Craven Cottage

[Cottager58]

My son has bullied me into covering the 50s.

The Story Goes in Search of Legends

1949 As soon as season 1948/49 finished, the reality of taking on the First Division kicked in and Frank Osborne, who had been doubling as club secretary and team manager, persuaded the Board to appoint his old friend Bill Dodgin as Team Manager. Frank took the title General Manager and if fact became a ’father figure’ to the players. Bill, although he would the youngest manage in the First Division, at 39, had plenty of experience having managed Southampton since 1946, and brought them close to promotion the previous season.

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The pair of them decided that the players who had won the second division as Champions deserved a fair chance to prove themselves at the higher level and only three new signings were made; all from the same club, Belfast Celtic who were going out of business. Frank nearly signed the whole team for £30,000 but the ones to join were goalkeeper Hugh Kelly, defender Robin Lawler and winger Johnny Campbell. Only Robin Lawler was to stay with Fulham for any length of time, making a total of 299 appearances.

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Robin was renowned for his long throw-ins and one fan described him as having “arms like windmills”. A debate in later years among fans was whether he or Jim Langley had the longest throw-in but it was generally agreed that in either case it was as good as getting a free kick or a corner kick.


To get to know the players and by way of congratulating them , Bill Dodgin took the players to Spain in the close season. Fulham had close ties with Real Madrid at that time - Mike Keeping had left in early 1949 to become the Spanish giant’s coach and later the same year Jack Watson joined them as player/coach. John Fox Watson (Jack) became known as the Bernabeau Braveheart being the first Brit and the only Scot to play for Real Madrid. While in Spain the team played at the Bernabeau twice, the first match on 21st May against Real Madrid and the second on 4th June against a ‘select’ side [can’t find any record of the scores]

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The side that played in the opening 7 matches of season 1949/50 were the familiar faces of :-

Flack; Freeman, Bacuzzi; Quested, Taylor, Beasley (capt.); Stevens, R. Thomas , Rowley, Jezzard and McDonald

The opening match was a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Wolves with goalkeeper Doug Flack, returning from his awful injury, conceding two soft goals and a late speculative shot from Joe Bacuzzi giving the score some respectability. After those 7 games the team only had 3 pts to show for their efforts ( a 1-1 draw away to Huddersfield and a 4-1 win at home against the same team). Next up were Chelsea and 46,000 were at the Cottage to watch the first League meeting of the two West London rivals. Hugh Kelly had taken over from Doug Flack in goal and Fulham went one down after 20 minutes to a hotly disputed goal with the team claiming that the keeper had been fouled. They fought back and in fact dominated the rest of the game, although it was only in the final minutes that Harry Freeman got a well deserved equaliser. It was a morale boosting point though and three wins and a draw in the next four games saw the team sitting in 11th place.

Results were average over the holiday period and into the New Year, highlighted though by a home match on January 14th against Manchester City. The goalkeeper for City that day was the legendary Bert Trautmann, making his first appearance in London. An early goal by Jack McDonald spurred Fulham on and they put on their best performance of the season to date. However, in what is said to be the finest display of goalkeeping ever seen at the Cottage, they couldn’t put another past Trautmann.

February and March were months where silly points were dropped, like the 2-2 draw with Arsenal after being 2-0 up. What followed can only be disastrous with the team losing all their final games with the exception of a 1-1 draw away to Liverpool. A difficult Easter, when the team lost to title chasing teams Porstmouth (twice) and Sunderland had started the poor run.

The side which played in the final game against Middlesborough had only two changes, Hugh Kelly for Doug Flack and Jimmy Campbell for the injured Bedford Jezzard, from the one which started the season. The defence had coped reasonably well but the forwards had found it difficult against first division opponents. As one fan put it, “the Fulham forwards played chocolate cream stuff but they had not one hard centre”. Arthur Rowley was transferred to Leicester.

In the close season, Bill dodgin went on a spending spree. In came Archie Macaulay (Arsenal) to replace Pat Beasley (who went to Bristol City as player/manager), Bobby Brennan (£20,000 from Birmingham), goalkeeper Ian Black (Southampton)[who was his son-in-law] and brothers Eddie and Reg Lowe (£15,000 from Aston Villa). In all Bill Dodgin splashed out £40,000.

The first of the ‘Legends’ had arrived - Eddie ’Sticks’ Lowe

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Eddie made 511 appearances for Fulham. He was an influential left half throughout his 13 years at the club, strong in the air and tackle but skilful as well. Having gained three full England caps before joining Fulham it was surprising that he didn’t go on to win more. Although Eddie only scored a total of 10 goals for the club, some of them were crucial. Brother Reg was a gangly left back who had a marvellous understanding with Eddie but unfortunately a broken leg ended his career prematurely. They weren’t the first brother combination at the club of course. There were the four Shrimtpons in the 1890s. Also, Billy and Jock Goldie circa 1910 (although they never played for the club at the same time).

Another auspicious newcomer to Fulham’s first year in the First Division had been the programme design. Like Craven Cottage it was to stay unchanged for many years to come.

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[Cottager58]

The Story Tours On


(Part 1)

1950 The side starting season 1950/51 was :-

Black; Freeman. Bacuzzi; Mcaulay, Taylor, E. Lowe; Stevens, Quested, Jezard, Brennan and McDonald.

It was to be a season of inconsistent results yet the crowds were flocking to Craven Cottage. September was a typical month, starting with a surprise away win at Sunderland thanks to an Archie Macaulay goal, followed by a 4-0 thrashing at Blackpool. The next game was at home and 36,000 saw the team beat Aston Villa 2-1 with goals from Bedford Jezzard and Bob Thomas. Four days later Blackpool visited the cottage and 40,000 turned up to see a thrilling 2-2 draw with Jezzard and Thomas again getting the goals. A 3-2 defeat away to Derby saw a gritty fight back after being 3-0 down at half time (goals were by Jezzard and Harry Freeman) and this was followed by a 2-1 win at home over Liverpool (Jezzard and Thomas again the goal scorers). A crowd of 42,000 watched this first ever win over the Merseysiders. The last game in an incredibly busy month, was an away defeat 1-0 at Portsmouth.

Manager Dodgin was nonetheless determined to maintain the Fulham tradition of playing attractive, attacking football in all his team talks -

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The inconsistency continued though; with three consecutive defeats after Christmas putting the team amongst the strugglers, but 6 pts from 3 games in March put any fears of relegation to rest. On Good Friday over 47,000 turned up at the Cottage to see title chasing Spurs take a lucky 1-0 victory, after claims of a Johnny Campbell equaliser had been ignored. The return at White Hart Lane three days later attracted 52,000, who saw Spurs take a two goal lead through Peter Murphy before Bedford Jezzard pulled one back. For all their pressure, Fulham just couldn’t get the equaliser. Sandwiched between these games was a 0-0 draw away to West Brom.

[The games came thick and fast in those days - 7 in September and 3 in 4 days over Easter]

The final games of the season were notable firstly, for a superb 3-2 win over Arsenal despite being 1-0 down at half time (the goals were by Len Quested and Bob Thomas (2) and secondly, a 2-1 defeat by Chelsea. What made this game memorable was that the 2 pts saved the Pensioners from relegation and the crowd’s sarcastic and noisy chorus of “Dear Old Pals”. Thirteen games had been won, including five away from the Cottage and the team finished in 18th place on 37 pts.

The second half of season 1950/51 was dominated by the FA Cup, A Bobby Brennan goal was enough to see off Sheffield Wednesday in the 3rd round - this link takes you to a video of Bobby scoring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzdH-3jHlDk

That win took the team to the Den where 42,000 saw Johnny Campbell get the only goal and the tie against Millwall. The fifth round was against old rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and an equaliser from Johnny, in front of 69.434, earned Fulham a replay - which can be seen via this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK8Dqm-sXyo&NR=1&feature=endscreen

The return leg at the Cottage was a comfortable 3-0 win with goals from Bobby Brennan (2) and Arthur Stevens. That took Fulham into a 6th round tie against Blackpool for the second time in three years, but this time at Bloomfield road.

The home side got the perfect start when in the 4th minute a goal bound shot by Johnston was handled on the line by Joe Bacuzzi. From the resulting penalty, Brown gave Ian Black no chance, to put Blackpoll 1-0 up. With Jim Taylor keeping a tight grip on Mortensen and Len Quested and Eddie Lowe dominating the midfield, Blackpool were pinned back in their own half. Matthews was seeing little of the ball. Heavy rain and sleet turned the pitch into a quagmire which wasn’t helping Fulham’s ball playing forwards Jimmy Bowie and Bobby Brennan. Indeed, despite close misses from Bedford Jezzard, Arthur Stevens and Bowie, Fulham just couldn’t get the equaliser. Again the highlights can be seen via this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88-QtgBceZI

So a disappointing defeat but yet another marvellous cup run.


The real story of season 1950/51 however was the signing of another ‘Legend’ - Bobby Robson

Bobby made his debut in April 1951 against Sheffield Wednesday. He had been signed as a 17 year old from his native Durham, despite fierce opposition from Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesborough, Huddersfield, Lincoln and Blackpool. When he agreed to sign, Manager Dodgin discovered to his horror he had forgotten to bring the relevant forms. He paid the signing on fee of £10 out of his own pocket and had the paperwork sent up by train the next day.

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Bobby played a total of 370 games for Fulham, in two spells which were broken between 1956 and 1962 with West Brom. While with them he earned his 20 England caps. When he retired in 1967, Bobby went to Canada to manage Vancouver Royals but was back at the Cottage within 6 months to take over from the fateful Vic Buckingham. Ten months later Fulham had slipped from the First Division and were sitting at the bottom of the second and Bobby was sacked before he had an opportunity to put his ideas into practice. His managerial abilities were very well demonstrated by all of his future appointments.

 

[Cottager58]

(Part 2)

No sooner had season 1950/51 finished than Fulham were involved in the Festival of Britain celebrations. On 10th May they entertained Dinamo of Yugoslavia, winning 3-1 with goals from Bobby Brennan, Jimmy Bowie and Arthur Stevens. The team then went off on a tour of Canada and the USA, sailing from Liverpool on 15th May on board the SS Empress of Scotland. It was a rough Atlantic crossing and most of the players spent the journey in their cabins. Ever present in the dining room however, was the boss-trio of Bill Dodgin, Frank Osborne and trainer Frank Penn supported by old sailor Bob Thomas and the young Bobby Robson.

