Season 1973/74

Alreet, Alreet, Alreet

Before the new season started Joe Harvey boldly claimed that the side were capable of challenging for the title and their were many critics within the game that regarded United as dark-horses for one of the domestic trophies.

In the end it was a season where things really did seem to be either black or white as United went from a club talked of in glowing terms to one pilloried from all corners.

In football generally there was an ever deepening crisis and attendances once again dropped significantly. As in previous seasons the causes were seen to be: lack of entertainment, player indiscipline and hooliganism. The turning points in Newcastle's season would revolve around this triad of factors.

Harvey was one of the managers who had vowed to play more exciting football and in the first half of the season they attracted many new admirers with their adventurous style. They also reached the heady heights of second place.

But then they became embroiled in an unsavoury series of six matches with Birmingham City that culminated in a League game at St Andrews. FA Secretary Ted Croker was not impressed; "there were one or two players on the pitch in that game who made me feel ashamed to be a member of the same profession".

The second half of the season saw a drastic slump in their League form and a controversial visit to Wembley in the FA Cup. United were heading out of the Cup in the Sixth Round as they trailed 3-1 at home to Forest with 30 minutes left. But a pitch invasion by United supporters dramatically altered the course of the game and allowed United to reach their first Final since 1955.

However, many critics thought they should have been thrown out the competition and most neutrals were not unhappy to see them well beaten in the final.

The Men in Black (and White)

The only transfer movement during the close-season was the return of John Cowan to his home country; so United started with the squad which had faded disappointingly at the end of the last season.

There was certainly a lot of quality in the squad with a good mix of youth and experience. Mcfaul, Craig, Moncur, Smith, Green, Cassidy and Macdonald had all represented their countries at full international level whilst players like Nattrass, Barrowclough and Mcdermott achieved England U23 recognition. But it was a small squad with precious little in the way of experienced back-up.

Appearances

Goals

The Squad

Appearances and goals listed below refer to League, FA Cup and League Cup matches only

Goalkeepers

Iam Mcfaul had another excellent season, missing only a couple of games all year and reaching a milestone of 250 League games. His performance in the FA Cup Semi-Final against Burnley was just as important as Supermac's goals.

Martin Burleigh had suffered a family tragedy during the close season and as a result of not keeping fit he weighed in at a massive 16st 11b when he returned for pre-season training. A calf injury resulted and Burleigh went into a period of depression; even being fined as a result of going missing for two weeks.

The club helped him through his personal problems and he played a couple of games towards the end of the season.

Defence

David Craig made his 300th appearance for the club, but his season was wrecked by injury forcing him out of a third of the games and preventing him from turning out at Wembley. He would never again complete a full season.

Craig's replacement was twenty-year-old Irving Nattrass who had first appeared in the side during the 1970/71 season. He had now developed into a mature and versatile player; filling in at right-back, centre-back and midfield.

"Nattrass is my Paul Madeley", beamed Harvey, "and I can't pay him a bigger compliment than that. He's worth three players to me in my thin first team squad and he's saved me thousands of pounds".

Nattrass was one of the victims of the feud with Birmingham and was sidelined for the second half of the season.

Frank Clark was again first in line for the number 3 shirt although he did also cover at centre-back and played at right-back at Wembley. He made his 350th League appearance during the season and memorably scored his first goals for the club.

Alan Kenneddy emerged as Clark's deputy in the second half of the season and some excellent performances earned him a place in the Cup Final line-up.

Dave Crosson made his debut at Old Trafford and played 5(1) times in total.

Pat Howard missed the start of the season through suspension but thereafter played in the majority of games. He scored the goal that gave United a draw in the 3rd Round game against Hendon; but it was his sending-off that sparked the infamous "riot".

Bobby Moncur was only 28 but some thought he was past his prime. He was sold to Sunderland after the FA Cup Final.

Centre-back Dennis Laughton was signed from Morton after impressing Harvey in the Texaco Cup matches between the two clubs. He made half a dozen appearences in total.

