Leeds United – Page 5 – FOOTBALL BOOK REVIEWS (FBR)

1992/93 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final

Wednesday 12 May 1993

Venue: Wembley Stadium, London, England.

Attendance: 37,393

PARMA (2) 3 – 1 (1) ROYAL ANTWERP

[Parma scorers: Minotti 9′, Melli 30′, Cuoghi 84′]

[Royal Antwerp: Severeyns 11′]

Parma: Marco Ballotta, Georges Grün, Lorenzo Minotti (c), Luigi Apolloni, Antonio Benarrivo, Alberto Di Chiara, Marco Osio (Fausto Pizzi 75’), Daniele Zoratto (Gabriele Pin 26’), Stefano Cuoghi, Tomas Brolin, Alessandro Melli.

Unused Substitutes: Marco Ferrari (GK), Salvatore Matrecano, Faustino Asprilla.

Royal Antwerp: Stevan Stojanovic, Rudi Taeymans, Nico Broeckaert, Rudi Smidts (c), Wim Kiekens, Didier Segers (Noureddine Moukrim 82’), Ronny Van Rethy, Dragan Jakovljevic (Patrick Van Veirdeghem 51’), Hans-Peter Lehnhoff, Francis Severeyns, Alexandre Czerniatynski.

Unused Substitutes: Wim De Coninck (GK), Geert Emmerechts, Garry De Graef.

Referee: Karl-Josef Assenmacher (Germany)

This was the 33rd Final of the Cup Winners Cup and the first at Wembley since West Ham United played in the 1964/65 Final against 1860 Munich.

Parma started brightly and went ahead within the opening ten minutes. Alessandro Melli had a diving header brilliantly saved by Antwerp ‘keeper Stevan Stojanovic, however from the resulting corner, Stojanovic flapped at the ball allowing Parma skipper Lorenzo Minotti to acrobatically hook home into the net. The lead only lasted two minutes, as the Parma defence was put under pressure with Alexandre Czerniatynski putting through a clever ball to Francis Severeyns who ran onto it and clinically finished past Marco Ballotta. On the half-hour mark, Parma went back in front and again the Antwerp ‘keeper didn’t cover himself in glory. Marco Osio crossed into the box and Stojanovic came out only to be well beaten to the ball by Alessandro Melli, who headed home into an unguarded goal. Melli had the ball in the net once more before the break but was aggrieved to see the flag up for off-side, leaving the Italian side 2-1 up at the break. Parma dominated proceedings in the second-half, but only sealed victory six minutes from time, when a ball over the top found Stefano Cuoghi clear of the Antwerp defence, he took a single touch in the box before curling over the advancing Stojanovic for I Gialloblu (The Yellow and Blues) first European trophy.

The low attendance on the night is said to have contributed to the thinking that the competition had a limited future. Indeed just six years on from that Wembley game, in 1999, the last ever Final in the tournament was played out at Villa Park.

The programme from the last Final in 1999 summarised the game under the following headline:

Parma outgun brave Antwerp

The Wembley final was a glittering occasion but both clubs took a tortuous route to London. Parma AC squeezed past Ujpesti TC 2-1, then drew 0-0 at home to Boavista FC before winning 2-0 in Portugal. After beating Sparta Praha (conquerers of defending champions SV Werder Bremen), they won the away leg of their semi-final against Club Atletico de Madrid 2-1, only to lose 1-0 at home.

Royal Antwerp FC needed a penalty shoot-out to beat the Irisj part-timers of Glenavon FC in the first round. Then, having beaten FC Admira Wacker 4-2 in Austria, they contrived to lose 4-3 at home. IN the quarter-final against Steaua Bucuresti an 82^nd minute goal by Alex Czerniatynski let them through on the away-goals rule and, in the semi-finals a controversial penalty allowed them to beat Spartak Moscow 3-2 on aggregate.

Walter Meeuws’ side showed similar resilience in the Wembley final. Parma AC opened the scoring in the 10th minute when goalkeeper Steven Stojanovic misjudges a corner and allowed Parma’s captain, Lorenzo Minotti to hook home the ball. But the Belgians replied within two minutes, Czerniatynski playing a lovely through ball to Francis Severeyns. The Italians began to dominate an end-to-end game and Alessandro Melli headed them 2-1 ahead after half an hour. Antwerp offered sterling resistance in the second half, but the game was put beyond their reach six minutes from time when Stefan Cuoghi curled in the third. Parma had become the eighth Italian team to win a Europen trophy.

Two players from Parma that night will be familiar to fans in England from the 1990s, are Tomas Brolin and Faustino Asprilla. Their pen-pics in the programme for the Final were as follows:

Tomas Brolin: Striker. Age 23 (born November 29, 1969) with 22 caps for Sweden (12 goals). Brolin was the hero of Sweden when he led the European Championship hosts to the semi-finals last summer – scoring a brilliant goal against England along the way. Sweden’s current top player, Brolin began with Leksands IF, then GIF Sundsvall and played for Sweden at youth, under-21, and Olympic level before exploding into the senior national team as a 20-year-old in the spring of 1990. His debut was a World Cup warm-up friendly against Wales and Brolin scored twice in a 4-2 win. The next time out he scored two in the 6-0 thrashing of Finland. Those goals took him from nowhere to the 1990 World Cup in four months. Brolin was outstanding at Italia ’90 and Parma surprised bigger rivals by snapping him up. The £900, 000 deal has proved excellent value; Brolin led Parma to a UEFA place in his first season, to the Italian Cup in his second and now – despite knee injury problems last summer – to the club’s first European club final.

