On casting even the most cursory glance over the domestic season of 1968-69, it is not difficult making a connection between the most famous football team in the world and the most celebrated rock group on the planet – allow if you will, your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com to explain.
The collection of footballers enjoying the spotlight are those of Manchester United, who come the last full season of the 1960s, reigned as champions of Europe – victory in the 1968 European Cup Final the culmination of events arising from the tragedy of the Munich air crash ten years before.
It was also the plateau to where the past six seasons had ultimately been heading. The side assembled in the wake of that tragic event by manager Sir Matt Busby (himself a survivor of the disaster when so many of the talented young players in his team at the time were not) had since 1963 won the FA Cup, secured two league titles and in doing so produced some of the most brilliant football ever seen on these shores.
Spearheaded by the outrageously talented triumvirate of Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best, United played in a dashing, devil-may-care manner that barely paused for breath in being adventurous and inventive – such words used by observers in a different field to describe The Beatles 1967 opus ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’
It is tempting to say United winning the European Cup, by which time the prodigiously gifted Best had been dubbed ‘the fifth Beatle‘ – to strengthen the analogy – was their ‘Sgt. Pepper‘ moment.
Yet it could also be argued both Best and Co and The Beatles had reached their peak in terms of bedazzlement in 1965 – a year when United were irresistible in becoming league champions while John, Paul, George and Ringo released ‘Rubber Soul‘ which in hindsight is the defining LP of ’60s British rock.
By the same token, as 1968 gave way to 1969 each party had begun to resemble splintering, somewhat dysfunctional units. The Beatles ‘White Album‘ (November 1968) was a work where individual parts were greater than the sum, with the same to be said for a string of United performances through an often disjointed campaign which set the tone for the seasons to come.
If things were becoming increasingly baffling on the red side of Manchester, across town in Moss Side, City, while unable to muster a substantive defence of the league title, proved themselves no slouches over the shorter course of the FA Cup. The management duo of boss Joe Mercer and coach Malcolm Allison induced a succession of cup displays from their charges that gave the impression City were a team who understood the dynamics of winning big matches.
During the season, however, no team were more adept at winning important games than Leeds United. Indeed, nobody in the history of top flight football in England had been so proficient in chalking up victories – the Elland Road outfit not only winning their first title but tearing up the record books in the process.
Losing just twice in amassing a 67 point haul were accomplishments without precedent, yet after previously going close on a couple of occasions during the past five seasons, some notable enhancements saw Leeds home with plenty to spare.
They went through the campaign without losing at Elland Road, doubled their number of away victories from the previous term and were undefeated in the first nine games (by the time of their first defeat in late-September the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup had been won, the two-leg final against Ferencvaros held over from the previous season). When they lost for a second time in mid-October, it provoked such a reaction Leeds would not lose another league match – the 28-game unbeaten trot taking them through to April, proving far too much for anyone else in the field.
In that respect Liverpool made an admirable job of attempting to keep pace, 61 points in normal circumstances almost certainly enough to land a third title in six seasons. As it was, The Kop had to settle for best of the rest plaudits in the face of astonishing consistency from the side finishing above them.
If there was consolation to be had for Bill Shankly and his players it came in the form of being marginal masters on Merseyside. They came in one place ahead of their local rivals, although no self-respecting inhabitant of Evertonia would be slow in pointing out they were the top scorers on the entire scene. Weighing in with the most goals (and highest placing) of the London clubs were fifth-placed Chelsea – the scoring prowess of those at Stamford Bridge and the blue side of Stanley Park serving them well when the following season came to a conclusion.
In North London it was not clear what to make of old adversaries Arsenal and Spurs. On top of their best league finish (4th) in ten years, The Gunners looked set to end a 16-year trophy drought on winning through to their second League Cup Final in 12 months. Only third division Swindon Town stood between them and reacquaintance with silverware, but on a quagmire Wembley pitch they came seriously unstuck, leaving Highbury still without a major honour since the days of post-war ration books.
Across at White Hart Lane, Tottenham, in what was becoming the norm, blew hot and cold. Superb one week, shabby the next, it was all very Spurs. With extraordinary symmetry to match his ongoing finishing expertise, the incomparable Jimmy Greaves ended the ’60s as he began them by topping the goalscoring lists. Yet even then he was overlooked as ‘Footballer of the Year‘, with pressure for an international recall ignored by England manager Sir Alf Ramsey.