The lucky exception was the team's captain and centre half Jim Taylor. He was delayed by England international duties so he travelled to Canada by plane. Taylor was no stranger to Canada, having toured with an FA squad the previous year. The visitors then had scored 19 goals in one match, and Fulham's manager Bill Dodgin did not want to inflict similar humiliations. He instructed his players, "Get ahead by two goals and then show both fans and opposition the correct way of positional play, passing and the fundamentals of the game".

For Fulham's opening game against Ontario All Stars on 24th May, Club President, Sir Leslie Bowker (who joined the club back in 1911 as a left back) was invited to perform the kick off. He waited in the centre circle as the 10,000 crowd rose to their feet for the national anthem. However owing to a mix-up not a note of music was played so Bowker kicked off anyway and the game was able to start. Sadly it was not a great advertisement for football. The Globe & Mail dubbed it “a drab affair for all but the most dyed in the wool soccerite“. Bobby Brennan and Beddy Jezzard (2) scored in the first half, after which the only point of interest was the appearance of 18 year old Bobby Robson as a substitute. Dodgin disapproved of using subs but he was obviously keen to give the teenager match experience. One of the Fulham's techniques did not find favour with the crowd – endlessly passing back to the keeper to waste time.

Crossing the border Fulham met another touring side Glasgow Celtic on Randalls Island New York. Before the match jazz singer Maxine Sullivan sang her famous version of 'Loch Lomond' and it seemed to inspire Celtic, who won 2-0 with goals from Jock Weir and Bobby Collins. The New York Times rated the game as “soccer at its best“.

Back in Canada a 2-2 draw with Montreal produced plenty of excitement. Bedford Jezzard's opening goal looked offside but the ref judged that the two forwards on the goal line were not interfering with play. Montreal equalised and then took the lead. After Archie Macaulay squared the match, Fulham should have won but Arthur Stevens missed a penalty. The North American pitches had all been substandard and in Vancouver there was far more sand than grass. Fulham joked about buckets and spades but diplomatically made no official protest. Despite the conditions Fulham easily beat the BC All Stars 2-0 (Brennan and Jezzard again).

Two goals from Bob Thomas and one from Bobby Robson secured a 3-1 victory over the Alberta All Stars in Edmonton but then the unthinkable occurred. Victoria All Stars defeated Fulham by 1-0. Victoria scored just before half-time and Fulham spent the rest of the match in a frantic search for a goal only to be thwarted by the Canadian keeper Joe Travis. Dodgin even tried a substitution (Jimmy Bowie for Bobby Robson) but nothing would work.

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After the match Leslie Bowker tried to draw some consolation when he said at an after match dinner, “I believe we have the unenviable distinction of being the first English team to lose in Canada. I hope that the result tonight will stimulate the game in Canada and particularly in this city (Victoria)”.

This defeat seems to have converted Dodgin to the use of substitutes. Against Winnipeg he sent on Brennan and Thomas for the second half, and Bobby Brennan scored a hat-trick. This 5-1 victory (Bedford Jezzard scored the other two) somewhat restored the players' footballing reputation. Off the pitch they continued the charm offensive. Scotty Harper of the Winnipeg Free Press met Robin Lawler and Johnny Campbell and found them “Old Country chappies who were real friendly“.

In Toronto, 22,000 spectators witnessed a hard fought match against Glasgow Celtic. Bob Thomas's goal was cancelled out by a Celtic penalty after which the game got so heated that the referee instructed the two captains to bring the players into line. The teams met again in Montreal and Fulham at last got a win over the Scottish side. Centre-half Bill Pavitt, getting a rare first team opportunity, linked effectively with the regular full-backs Joe Bacuzzi and Reg Lowe, and continually played the Celtic forwards offside. Bobby Brennan scored twice, Archie Macaulay once in the 3-2 victory.

The tour saw the team play games in Toronto, New York, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria and Winnipeg. This was in the days when air travel was not the norm and the many thousands of miles, through magnificent scenery, were covered by train. Although the results were mixed, Bill Dodgin could feel grateful on one count. He had taken only one goalkeeper (Ian Black) on the tour and had never needed a replacement. The homeward sea voyage was much calmer then the outward one and the players felt extremely satisfied. They had enjoyed the twin luxury of eating steaks and buying nylon stockings for their wives and girl-friends, they had earned some extra cash and had won plaudits for their play and their demeanour. It was a happy group that arrived back at Liverpool on 29th June.

Everyone at Craven Cottage was optimistic about the season ahead.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Has A Dip


1951 After all the optimism at the end of the previous season, the start of season 1951/52 had an ominous ring to it when in the Trial match, the reserves beat the first team. The reserves were to go on win the London Challenge Cup but the first team were not to fare so well. Indeed for them, the first four League games were all lost and from the end of October onwards the team were never out of the bottom two. Taking only 11 pts from the first half of the season, they ended up with 27 pts and holding the rest of the League up.

The season was not without the odd highlight, like the 5-0 drubbing of Stoke in September and the 6-0 trouncing of Middlesborough in January. However it was over Christmas 1950 that most of the drama took place. On Christmas Day 1950 the team travelled to Old Trafford

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to take on title chasing Manchester United before 36,000. Level at 0-0 at half time both teams went for it in the second and an unlucky break late on gave United a 3-2 win. Bob Thomas got both Fulham goals. The very next day, Boxing day, the teams went head to head again at the Cottage where 33,000 witnessed something very unusual. A few minutes into the game Eddie Lowe was injured but returned to play on the left wing (no subs remember).

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Missing their key mid field player Fulham struggled, and through goals from Rowley, Pearson and Bond, United took what seemed like an unassailable 3 goal lead. Arthur Stevens pulled one back and then with 10 minutes to go Eddie Lowe scored direct from a corner, the first of those seen at the Cottage. Still hobbling on the left wing, and with only a minute of the game left, Eddie got his second goal and Fulham’s equaliser. Needless to say the fans couldn’t contain themselves and at the final whistle rushed on to chair the hero off.


The bare statistics of this season don’t tell the whole story of course. Of the 23 defeats, 16 were lost only by the odd goal and injuries played a large part. A major factor however was the fiddling with the team by manager Dodgin, in his attempt to find a winning formula. He persistently played players out of position; Bob Thomas was tried at right half and outside right; orthodox wingers, Johnny Campbell, Arthur Stevens and Jimmy McDonald were all tried at centre forward.

Not surprisingly, a number of the players became unsettled during the season; Jack McDonald, and Bobby Brennan both put in transfer requests when they couldn’t command regular first team places. Len Quested was strangely moved to fellow strugglers Huddersfield in the October, with Jeff Taylor joining Fulham in return.

Jeff’s career at the club was a short one, playing 35 games and scoring 18 goals, the highlights being two hat tricks. One against Middlesborough in a 6-0 win in January 1952 and the other in a sensational 5-5 cup tie against Grimsby two years later. Known as ‘Fulham’s Golden Voice’ he had another string to his bow however. Using money earned from football he took a BA Honours degree at UCL and then studied at the Royal Academy for Music. When he had to retire from football (now at Brentford) because of an injury, Jeff took up singing as a career. The Brentford chairman Vic Oliver offered him work on his radio variety show Band Box, and this led to years with the Cliff Adams Singers, on Friday Night is Music Night and Sing Something Simple. By now he was Neilson Taylor, his working life taking in both light music and opera. One time he was in Australia, training a backing group for Tommy Steele; another he was at Glyndebourne, playing Arbace in Mozart's Idomeneo alongside a young Italian tenor on his first visit to England, Luciano Pavararotti. He spent a year in Mantova in Italy, studying with Pavarottis's teacher Ettori Campogalliani, and this led to opera work in Covent Garden and Rotterdam. Neilson (Jeff) is renowned for his Montfort in Verdi's Sicilian Vespers.

Back at Craven Cottage, the fans were voicing their frustration and there was a loud bout of jeering at in the home match against Aston Villa in November, following Quested’s transfer. There was a rumour in December that Dodgin himself was going to Southampton when their manager’s job became vacant. Much of the supporter’s annoyance was taken out on the manager’s son, Bill Dodgin Jnr, who had been prematurely brought into the side half way through the season. Young Bill had followed his father to Fulham from Southampton in 1949 and after a harrowing time was transferred in December 1952 to Arsenal (for £10,000). He returned twice more to the club, once as a player in 1961 and once as manager in 1968.

Bill Snr. did make two significant signings in this year however and two more ‘Legends’ joined the club - Charlie Mitten and Jimmy Hill.

Charlie Mitten was one of the most cultured wingers in the post-war seasons, playing for Manchester United he scored 50 goals in 142 appearances for them and became only the second player to score a hat trick of penalties in a First Division match (against Aston Villa in 1950). He played for England in a game against Scotland for the Bolton Disaster Fund in 1946. At the height of his career in June 1950 Charlie, like a few others, was lured to Bogota to play for Santa Fe when Columbia’s professional clubs broke away from FIFA. Reports say he received a signing on fee of £5000 and wages of £2,000 per year. Things weren’t as they seemed however and when he returned to England was promptly suspended by the FA.

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Fulham signed Charlie from United in December 1950 and in many ways he was ‘out of his time’. He combined the elegance of an Edwardian with the commercial nous of today’s players and his confidence on and off the field was legendary. As a player, Charlie would dribble into trouble only to back heel his way out of it and his left foot crosses were unerring in accuracy. Indeed in the latter part of this season (1951/52) if all the chances he created had been taken, relegation would have been avoided (remember that statistic of 16 games being lost by the odd goal !!).

Jimmy Hill came to Fulham in March 1952 from Brentford in a deal which saw Jimmy Bowie go the other way. His signing was not well received by the fans; the side didn’t need another left half !

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He won them over when he converted to an inside forward and went on to make 297 appearances for the club, scoring 52 goals, including a club record (subsequently shared by Steve Earle) of 5 goals in a match (a cup tie against Doncaster in 1958). When a knee injury finished his footballing career in 1961, Jimmy became Chairman of the PFA and successfully fought to abolish the maximum wage. He then went into football management and took Coventry from the Third to the First Division. In 1968 joined television and spent some 30 years fronting ‘Match of the Day’ and ‘The Big Match’.

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He returned to Fulham in 1987 as chairman and led a group that thwarted the sale of Craven Cottage by a bunch of property developers [THAT is a Story in it’s own right]. Jimmy remained chairman until 1997 when Mohammed Al Fayed took over.

Between them this pair were certainly characters, Charlie with his irrepressible humour and Jimmy his dry wit. One day Hill reported to the training room for treatment only to find trainer Frank Penn massaging Mitten’s greyhound. Years later, Hill repeated the cheeky act, this time with a racehorse, to ease promotion pressures when he was manager at Coventry.


