yorkshire at Bramall Lane. His sporting life was rich and long.

Trevor Hockey had begun his nomadic football journey as a winger with Bradford City in 1960. He continued in that position at Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, and Birmingham City before joining the Blades for a £40k fee in January 1971. He was converted to a central midfield position with instructions to win the ball and give it to Currie. He become a cult-figure with the Blades fans, with his Beatles-style haircut, beard and tough tackling. His United career was to be virtually ended when he broke a leg against Manchester City in February 1972. A year later he moved on to Norwich City before further moves to Aston Villa and then back home to Bradford City from where he retired from league football in 1978. He went on to play and coach in Ireland and the USA. Hockey was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire and it was there that he died of a heart attack shortly after taking part in a five-a-side tournament ion 2 April 1987, aged 43.

The undoubted star for the Blades at this time was Tony Currie. He started his league career at Watford in 1967 but after just 18 games, in which he scored nine goals, he was transferred to Sheffield United on 1 February 1968 for £26,500. 'TC' or 'Top Cat' as he was nicknamed by Sheffield United fans, was idolised in his time at Bramall Lane. He went on to score 54 goals in 313 appearances and was also made captain by manager Ken Furphy in March 1974. In September 2014, as part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations, he was named Sheffield United's Greatest Ever Player  He moved to Leeds in 1976 where he played in 102 games, scoring 11 goals. In 1979, he joined QPR, where he scored five goals in 82 games, before announcing his retirement in 1982. In 1984, David Webb, who was then manager of Torquay United, tempted Currie out of retirement. I 14 games, he added one further goal before finally ending his league career. Currie won 17 full England caps and scored three international goals.

In today's The Ram, Brian Clough had written of his concerns about 'the physical stuff' his side had been subjected to in the previous two games. He hoped the referee's clamp down on over physical football wasn't breaking down. On a bitterly cold day, the team was unchanged from the previous week. In just the second minute, Kevin Hector got the Rams off to a flying start with his sixth goal of the season after Flynn had deflected a Hennessey pass into his path. Flynn was again complicit in Derby's second goal in 14 minutes when he handled John O'Hare's header on the goal line. He Hinton easily converted the consequent spot-kick.

The Rams controlled the game comfortably to maintain their lead at half time. But, after barely troubling the Derby defence in the first period, the Blades tried to revive their game with four attempts on goal early in the second half. But in 64 minutes the game was settled with Derby's third goal. Hemsley handled in the box but his protestations came to nought when the referee pointed to the spot, insisting that the ball had not struck his body but Hemsley had handled.  Again Hinton converted from the spot.

The Blades had begun to lose their composure and Badger, Flynn and Hockey were all booked within ten minutes. The Rams saw out the game with McGovern and Gemmill dominant in midfield.

Afterwards, the visitors' manager, John Harris incredibly maintained that his side had been unlucky, claiming they could easily have gone 4-2 ahead and that the second penalty was harsh. One reporter wrote that 'Derby had reduced the Yorkshire side to a bunch of ill tempered squabblers.'

Perhaps the only disappointing feature of the afternoon was the attendance of 35,326, which included about 4,000 visitors fans. However, bitter cold climate may have deterred some of the less hardy supporters. Clough expressed his concern for declining attendances at Derby. He also had no sympathy for United who had got what they deserved.

Leaders Manchester United and third placed Manchester City both won that afternoon, as did fourth placed Leeds. So the Rams win was of significant importance if they were to stay in touch with leading pack. They now had a week to prepare for their visit to fifth from bottom of the table Huddersfield Town.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Guest

[LeedsCityRam]

Matchday 19 – Saturday 27th November 1971 & a trip to Leeds Road, Huddersfield

Huddersfield started the day 5th from bottom but Derby were to record their first genuinely poor league result of the season here, losing 1-2 in front of 15,329 – our goal coming from John McGovern. Incredibly, this was the last league game Huddersfield won this season & they duly finished bottom the following May. Match report below;

 

Programme of the day from West Yorkshire;

 

A poor day was compounded by everyone else in the top 6 winning – Derby dropped to 3rd with only goal average keeping them ahead of Sheffield Utd (who beat Ipswich 7-0) & Leeds. Man Utd won again (5-2 at Southampton) to go 5 points clear of the Rams;

[angieram]

32 minutes ago, LeedsCityRam said:

Matchday 19 – Saturday 27th November 1971 & a trip to Leeds Road, Huddersfield

Huddersfield started the day 5th from bottom but Derby were to record their first genuinely poor league result of the season here, losing 1-2 in front of 15,329 – our goal coming from John McGovern. Incredibly, this was the last league game Huddersfield won this season & they duly finished bottom the following May. Match report below;

 

Programme of the day from West Yorkshire;

 

A poor day was compounded by everyone else in the top 6 winning – Derby dropped to 3rd with only goal average keeping them ahead of Sheffield Utd (who beat Ipswich 7-0) & Leeds. Man Utd won again (5-2 at Southampton) to go 5 points clear of the Rams;

Can you imagine the reaction on here?