The clamour for Greaves to return grew to a crescendo through the winter of 1968-69 as the national side laboured through a trio of uninspiring, low scoring draws – only for it to recede when those being selected rediscovered a previously dormant goal touch as the season came to an end.
Indeed, as the 1960s drew to a close and defence of the World Cup began looming, were England, shortly to embark on a close-season tour of South America on the back of an eight match unbeaten run, beginning to simmer nicely as the 1970 Mexico tournament moved nearer with each turn of the calendar?
In a decade where The Beatles had revolutionised popular music, this before England and then Manchester United had brought the World and European Cups to their homeland for the first time, would the 1970s bring similar levels of achievement?
If Lennon and McCartney had shaped the 60s on vinyl, then Law and Bobby Moore, Greaves, Best and Charlton had done likewise on the football pitch. Their accomplishments, either with guitars or a football, had for many defined the era. Yet it would be George, Harrison rather than Best, who would make the most telling statement of how times were about to change.
With 1969 barely a few weeks old, Beatle George began writing a song that would appear prophetic where the golden days recently enjoyed by Manchester United and England were concerned. The composition was entitled, ‘All Things Must Pass.’
TWENTY GREAT GAMES of 1968-69…………..
MANCHESTER CITY 6 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 – FA Charity Shield (35,510) 3/8/1968: It was hardly the worst way for Manchester City to exercise the right of being called league champions – dishing out a first to last minute slaughter of the FA Cup holders, the visitors taking a right old Maine Road mauling in the summer sunshine.
Indeed, the triumphant pre-match parade of the title trophy had barely finished when Bobby Owen tapped City ahead after just 90 seconds – The Hawthorns side looking even more hapless when a Graham Lovett own goal increased the lead before the hosts had broken sweat.
Five minutes before the break the fingerprints of coach Malcolm Allison are all over a superbly worked free-kick manoeuvre involving Mike Summerbee, Colin Bell and finally Francis Lee who finished the move with aplomb. ‘That was football perfection‘ remarks Match of the Day commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme, his assessment hard to dispute.
If that imaginative set-piece strategy resembled space-age play, there is something reassuringly late 20th Century about the way West Brom respond on the stroke of half-time, Welsh winger Dick Krzywicki scoring at close range with the City defence seemingly more interested in heading for the shade of the dressing room.
After the break Albion are afforded little respite with Owen and Neil Young adding to the goal rush, the rout completed when Lee scores his second at the last knockings.
On the back of such a sparkling performance City looked set for to provide substantial opposition to anyone wanting to take their crown. But ten weeks into the season they were languishing in the bottom half with only three wins to their name (one of which in fairness was against pacesetters Leeds), having also been dumped out of the European Cup by Turkish champions Fenerbahçe.
Albion in contrast responded well to their slipshod Moss Side showing and made steady progress through the autumn, remaining above City for most of the campaign – the Maine Road side needing the FA prefix (Charity Shield/Cup) to bring the best from them.
WOLVES 0 LIVERPOOL 6 – (39,803) 28/9/1968: As no highlights of this Molineux massacre appear to exist, the (very) vague recollections of your genial host will have to be relied upon, SAMTIMONIOUS a mere slip of an eight year-old lad at the time.
The facts of the matter are thus. England internationals Roger Hunt and Peter Thompson each scored a brace in this almighty leathering, the same contribution also made by young striker Alun Evans – who just a fortnight before Bill Shankly had bought from Wolves, the fee of £100,000 then a record for a teenager.
World Cup winner Hunt (15,74), Thompson (25,79) and Evans (29,68) all scored in each half, making it a miserable second home appearance for Wolves goalkeeper Alan Boswell, a recent signing from nearby Shrewsbury Town – Liverpool continuing in a rich vein of form that had yielded eight goals without reply in the previous two games.
My only lasting memory of the fixture ironically occurred at half-time. The image is still vivid of Dad flicking through the programme and rolling his eyes skyward when arriving at a page with some tactical suggestions entitled ‘Play the Wolves Way‘ – the irony clearly not lost on him as the home side trailed 3-0.
