Not So Charitable

These days Sky would be trying to come up with superlatives to outdo ‘massive’ as the curtain raiser for the 1974-75 season got underway at Wembley.

The Charity Shield (since renamed Community Shield) had started off as a professionals v amateurs match at the early part of the twentieth century.  From 1930 the format of League Champions v FA Cup winners took shape.  But the game and the format was patchy and inconsistent and it wasn’t until 1959 when it was moved to the start of the season.  There seemed to be a decision every year as to which teams would compete in the match.  In 1974 Ted Croker, then FA Secretary, created the current format of a match between League Champions and FA Cup winners, to be played as a curtain raiser for the new season, at Wembley Stadium.  It was also the first time the Charity Shield would be televised.

The very first match was potentially a dream come true for the organisers.  Liverpool were FA Cup holders and had won the League in 1973.  Leeds United were reigning League Champions and had won the FA Cup in 1972 and were beaten finalists a year later.  In each of the previous four FA Cup Finals contained either Leeds or Liverpool.  In the League the two had finished in the top three in each of the previous three seasons.  In addition to this success they were managed by two of English football’s most successful managers, Bill Shankly (Liverpool) and Don Revie (Leeds United).

Into this battle burst Brian Clough, taking his Derby County side to the League title in 1972 just three years after they were Second Division Champions.  A year later they reached the European Cup Semi-Finals, losing to Juventus.  Clough then tried to call the bluff of Derby’s Chairman, Sam Longson, when he threatened to resign after one of their many fall outs, but this time Longson accepted it.  Clough then spent eight months at Brighton in a rather unsuccessful spell.

In April 1973 England sacked World Cup winning manager, Alf Ramsey, after they failed to qualify for the 1974 tournament.  Former Manchester City manager, Joe Mercer, took over as caretaker manager.  England had the British Home International Championship and then an Eastern European tour, which Ramsey had arranged before he was given the push.  Under Mercer England won three, drew three and lost one of their matches and for a while it seemed he might get the job on a permanent basis, despite appearing reluctant.  Eventually, England plumped for Revie as permanent manager.  This resulted in a vacancy for the Leeds United job.  To everyone’s amazement, including some of his closest friends, Clough put himself forward.

Clough had been a bitter critic of Leeds and Revie’s methods.  He believed they had not won any honours fairly.  They had adopted a particularly tough brand of football, often resorting to kicking opponents off the park, as well as pursuing a continual strategy of gamesmanship.  Clough had made no secret of his view of the side as “dirty” and “cheats” and also called for the club to be demoted to the Second Division as a punishment for their poor disciplinary record.  The Leeds players had wanted Johnny Giles to be promoted to manager, but the directors chose Clough.

At one of his first training sessions he told the players “You can throw your medals in the bin because they were not won fairly”.  He then revealed his plan to get them to win them all again, but playing “clean”.  Unfortunately, the players were clearly unimpressed, struggling to conceal their utter contempt for their new boss.  One player, Joe Jordan, had been singled out by Clough as a diver and a cheat and once he was installed in the Leeds hotseat, Clough duly signed two strikers, Duncan McKenzie and John O’Hare, who were immediate challengers to the Scottish international’s position.  Against this backdrop they embarked on the new season.

The Charity Shield was to be Clough’s first game as manager of Leeds United.

At Anfield, Bill Shankly had just guided Liverpool to their second FA Cup success, both under his management.  In 1973 he guided them to their 8^th League title, and his third, as well as their first ever European trophy, the UEFA Cup.  He was the most enigmatic managers English football had ever seen with many column inches given over to his quotes.  When he took over at Anfield they were a Second Division team, a shadow of a once great club.  He guided them to promotion and then the League title within a few years.  He’d been at the club for over 14 years, yet on 12^th July 1974 Liverpool chairman, Peter Robinson, shocked the football world by announcing Shankly was resigning from the club.  The news shocked football and even when the teams took to the field few at Liverpool knew how they were going to be able to continue.  First team coach, Bob Paisley was a reluctant replacement.

The Charity Shield was to see Shankly lead out his Liverpool team for the last time.

Years later Clough revealed he didn’t want to lead his team out that day, claiming he had asked Revie to do it.  He felt as Revie had won the title with Leeds, he should have the honour of leading ‘his’ team out, but Revie declined the offer stating this was Clough’s team now and his ‘privilege’ to lead them out.  Such was the distance between manager and team, Clough spent much of the match watching from Liverpool’s bench.

Liverpool’s star player was Kevin Keegan.  The 23-year old had been signed as a scrawny teenager from Scunthorpe, yet under Shankly he’d moulded himself into an important player for both club and country.  He scored twice at Wembley in May as Liverpool lifted their second FA Cup beating Newcastle, 3-0.  England’s caretaker manager, Joe Mercer saw Keegan as an important part of the team and played him in each game he was in charge.  After the euphoria of scoring twice in the FA Cup Final, Keegan got his first international goal when he scored against Wales in the Home International Championship.  From there England embarked on an Eastern European tour, and after matches against East Germany and Bulgaria, there was almost an international incident when Keegan was arrested and beaten up in Belgrade airport.  After FA officials managed to convince security guards of who they were attacking, all charges were dropped.  Keegan went onto score in the subsequent match against Yugoslavia.

In a pre-season game at Kaiserslautern, Keegan was sent-off for punching an opponent.  Liverpool claimed it was Peter Cormack who’d thrown the punch, but years later Keegan admitted it was him as several players had been looking to get retribution for a back tackle on one of their teammates.  Keegan just happened to get to the player first.  He’d been through an eventful few months.

Leeds talismanic captain was Billy Bremner.  The diminutive Scot was a Revie-disciple, playing a vital role in the club’s success.  He was in the Leeds team beaten in extra time by Liverpool in the 1965 FA Cup Final.  He’d just spent the summer with the Scotland team for the World Cup in West Germany, where they went out in the Group stage without losing a game.  He was known for his no-nonsense, tough-tackling approach and was the undisputed leader of this notorious side.