So, at the end of season 1951/52 Fulham was once again heading for Second Division football. While the team failed to make a permanent mark in the higher League, Craven Cottage had seen some bumper crowds during the three First Division years, with an average attendance of over 33,000.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Has A Royal Time


1952 Season 1952/53 started with a 2-0 home win over Bury and 30,000 watched Arthur Stevens and Bobby Robson grab the goals. In the second match, away to Leicester at Filbert Street, goalkeeper Ian Black injured an arm when the side were 2-0 down.

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Bobby Brennan went into goal and Black returned to play at centre forward. The Scot became the only Fulham keeper to score a goal in a League match when he headed in a cross from Arthur Stevens in the second half.

It was to be a consolation goal however, as Leicester took advantage of a weakened Fulham side and romped home 6-1 winners. A week later they came to Craven Cottage and it looked as though it was going to be a repeat performance as Leicester raced to a 5-1 lead, with ex-Fulham player Arthur Rowley getting a hat trick (he got a hat trick as well in the game a week before). Three goals in four minutes, from Charlie Mitten, Arthur Stevens and Bedford Jezzard got the side back into the game and Bobby Robson very nearly equalised when a 35 yard shot hit the post, but Leicester clinched the game with a late goal to win 6-4.

It was a bright start for the team though and in their first 10 games they won 5 and drew 1, scoring 22 goals and conceding 18 (albeit 12 were in those two matches against Leicester).

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The side were in seventh position by the end of September and this form continued throughout the season; never above 5th and never below 11th. At the end Fulham were in 8th with 44 pts having scored 81 goals and conceding 71.

Season 1952/53 coincided with some significant events in the country as a whole; Teddy Boys were seen around London, Churchill became Prime Minister, identity cards and then food rationing ended, Mount Everest was conquered by Hillary and Tensing. DNA was discovered and Queen Elizabeth II became the Monarch. Craven Cottage also saw it’s own Crown Prince for the first time, Johnny Haynes.

Johnny joined Fulham after leaving school in the spring of 1950, having won four schoolboy international caps. His first taste of the limelight was in April 1950 when the English and Scottish schoolboys met in a televised match at Wembley. Johnny played brilliantly and scored twice as England won 8-2. Suffice to say there was competition for his signature, with Arsenal and Spurs keen, but thanks to school friend, Trevor Chamberlain (who had joined the club the previous year) he opted for Fulham.

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Johnny spent his first two years playing for Feltham in the Middlesex League, Wimbledon in the Isthmian League and Woodford Town in the Delphian League as Fulham had no youth side. In the Easter of 1952 he won two English Youth caps in a tournament in Barcelona and on his return from Spain, he signed professional forms with Fulham, at the age of 17. His first game was for the reserves in August 1952, against Southampton but only four months later he made his first team debut, on Boxing Day 1952 (also against Southampton). The next 20 years of Johnny’s life on and off the pitch is, of course, a Story in itself but for the record, he made 658 appearances for Fulham, scored 158 goals, and won 56 caps for England. From all the headlines he received in those 20 years, the most prescient was one in August 1952 when, after the usual pre-season Trial Match between the first team and the reserves, the Fulham Chronicle reported, “Johnny was the Star”.

[Johnny wasn’t the youngest player to make his first tem debut for Fulham, that distinction goes to Matthew Briggs who was 16 years and 65 days old when he played against Middlesborough on 13th May 2007. Four others, Paul Parker, Jeff Hopkins, Sean Davis and Tony Mahoney, were also younger.]

During the first half season 1952/53, enquiries about Beddy Jezzard and Bobby Robson had been made by Liverpool, West Brom, West Ham and Newcastle. Within a month of Johnny Haynes playing in the first team, Newcastle came in with an offer of £60,000 for all three. Chairman Charles Dean said, “No, we are simply not selling and that is all there is to it. We are building up a young side and money does not interest us”,

While that was very god news indeed, it didn’t stop Bill Dodgin off loading half the team. Harry Freeman who had played 179 games for the club went in October (to Walsall), followed a couple of months later by Doug Flack (also to Walsall), Bill Dodgin Jnr (to Arsenal), Bob Thomas (to Crystal Palace). In addition Jim Taylor (278 appearances), Bobby Brennan, Johnny Campbell, Reg Lowe and Bill Pavitt all made there final appearance during the season. The only signing was Gordon Brice signed from Reading in an exchange for Wally Hinshlewood.

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Gordon was an experienced centre half having also played for Wolves and Luton as well as being a Northamptonshire cricketer (he took 72 wickets and scored nearly 500 runs in his first class cricketing career). He made 93 appearances for Fulham.

Crowds had been down compared to the first division years, the average in this season was 24,500, but Craven Cottage was looking forward to more in the future.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Has Some Fun


1953 Before football could restart in 1953, there was another matter in hand - the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As part of the Coronation Festival Fulham, in May, played Chelsea in a friendly at Craven Cottage

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With all the other things happening there were to be no trips abroad in this close season and the only activity was the signing of full back John Chenhall from Arsenal. Season 1953/54 got off to a disastrous start however with the team losing their first 9 games, at which point Frank Osborne reluctantly had to tell his old friend Bill Dodgin that the Board no longer required his services. Club Secretary/General Manager Frank took charge of the team once more.

Despite also losing the next two gamesl, the team started climbing off the bottom of the League with 5 wins and 2 draws in the following 9 games to be 15th. By the end of the year they were in the top half with 25 pts from 25 games. And, despite the awful start finished in 8th position on 44 pts.

The turnaround started in October as did the goals when Beddy Jezzard scored 4 in a 5-2 win over Derby County at the Cottage (Charlie Mitten got the other one). Beddy also scored a hat trick in a 3-1 win against Plymouth on Christmas Day and Johnny Haynes got his first hat trick in a 5-1 defeat of Luton in February (Bedford Jezzard and Jeff Taylor getting the other two). In all the team scored 98 goals that season and in 18 of the 42 games scored three or more. Beddy Jezzard was top scorer on 38 (only 4 behind the legendary John Charles of Leeds) and all the forwards (except Charlie Mitten) reached double figures. Beddy’s 100th goal for the club came in a 4-3 win at home against Notts County in April. The team did let in 85 goals however !

There were goals galore in the FA Cup as well. Five ( a hat trick from Jeff ’Golden Voice’ Taylor, one each for Arthur Stevens and Jimmy Hill) in a 5-5 draw against Grimsby (managed by Bill Shankly) in the 3rd round. In the delayed replay at the Cottage (the first replay was abandoned at half time because of the weather), Fulham ran out 3-1 winners; Taylor and Johnny Haynes (2) scoring.

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The team however went out in the next round, 2-1 (Bobby Robson (2)) away to Leyton Orient. Orient, managed by Alec Stock, were the surprise package in the cup that year, getting to the quarter finals.


The only team change for season 1954/55 was goalkeeper Frank Elliot (signed from Stoke) to replace Ian Black, who had been in the wars again and broken his arm in a game at Derby. The team started well, dropping only one point in the first seven games and sharing the lead with Stoke. Careless points were dropped in November and December however. Then, with only two wins in the last eighteen games of the season, they gradually slid down the table and finished in 14th place on 37 pts. Bedford Jezzard and Bobby Robson were joint top scorers on 23 goals.

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This was to be a season of new faces rather than performances - Ron Greenwood, Roy Dwight and a true ’Legend’ Trevor ’Tosh’ Chamberlain.


Ron Greenwood, an experienced centre half, was signed by Frank Osborne from Chelsea in March 1955 to bolster his ailing defence.

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The club had tried to sign him four years previously from Brentford but the price had been too high. In his two years at the club, Ron played in 42 games. While with us he already had his eye on coaching and when he left he took up management with Eastbourne United. Twenty years later he took charge of the England team.


Roy Dwight a youth international winger, who was equally at home in the No. 7 or the No. 9 shirt, came into the team to replace the injured Bedford Jezzard and eventually took over the centre forward spot. Roy scored in his first two games (away to Birmingham and at home to Middlesborough) and in 73 League games he scored 54 goals. He was top scorer in seasons 1956/57 and 1957/68.

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That of course isn’t Roy but his cousin is Elton John. Roy had another unfortunate claim to fame. He moved to Nottingham Forest in the 1958 close season and scored their first goal in the 1959 Cup Final against Luton, before breaking is leg. Forest went on to win 2-1 but sadly Roy never fully recovered. This is him this time

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Tosh Chamberlain made his debut against Lincoln in November 1954 and did the first of many unique things in a unique career, he scored in the first minute with his first touch of the ball. It was a 30 yard rocket. This kind of shot epitomised Tosh, although he was as likely to put it in the Thames as burst the net !! Tosh played 204 games for the club and scored 64 goals.

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It was his sheer enjoyment of the game and ebullience which endeared him to the fans however and he was possibly one of the most popular players ever. There are hundreds of stories about him – most of them apocryphal. The Guardian’s Frank Keating must take the blame for perpetuating some, such as Tosh attempting to take a corner and thwacking the flag instead – it wouldn’t have been so bad but Maurice Cook tried to head it in. Another was his anecdote about Tosh and Johnny Haynes arguing so vehemently with each other that the ref threatened to send Tosh off, which led to Tosh explaining that he couldn’t do that because he and Johnny were on the same side

One game sums up Tosh as a footballer. It was an evening friendly in April 1956, against the touring Botafogo team from Brazil. In the 1950s nobody really knew who Brazil were, being before they achieved a certain amount of recognition by winning the World Cup in Sweden. And for the same reason Botafogo‘s flying winger ‘Little Bird‘ Garrincha, one of the greatest players ever.

Pre-floodlights, the game kicked off at 5.30 and this is an account from a young fan -

“We dashed from school to get a place behind the Bovril signs. Fulham and Tosh were inspired that night and our hero dazzled with his one trick of pushing the ball past the full back on one side and running past him on the other – well it worked twice, I think - but it led to two of Fulham’s 4 goals in a memorable 4 – 2 win. Tosh, who had a shot about as powerful as Roberto Carlos, slammed home the fourth and almost tore the net ! “


Craven Cottage was never without fun when Tosh was about, although it‘s not certain that his school mate, Johnny, always agreed.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Goes Offside


1955 At the end of season 1954/54 the team went in search of a trophy, competing in the Evening Standard 5-a-side Challenge at Harringay Arena. The selected players, Ian Black, Eddie Lowe, Johnny Haynes, Jimmy Hill and Bobby Robson, took a replay to knock out Arsenal (4-2) before thumping Charlton (5-1) and a final against West Ham. The final was televised live by the BBC. Jimmy Hill give Fulham an early lead and although Parker equalised for the Hammers, goals from Bobby Robson (2) and Johnny Haynes saw the team run out easy
4-1 winners, and the Trophy.

