1971-72 season scrapbook

[loweman2]

31 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

Thanks Phil. I got Cloughie and Sir Robertson King very.wrong and so the wrong year. It was Mick Williamson, not Clough. I saw him play for Derby before he moved to Gillingham. I thought it might be Bobby Stephenson but wasn't sure because I thought it was Cloughie on the right and he came well after Bobby. Bobby was a Derby lad and the son of George Stephenson, who played for Derby and England.. I saw the only goal Bobby scored for Derby. It was a half volley at the Normanton End from the edge of the penalty area v Bristol Rovers when we won 4-1 at the BBG in March 1962. Keith Havenhand scored the other three goals. This was a significant event in the history of DCFC because earlier in the season, Havenhand had scored a hat-trick away at Bristol Rovers when we also won 4-1.. It is the only time in the history of the club that a Derby player has scored a hat-trick home and away in the same season against the same club. 

The only player to have achieved the same feat in the Premier League is Emmanuel Adebayor for Arsenal v Derby County in the 11-point season.

So having explained that, I am wiping the egg off my face and retreating to bed in disgrace ???

Age is certainly not affecting your memory is it ? Great work on pulling it all out again ! 
 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

You shouldn't be eating egg just before bedtime at your age.?

Especially after seven pints of Derby Brewing Company's Paulo Wan Hop bitter. But 20p of each pint goes to the administrator so we are a bit nearer to saving the club from liquidation COYR ???

[PendineRam]

Great to see those old newspaper articles, just reinforces old memories. I have every copy of the 'Green Un' for 68/69, they are well stored up in the loft!  I must get them out sometime!

As Brailsford says, whilst this thread relates to 71/72 what happened in the 60's in many ways provided the building blocks for what was to follow. After the gradual but pernicious slide into the obscurity of the 3rd Tier that followed the FA Cup win it was evident that the Club needed a strong hand on the tiller to turn it's fortunes around! 

Fortunately, it only took two years for us to get out of the old 3rd Division North and then some stability (both football wise and from a financial point of view) followed. With Harry Storer as Manager and Sam Longson in the Chair they were, in many ways, the ideal characters to achieve this stability but, as the 60's leapt into life, there was a feeling that we were still underachieving and that DCFC had more to offer. When Tim took up the baton from Storer the fans hoped that a more positive future lay ahead. Looking back, Tim did begin to revamp the club but there remained a feeling that he lacked the dynamism needed to really get the ball rolling. There is no doubt that there was pent up frustration amongst the fans that we needed a stronger character than Tim to achieve this even though it's fair to say that he raised the quality on the pitch with imports such as Durban and Hector as well as with the development of home grown players like Webster. When Sam wielded the axe most fans felt that the decision to dispense with Tim was the correct one even though he was well liked and 'one of us'. Who would Longson go for we asked, I don't think Cloughies name was bandied about and it was certainly a surprise appointment. For that decision we have to thank Jimmy Armfield, the former superb England Full Back, who urged Sam to go for BC.

What still amazes me is the excitement that that decision caused amongst Rams fans and, indeed, the wider Derby community! Brian Clough, why Brian Clough we asked?? But as soon as he walked through the door there was a whiff of excitement, as if that pent up frustration was suddenly being released! Talk about going through the club like a dose of salts there seemed to be a new story to read about every day in the DET! What followed over the next few years still seems more like a figment of someone's imagination than reality but history shows that actually it did happen!  

This thread is about the success of 71/72 but it's beyond dispute that the previous decade was the catalyst for that success! A decade that saw unbelievable change in every aspect of life, a decade that begat an unbelievable change in the story of a founder member of the Football League and in the lives of it's supporters and the community that it represented! Unforgettable, unbelievable, but whichever way you look at it bloody wonderful! 

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, PendineRam said:

For that decision we have to thank Jimmy Armfield, the former superb England Full Back, who urged Sam to go for BC.

No Pendine, it was Len Shackleton, the former England and Sunderland inside forward who recommended Clough to Derby, not Jimmy Armfield. Shackleton was known as 'The Clown Prince Of Soccer.'  He was no lover of football directors. In his autobiography, he devoted a chapter to 'What The Average Football Director Knows About Football.' The chapter comprised just a blank page.