Faustino Asprilla: Attack. Aged 23 (born November 6, 1969) with 12 caps for Columbia. One of the most exciting players to have been seen in any of the three European club competitions this season. Parma took a major gamble when they signed Asprilla from the former South American champions Atletico Nacional of Medellin, last summer. But they have been rewarded with some spectacular performances and equally spectacular goals – including the goal which helped end Milan’s 58-game unbeaten run. Asprilla scored both Parma’s goals in the first-leg victory over Atletico Madrid in the semi-final in Spain. But he missed the return after gashing a leg in a bizarre domestic accident whilst visiting his family back in Columbia on between the ties.

Brolin stayed at Parma until November 1995 and moved to England to play in the Premier League for Leeds United. His stay in Yorkshire was unsuccessful to say the least, with his cause nor helped by an ankle injury which meant he never hit the heights of his time in Italy. Brolin’s two-years at Elland Road saw his go out on short loan spells to FC Zurich in 1996 and his old club Parma in 1997. His last hurrah came with a move to Crystal Palace at the back end of the 1997/98 campaign, but with The Eagles relegated from the Premier League at the end of that season he was released, and Brolin returned to Sweden where he retired from playing.

The Columbian stayed at Parma until February 1996 when he moved into the Premier league with Newcastle United. Asprilla was at times brilliant for The Toon but in equal measures inconsistent on the pitch and never far away from incidents off of it. He returned to Parma in January 1988 collecting another European medal in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup Final win over Marseille in Moscow. Asprilla left in 1999 to then see out his career (effectively retiring in 2004), with a number of clubs in South America, including Palmeiras, Fluminense (both Brazil), Atlante (Mexico), Atletico Nacional (Columbia), Universidad de Chile (Chile), Estudiantes La Plata (Argentina) and Cortuluá (Columbia).

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2019/20: An Incredible Journey. Match Day 24 (Part 2) – Saturday 22 February 2020: AFC Wimbledon v Blackpool

As mentioned in Part 1 of this Match Day adventure, we left Griffin Park with about fifteen minutes to go. I’ve never been a fan of leaving games early, but time was of the essence. So with the Brentford game still in progress we walked to the car through relatively empty streets, along with a few others who had also left early, possibly heading to the local pubs to avoid the queues. Fortunately, we didn’t miss any goals, however with Brentford having levelled with a penalty as we left, they had the momentum and it wouldn’t have been a surprise if they had come up with a late winner.

Kingsmeadow – The Cherry Red Records Stadium

So onward to Kingsmeadow for AFC Wimbledon versus Blackpool game in the Sky Bet League One. It was a fairly uneventful journey other than the masses of people in Richmond Park exercising and taking their dogs for a walk which immediately brought to mind the YouTube sensation “BENTON! BENTON!” especially when we saw a few herds of deer scattered around the park. Being uneventful traffic wise gave us the opportunity to chat about the two most important things in life, football, and music. We’d both started watching ‘the beautiful game’ around the same time and in a similar part of London, although my early days were primarily Stamford Bridge, whilst Paul’s were just down the road at Craven Cottage. It also turns out we also have a very similar music taste too; a bit of rock, a bit of indie, a bit of prog, plus there was a similarity to our gig history too, so a very enjoyable jaunt over to Kingston upon Thames, home of AFC Wimbledon, Kingstonian and Chelsea Ladies up until 2017. We parked up just in front of a car we saw park on an off road area very close to the ground, looking back on it, all a little too easy given how close it was to kick-off. More of that later.

AFC Wimbledon are another club founded by disgruntled supporters following the relocation of Wimbledon FC 60 miles up the road to Milton Keynes. My last house in London was in Wimbledon Park, so Plough Lane was about 20 minute walk from where I lived and I attended a few games as they rose through the top four tiers, primarily following Grimsby Town with my friend Nigel. I was at the “Harry the Haddock” FA Cup tie in 1988 and also a game in the “old” Second Division where around 16 Grimsby Town supporters turned up and me and Nige had a chat with Nigel Hatch the Grimsby ‘keeper whilst the ball was up the other end. The Wimbledon team that day was managed by Harry Bassett and included players who had seen them promoted the previous season and would see them promoted to the First Division in time, including Dave Beasant (who would move to Chelsea in the future), Alan Cork, Wally Downes, John Fashanu, Glynn Hodges, Ian Holloway, Lawrie Sanchez, Andy Thorn, Nigel Winterburn and a future Chelsea favourite, Dennis Wise. It was shortly before my old school football team member Dave Gilbert, joined the Mariners in 1989 where he spent seven seasons, playing 259 games, and scoring 41 goals before following manager Alan Buckley to West Brom.

