55019 I was there and we was robbed!!! If we'd had Goal line technology then, it would have shown their fullback, Ball, heading the ball out from over the line. Then Delaney crossed the ball from over the dead ball line for them to score the only goal. We was robbed! robbed! robbed! I can still see it now. Just a moment whilst I wipe my eyes. I queued from 4 am for a ticket.
Sorry Charles forgot about the 19 still didn't realise we had other gates of 55,000 though. As for being robbed although I was only a babe when that match was played I got the same feeling when City played Chelsea in the FA Cup. Think that home tie with Chelsea in the FA cup was the largest crowd I experienced at BP, could be wrong as so many games seemed to be packed. As a young lad at the Chelsea game I was allowed to get right up against the wall around the pitch, I could just see over the metal bit on top of the concrete where the running track was. I was situated right behind the goal at the North Stand end and got good views of the 2 guys who destroyed us that day, Bobbly Tambling and Peter Osgood. The queues to get in, not all ticket if I remember, crazy, snaked all the way across the car park down under the railway bridge over Boothferry road and back towards the Shell garage use to be situated near to the Anlaby Road/Boothferry Road roundabout. For an away match it was packed in at Portman Road Ipswich as Anglia TV had billed it as a local derby and so most of Ipswich must have turned out, we got hammered
C'mon ref, There were 43000 at the Chelsea match at B/park. re the Man U game I was one of the 19, I was told there were only ten tickets left when I was given mine. During my teen years 1945 to 1953 there were quite a few gates around the 50000 figure mainly against Rotherham who we played almost every Christmas day ( I think) Dutch Mountain dog will verify this when and if he reads it. I think I enjoyed those days more than I do today even tho' we may have a better future with the team we have now. I must say however, I really enjoyed Saturday, it looked like we had a more balanced side than we have had for years and that includes the premiership period. (I was cold tho'.)
1958/59 season when I was allowed to venture to BP on my own and I was a lonely figure stood right at the top of Bunkers Hill, well daft would be a more descriptive phrase as often it was windy and cold up there and most spectators were further down nearer the pitch. In later years there was a regular group of us use to meet every week, home and away, travel together in a hired coach then make plans for the next match. For long away matches, and London was long then, we use to set off from the old Electricity Board Showrooms at about 11pm on Ferensway and see all the clubbers on the way down to Mecca/Locano. We would stop off at some motorway service station but still arrive at our venue at some ungodly hour in the morning. By the end of the game we were all weary but we still managed to stay a few hours after the match in wherever we were and there was still the journey home often arriving at 2am or 3am.
Over to my husband Charles as he was around over this period. " Between 1945 and 1953 City only played Rotherham once on Christmas Day which was the 1948 match. Other Christmas Day matches were 46/47- Hartlepool away, 47/48- Southport away, 49/50- No match, 50/51- Sheffield United away, 51/52- Blackburn Rovers away, 52/53- No match. Of interest at that time was that when a match was played on Christmas Day the same team was played on Boxing Day as a reverse fixture."
With all respect Mr BMB I wouldn't doubt your statistics, but the last sentence is pure fantasy. We all know that any footballer would have to spend a year in an iron lung if he or she was daft enough to play two games on consecutive days. Nice try though you old trixter.
Ok Mrs bmd!, Its A long time ago and I'm going from memory, I remember Willie Buchan ( brill Player) scoring 2 penalties sending the goalie wrong way both times, and a few games around Christmas but I can't swear they were all Christmas day. At least two were tho, one I took 1/2 the Christmas chicken for packing up and I had to promise I wouldn't do it the following year.
The Second tier's League Table this season...is UPSIDE DOWN...sorry to come on your board, but looking at this League Table gives me a lift!!!
From Mr BMB. " Not only did they play 2 matches on consecutive days but also 3 matches in 4 days with no substitutes for injured players. Random league fixtures from Charles's teenage years and my pre-teen and early teen years. 1949/50 - Christmas Eve(Sat) Leicester, Boxing Day Brentford(away), 27th Dec Brentford(home) 1952/53 - 7th April(fri) Tottenham(away) 8th April(sat) West Ham(away) 10th April (Mon) Tottenham(home) And many more examples-- so what level of fantasy does this rise to?