Season 1955/56 got off to a tremendous start with three straight wins - away to Bury (5-1),

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home to Blackburn Rovers (3-0) and home Barnsley (5-1) - and this form continued till the end of October, with the team in the top three. The heavy grounds began to there toll however and the team slid to 10th by the turn of the year. They never fully recovered but wins in the final 4 games left them in 9th position and 46 pts. There were goals galore throughout the season (89 in total) with Bedford Jezzard again top scorer on 27, followed by Johnny Haynes on 18 and Tosh Chamberlain on 11. Just as in the previous season a fair few were conceded as well (79 in total). At Anfield in November, Liverpool put seven past new goalkeeper Ken Hewkins, who in fairness played despite a fractured jaw.

Ken wasn’t the luckiest of players with injuries and he spent most of his 7 years at Fulham playing for the reserves. A South African giant (he was 6’ 4” which was pretty tall in the 1950s), he had a powerful kick. Because of this he took the reserve team penalties. In one match, against Gillingham on Boxing Day 1959, he was elected to take a spot kick. Starting his run up in his own box, he blasted the ball which crashed against the bar and rebounded over his head to the centre circle. A grateful Gillingham forward ran the ball into the empty net with Ken stranded in the other penalty area. This video link gives a glimpse of Ken at his previous club Clyde in their 1-0 victory over Celtic in the 1955 Scottish Cup Final : http://www.britishpathe.com/video/scottish-cup-final-replay


Elvis Presley became an international star when the film “Love Me Tender” was released in1957 and It was to be a memorable year for Johnny Haynes as well. He took over the captaincy for the first time when Jimmy Hill went on a coaching tour of the West Indies and Johnny also established himself in the England side. He missed the first two internationals but played in the other seven. Johnny was outstanding in the game against Scotland at Hampden Park and scored England’s equalizer seconds from time (Graham Leggat having put Scotland ahead). In the game against Northern Ireland in November, he and team mate Bedford Jezzard made a little bit of history being the first Fulham players to play in the same England side.

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Johnny also starred in England’s 4-2 win over Brazil at Wembley and got a goal in their 3-1 victory over World Champions Germany in Berlin. This video link shows Johnny’s goal and also one from another ‘legend’, Duncan Edwards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpqrp-m1uH0


Back at Craven Cottage the cull of players, which had started the previous season, continued. Frank Elliot went to Mansfield, Gordon Brice to Ayr United (although in reality he retired to run a hotel in Ayr), Ron Greenwood to manage Eastbourne and Charlie Mitten to manage Mansfield. More dramatically though was the shock transfer, in March 1956, of Bobby Robson to West Brom. The club received a record transfer fee of £25,000 and at the time said, “the serious financial position impelled us to part with him”. To Fulham fans the Suez Crisis engulfing the country at large and Buster Crabbe’s incursion into the visit to Britain of Soviet Leaders Bulganin and Krushchev, paled into comparison !

Prior to the Robson furore there had been one moment of even higher drama - an FA Cup tie against cup holders, Newcastle United. Fulham had dispatched Notts County away from home in the earlier round, thanks to a Johnny Haynes goal and over 39,000 turned up at the Cottage for this one.

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Fulham were stunned by an opening half hour spell when goals by Jacky Milburn, Bob Stokoe and Casey put Newcastle 3-0 up. Although Tosh Chamberlain pulled one back from a cross by Johnny Haynes before the interval, all seemed lost. The second half was a different story though as the team began to exploit Newcastle’s weakness at right back. They piled on the pressure but it wasn’t until 23 minutes from the end that Tosh reduced the arrears with a crashing shot from a Johnny Haynes pass.

Two minutes later Tosh, playing in his first FA Cup tie, completed his hat trick with another powerful shot, following a Jezzard/Haynes passing movement. Then incredibly Fulham, who had been 3-1 down six minutes earlier, took the lead. Tosh, who had just had a ’goal’ disallowed for offside by linesman Jack Taylor, crossed the ball for Beddy Jezzard to head on and Jimmy Hill running in from the right wing squeezed the ball home at the near post. The crowd went mad !!

In an electric atmosphere Newcastle pressed back with a series of teasing crosses by Bobby Mitchell. From one of these Ian Black caught the ball on his line and was charged into the net by Vic Keeble. To Fulham’s consternation the ref allowed the goal to stand. A rattled Black missed another Mitchell cross minutes later and Keeble headed home. That, the fifth goal in 13 minutes, was enough to see Newcastle win a tremendous game 5-4.

The Monday morning headlines were not about the barge on Black which had given Newcastle their equaliser - although all but the Magpies agreed that it should not have stood. The controversy was about Tosh’s disallowed ‘goal’.

'We were beaten by a blunder’ says Osborne
by George Harley


John Taylor, a young Wolverhampton butcher said yesterday, “Forty thousand people may think I blundered at Fulham but I still sat I was right” And I, as one of the mystified forty thousand still say linesman Taylor was wrong, terribly wrong in flagging Fulham out of the Cup with the worst offside signal I can remember.

Newcastle scored five good goals in this enthralling Cup-tie. So did Fulham….but one was ruled out. So the Cup-holders take a step nearer to Wembley with a match they SHOULD NOT HAVE WON.

The disallowed goal incident suggested to me that linesman of more experience should be used in matches of this kind. Mr Taylor flagged for offside when Trevor Chamberlain gathered a forward pass from Jimmy Hill, took the ball past a Newcastle defender and smacked it into the net. Newcastle accepted it as a goal WITHOUT PROTEST,

No wonder Fulham manager Frank Osborne was bitter after the game.

There was more of the same but readers will get the gist of the complaint. Nonetheless it was an enthralling and absorbing game - the BBC ran a documentary in 2006 (?) exclusively about the match under the billing “Cup Tie of the Century” and nobody at Craven Cottage watching the game would dispute that. This is a video link to watch highlights : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7OZujehvsg

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Reaches For The Sky


1956 Two weeks after the controversial cup tie against Newcastle, the club appointed a new manager, Dugald Livingstone (correct spelling of his first name !). Dug had enjoyed a long career stretching back to the first world war when he turned out for Celtic. He then played for Everton, Plymouth, Aberdeen and Tranmere before taking up a coaching job at Sheffield United in the 1930s.

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Dug then had a spell managing the Northern Ireland team before taking over the Belgian international side and was in charge when they drew 4-4 with England in the 1954 World Cup. After that he became manager at Newcastle and in his first six months had taken them to the FA Cup Final (which they won 3-1 against Manchester City).


At Fulham, no sooner had season 1955/56 finished than Dug was faced with the problem of losing two influential backroom staff. Eddie Perry moved to become manager of Southend and the ever popular reserve team trainer, Taffy O’Callaghan died suddenly. Joe Bacuzzi was given the reserve team job. Joe had been with Fulham for nearly 20 years and in the last season had been called in as emergency full back in a game against Bury in December (a 3-1 win). That final appearance was his 299th for the club.

Also in the close season, Bedford Jezzard was injured in a meaningless game on an FA tour of South Africa. The injury was worse than at first thought and in fact put an end to Beddy’s career.

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He played 306 games for the club and scored 154 goals. Roy Dwight was given his chance to become the established centre forward.



Dug, an unflappable, happy-go-lucky character took it all in his stride. He appointed Johnny Haynes as team captain, despite Johnny being the youngest player in the side, and shrugged aside press rumours that Chelsea were about to sign Haynes for £34,000. The fans weren’t so nonchalant though, Remembering the recent sale of Bobby Robson within 12 months of the Club Chairman’s claim that, “we are building a young side and money doesn’t interest us” and this, on top of leading scorer Bedford Jezzard’s serious injury, left them unsure what the new season had in store.

In a pre-season friendly Fulham played Moscow Spartak who fielded a 6’ 4” centre half nicknamed the ‘Iron Man’ real name Stefanovics (although the match day programme spelt it Sdafanovics). Spartak were here as part of the diplomatic visit by the Soviet leaders Bulganin and Krushchev, but Fulham, especially Johnny Haynes (playing his second game in two days having appeared for the Football League in Ireland the previous day), were far from friendly. Goals from Arthur Stevens, Johnny and Roy Dwight saw them run out 3-1 winners.

Season 1956/57 got off to a bad start with first four games being lost but 8 wins in the next 11 saw the team in 11th position by the beginning of October. For the rest of the season the team never went higher than 9th or lower than 16th and indeed finished in 11th and, averaging a point a game, on 42pts. There were still goals galore however. The most amazing score lines being in a double header against Swansea where the team won 3-3 at home in September and 5-4 at the Vetch in January. Roy Dwight, who was the season’s top scorer on 25, bagged two of his four hat tricks in those games. It was also a landmark season for Arthur Stevens, who got his 100th goal for the club in the home match against Swansea and Johnny Haynes, who got his 50th in a game against Leyton Orient (Fulham won 3-1). In all a total of 84 goals were scored in the 42 League matches.

In the FA Cup there were more goals. The team beat Ipswich 3-2 away in the 3rd round (Arthur Stevens (2) and Roy Dwight) before succumbing away, (yet again) to Blackpool 6-2. That didn’t stop the fans having a grand day out at the seaside however

.....

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During the season Dug Livingstone introduced reserve players Ken Collins, Joe Stapleton and Derek Lampe into the side. He also made one significant signing, inside forward Roy Bentley. In September, with the club struggling and beset with injuries Dug persuaded Ted Drake to part with Chelsea’s skipper who had played 324 games for them and scored 127 goals, winning 12 England caps at the same time. Roy had last played at the Cottage in 1951, when both Chelsea and Fulham were in the First Division.

...............................................................................................

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When he came to Fulham in 1956, it was thought he was over the hill, but he made a valuable contribution - scoring in his first game (a 3-1 win over Rotherham United) and ended the season with 14 goals. However, it wasn’t until he changed position that Roy found a new lease of life. The following season Dug moved him to wing half and, with his ball control, positional play and ability to read the game, Roy became a tower of strength in defence. So much so that Dug moved him again the following season to No. 5 and he was widely regarded as the best centre half in the country at the time. Roy made a total of 158 appearances for Fulham.


