Newcastle 1971/72 Diary

League

In one of the closest finishes ever Brian Clough's Derby pipped Leeds, Liverpool and Man City for the title (1 point separating the four teams) while Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield were relegated.

United finished in 11th place with 41 points; an almost identical finish to 1970/71 when they finished a place lower with the same points. They won 15, drew 11 and lost 16; scoring 49 and conceding 52.

It is fair to say that optimism was rising. United got off to a terrible start (not helped by a spate of injuries) and found themselves rock bottom at the end of October with a record of won 2, drawn 4 and lost 9. The recovery coincided with the arrival of Tony Green and although they remained inconsistent they took some notable scalps towards the end of the season.

August

Before the start of the season Wyn Davies and Alan Foggon were sold and Terry Hibbitt arrived from Leeds.

United started the season away at Crystal Palace and fielded the following team: Mcfaul, Craig, Clark, Gibb, McNamee, Nattrass (deputising for the injured Moncur), Dyson, Tudor, Macdonald, Young and Hibbitt.

With the notable exception of the 3-2 victory over Liverpool in Supermac's home debut the season started badly for United. In the other 4 games that month they lost 2 and drew 2 and failed to find the net in any of them.

September

They fared no better during September, the low point being a 1-5 thrashing against Leeds at Hillsborough. By the end of the month they had dropped to 17th place.

Injuries were beginning to build up. Jimmy Smith was already a long-term casualty and Moncur, Burton and Young joined him on the treatment table. Pat Howard was bought from Fourth Division Barnsley and thrust straight into the team.

October

A disastrous run of 5 consecutive defeats (including 3 at home) led to United slumping to rock bottom. With injuries continuing to pile up Harvey was forced to blood untried youngsters like Ray Ellison and Chris Guthrie and they sank rather than swam. A 2-1 defeat against bottom club Crystal Palace saw the team reach it's lowest ebb.

The last match of the run (a 0-1 defeat at Goodison Park) saw the debut of Tony Green who put in a man of the match performance. Harvey remained upbeat "all we need now is a few goals and a couple of wins and we can be on the way back".

November

Goals had proved hard to come by with Newcastle failing to score in half their games. In November the tide began to turn, Newcastle netted 8 times in four games and managed their third and fourth victories of the season.

December

Their improved form continued into December and after a goalless draw at home to Chelsea they secured their first away wins of the season at West Brom and West Ham. An expectant crowd of 53,079 turned up on 27/12 for the home game with surprise package of the season Sheffield United. The Blades won 2-1 and United finished 1971 in 16th.

Viv Busby arrived on loan from Fulham. The loan system had been introduced four years earlier to help out smaller clubs who could - following the abolition of the maximum wage - no longer afford to retain large squads. But many within the game wanted the system scrapped as they believed it was open to abuse as the option to loan players was open to all clubs whatever their financial standing.

January

Two convincing home victories were undone by a draw and defeat on their travels. The home game against Spurs on 22/1 had extra significance as work had started on demolishing the Popular Side in preparation for the construction of the new stand. Harvey recognised that it "will have some affect on the players" but at least "it means the new stand will be ready for the beginning of the new season".

Unfortunately the economic problems of the time meant that the new stand was not opened until January 1973.

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February

By February the miners strike was in full effect and clubs were asked to bring forward kick-off times to avoid possible power cuts. Midweek matches had to be postponed or played in the afternoon.

United welcomed back Tommy Gibb and Bob Moncur from injury to add strength to the spine of the team. Only 3 matches were played but United's 2 wins and a draw lifted them into 11th place. The highlight was a well-deserved 2-0 victory at Old Trafford in which Tony Green ran the show.

March

At home United recorded victories over Leicester and Arsenal and drew with League leaders Man City without conceding a goal but they were thrashed 5-0 at Anfield on their travels (the worst defeat of the season).

April

The Magpies had to play 6 games in 22 days; 4 of them away from home. They only managed 2 wins but these were both 1-0 victories against teams vying for the title; Derby at the Baseball Ground and Leeds at SJP.

