The U’sual Ramblings #4 comes on a very special day, for me at least, as I finally enter my 7th decade on the third rock from the sun. It has been a somewhat extended celebration, with the big party with family and friends last Sunday at a popular watering hole in Salisbury. That was mainly because this weekend I have the pleasure of Reggie (and Alfie) keeping me company, and Reggie bless him even entered the spirit of the occasion and gave me a lie-in this morning. Kind of anyway, he was shouting at me to get up at 7am, but after stern resistance he relented and snuggled in for another hour or so. So, as much as it will be possible, today’s blog is going to be August 20th themed.
”Bloody opera singers, it’s always ‘me me me’ with them”
The world outside U’s World
This will be an ‘On This Day’ special. To kick things off, two intimately related events, sadly separated by nearly 250 years. On this day in 1619, the first documented Africans arrive in North America (an estimated 20 individuals), landing at Point Comfort in Virginia — they are immediately sold and/or traded into servitude. Exactly 247 years later, in 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declares the US Civil War over.
Closer to home, but keeping on the theme of conflict, on August 20th 1940, Winston Churchill delivered his “never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” speech. The RAF, supported by innumerable European and Commonwealth pilots, would finally win the Battle of Britain a few months later, bringing to an end any chance that Germany would invade the UK. Coincidentally, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico by a Stalinist agent on the very same day.
In 1968, and indirectly the result of the post-war carve-up of Europe, the Warsaw Pact nations (apart from Romania and Albania), led by the Soviet Union, invade Czechoslovakia, bringing an end to the Prague Spring, a brief period of liberalisation led by Alexander DubÄek. And finally, in celebration of human endeavour, on this day in 1975 Viking 1 was launched. This was the first of two spacecraft (along with Viking 2) sent to Mars as part of NASA’s space programme. Exactly 11 months later, on July 20th, Viking 1 touched down on the surface of Mars, the first successful Mars lander in history.
U’s World
First and foremost, and I would never have spotted this were it not for Graeson’s excellent ColuData website, I share a birthday with none other than Wayne Brown, though he does have a 15 year advantage over me. Also on that list is Adam Locke (1970), Stewart Houston (1949), Bobby Blackwood (1934) and Graham Benstead (1963) — though I confess the last two are not familiar names to me.
Happy Birthday Wayne!
There’s been quite a few who’ve made debuts on this day, probably the most famous of whom was Percy Ames back in 1955, in a 0-0 at Exeter City. Two others also made their debuts in that same match, John Fowler and Sammy McLeod. Three players have scored their first goals for the U’s on 20th August, Michail Antonio in a 3-2 defeat at Huddersfield Town in 2011 (I was there), Jimmy Lindsay in a 1-0 victory over Oxford United at Layer Road in 1974 (pretty certain I was there too), and Bill Layton in a 3-0 Layer Road victory over Weymouth in 1949 (definitely wasn’t there for that one).
There have been some notable events on this day too, including in 1960 Bobby Hill making his 100th football league appearance, and in 1980 it was Micky Cook’s 500th football league start. In 1988 Peter Cawley plays for Wimbledon in the Charity Shield, though they are beaten 2-1 by Liverpool, and in 2009 on this day, Dean Hammond is sold to Southampton for a reported £400,000.
Stat attack
The U’s have played 17 times on August 20th, the first game back in 1949 for that Jimmy Allen 3-0 victory over Weymouth, and the most recent John McGreal’s 2-2 draw at Grimsby Town in 2019. Overall, 20th August is a reasonably auspicious day for the U’s, winning eight of those 17 games in all competitions, drawing three and losing six. Eight games have been at home, nine away, so today’s game against Leyton Orient will level it at nine games apiece.