Midfield

Terry Hibbitt (who was put on a special milk stout diet to build him up) had another excellent season despite suffering from a niggling groin injury. He won the Player of the Year award for the second year running.

Terry McDermott became a regular in the side and his excellent form gained him an England U23 call-up.

Jimmy Smith had another erratic season; sometimes brilliant, sometimes anonymous. There were claims in the media that he had asked for a transfer, but he denied the stories. His high points were a Scotland cap and a brilliant performance against WBA in the FA Cup 5th Round. His low point was when he was sent-off after less than a minute against Birmingham in the Texaco Cup.

Tommy Gibb had a frustrating season, missing a number of games through injury and losing his number four shirt to Terry Mcdermott

Tommy Cassiddy - at the age of 22 - broke through at last. First as an emergency centre-forward before dropping back into a midfield slot where he held off competition from Jimmy Smith and Stewart Barrowclough. His form won him a call-up to the Northern Ireland team.

Following three operations in his knee Tony Green started light training again in September. But medical experts advised him that the knee would not stand up to the rigours of professional football and in October, at the age of 27, he was forced to retire.

Lord Westwood summed up the mood; "It's very tragic indeed. Tony is a grand little fellah with a marvellous heart. He was a fabulous footballer and we will find it impossible to replace him".

Gordon Hodgson (2 games) and Ray Hudson (1 substitute appearance; his debut against Stoke) were others used in midfield.

Forwards

Stewart Barrowclough had a disappointing season and was said to be unsettled. He lost his regular place in the side and then despite making a significant contribution in the FA Cup run he did not make the 12 man squad.

At the beginning of the season Harvey decided he needed to build up his weight and ordered him to start drinking milk stout as "he is not the Barrowclough who deservedly won Under-23 caps."

Macdonald's season was once again disrupted by injury causing him to miss a number of matches. However he still managed 25 goals in 41 matches. He was overlooked by Ramsey as England disastrously failed to qualify for the Cup Final and managed to upset a number of people with his outspoken newspaper ramblings.

He became the third United player to be prescribed beer when a fatigue problem was put down to iron deficiency thus explaining an inability to enter his teams half when United were under pressure.

Tudor also missed a number of games and had a relatively lean time in front of goal.

Nineteen-year- old Keith Robson had made his debut in the previous season and scored his first goal in the away win at Ipswich. He performed so well that he was retained in the side for a couple of games even when Tudor recovered from injury. In all he made 13 appearences, scoring 3 goals.

George Hope made his debut at Filbert Street and scored his first goal in the 3-2 victory over Man Utd seven days later. He only got four more chances during the season and never played for the club again.

Paul Cannell made his debut at Maine Road and was given another chance in the last game of the season at home to Tottenham. He would not establish a regular place in the side until the 1976/77 season.

Alex Bruce was bought from Preston for a fee only slightly less than that paid out for Supermac (£150,000) with his previous manager Bobby Charlton claiming that he would be a Scottish International one day. He made his debut at The Dell and made 7(1) appearances altogether scoring one goal (in the 5-1 thrashing of Coventry).

Out of Toon

J. Cowan	August	Drogheda Utd	Play/man
A. Reid	October	Morton	Exchange
T. Green	October	Retired	£140,000
G. Hodgson	May	Mansfield	£8,000
B. Moncur	June	Sunderland	£30,000

Into Toon

D. Laughton	January	Morton	Exchange
M. Burns	June	Blackpool	£170,000
G. Keeley	June	Ipswich	£70,000

Transfer balance -£62,000

74 Crash

Don Revie's Leeds led the way in the League from start to finish. They started with seven consecutive victories and were unbeaten until February 23rd (a record 29 matches). It was the first year of the three-up three-down system and Man United, Southampton and Norwich all lost their top flight status.