May

Home games against West Brom (win) and League Cup winners Stoke (draw) rounded off the season.

Nightmare on Edgar Street

League Cup

Stoke City - who included Gordon Banks and ex-United rebel George Eastham - beat WHU in the final at Wembley, but as usual Newcastle got nowhere near.

In the second round Newcastle beat fourth division Halifax 2-1 at SJP in front of 19,930 fans. It was only their fourth victory in the competition since they first entered it in 1960/61.

In the 3rd round they faced a much tougher proposition; Arsenal away. An injury hit United side fell to four second half goals. Jimmy Smith attempted an ill fated return from injury and had to be replaced by Keith Dyson.

FA Cup - Invasion of the Parka Men

On the 30th January 1972 there was carnage in Belfast as 13 civilians were killed by soldiers. Less than a week later and Newcastle were involved in an atrocity all of their own. As we all know too well the game was televised and largely because of the nature of the equaliser we are all forced to relive this horrendous moment year after year.

United had been drawn at home against Isthmian League Hereford in the Third round, seven years after they were beaten at home by another non-league side Bedford Town.

The first match was delayed by bad weather, but when it was eventually played on the 24th January in front of 39,381 spectators Newcastle were one down after a mere 17 seconds. They fought back to go 2-1 up, but then conceded a 25 yard equaliser from player-manager Colin Addison; all this before half time. There were no further goals in the second half.

The replay was postponed no less than four times and when the game was eventually played Hereford's compact Edgar Road ground resembled a swamp . Supermac had promised to score 10 goals, but the BBC MoD cameras turned up looking for an upset.

United created loads of chances but could not find a way past Fred Potter until Macdonald scored with only 8 minutes left on the clock. Hereford immediately brought on substitute Ricky George and within 3 minutes they were level. Ronnie Radford picked up the ball near the half way line and advanced unchallenged before hitting a 30 yard screamer into the top of Mcfaul's goal prompting a mass invasion of the pitch by Hereford fans. All of them seemingly wearing parkas.

The game went into extra time and United should have been the fitter team, but it was Hereford who finished stronger and got their reward when substitute Ricky George scored with a cross-shot in the 103rd minute. Despite desperate attacking from the Magpies Hereford held out to become the first non-league club to defeat a First Division side since Yeovil Town’s 2-1 win over the Makems in 1949.

Macdonald was rather less effusive than usual stating "I am too sick to speak".

Silent Running in the Texaco Cup

The Texaco Cup had been introduced in the previous season to a lukewarm reception. With attendances declining many thought that the last thing required was more games, but the League saw it as a way of bringing extra revenue into the game.

As Newcastle's injuries piled up and their League position plummeted many questioned the benefits of the decision. But Joe Harvey remained a firm supporter. "Believe me I want to win this competition just as much as any other. It is extremely valuable to the players both from the bonus they earn and the valuable experience they get in the games. To the club it means much needed cash".

The 1971/72 competition was contested by the following clubs. Coventry, Derby, Huddersfield, Man City, Newcastle and Stoke from Football League Division 1. Airdrie, Dundee United, Falkirk, Hearts, Morton and Motherwell from the Scottish League. Ballymena and Coleraine from the Irish League. And Shamrock Rovers and Waterford from the Football League of Ireland.

In the first round United were drawn against Hearts. United lost the first leg in Edinburgh but a 2-1 victory in the return at SJP brought the scores level in front of a sizeable crowd of 24,380. Amazingly United went through after winning the penalty shoot-out (only Hibbitt failed to score).

In the second round United played Coventry who were then a mid table First Division side. A 1-1 draw was gained in the first leg at Highfield Road. In the second leg banished thoughts of their poor start to the season by thrashing the Sky Blues 5-1.

In the semi-finals Newcastle were drawn against Derby County who would go on to win the Championship that season. Derby won the first leg at the Baseball ground 1-0. The second leg went to extra-time with Clough's men eventually winning 3-2 to meet Airdrie in the final

Attendances for the home games were relatively good: 24,380, 25,230 and 37,000.