The 1950s

[polyphemus]

The other night, my father-in-law, a West Ham fan, came round. He'd been clearing out his loft and examining his programme collection. He gave me a programme from the Sunderland v Manchester Utd game in October 1956.

Billy Bingham and Len Shackleton were playing for the lads but the Man Utd team was the Busby Babes era team and contained several of those that died in the Munich Air Disaster.

There are a few highlights in the programme that made me smile. The front cover bears the legend "Only club which has never played in any other than the First Division". If only that were still the case.

In Bill Murray's column he talks about flying to Geneva to discuss the upcoming friendly with Servette. Both clubs agreed that substitutes could be used but FIFA were still dead set against it.

Towards the back, there is an article on how terrible it is that players crowd round the referee to dispute his decisions. The author suggests that only the captain should be able to approach the referee. So it seems like this isn't a new thing!

I don't suppose anyone on here was in attendance at this game who can give an eyewitness account?

I'm gussing that I would have been there, but after 67 years, all these games sort of merge to a blur.

If it's any help though, we lost 1 - 3 with Ted Purdom scoring for us.
I guess that we would have been a bit disappointed with the result, although we were near the bottom of the table at the time, with our forward line including Charlie Fleming as well as the other three.
,

 

[polyphemus]

My dad is convinced Duncan Edwards would have been an absolute superstar.

I love talking to him about the players he has seen, some absolute legends. Yet of all of them he still holds a certain C Hurley as the absolute best

In the 50's our 'Bank Of England' Sides gathered some of the best players in The UK.
Sadly they rarely made it as a TEAM.
But the entertainment was supurb.
Leading this troupe of showmen was Len Shackleton, but he had competition all over the park.

Charlie didn't arrive till we got relegated, but he was something else.
A ball playing Centre Half who could tacle like George Aitken, pass like Willie Watson and ALMOST with Shak's dribble and ball control.

The 'Player of the Century' vote was taken very seriously by many of us and was not easy between the evantual First and Second.

 

[clockstander]

In the 50's our 'Bank Of England' Sides gathered some of the best players in The UK.
Sadly they rarely made it as a TEAM.
But the entertainment was supurb.
Leading this troupe of showmen was Len Shackleton, but he had competition all over the park.

Charlie didn't arrive till we got relegated, but he was something else.
A ball playing Centre Half who could tacle like George Aitken, pass like Willie Watson and ALMOST with Shak's dribble and ball control.

The 'Player of the Century' vote was taken very seriously by many of us and was not easy between the evantual First and Second.

Saw Cannonball Fleming and Charlie Hurley who could also thunder headers direct from corners , never forget the Norwich FA cup game that we won 0-1 with a Hurley header direct from a corner which so forceful the ball wedged into the back stanchion, it was the perfect response to their manager who had singled out Charlie as our weakness.

 

[cumbrianmackem]

Charlie scored a number of headers, he also created for others knocking the ball down for goal mouth scrambles, Nick Sharkey benefited quite a lot from these.
Charlie has only surpassed in heading by Neil Martin imo, saw him score two from beyond the penalty spot at Scum palace in another 0-3 win, amazing how many of those we've had.
Dave Watson ( bless him) was another good header of a ball.

 

[Vincemac]

In the 50's our 'Bank Of England' Sides gathered some of the best players in The UK.
Sadly they rarely made it as a TEAM.
But the entertainment was supurb.
Leading this troupe of showmen was Len Shackleton, but he had competition all over the park.

Charlie didn't arrive till we got relegated, but he was something else.
A ball playing Centre Half who could tacle like George Aitken, pass like Willie Watson and ALMOST with Shak's dribble and ball control.

The 'Player of the Century' vote was taken very seriously by many of us and was not easy between the evantual First and Second.

Yeah I remember the day he was crowned king Charlie
I was at the centenary dinner in the Mecca /tiffanys/locarno what ever it was named

 

[clockstander]

Charlie scored a number of headers, he also created for others knocking the ball down for goal mouth scrambles, Nick Sharkey benefited quite a lot from these.
Charlie has only surpassed in heading by Neil Martin imo, saw him score two from beyond the penalty spot at Scum palace in another 0-3 win, amazing how many of those we've had.
Dave Watson ( bless him) was another good header of a ball.

i was at that game one of the headers was low down from a huge punt upfield , the ball dropping over his head as he dived forwards, an amazing goal by any standards.