Season 1956/57 had been a transitional one and Dug Livingstone was beginning to build a team in his style and indeed one in the tradition of Fulham. The team which finished the season was :

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Back row: Lampe, Stapleton, Collins, Black, Dwight, Lowe

Front row: Stevens, Hill, Bentley, Haynes, Chamberlain

The Russians may have launched a Sputnik into space in 1957, but it was Craven Cottage that was looking up.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Holds Its Breath


1957 During season 1956/57 as well as introducing reserves, manager Dug Livingstone was also blooding juniors like John Doherty, Dave ’Dai’ Edwards and Trevor Watson. He also gave a debut to another young player in a match against Liverpool on 2nd March 1957, George Cohen. Thrown in at the deep end in that game, 17 year old George proved the saying, “if you are good enough, you are old enough”.

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Stockily built, George was noted for his blistering pace, sharp tackling and quick recovery. He loved to go forward and although not the best crosser of a ball, George was always a threat to the opposing defence. Notwithstanding those attributes, he was also a quiet, thoughtful player and had great positional sense. All strengths which ideally suited Alf Ramsey, After George had served an apprenticeship in the U23 side, Alf brought him into the full England team to replace Jimmy Armfield, and of course he went on to be a member of the famous World Cup winners team of
1966. When the final whistle blew in that match, George appeared the calmest person at Wembley. Much later Mohammed Al Fayed invested nearly £60,000 to ensure that George’s World Cup medal stayed at Craven Cottage. He made 459 appearances for Fulham and managed 6 goals.


Also, towards the end of season 1956/57, Dug went to Brighton and made what proved to be a crucial signing. Another ’Legend’ Ernest James ‘Jim’ Langley joined the clan. Jim had played at outside left before moving to Brighton in 1953, where he converted to left back. A flamboyant player full of tricks; from bicycle-kicks, to overhead-kicks, to enormous throw ins and superb slide tackles. He played in goal on one occasion when the keeper got injured during the match. Needless to say, Jim was an absolute favourite of the fans.

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Already a ‘B’ international when he joined the club, Jim earned three full caps while at Fulham. He had the unfortunate distinction of being the first player to miss a penalty at Wembley when he hit the post in an international match against Portugal in May 1958 (England won 2-1). Always keen to make a sortie up field, Jim scored 59 goals in his career (33 of them for Fulham) and was one of only two full backs to get more than a half century of goals. He made 356 appearances for the club. Few Fulham fans could understand the rational behind the decision when Vic Buckingham gave him a free transfer in 1965. You can watch Jim and the team training at Craven Cottage in this video link, as well as him discussing his Cigarette Card collection of footballers. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/soccer-star-at-home [At the beginning you can even see the Bovril sign the young fan was talking about in an earlier 'chapter' of The Story]


Fulham had a pre-season friendly against the West German side Blauweiss, the first from that country to visit the Cottage, and ran out easy 6-0 winners with goals from Johnny Haynes, Roy Dwight (2), Arthur Stevens, Roy Bentleyand Tosh Chamberlain. This free-scoring across the forward line was to be a feature of season 1957/58.

There was a solid start to the season with two wins followed by four consecutive draws; the most memorable of those being a 4-4 draw away to their high scoring partners of the previous season, Swansea. The run was broken by a 3-2 defeat at Upton Park by West Ham but the team got back on track with a 6-3 win against Sheffield United at the Cottage the following week. Roy Dwight got 4 goals in that game bringing his tally to 11 in the first 10 games of the season.

October was a pretty average month with one win, one loss and two draws. At this point Dug Livingstone decided to make a couple of changes, which on the face of it appeared simple but turned out to be significant. He moved Roy Bentley to wing half and brought in George Cohen to right back. The same game that he introduced the changes (a 2-1 home win over Huddersfield Town) goalkeeper Ian Black received an injury. His place was taken by a young keeper who had been making a name for himself in the reserves, Elio ‘Tony’ Macedo.

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The week before his debut, the 19 year old had saved two penalties in a Combination match against Tottenham. Although born in Gibraltar Tony’s mother was Spanish and he was eligible therefore to play for England or Spain. He opted for England and despite playing 10 games at U23 level he was unlucky never to get a full cap.

At the time Tony made his debut he was serving with the RAF in Germany. Secretary/General Manager Frank Osborne telephoned Macedo’s commanding officer and arranged to have him fly over from Goch near Dusseldorf and back again. It cost £14 each trip but the club thought it was money well spent! Tony was one of Fulham’s best ever goalkeepers and went on to make 391 appearances. A temperamental character he was always on the move and would pace his penalty box like a tiger throughout a game. Acrobatic and with a love for the spectacular, Tony would make saves other goalkeepers wouldn’t even have attempted, although in typical continental fashion he was capable of letting the odd ball slip through his fingers. While taken from a later time this photograph demonstrates his agility (ignore the caption)

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December was a bumper month in the League with five wins and one draw. Roy Dwight got his 50th goal for the club in that draw (3-3 away to Derby) and in the following game, a 1-0 win at home to Huddersfield, Johnny Haynes made his 200th appearance. In the previous month Eddie Lowe had made his 300th appearance and in the January Arthur Stevens was to make his 400th. Fulham were at the top of the League with 32 pts from 25 matches.

The New Year started poorly with two defeats and a draw but the team bounced back with a 6-0 win over Grimsby when all five forwards scored in the first half. This was followed by four more wins, including a 6-1 away win at Doncaster when Jimmy Hill got 5 goals. Although Fred Harrison and Bedford Jezzard had both scored five in a League match, this was the first time (only time ?) a Fulham player had done it away from Craven Cottage.

By the beginning of April the club were sitting in 4th spot on 43 pts but with games in hand. A fixture congestion however, meant the team had to play 8 games over 24 days. The cause was not helped when both Jim Langley and Johnny Haynes were playing for England on the same day that the team took on lowly Bristol City at home. City took the lead in the first minute with a controversial goal when Tindall bundled Tony Macedo into the goal, and a weakened Fulham went 4-0 down by the interval. The team fought back in the second half and scored three goals but the elusive equaliser and a vital point just wouldn’t come.

The crunch came in a midweek match against Blackburn Rovers. Fulham were on 48 pts after 38 games and in 5th place, Blackburn on 53 pts with only two games to play were in third. Above them West Ham and Charlton were both on 55 pts from 41 matches. Nothing less than a win would do for Fulham (remember 42 matches in a season and only 2pts for a win).

Over 32,00 were at the Cottage to see the team, missing Langley, Lowe, Bentley and Lawler due to injury, fight with what was described in one paper as a “Marciano brand of fury”. Tosh Chamberlain gave Fulham a half time lead with a 20 yard shot after beating two defenders. Blackburn pressed hard in the second period but they were resisted by great defensive work and an outstanding Macedo. Then, in the final seconds of injury time, the keeper went up for a cross and seemed to catch it but in a collision with McGrath the ball rolled loose for McLeod to scramble it over the line. The linesman appeared to flag for a foul on Macedo and Fulham took the free kick quickly but, after some delay the referee awarded a goal. Pandemonium broke loose !! Johnny Haynes was booked for protesting and when the final whistle went, fans raced onto the pitch looking for the ref. He was eventually smuggled out of the Cottage by the police.

So, only a point. Injuries, causing players to miss vital matches, and the heavy fixture list had taken it’s toll. Especially over a ten day spell when the team lost three and drew two of the five matches they had to play. They ended in 5th place on 52 pts - 3 pts behind second placed and promoted, Blackburn. There were many positives however. The team had scored 97 goals and, at last, seemed to have consolidated at the back, only conceding 59. In season 1957/58 Craven Cottage had seen one of the best seasons since the promotion year of 1948/49.

 

[Cottager58]

The Story Has Cup Fever


(Part 1)

1958 The BIG story of season 1957/58 was not the team’s push for promotion, but its exploits in the FA Cup.

The team started their cup trail on the first Saturday of 1958 with a dour struggle at Craven Cottage against non-League side Yeovil. After a scoreless first half, two goals by Jimmy Hill and another by winger John Key, who was making his debut, in the first 15 minutes of the second saw off the Southern Leaguers. John Doherty added a fourth.

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The 4th round brought another home tie, this time against promotion rivals Charlton. A crowd of 40,000, many sitting on the hoarding on the river side, saw an exciting match on a near frozen pitch. Jimmy Hill put the team ahead in the 66th minute and they seemed to be coasting when Charlton’s Ryan equalised in the last minute. In the replay at the Valley, Fulham dominated from the outset and despite losing Robin Lawler to a broken nose, kept attacking. Roy Bentley got the all important first goal and this time the team didn’t let the lead slip. Although Tony Macedo had to make a fine save to keep Charlton out.

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Arthur Stevens got a second to put the team in the 5th round and a tie away to West Ham, leaders of Division2. Another large crowd, 37,500, watched a see-saw game in which Johnny Haynes was outstanding.

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There was a dramatic start to the game, when Bond almost scored from a 45 yard free kick in the first minute. Tony Macedo managing to hold onto the ball at the second attempt. Almost immediately though West ham went ahead as Jim Langley, instead of leaving the ball to Macedo kicked the ball straight to Grice who ran on a few yards and beat the keeper with a fast cross shot. The crowd rocked with excitement as Jimmy Hill went close twice and Dick for West Ham headed a cross from Keeble against the bar. After 12 minutes Fulham levelled the scores through Roy Dwight. He ran into the middle to take a pass from Arthur Stevens and as a defender and goalkeeper Gregory tried to close him down, Roy lofted it over their heads and into an empty net.

Tosh Chamberlain then scored but was half a yard offside. Exchanges became heated and when Musgrove was fouled just outside the Fulham penalty box, the ref had words with Roy Bentley. The drama continued. Bond hit a fierce drive which was saved brilliantly by Macedo. Johnny Haynes won one of his fierce battles with Malcolm, beat two more opponents and put in a shot which Gregory cleared only at the second attempt. Fulham pressed and Roy Bentley went close with a header from a corner by Tosh.

West Ham were aggressive at the start of the second half with two corners and Macedo made a fine save from Keeble. That player hurt an ankle when tackled by Bentley but managed after a while to play on. In a sustained period of pressure the Fulham wing halves Robin Lawler and Roy Bentley were pillars of strength. In almost their first serious attack however Fulham took the lead when Jimmy Hill took a cross from Roy Dwight on the volley and scored at an acute angle. There was further drama about West Ham’s equaliser soon after. Grice cut in from the wing and Jim Langley brought him down in the box. Bond netted from the penalty but it had to be re-taken because one of his own players was in the area. Unperturbed he scored on his second attempt. This was after 65 minutes.