Wimbledon were formed in 1889 as an Old Boys Team from Old Central School on Wimbledon Common, Wimbledon Old Centrals and moved to Plough Lane in 1912. They plied their trade in the Amateur Leagues lifting the FA Amateur Cup in the 1962/63 season, the season I was born. At the same time they dominated the Isthmian League winning it three years in succession before turning professional and joining the Southern League. An extraordinary FA Cup run in the 1974/75 season which saw them make their way through to an away game at Turf Moor against Burnley, a First Division side. They’d entered at the First Qualifying Round and had seen off Brackley Town, Maidenhead United, Wokingham Town, Guildford & Dorking United, Bath City and Kettering Town to book a date at Turf Moor in the Third Round. They became the first non-league team that century that had beaten a team from the top-flight courtesy of a single goal from Mick Mahon. Their next game was against the First Division Champions Leeds United and incredibly they drew 0-0 at Elland Road, with Dickie Guy saving a Peter Lorimer penalty. The replay was switched to Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace with the Dons narrowly losing 1-0 in front of 40,000 fans through an own goal. They won the Southern League twice out of the following three seasons and gained election to the Football League, replacing Workington in the 1977/78 season. I saw Lincoln beat Wimbledon 5-1 in 1981 at Sincil Bank, but this was before their dramatic progress through the divisions which saw them rise to the First Division with three promotions in four seasons. Their crowning glory was a 1-0 FA Cup Final victory over Liverpool in 1988, when as BBC commentator John Motson famously put it, “the Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club”. With the ruling on all-seater stadium for all top-flight clubs in England, the Club were forced into moving to away from Plough Lane to Selhurst Park. Following relegation from the Premier League there were attempts to relocate the Club and it was a dark day for football when a move to Milton Keynes was sanctioned by the football authorities. In 2002/03 AFC Wimbledon started life in the Combined Counties League Premier Division. Five promotions in nine years, saw the Dons once again grace the Football League and plan to return to Plough Lane on the site of the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium for the 2020/21 season. 2015/16 also saw another promotion for the Club as they won the League Two Play-Off Final and have been in League One since.

Their current home, Kingsmeadow is a compact ground, with a capacity of less than 5,000 and today you can see why they need to move, with cramped conditions in the Rygas Stand where we found ourselves standing.

The Dons started brightly and forced an early save from Blackpool ‘keeper Chris Maxwell from Anthony Hartigan’s shot. They also had the first corner of the match with Kwesi Appiah’s header just wide. The positive opening fifteen minutes also included a good chance for Appiah, as from a Luke O’Neil cross the resultant header was just over the bar. Blackpool though responded with former Aston Villa striker Nathan Delfouneso through on goal, only for Joe Day to make an excellent save. The Tangerines in fact went on to dominate the rest of the half with Delfouneso and Matty Virtue the main threats. However, with defences on top it was not s surprise that the teams went in at the break level at 0-0.

Blackpool started the second-half on the front foot, with Day the busier of the ‘keepers, having to tip an early corner over the bar. However, he was a spectator just before the hour when from a cross, Taylor Moore just ten yards out, managed to blaze over the bar. The Dons were struggling to get any foot in the game and midway through the second period, the visitors had another great chance as Delfouneso was clean through, but he delayed his shot and the ball was eventually scrambled clear by Mads Sorensen. Wimbledon though ended the match on top, and in the final fifteen minutes substitute Adam Roscrow, forced Maxwell into a decent save. Then in the final minutes fellow sub Daniel McLoughlin, popped up at the back post but his shot was superbly saved by Maxwell. The home side had started and ended well, with the visitors dominating during the middle part of the game and in the end a draw was probably just about the right result.

As you may remember from my visit to Blackpool for the Lincoln City game, the traffic was a nightmare and I missed a large part of the opening half. Well the curse of cars and Blackpool struck again. At the whistle we made our way out of the ground to return to the car, sadly what we didn’t notice when we had initially parked up, was the ‘No Parking’ sign and therefore came back to a parking-ticket plonked on the windscreen. However, we had made it to two games in a day and even this could not dampen what had been a cracking Saturday in the capital. Whilst Paul returned to the North on the train that evening, Sunday was to provide another Match Day opportunity for me!

Saturday 22 February 2020

Sky Bet League One

AFC Wimbledon 0 Blackpool 0

Venue: Kingsmeadow

Attendance: 4,593

AFC Wimbledon: Day, O’Neill, Thomas (Rod McDonald 88’), Wagstaff, Hartigan, Appiah (Roscrow 66’), Rudoni, Sorensen, Reilly (McLoughlin 77’), Osew, Pigott.

Unused Substitutes: Trott, Pinnock, Lammy, Guinness-Walker

Blackpool: Maxwell, Feeney, Turton, Moore, Husband, Calum Macdonald, Virtue, Ronan, Dewsbury-Hall, Delfouneso, Madine (Nuttall, 81’).

Unused Substitutes: Sims, Howe, Bola, Edwards, Spearing, Ward

Steve Blighton

Category: 2019/20: An Incredible Journey | LEAVE A COMMENT

2019/20: An Incredible Journey. Match Day 6 – Saturday 24 August 2019: Nelson v Shelley

A trip to Wembley, Little Wembley in fact, also known as Victoria Park, the home of Nelson FC. As you can imagine there is a bit of a dramatic difference between the two Wembley’s, trust me! Capacity wise, whilst the home of the England team in North West London can hold 90,000, the North West England version, holds a mere 2,000.

Here’s a football quiz question for you. Can you think of the club that was the first English side to beat Real Madrid away from home? A side that also won away at Old Trafford in the same season. A side that played in the Football League for ten seasons and has played competitive games against 34 of the current sides in the top four divisions. A side that has played many FA Cup ties in the competition proper with a record home attendance of over 14,000. The answer? Well, all this, and more, has been achieved by ‘The History Boys’ of Nelson FC, also known as ‘The Admirals’.