The ‘Wolves Way‘ as it currently was, did not sit well with the Molineux board either. Despite a couple of wins the following month, in mid-November Ronnie Allen, manager for the past three years, was sacked and replaced by Bill McGarry.
ENGLAND 4 SCOTLAND 1 – Home International (89,902) 10/5/1969: Having only suffered one defeat in the last seven meetings with the ‘auld enemy‘ – and currently enjoying a nine match unbeaten run – Scotland would have viewed this visit to Wembley as a winnable away game, rather than tall-order encounter against the world champions in their own back yard.
Yet in no time ghosts of their 9-3 shellacking beneath the Twin Towers in 1961, rather than victorious visions of ’67 have begun to appear – lingering English angst at losing the fixture two years before dispelled as Martin Peters (16) and Geoff Hurst (20) were on hand to finish inventive build-up play from the hosts.
To their credit the Scots refuse to cave in, the contest kept alive when some dazzling wing play from debutant Leeds United winger Eddie Gray results in Colin Stein reducing the arrears with a powerful header on the stroke of half-time.
Judging by the way they start the second half, it is safe to assume Sir Alf Ramsey had reminded his team this was the one match he least liked to lose – England home and hosed in the space of four minutes close to the hour mark.
In the 59th minute Hurst smashed in a penalty after Peters had been fouled, his West Ham team-mate then on target again himself, a delightful exchange of passes between him and Alan Ball resulting in Peters finishing with an elegance predating Glenn Hoddle (or vice-versa if you prefer).
Two years before, on becoming the first team to defeat England since they won the World Cup, jubilant Scots had declared their team ‘world champions.’ The last ’60s meeting of the sides served notice of who held the title in actuality – although pursuer of perfection that he was, Sir Alf would have been irked England declared with a quarter of the match still remaining.
WALES 3 SCOTLAND 5 – Home International (18,765) 3/5/1969: Given there would be no games to attend for the next three months, it now seems unsurprising in the least that my Dad would pass up the opportunity of us attending an international fixture less than an hours’ drive away. Ironically his son (several with his sons) would attend many such fixtures during the next forty years, but never one that produced so many goals.
Grateful to YouTube for refreshing my memory, Billy McNeill fired Scotland into a 13th minute lead when the Welsh defence failed to clear a corner at the end of the Racecourse we were standing, the advantage extended by Rangers front man Colin Stein three minutes later.
Yet before the break Wales are level through Ron Davies and Cardiff City striker John Toshack, for whom Liverpool would pay a club record fee the following year. Ten minutes after the restart the Scots go back in front with a goal from Spurs forward Alan Gilzean, but they lead for no time at all before Southampton man Davies equalises with a trademark thumping header.
All-square with half an hour to play, the visitors overall superiority is exerted when goals from Leeds skipper Billy Bremner and Rangers winger Tommy McLean finally win the day for Scotland – who score more than their rugby counterparts managed in a recent Five Nations rugby defeat against Wales.
As a child, attending a match with so much entertainment was pleasurable enough. All these years later, however, it is truly gratifying to think three Lisbon Lions (McNeill, Tommy Gemmill, Bobby Murdoch) were witnessed first hand. Thanks Dad X
LEICESTER CITY 0 MANCHESTER CITY 1 – FA Cup Final (100,000) 26/4/1969: Producing a different winner for the seventh season in a row, the last FA Cup Final of the decade was not the one-sided affair many had envisaged – although ultimately, reigning league champions Manchester City were good value for their victory over relegation-threatened Leicester.
Nowhere was the erratic league form of Joe Mercer’s men more apparent than the four defeats in five games between a hard-fought semi-final success against Everton and the late April final – where they faced opposition who had belied a poor league campaign in knocking out Liverpool and holders West Brom in reaching Wembley.
The deciding goal came in the 23rd minute when Neil Young netted with a sweetly struck left-foot drive – the breakthrough against the run of play following an encouraging start by The Foxes.
But as the game unfolded things gradually ran a more predictable course with the Maine Road side enjoying a greater share of possession. Yet despite near things from Francis Lee and Colin Bell the lead did not increase, the cup final won by a single goal margin for the sixth successive year.