In the first three months of the season Newcastle were one of the club's that was hanging off Leeds' coat-tails. When Newcastle drew at Goodison Park at the end of November they were in second place with a record of nine wins, four draws and four defeats.

After that their League form fell apart. In the last twenty four games they won only four more games, whilst they lost thirteen times and drew eight. United ended up in 15th only two points ahead of relegated Southampton.

The early promise was a result of some satisfactory away performances (three wins and only two defeats in eight games) and an excellent run of six home wins in seven games after failing to win their first two games.

The good start was all the more creditable as injuries to David Craig, Macdonald and Tudor created a mini crisis in the opening weeks. The players drafted in ensured that they managed to pick up points without them. Nattrass covered Craig's absence while Cassiddy and Keith Robson confounded everybody by forming a successful partnership up front. When Macdonald was injured again in October another youngster George Hope performed admirably.

Newcastle were winning many friends for their adventurous approach and when they were unluckily beaten at Anfield in October Shankly was effusive in his praise.

"The best game I have seen, not only this season, but for several seasons...Newcastle are the best team I've seen this season"

The slump started in December when four matches were lost in a row; it was a tough month as they faced two tricky away matches and home matches against title chasing Leeds and Derby. It was also the period during which United became involved in the feud with Birmingham.

Hopes were raised over the Christmas period when they beat Sheffield United at home and followed up with an excellent victory at Highbury. But the optimism was not realised as United only managed two more wins all season (at home to Coventry and Everton).

The lack of depth in the squad combined with three main factors caused the slump.

United's FA Cup run led to a loss of concentration and form in the League.

Their involvement in three competitions in the New Year meant they had a hectic schedule; January (7), February (5), March (8), April (9), May (2).

And finally disruption to the side caused by injury and suspension meant that during the bad run they never put the same side out for more than two games in a row .

Although the away record was not particularly impressive (four wins, six draws and eleven losses) United were/are notoriously bad travellers and their record was much the same as many more successful seasons. It was their home form that really cost them (nine wins, six draws and six defeats). They were beaten by sides such as Southampton (who were relegated), Burnley, QPR and Tottenham whilst they also failed to beat bottom club Norwich and other strugglers Birmingham and West Ham.

Teenage Lament '74

League Cup

Wolves, managed by future Magpies boss Bill McGarry won the League Cup by beating Man City 2-1. United - as usual - made little progress.

For the second year running United actually managed to win a game in the competition. They were given another potential banana-skin when they were drawn at home draw against Doncaster. But for once they made no mistake; thrashing them 6-0.

The highlight for the 15,948 crowd was the sixth goal scored after 80 minutes by Frank Clark with. It was his first for the club after almost 12 years and games and triggered crazy celebrations amongst the players and crowd which left the Doncaster players nonplussed.

"All my lads wondered what on earth was going on", said Doncaster's manager Setters. "There were the Newcastle players going wild over the sixth goal of the match - all racing over to the scorer and jumping on him as if he had just scored the winning goal at Wembley. And the crowd was making a heck of a din" .

After the game bottles of champagne were opened in the dressing room and Clark was presented with the match ball signed by all the players.

One of the Doncaster squad was Alan Murray, currently assistant manager at United.

In the 3rd Round they were drawn against Birmingham who they had also been matched with in the Texaco Cup. They forced a replay after drawing 2-2 at St Andrews (they should have won but Macdonald missed a penalty) . In the replay they lost 1-0 at SJP; a Trevor Francis penalty separating the sides.

The Brummies were not afraid to "mix-it" at the time and the north-east press corps were openly critical of the Birmingham "rough-house" style of play.

FA Cup

After a mammoth and controversial run of nine games Newcastle reached the Cup Final for the first time in almost 20 years.

It was a perilous journey which included some excellent performances but also near giant-killings, pitch invasions, coach accidents and a Final flop. Relive the journey here

The Cup Crept In

After falling at the semi-final stage in the previous two tournaments Newcastle won the Texaco Cup in its fourth year; but the "success" was to come at a high cost as it almost certainly had a major negative impact on United's performances in the FA Cup and the League.

