Given your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com never passes an opportunity to play the amateur historian, curiosity was suitably raised on coming across an article in The Independent entitled: ‘The Most Significant Year of the 20th Century.’
Having been around, near enough, for the last forty of the period in question and aware of the momentous events to have occurred in that time, even then my expectation was either 1914 (outbreak of the First World War) or 1945 (atom bombs, end of World War Two and beginning of the Cold War) would vie for the title.
It was, therefore, surprising to learn the twelve month stretch deemed to have more significance than all 99 others was 1973.
Falling within my memory, escalation in the world price of oil as autumn gave way to winter, (a consequence of conflict in the Middle East during October 1973), prompted recall of the UK being plunged into chaos. Hence the real possibility of a return to petrol rationing in a Britain already riven by industrial strife, this due to an ongoing dispute between the National Union of Mineworkers and Tory government of Edward Heath.
The refusal of Downing Street to grant a 40% pay rise subsequently brought a miners strike resulting in Heath declaring a State of Emergency, preservation of fuel supplies resulting in power cuts and a three-day working week.
With leading trade unionists such as Joe Gormley and Mick McGahey appearing on television (when power was available), with the regularity of leading politicians of the day, it is safe to say Blighty was in the grip of troubled times. Yet for a young teenager there was a degree of excitement and safety in the familiar – the house suddenly plunged into darkness brought its own sense of fascination while at the same time everyone I loved was still alive.
Whether or not the case being made for 1973 is open and shut remains up for debate, but on a personal level there was surprise the piece did not contain mention of either ‘Quadrophenia‘ or ‘The Dark Side of The Moon‘ or the most extraordinary FA Cup Final of post-war times, all of which occurred in said year – although citing the article seemed a reference point too good to miss in reflecting on the Division One Boxing Day fixture programme of 1973.
In the lead up to Christmas, football had been affected by the concurrent energy constrictions, the use of floodlights at grounds prohibited in an effort to conserve power stocks, the Wolves v Liverpool League Cup quarter-final on Wednesday 19 December 1973 a high-profile consequence of these restrictions.
Despite having a 2pm midweek workday kick-off, my Dad managed to negotiate a brief leave of absence with his employer in order to be among the 15,242 who attended but not so his son, parental permission denied in taking the afternoon off school.
The decision prompted further annoyance when lesson time that afternoon was spent watching the 1970 film account of ‘Waterloo‘, the reigning league champions suffering a similar fate to Napoleon (played by Rod Steiger) in suffering defeat.
Their Molineux loss was brought about by a brilliant individual goal from John Richards – who had not scored his last League Cup goal of the season, the one-cap England striker scoring the semi-final winner and then doing likewise in the 2-1 Wembley final victory of Manchester City eight weeks into 1974.
The only upside of not being allowed to attend had nothing to do with the portrayal of the Duke of Wellington by Christopher Plummer, but being able to stay up and watch the highlights on a school night. The programme was shown between 9.30 and 10pm as the three television channels (BBC 1, BBC 2 ITV), were under instruction from the government to cease broadcasting at 10.30 each night as part of power economy measures.
The stipulations were relaxed over Christmas to the extent programming could continue until midnight, football also benefitting from relaxation of the rules. Boxing Day fixtures were given the go ahead to kick-off at 3pm and with the use of floodlights permitted – not that there was much relaxing done across a full-blown match bonanza…….
DIVISION ONE – Boxing Day 1973:
BURNLEY 2 LIVERPOOL 1: Seven days after their Molineux League Cup mishap (they had beaten Manchester United at Anfield in-between), second placed Liverpool lost ground in the title race when they were turned over at Turf Moor.
Enjoying a distinguished return to the top flight after being promoted as second division champions the previous term, an exciting Burnley side climbed to the exalted heights of third as goals from Paul Fletcher and Ray Hankin were enough to see off the visitors who replied through Scottish midfielder Peter Cormack – their fifth league reversal bringing added Christmas cheer for leaders Leeds……..