After a third FA Cup Final defeat of the 1960s (having previously lost in ’61 and ’63), for Leicester the season – and decade – was about to end in the ignominy of relegation, a 3-2 reversal against Manchester United in their last game consigning them to the drop.
ARSENAL 1 SWINDON TOWN 3 – Football League Cup Final (98,189) 15/3/1969: Having last season reached their first major cup final (losing the League Cup Final to Leeds) since 1952 and beginning the current one with an opening day victory at White Hart Lane, there was a sense things were starting to stir again in N5.
As the campaign unfurled it turned into their best for years, an upswing in fortunes reinforced with a two-leg League Cup Semi-Final triumph over Spurs – where a return to the final brought the comparative free-hit of facing third division Swindon Town, who were no doubt enamored just to still be in the field.
The phraseology is deliberate as the surface is more cabbage patch than football pitch, conditions underfoot a mixture of beach and bog. When viewed in relation to the 1970 FA Cup Final when the turf was again in a terrible state, Leeds and Chelsea met on a day when Wembley looked like Wentworth in comparison.
Yet even allowing for the levelling effect of the sandy swamp they were playing on, an experienced Arsenal line-up should still have prevailed against willing opponents from Wiltshire – for whom goalkeeper Peter Downsborough is an immediate standout performer in thwarting an early effort from Jon Sammels.
With the Swindon rearguard at full stretch in keeping Bertie Mee’s side at bay, at the other end they are gifted a 35th minute lead when Arsenal contrive a defensive mix-up that would keep Sunday morning players out of the pub that lunchtime through embarrassment – the ball finally turned home by Roger Smart at close range.
With Downsborough in the sort of form to suggest he would not be beaten (in fairness opposite number Bob Wilson also has to save smartly on a couple of occasions), it appears manager Danny Williams will see his County Ground outfit do in the job in ninety minutes – only for Arsenal centre-forward Bobby Gould to force extra-time with a close range header as the final whistle loomed.
But if Downsborough had been their saviour in normal time, in the additional half hour winger Don Rogers was to prove the Swindon match winner.
Throughout the afternoon Rogers, with his pace and eye-catching ball control, had given Arsenal some uncomfortable moments. The goal needed to complete a fine individual performance arriving late in the first period of additional time, coming by virtue of a shot from six yards with The Gunners defence once more in a muddle.
Appropriately it would be Rogers who ensured Swindon emulated the feat of QPR from two years before by winning the League Cup from Division Three. Into the second half of extra-time, all his attributes are to the fore as he races clear of chasing defenders, victory clinched on rounding Wilson before slotting into an empty net.
Six weeks later Swindon would cap a momentous season by also securing promotion, heading to Division Two after finishing runners-up on goal average to third tier champions Watford – their humbled Wembley opponents left to contend with ‘Shame of Arsenal‘ headlines across back pages quick to vilify an underwhelming display.
But what followed was a seven match unbeaten run that brought Fairs Cup qualification – and after going through the entire decade without a trophy, by the early ’70s Arsenal were collecting honours like they were going out of fashion.
MANCHESTER UNITED 1 AC MILAN 0 – European Cup Semi-Final Second-Leg (63,103) 15/51969: While a European Cup Semi Final Second-Leg could always be deemed a pivotal fixture, few, if any, have had the lasting significance of this controversial encounter – that even now raises the hackles on a veteran generation of Old Trafford devotees.
Holders United entered the fray with a two goal deficit to overturn, goals from Brazilian striker Angelo Sormani and Swedish midfielder Kurt Hamrin (the cosmopolitan nature of Italian football already prevalent), having seen the Rossoneri to a 2-0 San Siro triumph three weeks before.
Despite holding sway for much of the first half, the home side are unable to find a way past Fabio Cudicini (father of future Chelsea/Spurs ‘keeper Carlo). Forced to play on the counter, Milan still managed to force a smart save from Jimmy Rimmer (preferred between the sticks to an out of form Alex Stepney), who was called into action to deny Gianni Rivera – the Italian international midfielder shortly to succeed George Best as European Footballer of the Year.
The early stages of the second half bring the deplorable incident of Cudicini being struck on the head by an object thrown from the Stretford End, the ‘keeper while dazed finally able to continue after treatment.