Tony Macedo prevented West Ham going ahead by cutting out a fast shot from Grice. It was Fulham who took the lead in 75 minutes from a goal by Johnny Haynes. West Ham pressed forward but the Fulham defence held firm to win a thrilling cup tie 3-2, and the Hammers first defeat of the season at Upton Park. This is a video linked to view the highlights : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkzQcVk1Mv8


The 6th round draw was kind to Fulham and kept them away fro First Division opponents. Bristol Rovers came to Craven Cottage. Tickets went on sale on the Sunday before the match and fans queued overnight waiting for the ticket windows to open at 9am. In just two hours, the club sold 27,000. Some took advantage of the demand to see the game, like one youngster who sold his 2/- ticket to someone at the back of the line for twenty five shillings. On the day, 40,000 crammed into the Cottage and

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saw the team take a 3-0 lead by half time through goals from Jimmy Hill, Tosh Chamberlain and Arthur Stevens. Rovers did pull one back but Fulham were always comfortable and eased their way into their third FA Cup semi-final.

 

[Cottager58]

(Part 2)

The opposition was Manchester United at Villa Park and most of the country were hoping that United would win. A little under two months earlier, eight of the amazing ‘Busby Babes’ had been killed in the horrific air crash at Munich and there was a wave of support for the stricken club and their seriously injured manager, Matt Busby.

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The team line-ups were :

Fulham
Macedo; Cohen, Langley; Bentley, Stapleton, Lawler; Dwight, Hill, Stevens, Haynes and Chamberlain

Manchester United
Gregg; Foulkes, Greaves; Goodwin, Cope, Crowther; Webster, Taylor, Dawson, Pearson and Charlton


It was a pulsating match as reflected in the following extracts from the report on the game published in the Times and written by their ‘Association Football Correspondent' (probably Geoffrey Green)

“There were three special warriors - Haynes and Macedo for Fulham; young Charlton for Manchester United. It was Haynes who shaped his forces and gave them the full authority. He was the puppet master, putting things and figures into motion - especially Hill, the bearded pirate - at the turn of a foot. Some of his angled passing was superb, always probing and stretching the Manchester defence.

Macedo played his giant part as the United turned the screw powerfully in the last desperate 20 minutes. It was then that Macedo rose to his true full height. In the last 15 minutes alone he made three saved that seemed beyond the power of any man. He became a bird - first to fly to the top corner and flick away a header by Webster, next to turn a swift low stab by Charlton round the corner, and then, floating parallel to the ground, to catch at full stretch another rocket from the same player. Even Charlton that time had to stand and applaud in astonished amazement.

Charlton himself was the dashing Prince Rupert. From the beginning to the end, often with little enough support from the flanks and the occasional delicate nudge from Taylor, he alone had Fulham on tenterhooks.”

“Charlton’s finishing matched his approach as he showed at the 12th minute when he put Manchester ahead against the early run of play, with an explosive goal. Taking a forward touch from Taylor, he hit the top corner of the Fulham net brilliantly from the edge of the penalty area. Even the acrobatic Macedo could not sniff that one.

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At the start the tight pressed Villa Park crowd of 70,000 buzzed like a hive about to swarm. Now the roar rose and fell in waves, for the very next minute Langley’s cross pass split the United defence and Stevens, close in, smacked Fulham level. London, with Haynes the architect, gained command. Their football was controlled, patterned, and with eight minutes to half time they took their reward. Haynes and Lawler set Dwight free and there was the marauding Hill to streak through the middle and beat Gregg.

But fate was creeping up on Fulham. With half time only a stride away, and a valuable lead in their pocket, Langley was felled by an accidental kick behind the knee in a tackle with Dawson. In the extra few moments allowed for play after Langley had been examined, tendered, gathered up and carried sorrowfully away on a stretcher, the alert Charlton struck once more to put Manchester level on 2-2. Pearson receiving from Taylor saw his shot rebound off Cohen, quick as light Charlton’s right foot was again the executioner.

The second half hovered like a dark cloud on the horizon for Fulham. The storm threatened and finally broke, But the scoring, it proved, was done. First, however, Gregg had to make precious saves from under the United bar

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Yet at the end it was Macedo covered gallantly by Haynes, Bentley, Lawler and others, who held at bay a Manchester side at last playing with a sense of urgency and destiny.

But for another two or three minutes (before half time), Fulham may have reached Wembley. The tingling battle now moves to London for it’s next stage. It is still anybody’s game.”

The replay was four days later at Highbury, much to United’s annoyance who made an official complaint that this gave Fulham an unfair advantage and it was unfair on Manchester fans. The protest was over ruled by the FA. As it happened only 38,000 did turn up on a mild, misty Wednesday afternoon, the rest preferring to watch it on television at home.

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Surprisingly given the knocks players had received in the first game (both Langley and Macedo were still receiving treatment up to the last minute) and the short time between the games, the teams were unchanged, except Brennan coming in for Pearson in the Manchester United side.

United started brightly and Tony Macedo had to make three sharp saves early on, twice from Webster and the other from Taylor. They struck on the quarter hour mark however, when Webster evaded a tackle and crossed for Dawson to head home. Fulham fought back and were level on 26 minutes. Jimmy Hill drew the defence away from the centre and Johnny Haynes’ diagonal pass found Arthur Stevens who scored from close in. Ten minute before half time, Tony Macedo dived late for a cross cum shot from Dawson and the ball slipped under his body to give United the lead again. The team responded though and Jim Langley ran fully 40 yards past defenders before giving Tosh Chamberlain a clear sight at goal. 2-2 !

In the second period the game continued end to end. Taylor dribbled towards the box and offered a through pass to Brennan and Webster converging on goal. Macedo got there first but was unseated, lost the ball and Brennan duly netted. With 25 minutes left Charlton raced down the wing, beat three defenders and crossed for Dawson to complete his hat trick. Fulham came back yet again though and Roy Dwight whipped in an Arthur Stevens cross. With 8 minutes left and the score at 4-3 in United’s favour the defining point came. A cross from Tosh was breasted down by Johnny Haynes and his flick forward was put into the net by Roy Dwight. The referee however adjudged that Johnny had handled the ball and disallowed the goal. United immediately went down the field and Charlton smashed the ball into the roof of the net. Instead of being level on 4-4, Fulham found themselves 5-3 down and out of the cup.

You can watch video highlights of the match via this link : http://www.britishpathe.com/video/manchester-u-v-fulham-replay


Another ‘Wembley Dream’ was gone. This superb cup run however, was also the reason for the congested list of fixtures in April (referred to in the last Chapter of The Story) and which undoubtedly cost Fulham promotion this season (1957/58). Craven Cottage is made of stern stuff though and another chapter in it’s history awaits.

 

[Fred's Cultured Left Foot]

As we approach the era when I started to follow the Whites, it is great to see the names I recall from that time starting to appear. My dad used to talk about Tosh, Bentley etc. In particular he often used to talk about "Chinny" Hill - a player in that long run of big, slightly buffony characters that the club has always had who the supporters have a love/ hate relationship with. Jimmy had a big heart and a good sense of humour, but he was limited in the footballing skill department. One instance I always remember my dad talking about was Jimmy in a moment of good sportsmanship throwing the ball to an oppolent for a throw in, only for that player to throw the ball in over Jimmy's head to the player he should have been marking who ran through and scored. Ahhh - those were the days.
I remember Tony Macedo very fondly - he was near the end of his career when I started going, but he was an amazing goalie - but always prone to the occasional howler.
So keep up the good work Cottager - my excitment is reaching fever pitcch as we near the second half of the sixties when I started going reguarly.

 

[Cottager58]

The Ultimate Story


(Part 1)

1958/59 At the end of season1957/58 Dug Livingstone tendered his resignation for family reasons. Having successfully taken the club through two transitional years, he left on the best of terms and later became manager of Chesterfield. Dug’s last signing was in January 1958 when he brought in Maurice Cook from Watford for £12,000. Maurice was cup-tied when he joined so hadn’t been able to part in the epic cup run that season.

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A big bustling centre forward he was hard, direct and brave. Maurice’s contribution was often underrated and what he lacked in speed and ball control was amply made up for his never say die attitude. He made 248 appearances for Fulham and score 97 goals - including the historic first ever goal in the Football League Cup (against Bristol Rovers in September 1960) - before being transferred to Reading when Vic Buckingham arrived in May 1965.


The new manager was a unanimous and popular choice, Bedford Jezzard who had been coach of the Metropolitan League side (that is, the reserves) for the last year. Beddy, along with Frank Osborne, headed a backroom staff who were all ex-players - Frank Penn, Joe Bacuzzi, George Milton, Johnny Price and Arthur Stevens. Arthur finally hung up his boots after a game against Liverpool in the upcoming season, having been at the club for 16 years, making 413 appearances and scoring 124 goals.

Beddy only made one signing in the close season, Graham Leggat, from Aberdeen for £20,000.

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To balance the books, the club sold Roy Dwight to Nottingham Forest. Graham was already a Scottish international when he joined and went on to win a further 11 caps while at the club. A very fast winger by trade (left or right) he played in almost every forward position in his eight year stay and had an uncanny understanding with Johnny Haynes. Graham could score goals from any angle and was arguably the club’s finest striker, ever. He has a number of mini-records to his name; he scored on his debut, he scored a goal in each of the first 7 games he played, he scored 8 eight tricks, he scored the fastest hat trick (in 3 minutes against Ipswich on Boxing Day 1963)

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- a record which still stands, he scored 106 goals for Fulham in the First Division - a club record which still stands. Reputedly an intense, humourless person, the fans loved him. In December 1966, immediately after Graham had scored twice in a game against Doncaster, Vic Buckingham sold him for a meagre £20,000 to Birmingham. The surprise and utter disbelief among the fans cannot be described. Shocking !!



The line up for the start of season 1958/59 was:

Macedo; Cohen, Langley; Lowe, Bentley, Lawler; Leggat, Hill, Cook, Haynes and Chamberlain.


And it started in terrific fashion. In the first game Stoke were hammered 6-1; all the forwards bar Jimmy Hill scoring before half time and Maurice Cook completing his hat trick in the second. The goal scores were Maurice Cook (3), Johnny Haynes, Graham Leggat (on his debut) and Tosh Chamberlain. Four days later, the team went to Sunderland and won 2-1 (Graham Leggat and Tosh Chamberlain). The first win at Roker Park in the second division. This was followed by a 2-1 away win at Swansea (Johnny Haynes and Graham Leggat), a 6-2 thrashing of Sunderland at home (Johnny Haynes (3), Tosh Chamberlain, Graham Leggat and Jim Langley), then a 3-2 win at home against Ipswich (Johnny Haynes, Maurice Cook and Graham Leggat) and 4-2 at home to Lincoln (Graham Leggat (2), Tosh Chamberlain and Johnny Haynes).