The origins of Nelson FC can be reputedly traced to a group of townspeople who in 1881, on witnessing a local football match between Burnley and Blackburn, were inspired to form their own team. However, it wasn’t until 1889/90 that they competed in a senior competition.

When football resumed after the First World War, Nelson embarked upon the most remarkable adventure of their history. In 1921 the thirteen non-reserve teams of the Central League were voted into the Football League`s newly formed Third Division North. The first league match, on August 27 1921, brought a record attendance at Seedhill of 9,000.

The next season, 1922/23, saw the Blues lead a close race for much of the season, and five wins in a row during April saw them romp away to the title. On the back of their title triumph, and in preparation for life in Division Two, Nelson took the remarkable step of an overseas tour to Spain, in May 1923. They performed with some success, winning two of their four games, a 2-1 success against Real Oviedo and a 4-2 victory at Real Madrid.

Unfortunately, Nelson`s time in Division Two was to be short-lived, lasting just the one season in which they finished second-bottom of the table. It was clear early on that they were struggling both on and off the pitch, but they achieved some remarkable feats on the way. They had a home victory over Champions-elect Leeds United, one of only nine league defeats for the Yorkshire side and their first away victory came at Manchester United. Few non-league clubs can claim to have won away at both Real Madrid and Manchester United!

A return to Division Three North brought a drop in attendances, though big games saw new records established, such as 13,500 for the visit of table-topping Darlington. That first season back in the third tier of the Football League saw a second-place finish to the North-Eastern side, hence no promotion, and was to be the last time the Blues seriously threatened a return to the national stage.

The next season brought a new and never beaten record attendance at Seedhill of 14,143 for the visit of leaders Bradford Park Avenue. The home team went two goals down but came back to draw 2-2. Two seasons later Nelson became serious strugglers, finding themselves £6,500 in debt. A rock-bottom finish meant a re-election application. They had conceded 136 goals during the season, and all the problems seemed to be down to insufficient gate receipts during difficult times for the area. Re-election was granted in 1928, but three seasons later Nelson were back in the same situation, and 1930/31 was to be their final season as a League club. Nelson struggled on in the Lancashire Combination without winning any honours, and things became much bleaker in 1936. A big loss was incurred that season and the club disbanded on 7 August. The club reformed after the Second World War and entering the Lancashire Combination League, playing in the league until it merged with the Cheshire County League to form the North West Counties League in 1982.

The current Nelson side still ply their trade in North West Counties First Division North and their visitors for this fixture were Shelley from Huddersfield – my connection to Shelley will be revealed later on in the season.

It was a lovely sunny day and barely a breeze, only a hard pitch to contend with. It’s a quaint old ground which has seen better days with a small stand along one side of the pitch. Attendance on the day was nothing like the 14,000 they attracted back in the 1920s. In fact, the crowd was 55 and I was able to count every one of them. Of the game, it was two very evenly matched sides and I was impressed at the standard of football, this being tier 10 of the pyramid. Both defences were much stronger than their own and opposition attack with Ryan Blackburn being outstanding in defence for Shelley, who also showed touches of pace up front with Israel Johnson. Nelson were equally stoic in defence well marshalled by Daniel Fagan. Shelley manager, Ash Berry, was his ebullient self on the touchline in a game that ended as a draw, which on reflection was a fair result but deserved goals.

A final interesting fact about Nelson FC, following their return to act after the war in the Lancashire Combination. They were involved in some terrific tussles for the title with Wigan Athletic over the next few seasons, winning it twice in 1949/50 and 1951/52. In those three seasons of 42 league games apiece, Nelson scored 125, 120 and 139 goals, respectively. The first title season also saw Nelson clinch the Lancashire Combination Cup to seal an historic ‘Double’ in what was at the time one of the premier leagues in the country outside of the Football League. The men at the forefront of this period of success were two young player-managers. Centre-half Bob Johnson moved from Burnley for the start of the 1949/50 season and, when his contract expired, the Blues landed a young man from Manchester City, 30-year-old Joe Fagan. The team built by ‘Uncle Joe’ romped to the title in his first season in 1951/52. Joe left to join Liverpool`s boot room team in 1958 and 25 years later he was the manager who took the Reds to a European Cup, League Championship and League Cup treble.

Saturday 24th August 2019

North West Counties Football League – First Division North

Nelson 0 Shelley 0

Venue: Little Wembley

Attendance: 55

Nelson: Parkinson, C. Lloyd, Grice, Dickinson, Fagan, Wynne, J. Coop, Sharples, Hill, J. Lloyd, Knight.

Substitutes: Close, Townsend, Dewhurst

Shelley: Day, Leech, Andre, Daffern, Blackburn, Keane, O’Keefe, Broadbent, Billington, Pownall, Johnson

Substitutes: White, Robertson, Bradshaw

Steve Blighton

Category: 2019/20: An Incredible Journey | LEAVE A COMMENT

Book Review: The Wessie – A History of the West Riding Senior Football Association Cup by Martin Jarred

The FA Cup is recognised as the oldest cup competition in the World with it first being played during 1871/72, when Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at the Oval in London. It predated the first Football League Championship in England by seventeen years, when Preston North End took the title.