With the United pressure building to an unrelenting level, they finally cut the deficit in the 70th minute when a dash of brilliance from Ballon d’Or winner Best creates an opening for another – the ball laid off to Bobby Charlton who lashes home from a tight angle.
Seven minutes later and it appears United have restored level terms when another ex-European Footballer of the Year, Denis Law, steers a Best cross beyond Cudicini. But goal celebrations become muted and then subside as French referee Roger Machin waves play on as Milan full-back Mario Anquilletti scoops the ball back into play.
Law and his United team-mates claim a legitimate goal has been scored, United historian Jim White later writing, ‘the ball was so far over the line to be in Rochdale.’ Scottish midfielder Pat Creand has ever after maintained that if the goal was not given a penalty should have been awarded, claiming the Italian defender used his hand to clear.
But Milan did not only survive that close call, they saw out time without further alarm and thirteen days later overcame Dutch side Ajax 4-1 in Madrid to follow Manchester United as champions of Europe, lifting the trophy for a second time.
In winning through to the final at Old Trafford they had denied United opportunity of sending Sir Matt Busby into retirement on the back of successive European Cup triumphs, his final season at the helm a strangely anti-climatic affair littered with undistinguished league performances and dashed hopes in Europe.
The disappointed masses streaming away from Old Trafford following the meeting with AC Milan had unbeknownst just witnessed Manchester United play their last European fixture until John Lennon had been out of The Beatles six years and Johnny Rotten was on the verge of becoming a household name.
SPURS 2 LIVERPOOL 1 – (44,122) 19/10/1968: By October it was already shaping up to be another season where Spurs were capable of beating anyone, but anybody who wanted to beat them badly enough generally did.
In the proceeding weeks they had rattled seven past visiting Burnley, yet seven days prior to Liverpool paying their annual visit to the Lane, Tottenham had been on the receiving end at Maine Road, taking a 4-0 hiding at Manchester City for the second season running. Still, the arrival of Bill Shankly’s high-fliers was always likely to produce the application that too often went missing as Spurs meandered through the late-60s.
The home defence look in state of meander when Roger Hunt cuts in from the right to shoot low past Pat Jennings in giving the visitors a 37th minute lead – the big crowd having not seen their last piece of highly-skilled marksmanship for the afternoon.
At the point of heading into half-time with the goal from Hunt being the difference, Liverpool in clearing their lines hesitate for a second – which is all the time Jimmy Greaves needs in pouncing on a loose ball to level from eight yards.
With two such esteemed finishers on the field it was always likely one would feature in deciding the outcome – that accolade falling to Greaves who settles things in audacious manner.
On Spurs being awarded a 66th minute free-kick on the edge of the Liverpool area, Terry Venables and Alan Mullery begin debating what move to make – only for Greaves to step up and clip the ball around the defensive wall and into the net while his colleagues are still discussing their options.
For Spurs victory began a five match unbeaten trot, (Greaves netting four in a forthcoming 5-1 home win over Sunderland), but in keeping with the times it was followed by a six match winless run.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 UJPESTI DOZSA 0 – Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final First-Leg (60,000) 29/5/1969: Setting out on their Fairs Cup campaign in early September, for Newcastle the journey to the final had taken longer than the domestic season – St James’ Park hosting the first-leg showdown against Hungarian side Ujpesti Dozsa just two days short of June.
Having scored ten times in their last three home games of the league campaign, The Magpies needed just over an hour to break down a team who had recently completed the league and cup double in Hungary – skipper Bobby Moncur picking an opportune moment to score his first goal of 1968-69, lashing home from six yards after Welsh striker Wyn Davies had seen his effort blocked.
It prompted a literal and metaphorical opening of the floodgates. In the 72nd minute Moncur powered forward and with the Dozsa defence unable to clear, the ball ended up back with the Scottish defender who doubled the lead and his personal tally with a crashing volley.
For the Hungarians a rain-lashed Tyneside evening became even worse seven minutes from time, the deluge extending to goals as Jackie Scott nipped through a flustered defence to fire home a third – the black and white faithful seemingly on the cusp of acclaiming their first trophy since 1955, pouring out of St James’ Park feeling Geordie and triumphant.