Shackleton was the North East correspondent for the Sunday People newspaper. In his autobiography, 'With Clough By Taylor.,' Peter Taylor says this:

"Len Shackleton had again played fairy godfather to us by phoning Derby County after the sacking of manager Tim Ward. A short list had been drawn up by Sam Longson, Derby's chairman and I believe the names were Tommy Cummings, Billy Bingham and Alan Ashman. We had never crossed Derby's minds until Shackleton told them "I've got two young blokes who are just right for your job." His fame as a player was so great that we promptly shot to the top of Longson's list, one of the breaks that everyone needs in life."

From thereon in, the road to the 1971-72 championship opened.

[PendineRam]

2 hours ago, Brailsford Ram said:

 

Thanks for correcting me Brailsford, it was Shacks!  The old memory beginning to clog up! 

At least, even though we are now almost certainly in the 3rd tier and my memory ain't what it used to be even the EFL can't re-write history!

Who knows, history might repeat itself, the club on its uppers but the future is brighter!! Fingers crossed. 

[Macintosh]

13 hours ago, loweman2 said:

Sent the photo to Phil Waller as he loves to see them.

Here's one of Phil he may not have seen, and in a team picture. The legendary Jack Bowers front right, when Brylcreem was a must.

 

Is that Ian Buxton between Ralph Hann and Alan Durban? Ralph was another who lost his job during the Clough clearout in 1967.

[loweman2]

[loweman2]

[loweman2]

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Macintosh said:

Here's one of Phil he may not have seen, and in a team picture. The legendary Jack Bowers front right, when Brylcreem was a must.

 

Is that Ian Buxton between Ralph Hann and Alan Durban? Ralph was another who lost his job during the Clough clearout in 1967.

I think this is the pre-season team pic for 1963-64. Back Row L to R - John Richardson, Alan Durban, Barry Hutchinson, Bobby Ferguson, Bobby Stephenson, John Richmond, Bob McAndrew. Middle Row - Keith Havenhand, Ray Swallow, Mick Williamson, Ken Oxford, Reg Matthews, Phil Waller, Bobby Saxton, Mick Hopkinson. Front - Ralph Hann, Mike Cullen, Geoff Barrowcliffe, Jack Parry, Tim Ward, John McCann, Ray Young, Billy Curry, Jackie Bowers.

I'm not certain that John Ricmond is right.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Brailsford Ram said:

I'm not certain that John Ricmond is right

In Fact I know it isn't because John Richmond had dark hair. I'm not certain whoever it is played in the first team So ????

[loweman2]

lots of stuff here from the 71/72 season but also before and after, grab a cup of tea and have a reminisce !!

 

[loweman2]

Another little treat, probably the best interview ever with Brian Clough !! and some great footage of the old BBG.

20 minutes precursor to becoming champions of England !!

 

[loweman2]

special days !

 

[loweman2]

The Baseball Ground 1970/71, it was about to be set alight !

[loweman2]

The Baseball Ground 1970/71.

[LeedsCityRam]

Matchday 17 – Saturday 13th November 1971 & a trip to Molineux, Wolverhampton

Wolves started the day in a modest 14th place but that was misleading given they’d finished 4th the previous season & were to finish this season as UEFA Cup finalists. They were also unbeaten at home still & so the trip looked a tough one for Derby….

 

 

Programme at Wolves primarily concerned with excitement at facing East German opposition in the UEFA Cup…

 

Despite their defeat, Derby managed to hang onto 2nd place by dint of a superior goal average over Man City & Sheffield Utd, both of whom won. Man Utd also won, beating Spurs 3-1 to go 3 points clear of the Rams;

[Guest]

This was a tough test for the highflying Rams as Wolves went into the game unbeaten at home, with four wins and four draws. They had fared less well away with just one win, a draw and five defeats. Going into this game, Wolves were placed seventh from bottom. They would finish the season in a respectable ninth place, just 11 points behind the Rams and they were beaten in the final of the UEFA Cup by Spurs on an aggregate of 2-3 over two legs.