To combat this, Liverpool had an equally renowned hard-man, Tommy Smith, and these were the two best teams in England, neither wanted to give an inch.  You had the perfect recipe for a real humdinger yet few were prepared for what they would witness.

The scene was set early on when Allan Clarke was a little vigorous in a challenge on Phil Thompson and Smith took it upon himself to let Clarke know what he thought of it. That challenge earned Smith a booking.  In response, Norman Hunter kicked Steve Heighway up in the air.  19 minutes in and Phil Thompson played a ball forward where Keegan turned Hunter and his shot was parried by David Harvey in the Leeds goal, but the ball bounced up and Phil Boersma bundled it over the line for the opening goal.  Liverpool used that move several times in the first half as Keegan was giving Hunter a torrid time, but in the end he would pay for his impudence.  It was all Liverpool as Hall and Boersma both forced Harvey into good saves, then Emlyn Hughes fired a fierce shot against the bar from 30 yards out.  Leeds only meaningful chance fell to Clarke who headed Reaney’s cross wide when unchallenged in the area.

In the second half Leeds, who’d looked sulky and petulant all afternoon, came more into it but there was little of their zip and movement.  Things then literally ‘kicked-off’ on the hour.  Liverpool attacked and Boersma again forced Harvey into a save, and once again the keeper couldn’t hold it but his follow-up went across the goal to where Cormack retrieved it on the right wing.  Smith then found Hughes, free in midfield just outside the ‘d’ and as he played it to his left to find Keegan, two Leeds players, Giles and Bremner, both converged on the Liverpool skipper and ‘assaulted’ him.  Keegan tried to find Hall to his right but Bremner got hold of the ball and as he attempted to bring the ball out of defence, Hall managed to nick it.  The ball was now loose with both Bremner and Keegan going for it and Keegan’s challenge on Bremner was particularly robust.  The Liverpool striker then continued to chase the ball which now found its way to Giles on the left of the area.  Giles, unaware Keegan was closing him down, played the ball back to Hunter when Keegan grabbed him.  The Irishman instinctively turned round and landed a punch on Keegan.

As Keegan lay prostrate on the ground, Bremner ran over to him to protest at the momento Keegan had left on his knee.  Giles was eventually booked, and the resultant free-kick was played short allowing Lorimer to boot the ball away before Keegan could take a shot.  Keegan was then seen remonstrating with Hunter and McQueen as Bremner appeared to continue their little spat.  Both sets of players attempted to calm their teammates down when referee, Bob Matthewson, called both Keegan and Bremner to him and after a few minutes sent them both off.  Keegan, clearly angered by the whole situation believing he was the innocent party, left the pitch and ripped his shirt off in disgust.  Bremner soon followed, doing the same as both players made their way down the tunnel to derision from the watching public.

Eventually a game continued and ten minutes later Leeds were level when Lorimer’s floated ball into the area was met by the head of Trevor Cherry just as Ray Clemence tried to reach it.  The game finally seemed to come alive as both sides had chances to win it.  With the scores still level after 90 minutes the match went to a penalty shootout.

The first five kicks for each side were perfect as Lorimer, Giles, Gray, Hunter and Cherry scored for Leeds with Lindsay, Hughes, Hall, Smith and Cormack successful for Liverpool.  Inexplicably, the first penalty of the sudden-death phase for Leeds was taken by the keeper, Harvey and he blasted it wide.  Liverpool refused to return the favour and Ian Callaghan stepped up and despite slipping, fired his kick into the roof of the net and Liverpool had won another trophy and for Shankly he had won on his final visit to Wembley.

The aftermath sent shockwaves through English football as various parties put in their opinion over how outraged they were.  Clough was in no doubt who the guilty party was;

“Bremner’s behaviour was scandalous. He seemed intent on making Kevin Keegan’s afternoon an absolute misery.  He kicked him just about everywhere, until it became only a matter of time before a confrontation exploded.”

He went onto add “Keegan was a victim, not a culprit.  I told Bremner afterwards he should pay compensation for the period Keegan was suspended”.

The press was equally scathing in their condemnation.  The Times was particularly angry as Wembley Stadium witnessed two British players sent off for the first time in its illustrious history, describing the removal of their shirts, “shameless”, as they should’ve been “proud to wear them” and singled out Bremner for critisicm as he threw his “petulantly to the ground, where it lay crumpled like a shot seagull until cleared away by a linesman.  It was a disgusting scene”.  They went onto claim “Sadly, Keegan could have been the man of the match.  Leeds patently realised this by half-time and seemed intent on eliminating him by fair means or foul”.

Interestingly, just watching the footage of the immediate build-up to the incident would suggest Keegan was incensed at the treatment of his captain under the hands, or feet, of Giles and Bremner and he sought his own justice.  But later, Tommy Smith gave a little more detail to the event. 

“Leeds had been at Kevin all day.  It was at a corner and Giles came up behind Keegan and whacked him.  Kevin whirled around but Giles had disappeared and Billy was the nearest Leeds player so Kevin went for him.

Ted Croker was especially angry about the fracas, as he’d seen this as an additional showpiece event for The FA to add to the FA Cup Final and League Cup Final.  The build-up was similar to those Finals and back then they were the only two domestic matches televised live.  To say The FA was embarrassed would be an understatement and it’s clear they wanted both clubs punished severely, but the panel which sat on judgement over this included some club managers, including Matt Busby, who were never going to agree to this because of the precedent it could set.  It is very possible the clubs did not share Croker’s view of the match as being any more than an exhibition.

Both players received lengthy bans and a £500 fine but despite calls in the press neither club received sanctions.  Both players were banned for 11 matches and by the time Bremner returned to Leeds, Clough had gone after only 44 days.  Clough was paid-off after his early sacking yet despite his wealth he was demoralised.  Shortly before his death he revealed “I didn’t think it out.  Leeds weren’t for me and I wasn’t for them”, which was probably an understatement.