NEWCASTLE UNITED 0 LEEDS UNITED 1: In front of the biggest crowd of the day, Don Revie’s men maintained their unbeaten Division One record, a first half goal from England international Paul Madeley securing a fourth straight league win.
Having lost two major cup finals (FA Cup/European Cup Winners Cup) and seen a championship challenge come up short the previous season, Leeds had been in unrelenting form since the opening day. Their 23rd – league – match without defeat, (including the last of 1972-73), was a hard fought affair against an 11th placed home side who could dazzle and disappoint in equal measure, as their subsequent FA Cup run would reveal.
After a shock FA Cup Final defeat against Sunderland the previous May, Leeds had recovered to such an extent a second league title of Revie’s near thirteen year Elland Road tenure seemed in the bag before the Christmas decorations came down – a nine point lead already looking unassailable.
EVERTON 2 MANCHESTER CITY 0: Coinciding with the BBC 2 network premier of ‘A Hard Day’s Night‘ (1964), the first feature film of four young lads from Liverpool who shook the world, Goodison Park was also rocking as the fourth in the table home side overcame a Manchester City outfit not pulling up many trees, Christmas or otherwise.
Taking the lead through a first half Mike Buckley goal, there was comfort and joy for the land of Evertonia when 1970 title winning veteran John Hurst added a second after the break. Muddling along in fourteenth, City, despite being able to field the combined attacking threat of Mike Summerbee, Francis Lee, Colin Bell and Rodney Marsh, had only managed one first division away win to date, something new manager Ron Saunders (appointed November 22) was brought in to address.
While he would lead them to the League Cup Final in March the former Norwich boss would not see out the season, the Maine Road managerial merry-go-round seeing Tony Book become the fourth full-time incumbent in 53 weeks on replacing Saunders who was sacked in early April 1974.
LEICESTER CITY 2 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 2: With their League Cup Final defeat against Wolves still to pass, the player who would sentence Manchester City to defeat at Wembley was also among the goals on Boxing Day – John Richards scoring late for the Molineux side as they shared the points and four goals at Filbert Street.
Enjoying their most productive spell of the season following an indifferent start, Wolves, after taking an early lead through Barry Powell found themselves pegged back by an ace finisher of the time, Frank Worthington netting a brace (one a penalty) as Leicester reached half-time holding a 2-1 advantage.
But the seventh-placed Foxes would ultimately have to settle for a draw when the visitors (16th) levelled through Richards in the 86th minute.
CHELSEA 2 WEST HAM UNITED 4: One place above Wolves were Chelsea whose wayward habits were to the fore in a fitful festive display against West Ham – the visitors to Stamford Bridge belying their second bottom status in recording what ultimately proved a comfortable victory.
First half goals from Ian Britton (10) and Alan Hudson (43) – scoring his final goal for Chelsea before a mid-January move to Stoke – made it appear the points were destined for West rather than East London.
Due to an astonishing second half turnaround, however, West Ham were able to record only their second win in ten games – Frank Lampard (49), Bobby Gould (56) and Clyde Best (57/83), all on target as The Hammers bashed out a rare away win, indeed rare victory of any sort.
The New Year would bring an upturn in fortunes for West Ham who would haul themselves clear of relegation trouble and ironically finish on the same number of points (37) and one place below Chelsea in 18th – whose four wins in the 20 league matches that followed mirrored the off-field issue of ailing finances.
The coffers would be boosted by the sale of star-turns Hudson and Peter Osgood, but selling off the family silver was another sign of how an early-70s feast in SW6 was becoming a mid-decade famine.
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 SHEFFIELD UNITED 2: Most of those setting out for Boxing Day fixtures wearing their new jumpers and giving off a whiff of newly-received Hai Karati aftershave would have been aware that Old Trafford was not feeling particularly festive – the team currently sitting third-bottom braced for a mid-winter visit from mid-table Sheffield United.
On a run of nine games without a victory and having failed to win at home since mid-October, there would have been exaltation when Scottish international Lou Macari fired the hosts into a 12th minute lead. Thereafter it was less joyful and triumphant and more ho-hum all ye faithful, most of those present made to feel uncomfortable by a 26th minute Tony Currie leveller. An almost inevitable feeling of dejection was then brought to bear when Alan Woodward secured victory for the Blades with twenty minutes left.