In the previous two seasons, Derby had drawn 1-1 and then won 4-2 at Molineux. At the BBG, Derby had won the first game 2-0 but lost 1-2 the next season. They had beaten Wolves 2-1 at home in the 4th round of the FA Cup in 1971 with a last gasp winner from John O’Hare.

Wolves had their own halcyon days in the 1950s when they vied with Manchester United for recognition as the leading English team. Captained by Billy Wright, they were champions in 1953-54, 57-58 and 58-59.  They won the FA Cup in 1949 and 1960. They were managed from 1948-64 by the legendary Stan Cullis,, a strict and dour man. Alan Hinton started under Cullis at Wolves as a 15 year old in 1959, making his league debut in 1961. He played 75 games for the club, scoring 29 goals and winning his first England cap in 1962. Cullis sold Alan to Forest in 1964. In his book Stan Cullis: The Iron manager, David Miller said ‘Stan could be a bully at times. It was a tactic that didn’t always work, with Alan Hinton for example, a winger, who would later enjoy much success under Brian Clough at Derby County.’ Cullis was sacked in 1964 as Wolves headed for relegation to Division Two where they spent two seasons before returning to the top flight in 1967.

Wolves, managed by Bill McGarry, had a talented side in 1971, with their prominent two stars being centre forward Derek Dougan and an exciting left-winger, Dave Wagstaffe. Dougan was a charismatic figure, who led the Northern Ireland attack alongside George Best. In that era, I recall that the ‘Doog’ and Neil Martin of Coventry City were the two forwards who caused Roy McFarland the most trouble in the air.

Midfield player, Mike Bailey was the Wolves captain. Brian Clough had earlier shown an interest in bringing him to Derby. But eventually he didn’t follow that up and subsequently signed Terry Hennessey instead. John Richards was just starting out on his Wolves career. He made his debut in 1970 and scored his first league goal for the club in February that year. But this was the season he established himself as a regular player. The two goals he scored in this game were just his second and third in the league for Wolves, although he had scored the goal in their FA Cup defeat at the BBG in 1971. He went on to score 144 in 385 appearances for the club and earned a solitary England cap in 1973 against Northern Ireland. The only other league club he played for was Derby.  Peter Taylor brought him in on loan in 1982-83 and he scored twice for the Rams in 10 appearances. He moved to Maritimo from Funchal in Madeira to end his career in the Portuguese Primeira,  where he scored 23 goals in 44 games from 1983-85, before retiring.

Playing in the heart of the Wolves defence was John McAlle who played 508 games for the club from 1967 to 1981. He joined Sheffield United for the 1981-82 season and played 18 games as the Blades won the Fourth Division. He joined the Rams in 1982 and played 58 games. He scored the only goal of his professional career in 2-3 home loss against Cardiff on 27 December 1983. His final game before he retired was in a 1-5 defeat against Barnsley at Oakwell on 31 March 1984 as the Rams headed for relegation to Division Three. It was also Peter Taylor’s last game as the Rams manager.

Following the Rams victory over Crystal Palace, they had surprisingly chosen to play a home friendly against Werder Bremen of the Bundesliga just two days later. They fielded an almost full strength side, although McFarland and Gemmill were rested. In front of over 6,000 fans the Rams overwhelmed the Germans by six goals to two.

McFarland and Gemmill returned to the side for this game, replacing the departed Wignall and Alan Durban. In front of a crowd of 32,376, both sides had chances early on but halfway through the first period, McAlle only partially cleared a Hinton free kick and the ball fell for the alert O’Hare to nod home past Parkes to put the Rams ahead. McFarland came close to extending the lead with an excellent header from a Webster cross but the ball skidded narrowly wide after taking a bad bounce. Afterwards Hector said he might have got a foot to it but the ball had run away from him at the last moment.

Derby looked comfortable but with only a minute to go before the break they were pegged back by a soft goal from Richards. For once the normally reliable Colin Boulton had to take a share of the blame after he failed to get a hand to a free kick and the ball fell to the young striker who scored easily. Although the Rams had seemed to be the better side they had failed to take advantage of some sloppy Wolves defending and they had paid the price.