The whole episode may seem tame by today’s standards but back then a watching television audience had not seen the like, and of course many were concerned with the example being shown to others.  The fact we are less shocked about it all now shows the authorities failed to rein behaviour in. 

Saturday 10^th August 1974, Wembley Stadium, 67,000

LIVERPOOL   (1)   1   (Boersma 19)

LEEDS UNITED   (0)   1   (Cherry 70)

LIVERPOOL: Clemence; Smith, Thompson, Hughes, Lindsay; Callaghan, Hall, Cormack, Heighway; Keegan, Boersma

LEEDS UNITED: Harvey; Reaney, McQueen, Hunter, Cherry; Lorimer, Bremner, Giles, Gray; Clarke (McKenzie), Jordan

Penalties
LIVERPOOL: Lindsay, Hughes, Hall, Smith, Cormack, Callaghan

LEEDS UTD: Lorimer, Giles, Gray, Hunter, Cherry, Harvey (missed)

Quotes – The Guardian, The Times, LFChistory.net, mightyLeeds.co.uk.

Loan System

The loan system in football is something which has become more and more of an option for clubs recently, but does it really work for all concerned?

Is it simply like living together before you get married?  Try before you buy?  Or is it evidence of an employer not really rating a player but giving them some first team football just to keep their value up?  Is it a great way for a club to try out a player before they fully commit themselves to a purchase?  There are pros and cons to both sides.

The loan system caused controversy last season when Watford appeared to take advantage of the rules.  Having signed a deal with the owners of Udinese & Granada they had access to a crop of players they wouldn’t ordinarily have.  In one match against Palace, Watford fielded 7 international loan players.  Clubs can have as many loan players as they want but can only field 5 at a time.  That limit does not apply to foreign players.  Did this do any good for Watford?  If they had gained promotion how many of those players would’ve stayed?  What about the players still at Watford who are now losing their places to loan players?  If this is the policy of the manager, Gianfranco Zola, and he gets the sack then the new guy comes in with a fragmented team and it could set them back years.

In addition to being able to arrange loan deals during transfer windows, there are two emergency loan windows. One starts a week after deadline day end of August till the fourth Thursday in November.  The second starts just after deadline day in January and runs to the fourth Thursday in March.  These give clubs the opportunity to see how their rivals have done in the transfer window and then strengthen their squad accordingly.

Loaning a player used to mean;
“We can’t find a buyer for you at the moment, and we want to get some money for you, but if we leave you in the reserves no one will see you and your value will reduce.  So, we’ll loan you out to a team at a lower level and then more people will see you in action and may want to buy you”. 

But it seems to have moved to;
“We can’t find a place for you in our first team, but there’s that little club over there who would do anything to have a player of your ability, so we’ll loan you out to them.  They can play you more regularly and return you as a much better player.  Then, if you haven’t developed, they can keep you permanently, and we don’t lose out.”


Recipient Club
Does the loan system mean lower league clubs don’t have to search and develop talent?  Does this make them lazy?  But then for the recipient they are getting a player employed and coached by a bigger club who will generally pay the majority of the player’s wages.  The recipient club cannot really lose as they have no interest in the player’s development or his future career.  They can just use him for as long as they want and send him back when he’s no longer required.  Why should the recipient club really care about a player who has lost form when he can just sit in the reserves with his wage tab being picked up by someone else?  Had they invested in the player and had the manager had personally chosen him, they’d be keener on his development and then need to turn his form around.

You can hardly blame League One and League Two clubs for using the system as they could point to missing out on young talent through bigger clubs luring potential stars at an early age.  With the rules currently surrounding age-restricted squads, many bigger clubs pick the cream of young talent to fill their academies, denying smaller, more local clubs, the chance to have these kids from an early age and then make money on the transfer.

Short term loans are a particular problem. A club can loan a player for 1 or 2 months, not have to contribute much to his wages and gain an unfair advantage over their rivals.  The recipient club can point to injuries and suspensions meaning they need to bolster their squad, yet as they don’t have to commit any finances to the transaction they gain an unfair advantage over their rivals who may not have the same squad restrictions.

If a League One club uses 3-4 loan players and they get promoted.  They then find they’re in a higher division without those 3-4 players who got them there and needing to replace them before they go back down again.  If they can’t attract more loan signings of sufficient ability then they face the prospect of having to play players who made way for those loan signings the previous year, when they weren’t considered good enough.

Parent Club
If a club doesn’t want to sell a player they can send him out on loan so at least he gets regular football.  It could ensure his value is maintained as a result.  If the player was just playing in the reserves would he receive as much exposure as he would playing at a lower level?  At least by appearing in the lower divisions he could well play in front of a larger crowd than if he was playing reserve football.

It is also a test of the player’s attitude.  If he is handed an opportunity to go to another club on loan, it could be to test his ability to see it as an opportunity.  If he is successful then it could persuade his employer to stick with him.  They may have been unsure whether he was going to make it and so a decent loan spell could convince them.  Jonjo Shelvey’s loan to Blackpool from Liverpool is a good example of this.  He had a great spell there and scored 6 goals in 10 appearances, including a hat-trick against Leeds United.  He was recalled by Liverpool as soon as Lucas was injured and seemed to get more chances, as a result. 

Downsides
Should a club loan a player out rather than sell him?  If they’re not sure whether he is for them then shouldn’t they just try and negotiate a deal with a club who do rate him?  Are they giving the player false hope when perhaps they can’t find anyone to pay the money they want for him?  Does the loan system encourage the bigger clubs to stockpile potential stars when they should really just cut them loose so he can try and make it with another club?

The recipient club is unconcerned with his development as they have little financial stake in the player.  Wouldn’t it have been better to pay something for the player and then they’d be keener to see a return on their investment?  Few things in life are truly valued when we get them for free rather than having to pay a decent amount for them.

