lancs blue
Well-Known Member
xgorton said:
Always thought Tony Brown was a very underrated inside forward, a great foil for Jeff Astle and a very good finisher, IIRC he scored both goals in the Maine Rd fixture that Xmas.
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The 1967-68 Season
- Thread starter Scaring Europe to Death
- Start date
Always thought Tony Brown was a very underrated inside forward, a great foil for Jeff Astle and a very good finisher, IIRC he scored both goals in the Maine Rd fixture that Xmas.
Ken Shabby
Well-Known Member
Good topic; I, too, enjoy the trivia and minutiae that go to make up the 'whole'. It's like discussing now whether John Guidetti (for example) is good enough to play for us or if he has a future at City (probably not). Temporal distance doesn't dispel the issues that were important and were being discussed by fans 40 years ago.
Or something.
Or something.
Blue Streak
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 16 Jun 2008
- Messages
- 2,459
I really should pick the brains of my Dad more on this subject as he went to every game home and away that season. Although from the chats we have had in the past I know the highlights (for him) were the 3-1 win at Old Trafford and obviously the final game at St James Park.
laserblue
Well-Known Member
Scaring Europe to Death said:I discovered recently that during the 1967-68 season, second division QPR appeared on Match of the Day more times than the First Division Champions.
I've only ever seen the "Ballet on Ice", our defeat at Leeds, the 4-3 at Newcastle (ITV) and brief highlights of the 1-1 at Everton which appeared on "The Golden Vision"
Perhaps our older supporters could talk us through the big games.
At which end did we score our goals in the vital game at White Hart Lane? Can't remember
What was the atmosphere like during the Everton home game when news filtered through that United were losing at West Brom and the title was therefore in our hands. Absolutely fucking mental. At the final whistle the crowd
was going potty but when the tannoy came on it went totally silent within a few seconds. You could hear a pin drop. "Here is a result you might not have heard. West Bromwich Albion 6..." The rest of the score was drowned out when the crowd went mental again. The rags might have scored 7 for all we really knew at the time!
How many fans were City taking away that season? Depends where. Obviously more at the nearer venues but I went to places like West Ham where a lot of Blues turned up. 22,000 at Newcastle was sight to see.
Was there any aggro at Maine Road? Not that I can remember even against the rags and there was no official segregation. At that time London clubs brought very few supporters.
At what point did City go from mid table mediocrity to championship contenders? It was first talked about when City had a run of 6 wins in the autumn but then we lost to the rags at Maine Road. In the spring it was talked about again but after an Easter defeat at Chelsea most of the press wrote us off. Our last two games were Spurs and Newcastle away - very difficult places to get anything. Even on the last day the BBC sent Kenneth 'rag' Wolstenholme to the swamp for the rags' game against lowly Sunderland who had only just secured safety the week before. They clearly expected United to win and City not to. (Both were on the same points). Wolstenholme was widely considered a jinx to any team he bigged up with his predictions regularly backfiring so when my mates and I looked into a TV shop in Newcastle and saw him reporting pre-match from the swamp and backing the rags we let out a cheer. We knew we couldn't lose!
John Clay? Chris Jones? Stan Bowles? Did they deserve a medal? No. They were just bit part players. Long serving Harry Dowd and Bobby Kennedy were more deserving but they didn't play in enough matches either.
How was the atmosphere in Manchester on the night that City won the League? Don't know as we got back late and went home. (I was still at school)
How did United take our success? Gutted. Absolutely fucking gutted. They'd mocked our 'pretensions' all through the season. Many rags I knew realised they were fucked when we won 3-1 at the swamp in a re-arranged game in April
Any lucky victories or unlucky defeats? City were a bit lucky to draw 1-1 at home with Arsenal thanks to a freak goal by Lee. A 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday came as a result of an indirect free kick by Young that fortuitously clipped a Wednesday defender on its way in. The two unluckiest results I can recall were both 1-1 draws. At Everton when they equalised with a ridiculously (like 10 yards) offside goal. In the days when injury time was rarely more than a minute Sheffield Wednesday (away) equalised totally against the run of play in the 94th minute.
Did we always kick-off towards a particular end? No
What were the songs that season? Off the top of my head I can't remember any songs, apart from the usual chants, specific to that season.
Where did the away fans congregate? Behind the goal or on the right side of the Kippax. No official segregation then.
Was Ken Mulhearn better than Tony Coton or worse than Andy Dibble? Mulhearn was dogshit, more concerned with keeping his quiff intact that diving to make a save. He used to drive my dad crazy. He eventually got found out early the following season (he was blamed for the Fenerbahce defeat) and the popular Harry Dowd took over.
What colour were the Platt Lane benches? I seem to remember they were maroon but I could be wrong.
Any strange away kits? The standard away kit was maroon shirts and white or maroon shorts. Occasionally, as at West Ham, it was white shirts and black shorts.