Dougan was proving a real handful for the normally assured McFarland who was finding it difficult to cope with his aerial threat. Ron Webster too was finding it hard against Wagstaffe. The Rams were battling hard to regain the lead but to the huge disappointment of the large travelling contingent from Derby the crucial third goal in the 78th minute went against them. Boulton had done well to get to a powerful strike from Kenny Hibbitt but he was unable to hold on to the ball and it fell to Dougan whose shot eventually rebounded to Richards and he applied the finishing touch to make it 2-1. Try as they did the Rams were unable to force an equaliser.

Afterwards one reporter described the match as a good old-fashioned honest-to-goodness scrap between two talented and determined sides. Clough said he was getting used to teams raising their games against Derby All the same it was a set back which had seen them fall three points behind Manchester United at the top of the table. Although they remained in second place, they were now on the same number of points as Manchester City and Sheffield United.

I felt no love for their club as I left Wolverhampton that night but on the final night of the season, I, along with all other Rams fans adopted them as our second love for the finale and boy did we love them when it was all over. We also had a one-night stand with the Arsenal. But that’s a story to tell at the very end.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Guest

[Guest]

 

Brian Clough – The People’s Champion

There was an unusual event that happened on our way home after this game that has always stayed with me. In the Clough years, the team usually travelled everywhere on the team coach, fitted with four-seat ‘card’ tables for the players to relax. Trent buses owned the coach and it came complete with the team’s own personal driver, Eric Kitchen, who was a Trent employee. Eric was a friendly outgoing character. He was very trustworthy and popular with Brian Clough, the players and the supporters alike. He loved and cherished his position as the team’s driver. But on this day, Eric must have driven the empty coach on the relatively short journey back home alone.

This was the fourth season of the popular Ramaway football special trains, chartered by the club to ferry supporters to all of the away games. The train took the fans into the nearest station to the ground. On this day, the main Wolverhampton station was our terminus as it was only a short walk to and from Molineux.

After the game, as the large contingent of Rams fans gathered on the platform awaiting the arrival of the Ramaway, there was a sudden burst of flash bulbs to our right. As we looked along the platform, we could see the media cameramen taking pictures of Brian Clough as he led his players, all resplendent in their blue club blazers, slowly along the platform towards us. Clough was nodding appreciatively at us as we cheered and applauded him and his team.
 
When the train arrived, the team boarded a reserved carriage at the front. Then off we went. It was as though the officer commanding himself had come to lead Brian Clough’s Black & White Army back home. Can you really imagine that close intimacy with the supporters happening to the soon to be Champions of England today?

As the train wound its way north, some supporters hatched a plan. The team being at the front of the train would be the last to embark when we arrived in Derby. Word was passed that we were to make our way to the front entrance of the station to greet them. The plan was delivered with exact precision. As the team emerged through the front arches, they were met with a crescendo of ‘Now you’re gonna believe us, we’re gonna win the league.’

Why did this happen? I can only think it was planned by Brian Clough who was a wizard with his own personal box of unexpected psychological tricks. Despite, his recently attained international fame, he was a true man of the people until the very end.

In the following season, I was lucky enough to follow the Rams into Europe in their first European Cup campaign. In the first round we faced the Yugoslav champions Zeljeznicar Sarajevo. We overcame them 2-0 in the first leg at the BBG with goals from McFarland and Gemmill.

A fortnight later, we headed for the return leg in Sarajevo, wondering what lay ahead in this great new adventure, that none of us could have possibly imagined in our wildest dreams just a few short years before. This happened to the very big clubs, not us surely?  Remember that unlike today only the champions of a country were allowed to enter this competition. So, we were the sole English entry. It was an exclusive competition for just the champions and not the pretenders.

Two planes flew us to Sarajevo. One was a day trip, which I think left East Midlands later on the morning of the match. I went on the other, which was a two days trip. We were up at the crack of dawn on the day of the game to board coaches from the BBG to take us to Luton Airport.