If the loan system didn’t exist or was at least a little more restrictive, then bigger clubs may not buy players they don’t really need.  Manchester United has recently bought a young Uruguayan full-back, Guillermo Varela, who is highly rated in South America, yet already they have sent him back out on loan.  Would he not have been better staying in South America?  It seems to be the equivalent of player ‘land grab’.  Chelsea currently has 24 players out on loan throughout Europe.  Would these players have been better staying at their clubs rather than take the wages offered by Chelsea?  No doubt they’re on more money but are they developing as better players when they don’t get any exposure to Chelsea’s training staff?  One highly rated prospect, Josh McEachran, who has represented England at U17, U19 & U21 level, seemed destined for great things yet has spent the last 18 months on loan at Swansea, Middlesbrough and now Watford.  Whilst he’s trying to impress his employers they are signing other midfield players who would seem to be jumping the queue ahead of him.  He is not learning from mixing with these players as he’s elsewhere.  Would he not be better at another club, or are Chelsea worried he might develop into a really good player for someone else?  Since McEachran was handed his debut by Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea has three different managers so it is likely when he returns there that the club ethos may be very different to when he left, thereby making it even harder for him to know what is required of him.

The way bigger clubs use the loan system, is this simply an excuse to satisfy themselves they are sharing riches with the smaller clubs?  By loaning their talented stars to the less well off, is this a way of the bigger clubs ‘looking after’ them by letting them have use of their flash motors without having to find the money to buy them permanently?  Big clubs plunder the talent pool at an early age, denying the smaller clubs the opportunity of cashing in on a rising star they have nurtured, so by loaning back these players to the poor smaller club, is this simply a case of the bigger club being able to declare;
“Look, we are taking care of these smaller clubs and as they don’t have the money to find this talent themselves, we are giving them the opportunity of using our resources without having to pay for them”.

Is the loan system tantamount to how the developed world has treated Africa for the past 50 years by passing on all their unwanted goods and ‘hand-me-downs’ when in reality what Africa needed was an opportunity to develop their own wealth?  The result of this treatment has been for Africa to develop a dependency on the aid they’re given rather than have the desire to find their own way in the world.  Compare this with a country such as India who refused aid and support just after the Second World War as they were determined to make it on their own.  Look at the two now.

The other issue with the system is that a lower league club may well be unable to fund a large squad of players and with it a suitable backroom staff.  Although a player may well receive regular first team football, how likely is he to receive first class coaching?

Look at the Darren Ferguson example at Preston.  He had two players on loan from his Dad, then when club sacked him Manchester United immediately withdrew the players.  Surely that distorts the system?  Surely that is just an example of United only loaning to Preston because Alex’s son was the manager.  How is that fair towards the other clubs in their division who could never get access to those players as they employ the wrong manager?


Supporters
Can you really fall in love with a player who is only just passing through?  There are plenty of examples of players coming in and giving their all for a club to help them to promotion or at least stave off relegation, then returning to their parent club.  Fans feel a real affinity towards a player who does his utmost for a club he has no real reason to love, but when you’re watching your team half-filled with these players surely you get a sense of anti-climax, in that no matter how much they do for your club they’ll be somewhere else next season?


Players
For the player who is desperate for first team action, being sent out on loan can be seen as a real test from his employer.  He is expected to knuckle down, work hard, proving his professionalism.  He is released from his own club’s monitoring and sent to a team where he is expected to conform to their aims and principles.  He has to learn to fit in with colleagues who are more committed to the club they are playing for, than he is.  Then after he has proved himself and tried to develop his game he returns to his parent club with no certainty of whether he is going to be kept on, sold or just sent out to another club to prove himself all over again. 

Some loan deals work well.  DJ Campbell was at Leicester City when they sent him on loan to Blackpool and he helped them to promotion, ending up as top goalscorer.  Fabio Borini at Swansea helped them to promotion.  One famous instance was in 1999 when goalkeeper Jimmy Glass kept Carlisle up in league with a last minute goal yet he was on loan from Swindon.  Inevitably Glass became a bigger hero at Brunton Park than he ever did at The County Ground.

Of course many will point to the benefit the player will experience from playing in front of bigger crowds even at a lower level than they might in the reserves.  But if he was playing in the reserves at least a good performance might put him in with a chance of first team selection, whereas if he’s been sent out on loan he’s likely to have to wait until the end of his loan period before he’s ever considered by his parent club.

Another bonus for the parent club is to use the loan system for a player who believes he’s arrived simply because the club signed him.  Consider a young player now under the impression he’s made it just because he has a fat contract, and is not really pushing himself as much as he should.  The parent club can then send him out on loan to ‘test his mettle’ and put him under pressure by giving him the impression he needs to prove himself otherwise they may make the move permanent.


Conclusion
There is a lot of talk these days about player power, but when it comes to the loan system it seems to me the clubs, especially the bigger ones, are in complete control of the player and can treat him any way they please.  Of course the duty of any club is to maximise their assets and if they believe the best thing for the player is for him to gain first team experience elsewhere, then who am I to question it?

Over 10 years ago there was a documentary on BBC about the parlous state of English football and they spoke to Terry Yorath, who was then managing at Sheffield Wednesday.  Wednesday had just been relegated from Premier League after spending 15 out of 16 years there.  Yorath shocked me when he said clubs like Wednesday weren’t going to be able to afford to run reserve sides anymore.  It seemed to be a crunch time for English football and when you consider the amount of clubs who have either entered administration or been very close to it since, it would seem to have been an accurate prediction.  Lower League clubs have every right to protest about the lack of money trickling down from the Premier League and so you can hardly blame them if they take whatever scraps tossed their way.  Premier League clubs seem so obsessed with hoovering up as much talent as possible to fill their squads that they give the impression of not knowing what to do with many of these players.  Additionally, many managers point to agents who will only offer a player if they can guarantee first team football, no matter how unproven the talent is.

Perhaps if clubs could only have a professional squad of 40 and if they wanted another player, they might need to swap.  Could that work?  It would only work for Premier League clubs as that sort of a squad size is unrealistic for lower league clubs.  But it still doesn’t deal with the problem of a young player choosing Chelsea or Manchester City because he can triple his wages, then find he’s not wanted by that club, only to then discover he must take a massive drop in wages for another club to employ him.