Despite the lack of prestige of the competition and the fact that most fans were apathetic towards it Harvey believed in playing his strongest side; at least at home.

His view was that the fans were "paying good money to watch us and they deserve the best we can offer them."

Round 1 - Morton

Newcastle were paired against Scottish side Morton in the First Round. They strolled to a 2-1 victory in the away leg; Morton's goal coming from sweeper Dennis Laughton whose performances impressed United enough for them to swop him for Alex Reid in December.

The Second Leg proved to be more of a struggle. It was a desperately poor game and Morton scored the only goal of normal time in front of only 12,158 spectators. Another Laughton goal - this time in his own net - secured United's passage.

Round 2 - Birmingham

In the Second Round United faced Birmingham. In the first leg at St Andrews a Macdonald penalty rescued a draw for United.

By the time the second leg was played at SJP a month later winter had set in and Birmingham had already knocked United out of the League Cup after a replay. The teams - playing in front of only 5,529 spectators - were level at 1-1 at full-time so the tie had to go into extra-time.

Unfortunately the fuel crisis had meant that the use of floodlights was banned and the game had to be abandoned after 10 minutes of extra time due to the fact that the ground was in almost total darkness. The clubs had asked for permission to kick-off the game earlier, but the League had refused to allow them.

The tie was replayed a week later (attendance 9,762) and got off to the most explosive start with "Jinky" being sent off after less than 2 minutes for a foul that broke Birmingham defender Tony Wait's fibula and tibula.

But despite playing with 10 men for virtually the whole game Newcastle won 3-1 having stormed into a three goal half-time lead. Birmingham fielded a weakened side and two brilliant Tudor goals and (remarkably) another Frank Clark special won the game for United.

Manager Freddie Goodwin was incensed with Smith's challenge. "It was absolutely disgraceful. We have played here three times this season and received nothing but abuse and criticism from the management and the players. Smith will have this on his conscience for the rest of his career".

He also attacked the local press who he believed had created bad feeling by "waging a hate campaign" against his side whom they "discredited and called a dirty team".

Harvey replied with Wengerish myopia. "I don't know what Freddie Goodwin is talking about. I didn't see the tragic incident at the start. But the lads say that Want seemed to stumble into Smith's tackle".

Unfortunately the match was televised and the "tackle" lived long in the memory. There was even talk of Wait taking a civil action against Smith but this never materialised.

Semi-final - Dundee Utd

Dundee United were The Magpies semi-final opponents and in the first-leg at Tannadice Harvey - as a result of injuries and suspensions - was forced to field an inexperienced side. The Scotsmen secured a two goal advantage.

The return leg was watched by only 5009 due partially to the fact that the match had to be played on a Wednesday at 1.15pm (due to the floodlight ban). But those hardy souls were treated to an exciting game with Newcastle triumphing 4-1 after extra time.

Newcastle went ahead after only 90 seconds (Robson) but within 5 minutes eighteen year old Andy (SKY) Gray had equalised. Tudor made it 2-1, but with 10 minutes left Newcastle were on their way out. Then Supermac making a surpise appearence as substitute (after six weeks out through injury) forced extra time and a Cassiddy goal took united through to the Final

Andy Gray's performances against United resulted in the club considering a move for him; unfortunately they decided to buy Alex Bruce instead.

Final - Burnley

The final was postponed on a number of occasions and eventually got played on the 24th April' just over a week before the Cup Final. Due to the delay it was agreed that one match only would be played; the luck was with United and the game was played at SJP. Their opponents were Burnley who they had beaten in the FA Cup semi-final.

A decent crowd of 36,076 turned up to see the match. Burnley led at half-time but goals from Macdonald and Moncur turned the tie around.

Cup Success?