Without doubt our best performance on this day was Benny Fenton’s 4-0 demolition of Hull City in 1960 at Layer Road, followed by that 3-0 against Weymouth, and a very impressive Dick Graham inspired 3-0 victory at Elm Park against Reading in the 1969 League Cup 1st round. As far as defeats are concerned, 20th August seems to be a day we don’t get walloped — three times teams have scored three against the U’s, Middlesbrough in 1966, WBA in 1996 (League Cup) and Huddersfield Town in 2011, but on all three occasions the U’s have scored 2 in reply.
Our highest home attendance on this day was that Weymouth victory, when 9,897 turned up, and our lowest most recently in 1996 in front of 3,521, when Steve Wignall’s U’s succumbed to that narrow 3-2 defeat against WBA. Attendances away have inevitably in general been significantly better, with four games attracting five-figure attendances. The highest was 15,967 at Fratton Park in 2016, when John McGreal’s U’s lost 2-0 (yep, there for that one too), with games against Exeter City (1955), Reading (1969) and Huddersfield Town (2011) all with 11k+ crowds. The lowest attendance, home or away, was just 2,247 at Field Mill in 1994, with George Burley’s U’s losing 2-0 in the process.
Match of the Day
Colchester United v Hartlepool
Friday 20th August 1971
Fourth Division (Tier 4)
Attendance 5,634
Courtesy of Graeson’s ColuData website
Today’s Match of the Day is for obvious reasons a ‘Special’, as we go way back to the U’s Friday night game at Layer Road in 1971 against Hartlepool. Certainly it was special for 9-year old me, as it was my first ever Colchester United match. Obviously, I no longer have a programme for this game, in fact I’m not even sure I ever had one, so I was delighted to see that Graeson’s website does have a photo of the actual programme for that match.
Earlier that year in February of the 1970/71 season the U’s had made international headlines with their stunning 3-2 FA Cup giant-killing victory over Don Revie’s Leeds United. On the back of that, less than two weeks earlier the U’s had been victorious in the short-lived Watney Cup, beating West Bromwich Albion 2-4 on penalties in the final at the Hawthorns, after an entertaining 4-4 draw in normal time.
And so it was, on a wave of local support for/ interest in the U’s, I found myself accompanying one of my best mates back then Colin and his dad on a visit to Layer Road. Fixture congestion at the back end of the previous season, ironically not helped by our record-breaking FA Cup run, had taken its toll on some aging legs in the U’s squad, and we had narrowly missed out on promotion by two points, finishing sixth.
As a result, there was considerable optimism that Dick Graham’s “Grandad’s Army” could go one better and clinch promotion. The previous Saturday had been a tough opener, away at Sincil Bank, with the U’s losing 2-0, so time now under the lights of a Friday night game at Layer Road to really get the new season started. To inject a bit of youth into the squad, Lindsay Smith (16), Phil Bloss (18) and Steve Leslie (18) had already been transferred across from the apprentices.
However, on that evening it is still worth noting that the average age of the squad was only just under 30 years, as Dick Graham’s U’s lined up:
1….Graham Smith
2….Eric Burgess
3….John Gilchrist
4….Ken Jones (12. Bobby Cram 70’)
5….Brian Garvey
6….John Kurila
7….Mick Mahon
8….Brian Gibbs
9….Brian Hall
10..Brian Owen
11..Brian Lewis
Hartlepool were then managed by player manager Len Ashurst. Ashurst had spent most of a distinguished career in the Sunderland defence, eventually making 458 appearances for the Black Cats, second in their all-time appearances list, and one of only two outfield players to top 400 appearances. He also played a handful of times for England Youth, with one England U23 match in 1961 (a 4-1 victory over Germany at White Hart Lane). Ashurst had signed for Hartlepool in 1970, and for this season had been promoted to the role of player manager. In a squad list that is largely unknown to me, it’s also worth noting that no. 11 for Hartlepool that Friday evening was none other than Neil Warnock (Colin to his friends).
For obvious reasons, there is very few match details that I can remember, and nothing that I can find researching on the internet. But I still have some very powerful memories of that evening to cherish. The sense of bewilderment walking up Layer Road, not knowing what to expect, but amongst throngs of people of all ages — mostly male — all heading in the same direction. The gruff conversations, programme vendors touting their wares, police keeping a watchful eye on things — all being devoured in wonderment.