The only Christmas Day match I can help you with Charles was in the 1956/57 season when Hull City played away at my club Darlington and the next day it was played in Hull. 1-1 score in both matches. My husband continues. "I was at all Tigers home Christmas Day matches from 1946-1966 and then I left England permanently. Apart from the Rotherham match the only other matches played on this day were 54/55 Luton Town and 57/58 Gateshead. In the Luton match we were hammered 4-0.There were lots of Boxing Day matches though and I saw all of these. Willie Buchan was the best penalty taker I have ever seen.If he did not send the goalkeeper the wrong way, he left them rooted to the spot as they could not decide which side the ball was heading.He was the penalty taker for all the teams he played for and I believe he had a 100% success record in his long career. He came to us from Blackpool via Celtic but only played for 1 season(48/49) so should have played in the Rotherham match. We scored 3 goals but I cannot remember the scorers."
Willie Buchan used the outside of his right boot and cut across the ball making the opposing keeper believe the ball was going to his right , but it actually nestled in the opposite corner .It was a technique I copied whenever I was taking a penalty for my school team. Fact Mrs BMB no subs in those days and in the Man Utd cup game Billy Bly suffered concussion in the First Half and had to continue .When he came out after the interval he was still suffering and inadvertently set off to to resume his position in the the goal ,but at the wrong end.He had to be led back by another Tigers player to the correct goal.I was on the actual running track inside the fence about 5 yards from the goal , as most youngsters were lifted over the fence for safety due to the huge crowd,and we sat there all match. I was also at the Rotherham Xmas day game but my recollection is very vague ,I thought the score was 3-2 but as for scorers........no memory. Bunkers Hill was my preferred location in those days but often ,if we were attacking the North Stand goal in the second half I would wait for the West stand gate to be opened and walk round to watch the remainder of the game from behind the goal. I remember one Boxing day game Crystal Palace late 60's when it snowed so heavily ,4-2 I think was the score.I managed to get to a friends home in Atwick after the game only to be snowed in for 7 days with Helicopters deployed to drop essential food and supplies to the elderly and families with babies. Those were the days when soccer players were men..........multiple games in short space of time ,no subs,leather ball that was as heavy as lead in the wet,frozen pitches (no underground heating ) no designer boots,and most players were lucky if they got 10-15 quid a week. Were did it all go wrong???
Dem-On. You are right about the 3-2 score, Buchan got two that day. But I remember city beating Rotherham 5-2 around one Christmas, but Buchan played two seasons or at least more than just one season, He was my favourite player at the time. Re his penalty taking I was at Hall road school at the time and one of our players always tried to copy Willie taking penalties. We played some school in the cup final and was losing 1-0 when we got a penalty given, our player took it as willie would have done but the ball was so slow the goalie walked to save it. We lost 1-0. (Oh what memories) that was 1947 the year I left school.
Only joking Mr B. Today's players would have to retire from bad nerves if you told them they had to play 3 matches in 4 days.
Charles .......Hall Rd had a great side in my era ,I remember playing for Ainthorpe Grove against them in the Cup Final but it would have been about 3 years later.As for the penalty ,it's true not much force or speed can be generated the way Buchan took them but the "slicing effect" seemed to confuse most goalies.He played for the Tigers from 1947 to 1949 but moved to Gateshead .The Rotherham game you remember was in the January 1948, If I remember correct, and we won 5-3.
17th Jan 1948 - Hull Cty 5-3 Rotherham - Scorers; Murphy 2, Buchan 2, Mellor - Attendance 29821 25th Dec 1948 - Hull Cty 3-2 Rotherham - Scorers; Buchan 2, Bloxham - Attendance 49655 C/O 'A Century of City' - Mike Peterson
Didn't remember Mellor being on the scoresheet he was a great left half who lived next door to Billy Bly in I think it was Danube Road.In those days they were very obliging and signed autographs at their homes if you knocked and were polite.I think the houses were either owned or rented by the club as other players were in that vicinity too.
I found these vidoes on the web yesterday. They are interesting because they show City playing at what must be Anlaby Road. The Newcastle one could be the earliest film of City playing. You'll have to put up with the adverts at the beginning. Try following the link. I've also put this on the main board. http://www.britishpathe.com/workspac...ity-Collection
Rather odd this, I tried the link the other day and found the videos fascinating, but I didn't comment, now I've come to comment the link doesn't work. Oh well at least I did get to see the newsreel.
Weird. It just says that the page doesn't exist any more. Ah well, it was good while it lasted. I thought they were fascinating.