Despite some within the game remaining sceptical of of both sponsorship and the extra "meaningless games" that the tournament brought, United Chairman Lord Westwood was certain that the club's participation was a positive thing.

"Football needs the financial support that a major company like Texaco brings to the game. We are in a climate where we must make every penny count and sponsors deserve our full backing and appreciation".

Texaco sponsorship for the 1973/74 competition was £100,000 of which United got a paltry £4,500 for being the winners of the tournament. It is highly questionable whether this compensated for the eight extra games that had to be played.

Most match attendances were very low and it is unlikely that clubs managed to break even, even United fans who had supported the competition better than most were beginning to lose interest.

Saturday Afternoons Alright for Fighting

Attendances

The number of people attending matches slumped again to 24,928,203 which represented a drop of more than 5 million in only 6 years. The Division 1 average fell by about 2,000 to 28,292.

Newcastle were one of only a few clubs whose average attendance rose. The average of 32,791 (the best since 1969/70) making them the sixth best supported club in the country behind Man Utd, Liverpool, Leeds, Everton and Birmingham.

Forty thousand plus attendances were achieved for the matches against Man Utd, Liverpool and Everton; whilst 55,638 attended the Boxing Day match with Leeds.

Supporters Club

After months of negotiations Newcastle Supporters Club finally moved from it's old headquarters in the Bridge Hotel to the Social Club in St James' Street.

The trip to The Hawthorns in the FA Cup 5th Round gave United supporters their first chance to make use of the much heralded League Liner which had been introduced during the 1972/73season in an effort to cut down on soccer violence on the way to matches.

Unfortunately the Supporters Club was left to apologise for the lack of the super modern facilities. "The fact that there was no disco, cinema or TV was out of our hands and due entirely to licensing problems with the Football League".

The club also introduced new catering facilities at SJP; "a new and comprehensive range of Hot Drinks". "'Maxpax' is a unique and ingenious Hot Drinks system, each individual cup containing a pre-determined measure of ingredients packed in hygienic factory conditions, untouched by hand". For the less health conscious Keegan's Burgers were still available outside the ground.

Trouble

Hooliganism became an even greater problem. Even before the season started there were hundreds of arrests in pre-season friendlies prompting League President Len Shipman to call for the re-introduction of the birch.

Meanwhile the Police Federation also pointed an accusing finger at the players indiscipline and the leniency of the Football Authorities. "Can we wonder at the behaviour of young hooligans" when "millions of TV viewers" see an England player getting sent-off for "attacking an opponent". Then "he is picked again and only prevented from playing by a higher authority".

The three worst cases involved fans of Spurs, Man Utd and Newcastle.

In the second-leg of the UEFA Cup Final in Rotterdam where Tottenham were playing Feyenoord rioting by Spurs fans resulted in 200 injuries and seventy arrests.

In the Manchester derby the match was abandoned with four minutes left on the clock after constant encroachments by the Man Utd supporters. City were leading and the Red Devils were on their way to the Second Division. The result was allowed to stand.

United had already had problems early on in the season and the boys' gates were closed for a couple of games "because a number of quite ridiculous youngsters persist on running on to the pitch".

Then when Newcastle were down to ten men and losing 3-1 at home to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 6th round hundreds of United fans invaded the pitch causing a twelve minute delay. When play was resumed United stormed back to win 4-3.

An FA Commission decided that the match should be replayed but many in the media thought Newcastle should have been thrown out the Cup. The Football Digest's comment was typical. "Justice was done when Newcastle did NOT win the Cup. In the event they were never in with a chance, but they were given a chance which they - rather their crowd - did not deserve".

The magazine was equally critical of the additional punishment meted out that United would have to play all their FA Cup games away from home in the following season: "One boggles at the great minds which thought up this belated diffused punishment".

During the season a working party was set-up by the Minister of Sport Denis Howell to look in to what measures could be taken to increase safety and reduce crowd trouble. They did consider fences but the Home Office stated this was not acceptable because of the safety angle; that is the pitch was an easy escape route in the event of a fire or a bomb scare.