If that wasn’t enough, squeezing through the narrow corridor of the turnstiles was like entering Narnia — and there it was, a swathe of green surrounded on all sides by rapidly filling stands. Obviously, it was still light (and a 7.30pm kick-off), but the floodlights were already on, given everything an almost sparkling glittery edge — honestly, I was in awe! We stood at the Layer Road end, just a few yards in from the corner flag, and right at the front against the wall so me and Colin could see the match.
”X” marks the spot, roughly (© fine art America)
All around me those gruff conversations continued, the occasional chant from off to my left as the Layer Road end started warming up. And there were other things, in a house (then) of non-smokers, the scent of woodbines filled the air, the language (enough to make a 9-year old giggle) coloured the air, and as the U’s ran out, the pungent odour of wintergreen assaulted my senses as a heady perfume would. Quite simply, I was in heaven, and had fallen in love in an instant.
As for the actual game, I wish there was more I can remember, but to be fair I was somewhat intoxicated at the time. Amid the oooo’s and aarr’s of the crowd, the occasional press as the crowd surged forward, the first half was a battling if unspectacular stalemate against a solidly unimaginative Hartlepool. 0-0 at half-time, and as daylight faded and the floodlights grew in dominance, the atmosphere just intensified for me.
Into the second half, and with the U’s playing towards the Layer Road end, I was dimly aware that if it had been crowded in the first half, it was positively packed now, with the opposite open terrace now bereft of supporters, as the faithful gathered behind the goal to simply suck the ball into the net. And finally, in the 74th minute, that moment arrived. Dick Graham had just recently replaced Ken Jones with Bobby Cram — pushing the average age even closer to 30 years.
I don’t recall what caused the event, though I do remember it was precious hard to actually see the goalmouth from our vantage point, but suddenly there was a unified shout of encouragement, followed almost immediately by a deafening roar of celebration. Everyone around me, grown men for the most part, were cheering, waving, jumping up and down, clapping, and we were pressed against the front wall in the process, almost in bewilderment about what was going on…and in the midst of it all, 9-year old me asked Colin’s dad “Did we score?”.
Actually, as it turned out, we hadn’t scored technically, Len Ashurst had done it for us with an own goal, pressured by the U’s front line and managing to bundle the ball past his goalkeeper Mike Gadsby and into the back of the Layer Road net. Not that anyone cared, and for the second time of asking the U’s had got their first points on the board for the 1971/72 season — and gained another lifelong supporter in the process.
Colchester United 1 (Len Ashurst 74’ o.g.) Hartlepool 0
It turned out to be a difficult start to the season for the U’s, losing three of the next four in the league. It would take until October for the U’s to start to find some consistent form, and even then, it was only sporadically consistent. We finished the season in 11th place, nine points short of promotion (in the days when it was 2pts for a win). Grimsby were promoted as champions, alongside dear friends Southend United, Brentford and Scunthorpe United.
Hartlepool narrowly avoided the threat of having to apply for re-election by just three points and three places, Warnock winning Player of the Season in the process. Northampton Town, Barrow, Stockport County and Crewe Alexandra weren’t so lucky, but it was only the far-flung outpost of Barrow who failed in their re-election bid. It would take until 2020 for the Bluebirds to return.
At a tempestuous AGM for shareholders in September 1972, and following a poor start to the 1972/73 season, police sergeant Alan Frost stood up at the meeting and made a vitriolic personal attack on Graham, questioning his management ability against a backdrop of a record £23,000 profit made by the club. Ironically, Frost had won his paltry five shares that gave him a place at the meeting in a raffle. Graham was shattered, no one stood up in his defence, and he resigned, bringing an ignominious end to a momentous era in the history of Colchester United.
Up the U’s!
[Post edited 20 Aug 2022 17:54]
|  |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