We arrived at the Continental Hotel in Sarajevo city centre in the early afternoon. After sampling the local brew we were taken on coaches to the stadium where, among the 60,000 spectators I sat next to the young Michael Dunford.  He was my age and worked in the club ticket office at the time. He later rose to be the club secretary and then CEO.  The kick-off was about 6.00pm local time. The tie was settled in the first 15 minutes with goals from Alan Hinton and John O’Hare, whereupon we had to dodge a volley of bottles and flares thrown by the disappointed home supporters standing in adjacent pens. The Rams kept the home team keeper busy all night. But Zeljeznicar scored a second half consolation goal through Bozo Jankovic, who went on to play for Middlesbrough in 1979 to 1981, to settle the aggregate at 4-1.

At the end of the game we were taken back to the hotel where dinner awaited us. As we sat at our tables enjoying pre-meal drinks, we were amazed to see Brian Clough and Peter Taylor walk into the dining room followed by the team. Cue for us all to stand and cheer them in. Cloughie walked around the room and stopped and spoke to the fans at every table. He certainly knew how to keep the people happy

When he arrived at our table, one of my mates sat there with a solemn look on his face. He was quite shy and probably awestruck at what he was witnessing. Noticing his demeanour, Cloughie asked him “What’s wrong young man? Cheer up. Are you a Forest fan?” With the benefit of hindsight, that remark now seems so horribly ironic.

It later emerged, that not being happy with the over-physicality of the opposition players, Brian had snubbed the post-match reception, explaining that he and his team had to go to meet their fans. This apparently caused some offence to the home club who were left to host just our board of directors. I bet that tickled Cloughie.

The fans present loved that night in the hotel in Sarajevo, mingling with our heroes. When the bar closed, Clough and Taylor slipped away into the night, leaving the players, the younger fans and the national football journalists free to move on to a local nightclub, which stayed open until 4.00am. 

Our enjoyment continued but the music played by the local band was rather tiresome, wholly unlike our popular English music of the time. This became just too much for the most unlikely of our players. Just before the club was due to close, Kevin Hector put his treasured right foot through the drum skin. This caused some disquiet among the locals but Roy McFarland was able to calm matters and avoid an international diplomatic incident. A whip round was held and the damage was paid for.

We made our way back to the hotel with the journalists while the players left for the team’s hotel. Not a single written word appeared in the national press about that bloody drum. Haven’t times changed?

But the King was right. The music was bloody awful.

Jose Mourinho is a self-avowed admirer of Brian Clough and all he achieved in football. Listening to Mourinho over the years, I can see that he tried to model his style on Clough. But it was lost in delivery amidst his Portuguese accent and his frequent bouts of petulance. Furthermore, it was only very occasionally, unlike Jose, that Clough lambasted his players in public. On the very rare occasions he did so, it was done for a carefully considered effect and for a meaningful reason. In the main, he was fiercely loyal to his players and for the most part, what was said in the dressing room forever remained in the dressing room. Unlike with Mourhino, the buck stopped with Brian.

Mourinho famously pronounced himself as the ‘Special One.’ For the Derby fans of the Clough era, there will only ever be one ‘Special One’ and it isn’t Mourinho. No way Jose!

But really the one and only ‘Special One’ was part of a ‘Special Two.’ Unlike the people of Nottingham, we get that in Derby. That’s why our statue is of Clough and Taylor together at a stadium in a real football town where they both felt most at home, Not Brian standing lonely, without his mate, in the centre of a not so special city, where he never chose to live.

Here’s to Clough and Taylor. It goes together like fish and chips.

Come on you Rams.

Quote: Written after he retired from Notts. Forest in 1981, Peter Taylor, in his autobiography 'With Clough By Taylor’ said 'The Baseball Ground has always appealed to me. Nottingham is my birthplace but I feel more at home in Derby, a real football town.'

Facts: Brian Clough made his family home in Derby from the time he joined the Rams in the summer of 1967 until he died in our city on 20 September 2004. His memorial service was held at Pride Park Stadium, Derby on 21 October 2004. The Church of England consecrated the football ground to facilitate the service.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Guest

[Wistaston Ram]

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!