The point of this brief timeline of English football? Well, simply that cup football came into being before the organisation of league football and perhaps was partly responsible for the special place the FA Cup competition once held within this country. Additionally, it is useful for understanding where the early power of the game was, with The FA coming into existence in 1863, and a number of County FA’s also being founded, for instance, the Sheffield & Hallamshire County FA (1867), Lancashire County FA (1878) and Cumberland FA (1884), before the Football League in 1888.

The West Yorkshire Association came into existence in 1896, due in part to the fact that this part of the country was dominated by the game of rugby. The fledgling organisation launched the West Yorkshire Cup in 1896/97 with Hunslet the winners in the four team competition, which included Bradford, Halifax, and Leeds.

The title of the book, The Wessie, takes its point of reference for the term for people living in the West Riding by those living in other parts of the Broad Acres of Yorkshire. What is immediately evident, is that this has been a real labour of love for its author, Martin Jarred, who came through Prostate Cancer to complete the book, from which half of the author’s royalties go towards Yorkshire Against Cancer in appreciation of the care and treatment he received.

In terms of contents, the book charts the history of the Senior Cup, which in its various guises was played for between 1896 until 1999, details of the County Cup from 2007 to 2019 (when the Senior Cup was presented to the County Cup winners) and a brief overview of key figures in the history of the West Riding County FA.

The amount of research that has gone into this book is staggering, with team-line ups, scorers, attendances, and venues, dating back to that first year of the cup back in 1896/97. It is a book that you will pick-up and put-down and learn something different every time. This includes the early influence of rugby with a number of the grounds used in the early years of the competition, such as Fartown (Huddersfield), Crown Flatt (Dewsbury) and Wheldon Road (Castleford), locations familiar to fans of the thirteen-a-side code. Other points of interest include seeing how players who became household names started off their careers in the Senior Cup such as John Charles, David Seaman, and many of the 60s and 70s renowned Leeds United teams.

The journey through the book is also a journey through the history and development of the game, with clubs going out of existence, in Leeds City and the original Bradford Park Avenue, and the introduction of innovations such as floodlights and substitutes.

However, the most significant factor is that this book is a record of a competition that is unlikely ever to be revived. If the FA Cup is treated with such distain these days, what chances do the County competitions have? The Wessie details how the Senior Cup in West Riding slowly but surely became nothing more than a nuisance in the football calendar, with the senior teams increasingly using it as a chance to blood youngsters or indeed decline to take part altogether and as a result crowds simply did not turn out to see what became games between teams of reserves. The wonderful Fratelli made trophy though at least does still live on, now presented to the County Cup winners, but the irony being that even some of those clubs taking part in recent years (from the National League, Northern Premier League, Northern Counties East League and North West Counties League), use the competition to play their reserves or Academy players and so means that there is little interest from spectators and certainly no financial reward. Will history repeat itself and see another competition consigned to the pages of history?

(Tony Brown. December 2019). Paperback 132pp)

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Book Review: With Clough, By Taylor (with Mike Langley)

This book was originally published in October 1980 (cover right), and at that time the Clough and Taylor partnership was still going strong, with Nottingham Forest having collected a second European Cup triumph following a 1-0 win over a Hamburg side in Madrid containing Kevin Keegan. Within two years Peter Taylor resigned from Forest and took up the management of rivals Derby County from November 1982 to April 1984 and it was during this period that he and Brian Clough fell out, never to reconcile before Taylor’s death in October 1990 of pulmonary fibrosis while on holiday in Mallorca, at the age of just 62. This republishing of With Clough, By Taylor (cover below left) is sold with royalties donated to Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis (www.actionpulmonaryfibrosis.org)

Given this is a republishing almost forty-years later, the reader has the benefit of all the events post the original release in 1980 and therefore makes it a different read. For instance, back then any reader, given what the pair had achieved up to that point, might have comfortably assumed that there were more years of success to follow, whereas in fact within two years Clough and Taylor were no longer a partnership. And in some ways, it is interesting to see this reflected in the two covers from 1980 and the 2019 publications. The 80s version has the men together deep in concentration, focused on the action in front of them, whereas the latest edition sees them sat before the start of the 1980 European Cup Final, seemingly together but portraying a distance as well. It may simply be that they are nervous ahead of such a major game, or that they are uncomfortable with the intrusive nature of the photographers. However, given that the pair never reconciled after their row surrounding the John Robertson transfer, the current image may well have been chosen to reflect the split.

Of the content of the book itself, it follows a fairly chronological line of their time together and apart, starting with the initial meeting as players at Middlesbrough, where Taylor was a goalkeeper and Clough a centre-forward. It then documents their first managerial job at Hartlepools United, the triumph, trials and tribulations at Derby County, the time at Brighton & Hove Albion together and then with Taylor solely in charge and finally their tenure at Nottingham Forest. These parts of the book all feel fairly understated and it is not until Taylor comes onto other topics, in particular, Clough’s 44 days at Leeds United, Taylor’s views on the England team and the players in the game that he admired, that as a reader we get to see an animated side of his character and get to read about Taylor’s undoubted understanding of players and their respective talents.

That Clough and Taylor were two different characters is reflected in the number of books about Clough, given the persona he portrayed to the world and his penchant for the outspoken and controversial, as the paucity of titles about Peter Taylor, who admitted himself, was uncomfortable in front of the media. The fact is that the pair were highly successful, and their different personalities and skills ensured that, as Clough acknowledged, “I’m not equipped to manage successfully without Peter Taylor. I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back.”

