Sapphire,you're being naugthy,that is Sir Harry Dolman OBE..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Dolman
Hi Angelic - yes I remember that game. Why they called it 'Wembley' I don't know. One thing that reflects how times have changed is that the kids supported either City or Rovers - there were hardly any 'glory' fans back then - if there were any they were very much in the minority.
It was called Wembley because a kid went through and the last one not to have scored got knocked out in every round just like in a cup competition, and the final would naturally have been at Wembley if it was for a cup, hence Wembley. At least that's my theory. There were some glory hunters but it was all Chelsea or Leeds then but every kid was either City or Rovers as well.
In 1964 we were in Div 3 but got to round 4 of FA Cup. Drawn away to Sunderland then top of Div 2. Special train (steam loco in those days) left Parson Street at about 11pm Friday night and about 2.30 am broke down at the back of Birmingham City's ground. An hour later replacement loco left there and finally got to Sunderland at 10.30 am. It was freezing cold and condensation dripped from the ceiling of the carriage all the way there. Got to Roker Park to find snow piled around the edge of the pitch, which itself was rock solid. But in those days games were played on frozen pitches! City came a close second scoring once but Sunderland got 6 so no Wmbley visit that year. I think we arrived back in Bristol about 3 am on Sunday. That was the biggest defeat for City that I witnessed until 1-7 at Northampton in 1982. Glyn Riley scored at 0-5 and I jumped in the air only to be told to sit down and shut up by my missus. Coincidentally Sunderland repeated the 6-1 against City in a League Cup replay at Ashton Gate in the 90's. Why do I do it I thought? Cos I've been Red since April 1950 and will be until they screw the box down.
I actually saw Harry's works team, Thrissell Nomads play. Remember Brecknal Dolman and Rogers in Thristle Street
Good one Cideredabroad. Those were the days of no nonsense players, heavy footballs with laces, and no feigning injuries or multi millionaires. Unfortunately it was also the era of continual injections of medicines such as Cortazone for certain players which have effectively crippled people like Tommy Smith of Liverpool in later life. Rock hard pitches in the winter, slow or non existent public transport especially to away games, playing matches in the snow which always seemed to be at Wolves or Villa (no health and safety concerns for the spectators on icy terracing or those travelling to/from the game either) and on waterlogged pitches. Little or no sign of outfield players wearing gloves (or white tights Mr Keith Weller!) until much more recently. Heavy cotton shirts and shorts that soaked up loads of water in the rain and kept you cold. I went to Leeds for the FA Cup replay in 1974 whilst I was still at school. The game was played in the early afternoon in front of 47,000 because of the 3 day week and associated power outages and it is probably the greatest City dispay I've ever witnessed, given that Leeds were then the existing 1st Division champions. In terms of large defeats over the years aside from the Northampton one, I remember a home defeat to Oxford 0-4 in the 70's, a 5-1 reversal at Fulham in the same decade, a 6-1 loss at Tranmere in the 90's, and West Ham and Wolves beat us 6-1 at home more recently. On the plus side, and unlike our blue cousins, I don't remember us ever losing to non league opposition such as Hayes or Kettering although we had some close calls such as Bath City and Kingstonian, and I did see us beat Aylesbury 9-2 a few years ago.
Weren't we dumped out of the Gloucester cup by Mangotsfield in Danny Wilsons last season in charge? I seem to remember Liam Rosenior getting sent off and was subsequently banned for the playoff final v Brighton at the millenium stadium