Anyone of Manchester United persuasion with an eye for gallows humour might have afforded themselves a wry smile when casting a glance over TV listings for Boxing Day night – as faced with a season rapidly going down the drain, BBC 2 were showing the 1958 British comedy film ‘Up the Creek.’
NORWICH CITY 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2: If at Old Trafford it was a case of alarm rather than jingle bells, then December despair continued unabated at Carrow Road – bottom of the table Norwich also finding Christmas spirit in short supply as they suffered a painful home defeat to old rivals Ipswich.
Following the departure of Ron Saunders to Manchester City the previous month, new boss John Bond went into this East Anglian derby still seeking his first league victory in charge of the Canaries. The five fixtures to date had all had proved winless, Norwich having only won two league games all season.
Hopes of third were fuelled when Scottish striker Ted MacDougall, who had recently signed from West Ham (having previously played under Bond at Bournemouth), put the home side ahead in the 26th minute – an advantage they maintained until David Johnson fired Ipswich level just after the hour.
Once back on level terms the visitors, whose form had wavered in recent weeks following an impressive start to the season, (including eye-catching UEFA Cup successes over Real Madrid and Lazio), rediscovered their touch and secured the points with a Mick Lambert effort eleven minutes from time.
The spring of 1974 would see the sides move in opposite directions, Ipswich once again qualifying for the UEFA Cup by virtue of a fourth-placed finish while Norwich were relegated in bottom spot. They did, however, reach the League Cup semi-final and the promise they began to show under Bond manifested in a losing League Cup Final appearance and an immediate return to the top flight at the end of 1974-75.
SOUTHAMPTON 1 ARSENAL 1: As unremarkable as their form had been so far during the season, Christmas 1973 would come to be seen as the best things would be for either of these sides through the foreseeable future.
Of the two eighth placed Southampton had more in the way of salutation about them, only two defeats in the last thirteen league games made Saints a decent outside bet for a UEFA Cup spot, while Arsenal meandering along in tenth, had lost as many games already (8) as they had in finishing runners-up the previous season.
Unusually in a season when he would top the Division One goal scoring lists it was not Mick Channon who netted for Southampton, that accolade going to Paul Gilchrist whose early goal gave the hosts an interval lead.
But an Arsenal line-up containing eight of their 1970-71 ‘double’ winning team, four wins in their last fourteen games making for a meagre return through autumn, struck back through Alan Ball – the ’66 World Cup winner adding another to a tally that would see him finish the season as top scorer at Highbury with thirteen.
While by all accounts a draw was the right outcome, those filing home to turkey left-overs and last of the mince pies would have found the ensuing football fayre harder to digest.
Arsenal made an early FA Cup exit and continued flattering to deceive, finishing in the same league position as when they arrived at The Dell on Boxing Day – although for Southampton the second half of 1973-74 would prove dreadful rather than dour.
Only three wins in the next twenty league games precipitated a dramatic plunge down the table, Saints the first (and unlikely) victims in the change to three sides going down. Their third-bottom finish resulted in 1974-75 bringing trips to such places as Oxford and Hull when visiting Hamburg looked a possibility at the time Good King Wenceslas set out.
BIRMINGHAM CITY 1 COVENTRY CITY 0: The first of two Boxing Day derby games in the Midlands brought together two sides, one of whom had suddenly found some form while for the other it was prone to come and go.
Despite languishing one place above the relegation zone Birmingham had recorded three wins in the last four, the upturn in fortunes coinciding with future England centre-forward Bob Latchford rediscovering the goal touch – the 33rd minute strike that decided this contest his eleventh of the season.
Drifting along in calm, lower mid-table waters, Sky Blues with three wins, three losses and a draw had broken even from their last seven outings, how unpredictable they were further underlined in the weeks ahead.
Despite progressing through two rounds of the FA Cup, four January league matches passed without a league win, their next victory achieved against Manchester United in early February, over whom they completed a double following a success at Old Trafford – that 3-2 December triumph being their last win until Tommy Docherty’s side visited Highfield Road.