The ending of the book is on reflection a sad footnote, with Taylor stating, “Both of us are aware that it (our partnership) cannot last for ever and that we must part again one day. I hope we part on a high note and on the friendliest terms, and that football will remember us as pioneers of management – the first to see that two heads are better than one.” Clough and Taylor will always be remembered as a unique and successful partnership and indeed will always be part of football history and folklore, the pity though is that their friendship never had that chance of a final reconciliation.

(Biteback Publishing, 24 Jan. 2019. Paperback 288pp)

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Book Review: Me and My Big Mouth – When Cloughie Sounded Off in TVTimes by Graham Denton

Brian Howard Clough, born in Middlesbrough, 21 March 1935, a man who was destined to leave his own inimitable style on the game of football as player, manager and pundit.

In a ten-year playing career from 1955 to 1965 with hometown club Middlesbrough and local rivals Sunderland, he bagged 267 league and cup goals in just 296 appearances, an almost unbelievable strike rate which was good enough to see him earn England caps against Wales and Sweden in 1959.

A serious knee Injury ended his playing career but started Clough on the management ladder in October 1965 and the beginning of his incredible partnership with Peter Taylor at Fourth Division Hartlepools United. The pair built a reputation for themselves in the North East which earned them a move in 1967 to Second Division Derby County, where a six-year stint saw the Rams promoted to the top-flight and become Champions of England in 1971/72. Their tenure came to an end in October 1973 as the fractious relationship with the Derby Chairman saw Clough and Taylor depart the Baseball Ground.

Within a month the pair had accepted taking over at Third Division Brighton & Hove Albion. However, it proved to be a struggle for the duo and when Leeds United came calling in the summer of 1974, Cloughie departed for Elland Road with Taylor staying on at the South coast club. The 44 days that Clough was in charge have become written into football lore, spawning a book, The Damned Utd, a film, The Damned United and a stage play of the same name.

Cloughie didn’t return to management until the start of 1975, when reunited with Peter Taylor, they brought unparalleled success to Nottingham Forest, breaking Liverpool’s dominance in England, including two European Cup Final triumphs, before Clough retired from the game in May 1993, ironically with Forest being relegated from the top-flight.

That period at the City Ground though was all still to come when in September 1973 Brian Clough took up the opportunity to write a weekly column in the magazine TVTimes. Writer Graham Denton has taken many of these articles (which ran till the end of 1974), in his book, Me and My Big Mouth – When Cloughie Sounded Off in TVTimes. Interestingly, these are all from the most turbulent period of Clough’s managerial career, which saw his time end at Derby and the short-lived spells at Brighton and Leeds prove fruitless. It begs the question whether these articles were one too many distraction for Cloughie amongst his media work and times in the hot-seat as a manager?

The articles themselves hark back to a very different world. This is a time way before the existence of the Premier League, all-seater stadium and the saturation of live football on tv we have today. There was no internet or mobile phones, and newspapers, football magazines such as Shoot! and Goal, as well as the matchday programme from the ground was generally the only place you could read about your club. The terraces were dominated by males and the threat of hooliganism was a real threat when attending games. Off the pitch, the country was in the grip of strikes and power cuts during the three day week. Therefore, Denton’s expansion on some (not all) of Clough’s original articles, provide a useful context to the reader of what was happening in the game and the country in general.

Of course, some of the most common stories attached to Clough are covered, such as his criticism of Poland goalkeeper, Jan Tomaszewski, who made a number of saves to deny England at Wembley in a game which saw the Poles make it to the 1974 World Cup Finals in West Germany at the expense of the English. However, there is plenty of material offering Cloughie’s views on a range of topics, such as Muhammad Ali, Schoolboy Internationals, television, the job of management, players (such as Malcolm Macdonald and Mick Channon) and even a fans survey.

Despite Clough’s reputation by some as being a big-head or self-opinionated, in reading these articles, whether you agree with them or not, they are in the main reasoned rather than rants, and certainly not of the kind from some of the pundits today who appear only to trade in controversial statements for the sake of it.

This book doesn’t pretend to be an authoritative biography of Cloughie but is an excellent addition to the various titles written about a football figure whose legend will like another Nottingham hero, Robin Hood, endure for many years to come.

(Pitch Publishing Limited. September 2019. Paperback 320pp)

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Book Review: Billy Bremner – Fifty Defining Fixtures by Dave Tomlinson

Never judge a book by its title?

If we tackle this question first, we can then move on to what Billy Bremner – Fifty Defining Fixtures is really about and we will find a pretty enjoyable book on the Leeds United era of ‘King Billy’ who was voted the best player ever at Leeds United and the greatest captain in the Football League’s history.

First things first, though; To judge or not to judge? that is the question. Another work by author, Dave Tomlinson, which has been reviewed on this site, Leeds United – a History is claimed in the publishers’ press release to be a ‘definitive’ history of the club. But they don’t seem able to define ‘definitive’. This is hardly surprising since the publisher and author don’t even agree on where Dave actually resides. Amberley think he lives in Leeds, whilst his own website thinks he lives in Birmingham.

We have a similar problem with this book’s title. Amberley also struggle to define ‘defining’. And is it likely there are exactly 50 ‘defining fixtures’ for him? Of course not. Does that matter? Of course not. It is a celebration of a genuinely inspirational footballer who was loved by Leeds fans and hated by almost all opposition ones who would, still, have loved him to play for them.