Surely the answer then is to have a fairer system of spreading the prize money.  The Premier League is one of the richest in the world, yet the majority of the 72 Football League clubs seem to be a step away from bankruptcy and therefore a greater share of the wealth would benefit everyone.  Of course that approach is completely dependent on Premier League Chairmen changing their own rules and with dominance from Spanish and German clubs in Europe competitions, it is more likely they’ll be reluctant to reduce their own wealth.  Plus, given the vast amounts wealthy owners have invested in these clubs, they are less likely to sit back and watch a lot of the prize money go to lower league clubs and other owners who have invested less.

It seems players are not prepared to play in a reserve team and earn their right to a first team place, believing they need to make the grade as early as possible.  Maybe this reflects society today and maybe we get the system we deserve, but I cannot help feeling there is little good being done for the game, and ultimately the players.  Players are choosing to go to clubs playing Champions League football, without the certainty of a first team place, rather than further their career at a club not under that spotlight.  Demba Ba is a classic example of this.  He’d be playing every week if he’d stayed at Newcastle yet seems happy to enjoy many days off with Chelsea simply to play the odd game.  Now he has found the irony of a change of management at Stamford Bridge leading to a new striker being brought in ahead of him.  Perhaps he should consider a loan back to Newcastle?

But then there seems to be little protest over the system and clubs from both ends of the financial spectrum just seem to be using each other for their own benefit.  Perhaps it is simply clubs trying to control the movement of players and retain at least some edge in an increasing power struggle between players/agents & clubs.


This article originally appeared in Issue 2 of The Football Pink magazine.http://footballpink.net/the-football-pink-magazine/

Away Day Blues

During the 1992-93 season the defending Champions, Leeds United, went through a without winning away from home.  But that is generally seen as a rare event in the Premier League.  Take a look at this table of a season which has just finished.

Some of you may have seen this already as an article about it appeared in The Guardian.  It is the Nigerian Premier League and it is certainly a strange league.  If you look closer at the table and especially at the away record, it becomes clear there is something extremely wrong going on here.

Only one team won more than 2 away games.  Only 4 clubs won more than one away match and 7 clubs didn’t win an away match all season.  One of the most unbelievable records is with a club called Gombe United.  They dropped just 2pts from their 19 home matches, scoring 34 goals and conceding just 7.  Yet they lost every single one of their away games, scoring just 4 times and conceding an amazing 39 goals.  What could possibly have gone so wrong whenever they played away compared to their home form?

Kaduna United were a similar example where they won 17 of their home games, drawing the other two and also conceding just 4 goals.  Yet whenever they were away from home they conceded a total of 41 goals, losing all 19 of their away games.  All this against opponents they had little trouble against at home.

The Champions, Kano Pillars, who have just won back-to-back titles, lost an incredible 15 times away from home.  Second placed, Enyimba, didn’t even concede a goal at home yet could only pick up 9pts on the road.

The bottom club, Shooting Stars, were only beaten once at home.  There cannot be too many clubs around the world who have been relegated despite only losing one home match all season.  Only four clubs scored more goals at home than they did, yet away from home they could only find the net 6 times.

Apparently, the reasons behind all this is a combination of poor travelling conditions leaving away sides tired and ill-prepared on matchday, corruption and intimidation of referees and also violence and threatening behaviour from home fans.  The issue of travel problems was highlighted in several games having to be postponed as teams failed to arrive.  You would have thought the Nigerian Football Association could do something about the last two points, but are probably powerless to be able to improve the travel conditions throughout the country.

Referees not only have to contend with angry and aggressive supporters but they also have to contend with many of the home clubs insisting their earnings are ‘performance-related’.  In a weird concept, the League does not pay the referees, the home club does.  This seems to lead to a completely corrupt system of intimidation and undue influence.

But this season is not the exception as last season’s League table has 9 clubs unbeaten at home and only the Champions, Kano Pillars, managed a points tally from their away games going into double figures.  In fact you have to go back to 2011 to find a side winning more than 3 away games in a season.  Dolphins won the League that year but still managed to find themselves on the losing side 11 times when they only dropped 2pts at home.  Sunshine Stars beat every single team which came to their home that season, yet remarkably all but three of those sides avoided a ‘double’ when it came to hosting the Stars.

This last season’s tally of just 18 away wins in the League is an improvement on 2012 when only 14 of the 380 matches resulted in victory for the away side.  To give you some idea of a comparison, in the Premier League last season 106 matches ended in an away win.  Even in a League such as MLS where travelling involves thousands of miles, there were 77 away wins last season from fewer matches.

Going back to the table above, Heartland (12^th) won 2 away games this season.  Those are the first matches they’d won away from home since 2009, yet such is the ridiculous nature of the league they’ve never been in any danger of relegation.

It is a surprise the betting companies haven’t woken up to the potential as the odds on an away win must be pretty long and the opportunity to influence proceedings must be quite high, but of course normally you’d feel sorry for the fans in this situation but if they’re having an effect on the results then perhaps they’ve got the league they deserve.

A Moment in Time - 1976-77 When Tottenham were Relegated

The season was 1976-77.  Tottenham had won the League Cup in 1971 & 1973, the UEFA Cup in 1972 and finished losing finalists in 1974.  They’d become the first English club to play in three major European finals.  They had not been out of the top division since they came up in 1950.  They had not suffered relegation since 1935.

In the previous season (1975-76) they finished 9^th, but in 1974-75 they stayed up by just 1pt.

Manager, Terry Neill resigned from the club and made the short journey to Highbury, during the summer.  The club appointed Keith Burkinshaw, who was then First Team Coach.