"We're not good enough"

"We'll never acheive anything with that goalie"

"Sack the manager!"

[Guest]

Huddersfield Town entered the football League in 1910. They   became the first English club to win three successive English league titles in 1925–26. The first two titles were won under manager and pioneer Herbert Chapman, who also led the team to an FA Cup win in 1922.

They had been promoted back to the First Division by winning the second division title in 1969-70. In 1970-71, the Rams drew 0-0 at Leeds Road and won the return at the BBG by 3-2.

Their two best-known players at this time were Trevor Cherry and Fran Worthington. Cherry played in midfield in this game but was soon to move on to Leeds United where he played at left book as a replacement for Terry Cooper. Worthington was a party-going showman with great skills up front. He went on to play for Leicester, Bolton and Birmingham in the next 10 years before beginning a nomadic journey to many other league clubs in the 1980s. Both players subsequently played for England.

Derby went into this game as big favourites for an away win. The Rams were very much on the front foot in the first half. In attack after attack, they threatened to overwhelm the Terriers. Frustratingly for the Rams, the game remained goalless at half time. The nearest thing to a goal had been a header by John O’Hare, which came back off the post.

Terriers came out scrapping in the second half and Worthington beat Boulton in the 63rd minute to give them the lead. Derby responded with a flurry of attacks in the bitter wind and driving rain. But it was the home team that scored the crucial second goal in 75 minutes through Jimmy Lawson, much to the dismay and disappointment of the large travelling support.

A minute later, Hector put McGovern through to pull a goal back. Despite continued pressure, they were unable to add another and the game ended with a disappointing and surprising 1-2 defeat for the Rams. Worryingly this was a third consecutive defeat on the road.

Clough said he couldn’t understand how his side had managed to lose. But as we made our way home to Derby, there was much discussion among supporters as to whether Frank Wignall might have made a difference today.

So, November ended with Manchester United leading the table, two points clear of their near neighbours and five points clear of Derby, Leeds and Sheffield United.

[Guest]

In his autobiography Roy McFarland talked about this game and the post-match reaction of Clough and Taylor in the dressing room.  He said:

'It was our worst display of the season by some distance and I feared the worse when I glanced up o see Taylor fidgeting, almost hopping up and down as if he needed a pee.

'He was desperate to let rip but knew his place and that he had to wait until Clough had run out of steam and expletives.

'Our heads were down, staring into our mugs of tea and Jimmy Gordon was attempting to raise our spirits, when the gaffer launched into a bitter tirade.

‘First we got it in the neck as a team, the he went around the bench picking us off one by one with verbal blows. Clough always preached the team ethic but he was never afraid to single out individuals and if our coach driver had been inside that dressing room he would have been undoubtedly torn off a strip for good measure.

'The essence of Clough’s complaint was that he didn’t think that we were up to the job of matching our opponents physically.

‘Poor Taylor was itching to get in his two penn’orth when the boss told him “Leave them Pete, they are not worth talking to, save it,” but our assistant manager had the last word.

“You lot are a disgrace. Play like that again and you’ll never play for the club again” he said before the pair turned on their heels and left us to stew.’

Edited November 27, 2021 by Guest

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, angieram said:

"Sack the manager!"

The move to do just that had already begun Angie. Jack Kirkland from Belper was acquiring shares in the club. When he was allowed to buy the shares from the estate of the late club chairman, Oswald Jackson, he became the second largest shareholder, which soon found him a seat on the board. He was bitter that Clough had engineered the removal of his brother, Bob, from the board in 1970 and was telling associates that he was out to get Clough. He achieved his goal in less than two years. In doing so, he terminated the club's glory days by some 20 years. We were deprived of watching more league championship titles and undoubtedly we would have won the European Cup well before 1979. Kirkland became as hated as Clough and Taylor were loved in Derbyshire.