UJPESTI DOZSA 2 NEWCASTLE UNITED 3 – Inter Cities Fairs Cup Final Second-Leg (37,000) 11/6/1969: So far into the summer that Wimbledon was less than a fortnight away, Newcastle travelled to Budapest knowing a solid defensive showing (similar to the one that yielded a goalless first-leg semi final draw at Ibrox, the home side then winning the return 2-0), would see them to a first European pot.
By half time however, whatever the game plan was it had gone to pot – the visitors making a goulash of the first half as goals from Ferenc Bene and Janos Gorocus saw Dozsa to a 2-0 lead, the dominance of the home side being such the tie and trophy looked theirs for the taking.
In a time long before a manager would write down points to make during the break, Magpies boss Joe Harvey gave his side just one instruction for the 45 minutes to come. ‘Score once against this lot‘ he is reported to have said, ‘and they’ll fold like a pack of cards‘, on which he turned around and left the dressing room.
Rarely can an observation been so prophetic. Just 60 seconds after the restart Harvey’s wisdom began to be borne out, Moncur maintaining the scoring habit with a fierce volley from twelve yards.
Having cut the deficit on the night, Newcastle only needed another four minutes to clear it, Danish midfielder Preben Arentoft taking his opportunity with aplomb as the visitors drew level. This remarkable comeback was complete sixteen minutes from time when substitute Alan Foggon, who had only been on the pitch 60 seconds, seized the opportunity to race clear of a floundering rearguard – the winger having presence of mind to follow up and score after his initial effort had been deflected onto the bar.
In a week when the masterful Sam Peckinpah western ‘The Wild Bunch‘ appeared in cinemas, Newcastle United, unlike Messrs. Holden, Borgnine, Oates and Johnson, had managed to shoot themselves out of one final showdown – although all this time they later are still waiting to stage another trophy hold up.
ENGLAND 5 FRANCE 0 – International Friendly (85,000) 12/3/1969: Almost as striking as the score line is the size of the crowd who felt compelled to attend – admittedly England were the reigning world champions, but had only scored four times in their previous six outings.
Despite a vociferous Fleet Street campaign calling for Jimmy Greaves to be reinstated into a goal-shy national team, Sir Alf demurred and instead recalled Leeds United forward Mike O’Grady for his second (and last) cap that arrived six and a half years after the first.
He played a part in rewarding the Wembley attendees for their loyalty, scoring in the 33rd minute as England eased to a 1-0 interval lead, going up through the gears after half-time as France mustered little in the way of resistance.
Geoff Hurst was on target twice (one a penalty) as England put the game to bed withing five minutes of the restart, the French defence appearing dreamy when Francis Lee added a fourth, the Manchester City forward marking his second cap with a first England goal.
With ten minutes left Hurst completed the night with a second penalty – press box scribes turning their attention from Greaves to evoke a summer day in 1966 when Hurst scored his previous hat-trick for England…………
WEST HAM UNITED 4 QUEENS PARK RANGERS 3 – (36,008) 2/11/1968: Their East End musical counterparts, those power pop maestros the Small Faces, could easily have been referring to many a ’60s season where West Ham were concerned with their brilliant 1966 hit ‘All or Nothing.’
Wonderful when the mood took them, woeful almost as often, pick any highlights of a match involving The Hammers circa 1964-69 and likelihood is there will be plenty of action at both ends of the (Upton) park.
This late-1968 goal feast/error fest against visitors from W12 is no exception. Indeed, when commentator Brian Moore describes West Ham manager Ron Greenwood as ‘not betraying any emotion‘ it is no doubt due to the future England boss being unsure whether to laugh or cry.
The plenty/scarcity nature of how West Ham played in these times was evident in the previous two home matches, one a 0-0 draw against Southampton, the other an 8-0 drubbing of Sunderland. Having broken even with 16 points from as many games, the hosts’ are given a jolt when bottom of the pile Rangers, who so far have managed just two wins, take an early lead through former Chelsea man Barry Bridges.
But on being roused the home side switch from monochrome to technicolour, the equaliser a stunning twenty yarder from Bobby Moore – who on scoring a contender for ‘Goal of the Season‘ simply turns around and walks back to the halfway line, the West Ham and England captain leaving all that demonstrative celebration stuff to others.