Squad

Keepers

Pat Jennings (age 31) (Played in 23 matches).  Joined Spurs in 1964, left for Arsenal in summer 1977

Barry Daines (age 25) (Played in 19 games).  Made his debut in 1971, became the regular choice once Jennings left

Defenders

Jimmy Holmes (age 22) Left Back (Played in 8 matches).  Irishman, spent 7 years at Coventry before joining Spurs

Terry Naylor (age 27) Centre-back, (Played in 40 matches).  Joined Spurs in 1969 and stayed until 1979 when he moved to Charlton

Keith Osgood  (age 21) Centre-back.  (Played in 42 matches) 3^rd top scorer with 7 goals, 6 of which came from the spot.   Joined Spurs in 1972 and left at the end of this season.

Steve Perryman (age 24) Full-back/Midfield.  (Played in 42 matches).  Joined the club in 1969 and eventually left in 1986.  Made a club record 854 appearances during his career.

Don McAllister (age 23) Centre-back/ Full back.  (Played 10 matches).  Spent 5 years at Bolton before joining Spurs in 1975.

Willie Young (age 24) Centre-back.  (Played 19 matches).  Bought from Aberdeen in 1975, after spending 5 years there.  He then joined Arsenal in 1977. 

John Gorman (age 27) Left-back.  (Played in 15 matches).  Started at Celtic, playing just 1 match, then moved to Carlisle.  Joined Spurs in 1976 and stayed for 3 years.  He later went on to be Assistant to Glen Hoddle as England manager.

Andy Keeley (age 20) Defender.  (Played in 5 matches).  Joined Tottenham in 1974 and left at the end of this season.

Mick Stead (age 19) Full-back.  (Played in 8 matches).  Joined Spurs in 1974 and left at the end of this season.

Midfield

Alfie Conn (age 24) Midfield.  (Played in 12 matches).  Scottish player who spent 6 years at Rangers before moving to Spurs in 1974.  Following this season he moved back up to Celtic.

Glenn Hoddle (age 19) Midfield.  (Played in 39 matches)  Scored 4 goals.  Joined Spurs as a schoolboy apprentice in 1974.  Went on to play 377 games for Spurs during an 8 year career.

John Pratt (age 28) Midfield.  (Played in 30 games)  Scored 4 goals.  Joined the club in 1965, and went on to make 331 appearances up to 1979 when he moved to USA.

Ralph Coates (age 30) Midfield/Winger.  (Played in 28 matches), scored 3 goals.  Spent 7 years at Burnley before joining Spurs in 1971.  Had a 7 year career at White Hart Lane, before moving to Leyton Orient in 1978.

Jimmy Neighbour (age 25) Winger.  (Played in 7 matches).  Joined the club as an apprentice in 1966.  He moved to Norwich in September 1976.

Neil McNab (age 19) Midfield.  (Played in 10 matches).  Moved to Spurs from Morton in 1974.  Spent 4 years there before moving to Bolton.

Strikers

Gerry Armstrong (age 22) Striker.  (Played in 20 matches)  Scored 3 goals.  Northern Ireland international, joined Spurs in 1975.  Made 84 appearances in 5 seasons.

Chris Jones (age 20) Striker.  (Played in 30 matches)  Top scorer with 9.  Joined as an apprentice in 1973 and spent 9 years at the Lane, before moving to Man City and then Crystal Palace.

Peter Taylor (age 23) Winger.  (Played in 31 matches)  Scoring 8 goals.  Began his career at Southend in 1970, before moving to Crystal Palace.  Joined Tottenham in 1976.  Spent 4 years there before joining Leyton Orient in 1980.

Ian Moores (age 22) Striker.  (Played in 16 matches), scoring 2 goals.  Began his career at Stoke in 1974, before moving to Spurs in 1976.  Only spent 2 years there, before moving to Leyton Orient and then Bolton.

John Duncan (age 27) Striker.  (Played in just 9 matches), scoring 4 goals.  Played for Dundee for 7 years before joining Spurs in 1975.  Scored 53 goals in 103 appearances before moving to Derby in 1979.

August

The season started badly with a 1-3 loss at Portman Road against Ipswich.

4 days later they were beaten at home 0-2, by Newcastle.  The following weekend they were again goalless in a 0-0 draw at home to Middlesbrough.  Oddly enough, they were unlikely to be too concerned with 1pt from 3 games, as the team immediately below them was QPR, who’d missed out on the title by 1pt barely three months earlier.

September

The following weekend, Spurs were involved in a ‘Match of The Day’ classic against Manchester United.  0-2 down at half-time, Ian Moores, Ralph Coates and John Pratt gave them a famous 3-2 victory at Old Trafford

This was followed by a 1-0 home win against Leeds.  Only 5 games in and 13^th place didn’t seem too bad.  However, they were to win just once in the next 10 matches.

0-2 defeat to Liverpool and 2-4 defeat to West Brom came either side of a 1-1 home draw with Norwich, along with a humiliating loss to Third Division Wrexham, 2-3 at White Hart Lane in the League Cup.  Then came their worst nightmare.

October

Derby v Spurs, 16^th October 1976

Derby County, twice winners of the title during the previous 6 seasons, had yet to register a win in this particular season.  They’d been in the running for the title the year before, yet had only managed to find the net 7 times in 8 matches.  Derby went 2-0 up early on but Spurs pulled things back as Osgood scored from the spot and Steve Perryman grabbed another, and they went in at half-time just 2-3 down.  But in the second half, Derby ran riot as Bruce Rioch scored 4 goals in an 8-2 win.  Derby manager Dave Mackay felt almost embarrassed as the goals went in, especially being an ex-Spurs man with one of his friends, Pat Jennings, conceding so many.

Remarkably, Spurs bounced back to beat Birmingham at home, 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Keith Osgood, but picked up just 1pt from the next five matches.  Some of the results during that period were significant.  They lost at home 0-1 to Coventry, and drew 3-3 at home to Everton, where Osgood again scored from the spot with McAllister and Pratt finding the net. 

But the next three results hurt the most.

November

West Ham, Bristol City and Sunderland were all in the bottom four, along with Spurs.  Spurs lost all three matches.  3-5 to West Ham, 0-1 to Bristol City and 1-2 to Sunderland.  They were lying 2^nd from bottom, with just 9pts from 15 matches (only 2pts for a win in those days).  The signs weren’t good as they’d conceded 34 goals already.