We have to wait till Fixture 14 when Bobby Collins suffered a terrible leg break away to Torino to find something really interesting about Bremner. It is unsurprising, given how the book is constructed, that information comes via a quote from Billy himself. Describing his feelings towards the perpetrator of the top-of-the-thigh-when-the-ball-was-ten-yards-away horror tackle, he admits to murderous intent, such was his extreme loyalty to any and every team mate.

As someone who saw him play in his prime, I am confident that he deserved the highest praise and I enjoyed reading about a defining (yes!) period in the club’s history. And yet, Dave Tomlinson struggles to capture the essence of Billy Bremner’s qualities because so much of the author’s work is cobbling together match reports. In fact, Billy seems to be barely mentioned in so many of the matches described. And the selection of 50 does miss some really important ones, like when he scored the only goal of the game in the second replay of the 1970 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United and sent us Leeds fans at Burnden Park wild with delight. And Billy tells us himself about a match that really should be in the 50. In Fixture 20, he reflects (in You Get Nowt For Being Second) that it was the recent Fulham match which earned him a lengthy ban and forced him to finally change and calm down – a bit. It was the defining moment of his career.

The best illustration of what Bremner was truly about has to wait till Fixture 42, a match of relatively low importance against Hibernian. But, finally, Tomlinson begins to focus on Billy’s leadership qualities. And, a little earlier in sequence, the report on Fixture 36 totally fails because it, absurdly claims to be objective about allegations of match-fixing against Wolves in 1972. Bremner won substantial damages and you are not being objective by once more airing the allegations, even if Mike O’Grady did later admit to having been a go-between. Perhaps ‘objective’ need defining?

As we draw to the eventual conclusion, we are surprised to find so much of the wonderful victory in the European Cup semi-final against Cruyff’s Barcelona is diverted to the conflict between Bremner and Giles over who should manage Leeds, presumably because the author felt it should be squeezed in somewhere.

The photographs are a little puzzling. Why does the cover (at least in one edition) have Bremner in Scotland kit when the vast bulk of the ‘Fixtures’ are Leeds matches? Who is the target audience? And it is amusing to see a caption alongside the photograph of Mike England, clearly trying to restrain an angry Billy, which describes them as ‘fighting’. Those who wish to know more about Billy actually fighting on a football field might be advised to check with Kevin Keegan about that.

For all his greatness as a player, he was certainly not the best manager in the history of Leeds United. Yet he was the one who cared most passionately about the club. His famous quote amply illustrates this, “Every time Leeds concede a goal, I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the heart.” If Dave Tomlinson decides to write another book on Bremner, I hope this is the ‘King Billy’ he writes about, the player the fans loved.

(Amberley Publishing 2017 160pp)

Review by Graeme Garvey

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Book Review: The Singing Winger by Colin Grainger and Hyder Jawad

In 1950 the United Kingdom had George VI on the throne, with Labour under Clement Atlee in power after winning a second term in February of that year. In the world of football in England, Portsmouth took the First Division title, Tottenham earned promotion to the top flight after winning the Second Division, whilst Arsenal won the FA Cup beating Liverpool 2-0 at Wembley. On the international front England slipped to a shock 1-0 defeat against the USA at the World Cup in Brazil. Later that year in October, a seventeen year old lad from Yorkshire called Colin Grainger, pulled on his boots to make his Football League debut for Wrexham in the Third Division North.

Now it is not a name that will be familiar to many, but during his career, Grainger became a household name in not just one field, but two. In terms of his football exploits, the winger/outside left, came to play seven internationals for England, scoring two goals on his debut against Brazil at Wembley and as a singer he toured the country up until 1970, even releasing a record in 1958 and appearing on the bill with The Beatles. This dual success lead to his show billing as The Singing Winger – and taken as the title of this interesting book.

Grainger with journalist Hyder Jawad detail life on the pitch and on stage in chronological chapters (from 1933 to the present), with a brief introduction (Exordium) in which Grainger pays tribute to his parents and his family. The debt of gratitude that Grainger feels to his mother and father is evident throughout the book, typified by the recurring phrase, “Son, no way you’re ever going a pit.” Football was in the Grainger genes, with brother Jack, having a career at Rotherham United, Lincoln City and Burton Albion, and cousins Jack and Dennis Grainger and Edwin Holliday all playing professional football.

Given that Grainger is looking back on his life, is it no surprise that this is a very reflective book. The world described is a very different one not only on the pitch but in the wider context of everyday life in Britain. In terms of the football story, the reader is taken to the highs of his career as an England International, where all his seven caps were earned in an eleven month period, through his journey and lows of injury that saw his play in all four divisions of the professional game with, Wrexham, Sheffield United, Sunderland, Leeds United, Port Vale and Doncaster Rovers. Grainger continued his career in non-league allowing him a quite unique record of playing in the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Trophy and FA Vase.

Within his football career there are some interesting insights, with Grainger quite open about the illegal signing-on fees prevalent at the time, an honesty about the managers and players from his era and some observations of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor, long before their management success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest.

If there is a criticism of the book, is it that as a reader an expansion and further exploration of some of the footballing tales and indeed Grainger’s time on stage in the music business, would have added to the enjoyment. However, essentially this is an intriguing look at a unique career that simply wouldn’t be possible in the modern era.