The main recommendation from the Working Party was that clubs should build moats around the pitch. Stoke were the only club that did. Meanwhile Derby installed closed circuit cameras at the Baseball Ground.

The existence of both a wire fence and a moat did not deter hundreds of Torino fans invading the pitch after the referee failed to award them a penalty during a match against Sampdoria. The referee had to sprint to safety with a deluge of bottles, stones and rotten fruit following him. Having missed out on their first target they turned on the heavily outnumbered police, 30 of whom were injured.

Brumland Blitz

Player indiscipline was seen as one of the major issues at the time and the feud that developed between the two sides with the saintly grounds was one of the worst examples.

In some ways it was an inevitability. The sides met on no less than seven occasions with the first six matches taking place within a period of only six weeks. During those first six games a total of nine players received injuries. There were 12 bookings and one sending off; not much by today's standards, but a deluge then.

The last match in the six game series took place days after the Texaco Cup match in which Jimmy Smith "accidentally" broke Tony Want's leg in two places. The papers were full of stories about the possibility of Birmingham players seeking revenge and acting captain Frank Clark urged his players to "play it cool".

The referee was Alex Lees, a schoolteacher taking charge of his first Division 1 game. Asked if he expected trouble his reply was unconvincing: "it won't be a kicking match, it will be just a game of football".

The following article in Goal magazine was typical of the post match media response.

"The term 'bringing the game into disrepute' is bandied around for the most trifling of offences by the hierarchy at Lancaster gate.

But rarely has their been such a golden opportunity for the FA to make themselves felt than Saturdays disgusting apology for a football match at St Andrews, where Birmingham and Newcastle did battle for the sixth time this season".

An immediate enquiry should be held into the feud that has been festering between the two clubs, and finally exploded into blatant violence on Saturday".

Undoubtedly the sides are sick of the sight of each other and it is clear that familiarity has bred considerable contempt.

But it is equally as clear that players from both sides have shown contempt for the laws, and the game's fast dwindling image in the eyes of equally dwindling crowds.

After the Texaco Cup-tie at SJP last week , in which United's Jim Smith was sent off following a tackle that broke Tony Want's leg in two places, it was a near certainty that despite all the appeals for calm, it was not going to need much for open warfare to become the order of the day at St. Andrews.

Newcastle's Irving Nattrass was carried off. Frank Clark followed in the second half. City's Bob Hatton limped off and five players were booked".

FA Secretary Ted Croker felt "ashamed" but also accused the media of exaggerating the trouble. "There was some disgraceful behaviour, but the majority behaved very well".

The chief villian of the peace was Birmingham's Paul Hendrie who was responsible for a disgraceful late challenge on Howard; both players were booked as Howard took his own retribution by trying to strangle the life out of him. It was Hendrie who also left "a gaping hole in the side of Frank Clark's shin".

Keith Robson was the next in the book for a bad challenge and Clark followed (after his return) when he pushed Hendrie over. Newcastle's Laughton was booked for deliberate hand-ball

Nattrass was put out for the season by a cynical challenge from Kenny Burns who escaped without punishment.

Freddie Goodwin, the Birmingham manager, said he "was never so unhappy in victory" and advocated the introduction of a 'sin-bin' in football suggesting that the game might have been saved if a few players were put in the 'cooler'.

Lord Westwood claimed that it was "up to the PFA to make a stand, the players by this type of behaviour are putting the livelyhood of their colleagues in jeapardy".

PFA Chairman Derek Dougan was having none of it reminding Westwood that by the laws of the game "clubs are responsible for the actions of their players".

Joe harvey was not available for comment.