The West Ham game was a classic as goals from Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson, Trevor Brooking, Billy Jennings, Billy Bonds and Alan Curbishley helped the home side race into a 5-1 lead, before Hoddle and yet another penalty from Osgood

December

During December they mounted a recovery, losing just once in five matches.  Manchester City visited White Hart Lane and two goals from Peter Taylor gave the home side a 2-goal lead.  His first was a fine individual goal, the second a tap-in after Corrigan parried Willie Young’s shot.  In the second half, Brian Kidd pounced on a mistake by Jennings before Paul Power took advantage of poor defence to earn a 2-2 draw. 

Ralph Coates goal at Leicester wasn’t enough to stop them losing 1-2 but they managed to grab a point in the North London derby as John Duncan and Willie Young cancelled out two Malcolm MacDonald goals in a 2-2 draw in front of the biggest crowd of the season at White Hart Lane.

At the end of 1976, Tottenham were 3^rd from bottom, just behind Bristol City on goal difference and 1pt behind QPR.

Spurs problems centred mainly around Terry Neill’s insistence on selling off the family jewels.  Mike England, Martin Peters Alan Gilzean and Martin Chivers had all left.  Yet, players like Keith Osgood, Jimmy Neighbour, John Duncan and Ian Moores just weren’t good enough.  One of the benefits of this clear-out, though, was that it allowed young players like Glenn Hoddle and Chris Jones to emerge.

January

1977 didn’t bring the turnaround they’d been hoping for, although it started promisingly enough as Duncan and an Osgood penalty saw them gain revenge on West Ham with a 2-1 win. 

The FA Cup may have seemed to be a welcome distraction as they travelled to Ninian Park to meet a Cardiff City side placed in the bottom half of Division Two.  Peter Sayer scored the only goal of the game, which was recently voted 2^nd best goal scored by Cardiff in the FA Cup

Back in the league a trip to Loftus Road ended in a 1-2  defeat to QPR, before a Peter Taylor goal gave them a 1-0 win at home to Ipswich.  They were now unbeaten in 5 games at home and this was probably their best result of the season as Ipswich were one point off the top at the time.  At the end of January Spurs were still in the bottom four and knew February would be crucial

February

Spurs had four matches in February and lost them all.  After beating Manchester United in September they had lost all 10 of their subsequent away games and looked incapable of turning things around.  Two David Mills goals gave Middlesbro a 2-0 win at the beginning of the month and then Manchester United gained revenge with a 3-1 win at White Hart Lane.  Lou Macari gave the visitors the lead as Spurs defensive frailties were again in evidence.  McIlroy scored the second as United attacked at will.  Spurs got a goal back before half-time when a Glenn Hoddle shot was deflected in by Chris Jones.  If the home fans were hoping for a comeback in the second half it never materialised as Gordon Hill completed the scoring.

Gerry Armstrong scored his first goal of the season in a 1-2 defeat at Leeds and with Bristol City and West Ham winning, Spurs dropped to 2^nd from bottom.  Worse was to follow as Sunderland, bottom of the table with just 9 goals at home all season, beat West Brom, 6-1 sending Spurs to the foot of the table.  They then visited Newcastle and were beaten 0-2 and ended the month propping up the table.  It was tight at the bottom with 2pts separating 5 clubs.

March

Into March and suddenly an away win to cheer, as goals from John Pratt, Gerry Armstrong and Peter Taylor saw them win 3-1 at Norwich, ending a run of 10 successive away defeats.  This was well timed as Sunderland again hit six, beating fellow strugglers West Ham, 6-0.  Derby suffered their 5^th successive defeat to see them consigned to the bottom, a sorry demise for a club who were Champions in 1975.  Bristol City also lost as Spurs were back up to 4^th from bottom as 1pt separated the bottom five. 

They then recorded their finest win of the season when a Ralph Coates goal beat the league leaders, Liverpool 1-0.  They’d now beaten the top two sides at White Hart Lane and were now up to 18^th.  They couldn’t replicate this form three days later as West Brom came to White Hart Lane and won 2-0, but they were able to go to Birmingham and win 2-1 as Jones and Hoddle scored.  Then came a crucial relegation battle as Derby County were the visitors.  Derby, 2pts behind Spurs had yet to win away all season yet had that remarkable 8-2 win over Tottenham back in August to remember.  The game ended 0-0 which didn’t really do much for either side.  Tottenham were then thumped 0-4 at Goodison Park as Everton won comfortably and they ended March still 5^th from bottom but having played more games than all but one of the sides below them.

April

Into the penultimate month and things were getting very tense.  April began with a trip to Coventry, who were ahead of Tottenham only on goal difference.  Peter Taylor scored in a 1-1 draw.  By the time of their next match, they’d dropped a place as Derby began to pick up some points.  QPR were the visitors, and were a shadow of the side which had almost won the title the year before.  Tottenham swept them aside as Chris Jones bagged two goals and Peter Taylor another one in a 3-0 win.  It propelled them up to 17^th but the teams around them still had games in hand so there was still much work to do. 

They embarked on a critical week with three games, two of them against sides battling relegation.  Easter Monday saw the North London derby where Malcolm MacDonald scored the only goal of the game to give Arsenal a 1-0 win.  It was a bad day for Tottenham in more ways than losing to their nearest rivals, as Sunderland and West Ham both won and with Coventry and QPR playing out a 1-1 draw, Spurs had now dropped to 21^st.  But before they could re-group they had to visit the side immediately below them, Bristol City.  A tight, nervous match comes to life right at the end when Terry Naylor brings down Clive Whitehead in the area and Peter Cormack converts the penalty to give City a vital 1-0 win.  Tottenham were one of 5 clubs on 27pts with Bristol City just 2pts behind, but there was still the worry of the games their rivals had in hand, as well as the poor goal difference.