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Book Review: Ask A Footballer – My Guide to Kicking a Ball About by James Milner

First things first, as James Milner is keen to point out in the book’s introduction, this is NOT an autobiography, rather, as the title suggests, Milner opens the floor to questions from the Twittersphere, a somewhat brave (or perhaps foolhardy) move, and this book comprises a selection of those questions with Milner’s answers.

Unsurprisingly, the questions included in the book revolve around football, covering everything from breaking through as a youngster to life after the game. There are sections on team-mates, what happens on a matchday and the experience of playing home and away, amongst other topics, but essentially all of the main components of life as a footballer are examined.

Anyone hoping to find Milner’s thoughts on matters outside of the game will be sadly disappointed, but as the full title, Ask a Footballer: My Guide to Kicking a Ball About, makes clear, this isn’t an open-all-areas Q&A. It does seem a shame that a brief chapter wasn’t included at the end for some more miscellaneous questions just for fun, but, on the whole, it’s a welcome premise that the publishers have pursued in this book by granting fans the opportunity to be involved.

Naturally, the questions that are included are generally somewhat predictable and fan questions are accompanied by questions from those involved in the book which clearly ensure that no football-related stone goes unturned, but generally they are the sort of questions that football fans would want to ask given the chance, and what is great about the book is the sense of interaction and access for supporters. There is a lot of criticism nowadays about this side of the game and the divide between fans and players, so this book is a pleasing antidote and there’s definitely much more of a sense of engagement and interaction than your typical sporting autobiography.

As for Milner himself, he is unquestionably a good sport for agreeing to the project, although in many ways he’s a rather safe choice – I’m not sure such a book would be possible with a number of Milner’s former team-mates, for example, Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy or Mario Balotelli! And Milner’s clearly well placed to be a spokesman on all things football, having played in the Premier League for almost two decades now and in that time witnessing the revolution that has virtually changed the face of football into the professional machine that it is now.

In his time, Milner has played for Leeds United, Swindon Town, Aston Villa, Manchester City and his current team Liverpool and has experienced the lows of relegation as well as the highs of FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League glory. In many ways an underrated and oftentimes overlooked player in teams which have boasted the likes of world-beaters such as Aguero and Salah, Milner has been a model of consistency and reliability. Off the pitch, Milner, too, seems to be as far removed as it’s possible to be from the pretensions of fame, which has inspired the emergence of the infamous ‘Boring James Milner’ caricature.

Indeed, there is nothing explosive or controversial about Milner (although fans of former clubs may say otherwise, he’s hardly a disruptive or unruly influence in the way that other footballers have made a name for themselves), so, unsurprisingly, there is nothing explosive or controversial in this book. As Milner himself explains, he was often the go-to player in the England camp, put out in front of the media to straight-bat away any difficulties.

As such, his answers in the book are all very straightforward and safe. Even when the questions enter slightly more precarious territory, Milner’s answers are always restrained, somewhat frustratingly often not naming names or giving more detail than is necessary. But, on the other hand, his answers are also considered and honest.

Milner’s professionalism and reliability shine through in this book. It’s clear that he’s the ultimate professional, as his eighteen seasons in the top flight prove, and certainly anyone wanting to know what it takes to achieve success at the top of the game need look no further than Milner and his answers in this book. However, anyone wanting the dirt on the beautiful game, or the alternative side to being a professional footballer, may just have to wait to see if the publisher chooses to roll out the project again. Are you free Mr Balotelli?

Jade Craddock

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Book Review: Brian Clough – Fifty Defining Fixtures by Marcus Alton

In other books within this Amberley series the subject has either been a legendary player or a manager, but in this edition the focus is on Brian Clough who it could be argued is a rarity in having an extraordinary career in both areas of the game.

As a player Clough had an unbelievable strike rate playing for Middlesbrough and Sunderland, scoring 251 league goals from 274 games and also picked up two England caps, both in 1959. However, he had to retire following a serious knee injury sustained on Boxing Day 1962 and turned to management. Clough was in charge at Hartlepools United, Derby County, Leeds United, Brighton and Nottingham Forest, in a management career which stretched from 1965 to 1993, collecting most famously two European Cups in 1978/79 and 1979/80 with Forest.

Given this, author Marcus Alton acknowledges the mammoth task he had in bringing the book together: “It has certainly been a very tough task and this compilation contains by no means the only games that define his (Clough’s) playing and managerial career. But I hope you agree it focuses on some of the key matches…and at least, opens up debate.” And to be fair that is what is achieved by Alton. Within his selected fifty games, Alton manages to cover both Clough’s playing and management career taking in all the clubs he was at, even squeezing in games capturing his brief and unsuccessful stints at Elland Road and the Goldstone Ground.

In the style of the other books in the Amberley series, games are briefly covered using old match reports and analysis. This doesn’t provide the author with a great deal of scope to provide an in-depth exploration of Clough, but Alton still manages to convey some aspects of the antics and characteristics of ‘the best manager England never had’.

This series of books doesn’t pretend that the reader will find an in depth exploration of a player or manager, but is a starting point for wanting to find out more about the subject matter. Therefore, whilst the triumphs at Derby County and Nottingham Forest are detailed through a number of fixtures, this book isn’t one where you will find for instance a detailed analysis of the breakdown in the Taylor-Clough relationship or the health issues that he suffered during the back end of his management career at the City Ground.

If you know very little and or not read a great deal about ‘Cloughie’ this book is a useful starting point for an exploration of an incredible football figure.

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