John Tudor believed that the matches also proved a major turning point; talking before the QF against Forest he said. "Before this we were playing some great football. But those violent matches affected us all and we lost our impetus"

The seven game epic

22nd October - Texaco Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg (St Andrews)

30th October - League Cup 3rd Round (St Andrews)

7th November - League Cup 3rd Round Replay (St James')

28th November - Texaco Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg (St James')

5th December - Texaco Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg (St James')

8th December - Division 1 (St Andrews)

20th April - Division 1 (St James')

Problems elsewhere

Referee Clive Thomas had to take both teams off the pitch during the Manchester Derby because Mike Doyle of City and Lou Macari of Man Utd refused to leave the pitch after being sent-off.

In the European Cup three Athletico Madrid players were sent-off in the semi-final first leg against Celtic. They also had four other players booked while the Scots also had two cautioned

Monster Trash

The sense of pervading gloom within the game was exacerbated by the political crisis which brought mass strikes, fuel shortages and a three day week. Even the television shut-down at 10.30pm.

There was a temporary floodlight ban forcing early kick-offs and weekday games which made it harder for fans to attend matches and thus hit attendance figures further.

Fans were urged to travel by public transport or car-share on their way to matches. The railway strike provided a major headache for travelling supporters.

Joe Harvey - speaking in December - urged the League to "close down now otherwise some clubs face financial ruin and we'll all lose thousands of pounds". Wolves also proposed that there should be a total shut-down of the League but the League Management Committee decided the game must go on.

Despite significant opposition, Sunday soccer was experimented with for the first time. The Football Association had to ask the Home Office for special permission to stage matches arguing that on Sundays there would be a more guaranteed access to power.

Originally the request was turned down as the charging of admission prices contravened the Sunday Observance Act; but some clubs consider playing on Sundays anyway and selling programmes at higher prices instead of charging for admission

Harvey and Westwood were in favour of Sunday football, but their views were not shared by eveyone in the game.

Burnley president Bob Lord stated: 'Clubs are bringing the game into disrepute if they are getting round the Sunday Observance Act by selling programmes.' Arsenal's Bob Wall concurred: 'Playing football and making profits on Sundays is wrong. We will not disturb the peace and quiet of the neighbourhood of Highbury on that day".

The government eventually backed down and the first Sunday matches were played in the FA Cup Third Round; League games followed. The first few games attracted some bumper crowds, but the "novelty" factor gradually seemed to wear off.

Beyond Nutopia

Brian Clough

Old Big Mouth excelled himself during this season; he appeared regularly in both the papers and on TV giving his personal opinions on the state of the game. Amongst many controversial statements he condemned the Football League for their leniency towards Leeds' poor disciplinary record in the previous year. Clough believed that they should have been demoted.

He followed this by accusing some Derby players of being "cheats" stating that they were not giving their all to the club because they were more interested in their International careers.

Derby Chairman Sam Longston feared that his managers comments would land the club in hot water. He ordered Clough to stop, Clough thought he could call their bluff by resigning but he miscalculated and he lost his job.

England

England manager of Alf Ramsey squad selection and tactics were the target of increased criticism from the media and fellow managers.

And when they disastrously failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup. A 1-1 home draw with Poland with Tomaszewski ("the clown") performing heroics sealed the fate of Ramsey team and later that of the manager himself.

England supporters had to suffer the ultimate indignity of supporting Scotland in the Finals.

Crystal Balls

Jackie Charlton was voted Manager of the Year in his first season in the hot seat as he guided his 'Boro side to promotion. They were promoted with a record number of points but attracted a great deal of criticism for their negative tactics. One of his side was Graeme Souness.

Port Vale manager Gordon Lee took over at Blackburn.

TV

The clubs were once again at loggerheads with the TV companies over how much football should be on the box. Negotiations between the League and the media companies became so fractious that there was talk of a three season ban on televised matches.

Burnley and QPR stated that they would not allow their FA Cup matches to be shown, but the FA did have an agreement and Secretary Ted Croker believed that the clubs should honour that contract.

The PFA were certainly wanted agreement to be reached as they needed the £25,000 a year they received from the broadcasting companies