In the final analysis Coventry avoided the drop although without much to spare, but it was a closer run thing altogether for Birmingham who survived by a point – the February sale of Latchford to Everton (for a British record £350,000 fee) adding to the challenge of staving off relegation.
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 0: There was also a London derby afoot at White Hart Lane where the visitors came up from W12 to cross swords with Spurs.
On the face of it everything looked out of kilter. One side, the highest placed team in the capital were holding down sixth place and playing some inventive football, while the other were misfiring away in the lower reaches – but back in August the smart money would have been on Spurs being among the front-runners and newly-promoted Rangers down with the stragglers.
Yet the upshot was QPR, under the auspices of Gordon Jago, had endeared themselves to many. Talents such as Stan Bowles, Gerry Francis, Dave Thomas, Dave Clement, Ian Gillard and goalkeeper Phil Parkes (all future England internationals), would subsequently take Rangers on to the FA Cup quarter-finals, the prospect of UEFA Cup football going to Loftus Road in 1974-75 only dissolving when a small squad fell prey to a late-season drop off, although they still amassed enough points to finish ahead of all their London rivals.
Spurs on the other hand – who had seen their hold on the League Cup loosened by a second round October defeat in Shepherd’s Bush – remained a curious case of fits and starts. Their star-studded line-up were classy one week and seemingly clueless the next, the UEFA Cup receiving the best Tottenham had to offer, but being outgunned by Feyenoord in two-leg final and a mid-table league finish suggested they were a work in regress.
As for the Boxing Day pow-wow at the Lane, neither produced much to excite the Christmas customers, but even with no goals and few chances it would still have produced more in entertainment than an Old Grey Whistle Test special featuring mind-numbing prog rockers Emerson, Lake and Palmer broadcast on BBC 2 that night.
STOKE CITY 0 DERBY COUNTY 0: Up in the North Midlands, Derby crossed the region for a showdown at nearby Stoke – these two sides, coming to terms with testing times of late, also playing out a goalless draw that did not go down as a Christmas holiday highlight.
In the wake of losing goalkeeping great Gordon Banks to an eye injury sustained in a car crash just over twelve months before, Stoke still seemed adrift and without a talisman (the situation rectified by the February 1974 signing of Alan Hudson from Chelsea). Three defeats in the last four games had dropped them to 17th when Derby rolled into the Potteries – the fifth-placed Rams now under the guidance of former player Dave Mackay following the tempestuous departure of Brian Clough and Peter Taylor two months before.
Mackay had steadied things after three straight defeats early in his tenure, the talented group of players he inherited, (to whom classy Scottish midfielder Bruce Rioch would soon be added), enjoying a productive new year that manifested into a third-placed finish with clear indication a 1974-75 title challenge would be in the offing.
If anything the post-Christmas renaissance of Stoke was even more astonishing. The Potters only lost two of their next twenty fixtures, a resurgence so remarkable it resulted in them securing UEFA Cup qualification by coming home fifth.
So unbeknown to those trooping away from the Victoria Ground into the chill of a Boxing Day evening, there was plenty to look forward to despite what they had just witnessed.
True, in the short term it was for many back to work in the morning and England would still not be at the 1974 World Cup – but at least in the next few days the 1973 Christmas number one, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody‘ by Slade would disappear off the radio.
Probably to be never heard again……………
DIVISION ONE – Wednesday 26 December 1973:
Birmingham City 1 Coventry City 0 (33,423); Burnley 2 Liverpool 1 (24, 404); Chelsea 2 West Ham United 4 (26,892); Everton 2 Manchester City 0 (36,007); Leicester City 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (30,547); Manchester United 1 Sheffield United 2 (38,653);
Newcastle United 0 Leeds United 1 (54,474); Norwich City 1 Ipswich Town 2 (30,072); Southampton 1 Arsenal 1 (24,153); Stoke City 0 Derby County 0 (22,990); Tottenham Hotspur 0 Queens Park Rangers 0 (30,752);
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