Sounds sad, but it's the anecdotes that provide the substance.
Gary James
Well-Known Member
I was born during the season so I clearly have no memory of it, but I have researched it quite a bit. Obviously a lot appears in my books but a few snippets that often get overlooked....
- Liverpool still had a game in hand going in to that final weekend. The media and many writers today still focus on the Utd-City angle because that is always entertaining but had City not won at Newcastle then Liverpool could have overtaken the Blues. So going in to that final day it wasn't a City or United thing it was a three way chase with City being favourites because of their superior goal average.
- Newcastle still had something to play for, even if the media and wider public didn't realise it because a win would basically guarantee them a Fairs Cup place. In the end results elsewhere (and Utd's European Cup win) meant they got it anyway, but on the day none of that was certain, so don't let anyone tell you Newcastle was an 'easy' win (like they claim with QPR in 2012 - for most of the game it was far from easy or certain what result was needed).
- The weekend Franny Lee signed Malcolm Allison was interviewed for the Coventry City job and basically told it would be his. He went public and Coventry eventually pulled the plug much to Allison's disgust - often overlooked and maybe a factor in Mercer's decision to remain in control for more than the '3 years' Allison later claimed he'd promised. Had Allison gone to Coventry in Oct 1967 as he wanted then who knows how that season and the following years would have panned out.
Violence - there were issues at the away game at Fulham apparently, but it was a case of City fans getting in early and 'taking' the home terracing. Back then it was apparently the main motivation, not violence as such but to make sure your 'boys' got into the ground early to occupy the usual home terracing and force the locals elsewhere in the ground. Would have loved to have seen that in action!
I think this thread is a good idea. In my writing I try to interview fans to gain an understanding of what it was like to attend games before I was born or ones I couldn't be at, and it always helps develop our understanding of what makes City tick. I've interviewed players, fans, directors etc. about 1967-68 and there are still plenty of stories to tell, so please anyone who was at any game during that season add your memories.
- Liverpool still had a game in hand going in to that final weekend. The media and many writers today still focus on the Utd-City angle because that is always entertaining but had City not won at Newcastle then Liverpool could have overtaken the Blues. So going in to that final day it wasn't a City or United thing it was a three way chase with City being favourites because of their superior goal average.
- Newcastle still had something to play for, even if the media and wider public didn't realise it because a win would basically guarantee them a Fairs Cup place. In the end results elsewhere (and Utd's European Cup win) meant they got it anyway, but on the day none of that was certain, so don't let anyone tell you Newcastle was an 'easy' win (like they claim with QPR in 2012 - for most of the game it was far from easy or certain what result was needed).
- The weekend Franny Lee signed Malcolm Allison was interviewed for the Coventry City job and basically told it would be his. He went public and Coventry eventually pulled the plug much to Allison's disgust - often overlooked and maybe a factor in Mercer's decision to remain in control for more than the '3 years' Allison later claimed he'd promised. Had Allison gone to Coventry in Oct 1967 as he wanted then who knows how that season and the following years would have panned out.
Violence - there were issues at the away game at Fulham apparently, but it was a case of City fans getting in early and 'taking' the home terracing. Back then it was apparently the main motivation, not violence as such but to make sure your 'boys' got into the ground early to occupy the usual home terracing and force the locals elsewhere in the ground. Would have loved to have seen that in action!
I think this thread is a good idea. In my writing I try to interview fans to gain an understanding of what it was like to attend games before I was born or ones I couldn't be at, and it always helps develop our understanding of what makes City tick. I've interviewed players, fans, directors etc. about 1967-68 and there are still plenty of stories to tell, so please anyone who was at any game during that season add your memories.
lancs blue
Well-Known Member
laserblue said:What colour were the Platt Lane benches? I seem to remember they were maroon but I could be wrong.
Definitely all blue that season, they went to different coloured blocks for the start of 1970/71 season IIRC when the club started selling reserved S/Ts for the Platt Lane and repainted and numbered all the seats and marked off those sold as S/Ts.
lancs blue
Well-Known Member
mancunial said:I'm sure of this but tell me if I am wrong but the only times we kicked towards the platt lane 1 St half in 67 /68 we lost them both 1/2 United then 0/2 westbrom ?
Just dug out a few programmes from that season and I can confirm that Colin Bell scored at the Platt Lane end in the derby (there's a pic in the Blackpool LC programme).
xgorton
Well-Known Member
I was sat behind the goals when Bell scored against Utd,front row platt lane.lancs blue said:mancunial said:I'm sure of this but tell me if I am wrong but the only times we kicked towards the platt lane 1 St half in 67 /68 we lost them both 1/2 United then 0/2 westbrom ?
Just dug out a few programmes from that season and I can confirm that Colin Bell scored at the Platt Lane end in the derby (there's a pic in the Blackpool LC programme).
urmston
Well-Known Member
The defeat v West Brom at Christmas was the first time I saw City lose.