The weekend saw the arrival of Sunderland to White Hart Lane.  Sunderland were on of the five clubs on the same points as Tottenham and Chris Jones was again on the scoresheet but the game ended 1-1.  It was a useful result for both clubs as everyone else around them lost, except QPR who won at Middlesbro.  Tottenham were now up to 19^th on 28pts with Sunderland and Derby.  Coventry and West Ham were 1pt behind with Bristol City back on 25pts.

Tottenham had just 5 games to save their First Division future.  A midweek trip to Aston Villa ended in a 1-2 defeat on the same night that Derby and Bristol City both drew.  With Coventry also picking up a point the night before, Spurs were now back in 20^th and again one of 4 clubs on 28pts.  They next travelled to Stoke City, who themselves were not completely safe, and a 0-0 draw definitely didn’t suit the visitors.  Sunderland and Derby both drew and Tottenham now had fewer matches left than any other team around them.  Things were getting serious

The following Monday, Coventry beat Derby to drop Tottenham back into the bottom three.  The next night Bristol City were at QPR and managed a 1-0 win and West Ham drew at Leeds to pour further bad news on Spurs.  Seven clubs were now separated by just 3pts and still Tottenham had fewer chances to add to their tally.

West Ham then further enhanced their survival chances when they were away again and drew 1-1 at Middlesbro to push Spurs down to 2^nd from bottom.  The weekend fixtures would be crucial.  Saturday 30^th April was an exciting day in the season as 33 goals were scored in 10 matches, and there were some strange results.  Coventry beat Stoke, 5-2, Sunderland went to West Brom and won 3-2 and Derby beat 2^nd placed Manchester City, 4-0.  Tottenham were at home to Aston Villa, who were pushing for a European place in 5^th.  Andy Gray missed an easy chance early on but then John Deehan headed Villa into the lead and the home crowd went very quiet.  Just before half-time, 19-year old Glenn Hoddle started to build his reputation for free-kicks when he curled one round the wall to equalise.  Hoddle was in inspired form as he was unlucky not to score two more before Chris Jones scored a fine goal after a tight turn.  The crowd were now in full voice as Spurs surged forward, and substitute, Peter Taylor, rounded off the scoring with a volley from the edge of the area.  Tottenham won 3-1 and it was a welcome relief during a disappointing season.

Tottenham now moved one place but had only two matches left to improve on this.

The following Tuesday Derby drew at Arsenal to give them a decent chance on staying up.  24 hours later West Ham won an important game against Coventry to lift them out of the relegation zone.  The following weekend saw Tottenham have to go to Maine Road to meet a Manchester City who still had an outside chance of winning the league.  Tommy Booth headed City into the lead in the first half from a Peter Barnes corner.  In the second period, Barnes was provider again when his header was fired in by Dennis Tueart.  Barnes then got on the scoresheet himself as Owen helped on a Booth long-ball and Barnes was at his impudent best by beating one man and then toying with Jennings as he sold him a dummy before chipping the ball into the net.  Minutes later City had another corner, again taken by Barnes and Asa Hartford volleyed home for City’s 4^th.  The rout was complete as Spurs gave the ball away and Tueart broke free to play a simple pass for Brian Kidd to finish and City won 5-0.

News then came in of the other clubs around them with Bristol City gaining a vital point in a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United.  QPR also earned a 1-1 draw against leaders Liverpool, West Ham drew 2-2 at home to Derby and Stoke were held 0-0 at home to Norwich.  Sunderland had the best day with a 1-0 win at home to Birmingham.

Tottenham were now in a parlous state with only goal difference able to save them, and even then they needed to overturn a 5-goal deficit from their final game.  They were taken apart by City and had now conceded over 50 goals away from home which seemed to sum up their plight.  Spurs fans now looked for West Ham, Stoke, Coventry and Sunderland to keep on losing otherwise their final match of the season would be meaningless.

The following Tuesday, Coventry picked up a point by holding Liverpool to a 0-0 draw.  On the same night Bristol City beat Leeds United 1-0 to give them some hope, and send Tottenham to the foot of the table.  The next night, Derby won an important game against QPR, 2-0 and Stoke earned a vital point in a 3-3 draw with Manchester United.

Realistically, Tottenham’s fate was in West Ham’s hands.  They were unable to overhaul Sunderland’s goal difference but stood an outside chance of beating The Hammers.  West Ham needed a point to consign Spurs to Division Two regardless of how they Spurs got on in their final game of the season at home to Leicester.  West Ham’s last two matches were at Anfield and at home to Man Utd, so Spurs had some hope.

Goals from John Pratt and Jimmy Holmes gave Tottenham an important 2-0 win against Leicester.  The home crowd had an anxious wait to find out that West Ham had gained an impressive 0-0 draw at Liverpool and so Spurs were relegated.  This triggered incredible scenes as fans streamed onto the pitch.  There were banners of defiance, such as ‘We Will Return’ and the mood was fairly upbeat.  QPR won at Leeds, Bristol City drew at Middlesbro and Sunderland drew at Norwich.  It was a bleak day for Tottenham Hotspur.  They were to sit out the final 10 days of the season knowing it would make no difference to the future whatsoever.

The following Monday Bristol City pulled off a famous 2-1 win against the Champions, Liverpool and West Ham beat Manchester United, 4-2 with QPR beating Ipswich, 1-0.  With Stoke losing at Aston Villa, they joined Tottenham in going down and now three clubs were on 34pts going into the final match, with two of those sides, Bristol City and Coventry, playing each other.

Thursday 19^th May saw a remarkable finish to a league season where the idea of the final day of the season hadn’t been invented.  Sunderland lost at Everton which rendered the 2-2 draw between Coventry and Bristol City irrelevant.

For Spurs fans the story improved from there.  They came straight back up and then won the FA Cup in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1982.

Another significant factor about this league season was who Tottenham were replaced by in the First Division.  Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, but we’ll leave that story for another day.

Another remarkable aspect of this period is that Tottenham went down and came back up again with the same manager, and largely the same team.  How times have changed

Differences - The top division was called the First Division and consisted of 22 teams.  2pts were awarded for a win.