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The run was broken by a 0-0 draw away to Bristol Rovers. It could have been different but for a twice taken penalty. Jim Langley put his first effort in the net but Graham Leggat was adjudged to have encroached into the box. Jim’s second effort hit the post. It was back to winning ways four days later when Lincoln City were again beaten 4-2, this time away from home. Johnny Haynes got all four. Then Derby were beaten by the same score line at home. This game was notable in that Maurice Cook had given Fulham the lead after seven minutes, then Johnny Haynes was taken off injured and Derby took advantage scoring twice before half time. Johnny came back on and he scored twice; for the first he beat three players before drawing the keeper and sliding the ball into the net, and for the second he did exactly the same except this time he rounded the keeper before scoring. Jim Langley got the other goal. There followed a 2-0 win away to Leyton Orient (Tosh Chamberlain and Maurice Cook) and by the beginning of October, Fulham were top of the League.


October saw something of a dip, with home points being dropped to Scun_thorpe and Liverpool. Away form in November and December was poor (5 losses and 1 draw), but 5 wins at home kept the team on track and by the turn of the Year they were in 2nd place.

The home game against Brighton on Boxing day was unusual with both fullbacks scoring; George Cohen with a 35 yard thunderbolt that went in off the bar and Jim Langley with a low drive through a crowd of players in the closing minutes. Whether the announcement of the death of chairman Charles Dean unsettled the team is not clear, but they lost 3-0 away to Brighton the next day. Tommy ‘You Lucky People’ Trinder took over as chairman.

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[Cottager58]

(Part 2)

The team struggled in January losing the First game of the New Year to Swansea at home and then going out of the cup to Birmingham, after beating Peterborough in the earlier round. Both cup games went to replays and goals were becoming hard to find. After a 2-0 defeat away to Derby in the first game of February, manager Bedford Jezzard made some changes. With Jim Langley injured, he switched Robin Lawler to left back and brought in a 17 year old right half, Allan Mullerry for his debut.

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Allan, a Londoner, had joined Fulham from school at the age of 15 in 1957 and signed professional forms in December 1958. Within two months he was in the first team and stayed as a permanent fixture until he was sold to Spurs for £72.500 in December 1964. In this, his first stint with Fulham (Alec Stock brought him back in August 1972) Allan made 212 appearances for the club. His debut game was against Leyton Orient, a match noted for another first - Johnny Haynes goal scored with a header !!! Graham Leggat opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a superb goal and one minute later reserve centre forward, John Doherty got the second with a 30 yard pile driver (his first for the club). Johnny Haynes got the team’s third before Orient pulled one back to make it 3-1 at half time. Johnny hit another early in the second but gutsy Orient scored again and then Johnny killed the game, completing his hat trick with that headed goal. Giving Fulham a 5-2 victory. Papers the next day reported that, “seventeen year old Mullery had an auspicious League debut”.

Two more wins followed before a key match at Anfield. A crowd of 44,000 saw one of those thrilling 0-0 draws and Fulham maintained their 3 point advantage over Liverpool in the League. A win and a draw made the Good Friday morning game against Sheffield Wednesday critical. One player in particular was under a great deal of pressure. Jimmy Hill hadn’t scored in 11 months and had been barracked by fans in recent games. Before the match he had a head to head (or should it be chin to chin ?) with chairman Tommy Trinder but Bedford Jezzard kept his faith and played Jimmy, despite Hill having been ‘dropped’ from training matches. A crowd of over 39,000 at Craven Cottage saw Graham Leggat once again open the scoring, this time in six minutes. Wilkinson equalised after 20 minutes but a Jim Langley penalty gave Fulham a 2-1 lead at half time. One minute into the second, Shiner got Wednesday’s second equaliser. Maurice Cook restored Fulham’s lead on the hour. The rest of the match is taken up by a newspaper reporter -

Meanwhile Hill held his head in despair. Johnny Haynes, his captain and friend, turned to the Hill baiters with this demand “Give him a break, can’t you? And with just 16 minutes left Hill got that break from a right wing corner by left wing Tosh Chamberlain. All you could see was a black and white flash as Hill soared his head to the ball.

Hill went wild and so did Fulham. Jimmy was hugged, thumped and buried under a crowing crowd of players while wags in front of the Director’s box made some impertinent gestures in the direction of chairman Trinder.

[Ed note; “wags” had a different meaning in the 1950s].


Jimmy went on to get his hat trick, scoring again in the 78th and 88th minutes and the team won 6-2. The following day the team beat Grimsby Town and on the Monday two goals from Maurice Cook earned the team a point in a 2-2 draw in the return fixture away to Sheffield Wednesday. With three games to go, the team went to Barnsley. The Yorkshire side were desperate for points to avoid relegation and came twice from behind to equalise. However, goals from Jimmy Hill, Maurice Cook, Graham Leggat and an o.g. by Bartlett ensured victory for Fulham. And promotion to the First Division !!

..................................................................

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The team finished the season in fine style’ In torrential rain at the Cottage, they thrashed another Yorkshire side, Rotherham, 4-0, Johnny Haynes getting a hat trick and the once again confident Chairman of the PFA, Jimmy Hill the other. Fulham came second in the League, 2 pts behind Sheffield Wednesday and 7 pts ahead of third club, Sheffield United. Their 60 point total was the highest ever achieved. Particularly impressive was their record at Craven Cottage where 37 out of a possible 42 were won. The team scored a total of 96 goals in the 42 League games; Johnny Haynes was top score on 25, followed by Graham Leggat on 21 an then Maurice Cook on 17.

The club’s success was reflected in attendance figures. At a time when crowds were generally falling, Craven Cottage had seen an increase from an average 20,680 in season 1957/58 to, in this promotion season 1958/59, 26,931 [the writer of The Story was the “1"]

 

[Cottager58]

I’m really pleased I continued with The Story into the 1950s. It was ’in’ my time but not ’of' my time, as a proper Fulham fan that is. I wish I had been there though - the seven years from 1952 to 1959 are fascinating.

It was a period full of goals, characters and great games. There didn’t seem to have been a lot of emphasis on tactical formations, regardless of who the manager was, and results appeared to be almost secondary. Bit cavalier perhaps and of course there were no trophies.

The fans certainly saw Fulham teams that were sometimes brilliant, occasionally awful, frequently frustrating but always entertaining and never boring. All very “Fulhamish” but it must have been great fun.


Goals there were. In those seven years, Fulham played 294 League games and in games involving them 1,131 goals were scored. The team scored 621 (2.1 per game) and the opposition 510 (1.7 per game).


Characters there were. I’ve tried to profile them in The Story and inevitably not done them full justice. With the prolific scoring and leaky defence that Fulham had in the those years the forwards obviously got most of the headlines. And three in particular stand out - Bobby Robson, Bedford Jezzard and Johnny Haynes. Between 1953 and 1956, the three scored a total of 199 goals, before a transfer and injury broke up the partnership. Collectively and individually they were the envy of First Division clubs (evidence Newcastle’s attempt to buy them).
And they cost Fulham absolutely nothing. I wonder what that trio would be worth today ?


Of all the pictures and stuff I’ve looked at while doing The Story this is my very, very favourite :

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[Cottager58]

Error

 

[Cottager58]

Close season boredom has set in, so I’ve decided to continue The Story - well for a few more chapters at least.

If you remember we left at the end of season 1958/59 winning promotion to the top flight (1st Division in those days). New boy and Scottish International, Graham Leggat, had scored in each of the opening six games and another newcomer, 18year old, Alan Mullery, had made his debut against Leyton Orient in the February.

The core of the team though had been ’old’ favourites; Tony Macedo, Jim Langley, Tosh Chamberlain and the Maestro Johnny Haynes. Some in all fairness would add the ubiquitous Jimmy Hill to that list.

Comedian Tommy Trinder had taken over as Chairman and the men in charge of the team had all been Fulham players the last time we were promoted (1949) - manager Beddy Jezzard, coach Arthur Stevens and reserve team trainer Joe Bucuzzi.

Much as they did in 1949, the Club started the new campaign by showing faith in the team that had won promotion and only one new player, Alf Stokes, was signed from Spurs (for £9,000). Alf, an England U23 player, had scored 40 goals in 65 games at White Hart Lane but for some reason he failed to establish himself at the Cottage and only lasted one season. But what a season it turned out to be.

My next post kicks us off….

But before that, enjoy the team preparing for their new season in the top Division


[video=youtube;D3AaIM8HXaU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=D3AaIM8HXaU[/video]

 

[Fulhaman]

What a brilliant film. Players doing exercises that are probably more associated with a holiday camp than a professional football team. Wonder what the players of today would make of it - especially working with the big heavy ball.

Also love the fact that a player was a cigarette card collector - not the sort of thing you can imagine Balotelli or Ronaldo doing, to be honest. Another world, it really was.

 

[Cottager58]

THE STORY CASTS AN EYE ON THE REF


1959 An away game to Blackburn Rovers wasn’t one the Club would have chosen to start season 1959/60 as new boys to the 1st Division. And so it proved going down heavily 4-0. However morale was boosted by two wins, both at the Cottage - 5-2 over Manchester City (Johnny Haynes and Graham Leggat getting two apiece and Alan Mullery the other) and then watched by 43,000

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a 1-0 over old cup rivals Blackpool (Graham Leggat getting the winning goal).

After 5 games Fulham were lying 13th with 5pts [2pts for a win in those days] when reigning League Champions Wolves came to the Cottage in September. This was the third game in a week and injuries saw the team start without Johnny Haynes, Jimmy Hill and Tosh Chamberlain [Imagine the woe today if three star players and all forwards at that were missing!]

The team were up for the challenge however and put on a stunning display. Goals by John Doherty and Maurice Cook saw the side go in 2-0 at half time. A third by Alf Stokes, making a rare appearance as stand in for Jimmy Hill, sealed the victory 3-1.

Life at the top can be cruel though and just 7 days later in the return game at Molyneux [the fixture list was a tad strange even then] the team were brought down to earth with a wallop when Wolves ran out 9-0 winners - Fulham’s heaviest League defeat ever! And as if that wasn’t bad enough, before September was out, there was a 3-1 home defeat to Chelsea watched by over 40,000. There was controversy in that defeat however. Twenty minutes into the second half, with the score 1-1, Chelsea’s chunky winger Frank Blunstone began one of his head down surging dribbles and went down in the box to an innocuous looking George Cohen tackle. Penalty! said ‘World Famous’ referee Arthur Ellis marching, finger pointed towards the spot. The crowd howled disapproval, Macedo protested and even Blunstone looked bemused but Ellis stood his ground and Peter Sillett hammered the ball home.

With Harold McMillan, Hugh Gaitskell and Jo Grimmond locked in battle in the first General Election since the Suez crisis, October proved more satisfying for Fulham. With Roy Bentley, Haynes, Hill and Tosh returning from injury the side was more settled and with 5 victories took all 10 pts and jumped from 15th place to 6th. This winning run was by no means a fluke and the team scored 16 goals in the period. Despite some heavy defeats, Fulham were playing attractive, attacking football and in the three months since the start of the season only Wolves (thanks to that scoreline already mentioned) and Manchester United had scored more goals. And the next game up - at Old Trafford - lived up to expectations.

Beddy Jezzard made a tactical change and brought in Graham Leggat, who had missed most of October, for his first game as centre forward and it paid dividends.

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The Scot scored twice to equalise United goals before getting his hat trick in the second half to put Fulham ahead. United however got their own equaliser 10 minutes from the end through Bobby Charlton and the game finished all square at 3-3. After the game the pundits were drooling over Johnny Haynes; Journalist Peter Hill said,

“Bobby Charlton or Johnny Haynes for England? Haynes for me!

The Fulham inside left gave the perfect demonstration of constructive play, carving the Manchester united defence wide open with his cross-field passes”

A defeat at home to Preston, North End, the first club to win at the Cotttage to date, was quickly followed by three wins; away to Leicester (a Tosh piledriver), at home to Burnley ( a Jimmy Hill glancing header), and away to Leeds 4-2 (Graham Leggat (2), Tosh and Johnny Haynes). This saw Fulham lying in 5th place with 26pts, only 2pts behind League leaders Preston. As you will have gathered it was pretty tight at the top and next up were Tottenham Hotspurs lying second on 27pts.

This was the Bill Nicholson Spurs who had cost an unprecedented £200,000 and were soon to achieve the League and Cup double. Fulham brought in Derek Lampe at the back, but kept Richard Key on the right wing and Graham Leggat at centre forward.

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Spurs took an early lead when Cliff Jones racing forward was brought down by Lampe and, despite offside protests, awarded a penalty Jones himself scored from the spot.

Fulham’s equaliser after 15 minutes was a gem. Tony Macedo threw the ball to Haynes who from his own half, hit an inch perfect pass to Jimmy Hill inside the Spurs box. Hill controlled the ball and without checking his stride slammed it home. With the score still at 1-1, Fulham pounded the Spurs goal in the second half and indeed should have got a deserved winner. Not according to the referee though - a shot from Jimmy Hill was punched over the bar by Spurs full back Peter Baker, with Goalie Bill Brown stranded - corner kick, adjudged the referee. There wasn’t one of the 37,000 crowd who could understand why it wasn’t a penalty kick to Fulham. The game petered (sic) out after that.

And unfortunately so did Fulham’s season. Only 5pts were taken from then (December) until the end of February. The only high spot was a 2-0 win against Everton and Johnny Haynes scoring his 100th goal for the Club. The FA Cup in January wasn’t much better. After a comfortable 5-0 home win against Hull (one of them from Jimmy Hill his 50th for the Club) the team lost 2-1 to Leicester and the legend Gordon Banks at Filbert Street. Towards the end of the season the team rallied somewhat - highlighted by a 1-1 draw against Spurs in front of 52,000 at White Hart Lane and giving Arsenal a 3-0 drubbing at the Cottage.

Given the expectations at the beginning of the season, when nobody outside of Craven Cottage expected the team to survive, it had in fact been a successful campaign. The team finished in 10th position [not bettered before and not again until the 2003/04 season] and 5 places above the mighty Arsenal - Rookeless by now. Fulham had 44pts having won 17 games and scored 73 goals. Graham Leggat was top scorer on 18. The ill-fated Alfie Stokes did manage 6 in his 15 appearances in this, his only season.

Injuries hadn’t helped during the season but what they had highlighted was a lack of strength in depth and a lack of investment in new players on promotion. The Club obviously didn’t have the financial resources of the Manchester, Merseyside or North London ’giants’ (Manchester City had just signed 20yr old Denis Law for £55,000 from Huddersfield - a national record - in March).

However some at Craven Cottage did question whether the policy at the Club was short sighted.

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The 1959/60 Team

 

[Cottager58]

THE STORY FINDS TONS OF RECORDS



1960 There were no new signings when season 1960/61 began and the team started promisingly, winning 7 of their first 10 games and lying in 6th place. It could have been even better but for an injury to Tony Macedo in the game away to Sheffield Wednesday. Jim Langley took over in goal and the 10-man Fulham [no substitutes in those days] were unlucky to go down 2-0.


September also saw a couple of double firsts. Unlike most 1st Division teams, Fulham were one of the few to join the newly formed Football League Cup and Maurice Cook became the first player to score in the competition. Unfortunately the team lost the match 2-1 - away to Bristol Rovers - and became the first team to be knocked out.


October saw the team average a point a game in the five played. The highlights being a hat trick by Graham Leggat against Bolton and another against Leicester. The winter slump then took over and from December until February only 1 game was won and the team slid from 8th to 18th position. One of the worst defeats in that period was again down to Sheffield Wednesday. With Johnny Haynes injured, Alan Mullery took over as captain for the first time and, whether it was nerves or something else, in the first minute of the game he attempted a 30 yard back pass to Tony Macedo who was somewhere else and the ball trundled into the empty net. Wednesday went on to score 6 for the loss of 1 (Brian O’Connell).


That game also saw the debut of Stan Brown He had joined the Club as a 16yr old in 1957 and while this was his only game for the next couple of years he went on to become a stalwart over the 10 years that followed.

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Stan played a total of 397 games for the Club and scored 19 goals. A not very tall, stocky player he was the ‘engine room’ of the side and his commitment made him an ever popular with the fans. Johnny Haynes paid him the best tribute possible when he said, “You don’t realise just how good Stan Brown is until he’s not there.”


Back at the Cottage, the slide in the League was halted with a 4-3 win over old cup rivals Blackpool, who had Stanley Matthews in their line-up. Denis Compton reported,

Stan Shows The Old Magic

Fulham 4 Blackpool 3


Stanley Matthews, 46-year-old Blackpool winger, gave a display that almost made me forget this vital relegation battle. He looked like a man of 30 with his wraith-like figure gliding over the pitch mesmerising his opponents.

He sparked all three of the Blackpool goals, but even this was not enough to stop Blackpool from descending into greater relegation perils. Fulham won because they were quicker on the ball and there was a great sense of urgency about their play.

Johnny Haynes, perhaps not quite the dominant figure we have come to expect, still manages to marshall his forces into an effective unit. His uncanny knack of switching the play with those destructive pinpoint passes was continually in evidence. And he was mainly responsible for exploiting the alarming weaknesses in the Blackpool defence.

Exuberent Jimmy Hill and dashing (Maurice) Cook backed him up well and Fulham most decidedly deserved this victory. Fulham went ahead after 17 minutes when Alan Mullerry crossed beautifully from the right wing an Cook’s header found the top right-hand corner of the net. Another fine header by Jimmy Hill from Leggat’s free kick after 24 minutes put them two up.

Blackpool reduced the arrears when Matthews popped up on the left wing and slipped a lovely pass back to Garrett and his cross was converted by Charnley.

The genius of Haynes put Fulham further ahead when after 54 minutes he slipped a great through ball on the turn and Johnson found himself with only West to beat. And he made no mistake. Number four came seven minutes later when Leggat breasted down a cornerer from Johnson past West.

All seemed over, but the incredible Stanley Matthews had other ideas. He was all over the fiels causing havoc every time he was in possession, and two lovely passes to Hause brought two more goals.

Even the inspiration of Matthews could not save Blackpool from defeat. This was Fulham‘s first win since Boxing Day and eases their relegation worries. But Blackpool go to the bottom of the table.

From the beginning of March until the ened of the season Fulham managed to steer clear of relegation. Their 11 points from the final 11 games included a thrilling 0-0 draw against the eventual League winners, Tottenham (it could have been 17-13 in Fulham’s favour) and a convincing 4-2 win at Molyneux where Maurice Cook scored a hat trick.

The team finished 17th on 36 pts. There had been memorable moments - Eddie Lowe played his 400th game, Jim Langley played his 200th game and Graham Leggat scored his 50th goal - but it was clear that the team needed strengthening. Indeed in March, Beddy Jezzard brought back Bill Dodgin from Arsenal to bolster the defence.

Bill Jnr, had previously been with the Club having been signed by his father (Fulham manager 1949 -1953). He first came into the side in December 1951 but had suffered unfair abuse by the fans who took out their frustration of the father on the son and within a year he had been sold to Arsenal for £10,000.

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Bill Jnr was to follow his father’s footsteps and Became the Fulham manager in 1968 - but that’s a story for another day.


Throughout all this, season 1960/61 was a person triumph for the Maestro. He played his 300th game for the Club (in that early season game against Sheffield Wednesday when Jim Langley had to go in goal) but it was away from the Cottage that he had his major success. An established player in Walter Winterbottom’s all conquering England side, Johnny Haynes was given the ultimate prize for any professional footballer [well it was in those days] and appointed captain of the side that trounced Scotland 9-3 at Wembley.

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For the England side 1960/61 was probably one of it’s most memorable periods (certainly since the War) with Haynes and Bobby Robson controlling the midfield and Greaves and Smith deadly up front. As well as the Scots, Ireland were beaten 5-2, Wales 4-2, Luxemburg 9-0, Mexico 8-0, Spain 4-2 and significantly Itlay 3-2 in Milan.

For Johnny there was another recognition still to come. In the January of 1961 a strike by the professional footballers was narrowly averted when the FA agreed to abandon the minimum wage. Co-incidentally the players Union in the threatened action was led by Fulham’s Jimmy Hill and their secretary Cliff Lloyd, a former Fulham player. At the end of the season rumours were rife about Johnny following Jimmy Greaves and moving to Italy but the Fulham chairman, Tommy Trinder, nipped that in the bud though and Johnny Haynes became the first £100-a-week footballer in Britain.

All of Craven Cottage breathed a sigh of relief and began to dream about the next season.