After one World Cup winner has taken centre stage, the other two in West Ham ranks make their mark. Martin Peters again proves he had no equal at finding space in a crowded penalty area when heading the Hammers ahead – their 3-1 half-time lead secured by Geoff Hurst, who meets Moore’s free-kick with a deft, glancing header.
But for all the purpose of their attacking play, West Ham could be porous at the other end. The defence create the impression they would find it hard to defend a telephone box, let alone one of the 18-yard variety, Mick Leech twice given all the room he needs in netting with two headers as Rangers draw level.
With twenty minutes remaining a thrilling London derby is settled by a superb volley from young West Ham winger Harry Redknapp, QPR duly consigned to defeat in another painful first taste of life in Division One. Their meagre 18-point final tally would prove the lowest top flight haul of the decade, bottom place and immediate relegation ensured by having 95 in their goals against column – yet the emergence of young talent such as Dave Clement, Ian Gillard and Gerry Francis would serve them well further down the road.
As for West Ham only Everton and Chelsea scored more, the campaign a success of sorts in climbing four places to the one previous by finishing eighth. But – and there generally was one where The Hammers were concerned – early exits from the League and FA Cup, kiboshed any realistic hopes of silverware.
LEEDS UNITED 2 EVERTON 1 – (41,716) 23/11/1968: In terms of heavyweight clashes, this was the first (and to a large extent the most defining), league contest of the season – Leeds, undefeated at home and already displaying strong title credentials, facing a Goodison Park outfit unbeaten since the third match of the season, 16 games ago.
The competing midfield trios alone (Bremner/Giles/Madeley v Ball/Kendall/Harvey) marked it down with potential for a monumental contest and so it was to prove. If Everton could claim a moral victory in regard to fluency and chances created, the points are ultimately secured by the steely determination of the home side who already look to have unshakeable intent.
Leeds are quick to strike and when England full-back Tommy Wright handles in the box, Johnny Giles fires United into an eighth minute lead from the penalty spot. But the belief running through an understandably confident Everton side is well-founded, reward for their purposeful football arriving ten minutes before half-time. On escaping the attention of Jack Charlton, 19 year-old centre forward Joe Royle connects with a brave diving header to convert a centre from Alan Ball.
To eventually separate the sides it requires a sumptuous 68th minute volley from Leeds winger Eddie Gray, although even then Gary Sprake twice thwarts winger Jimmy Husband as the visitors seek to preserve their long undefeated sequence.
In inflicting upon Everton a first league defeat in over three months, Leeds took a notable step toward winning their first championship – this enthralling contest completely befitting of the next two clubs to win the league title.
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY 5 MANCHESTER UNITED 4 – (50,490) 31/8/1968: Eight years later, when both were in the reduced circumstances of Division Two, these two sides played out a 4-4 Hillsborough draw that could easily claim status as the great game of 1974-75. This breathless encounter had matching status for 1968-69 – and an extra goal to boot.
With only one defeat in their first six league contests Wednesday were a tough proposition, even for a side who had just won the league title and European Cup in successive seasons – United making a strangely conflicting start to the current one, borne out in three victories, a derby stalemate against City and two defeats, one of which was a 4-0 Old Trafford trouncing off Chelsea.
Through the season they would develop a habit of being ridiculous and sublime through the same match, the trait quickly in evidence here as Jack Whitham seized on defensive hesitancy in giving Wednesday a second minute lead – the visitors then ahead by the twelfth as George Best and Denis Law (scoring on his 200th United appearance) turned things around.
But if their exceptional forwards were wide awake to every opportunity, then the visitors rearguard were sound asleep, unmarked striker John Ritchie heading the Owls level on the quarter-hour. With Manchester United fast becoming a puzzling mix of cavalier forward play and chaotic defending, the first half continued in the same roller-coaster fashion, Law and Bobby Charlton both finding the target before half-time, only for the back four to be split by a Johnny Fantham through ball – Whitham advancing to shoot past Alex Stepney in reducing the deficit to 4-3 with the interval only seconds away.
Given the frenetic nature of things the next goal was likely to prove crucial. When it fell the way of Wednesday 11 minutes after the break it brought a momentum shift, the home side level by virtue of a Nobby Stiles own goal and from that point forth (no 4-4 pun intended), the onus was with the Owls.
Long-serving skipper Don Megson thought he had done the trick only for his 65th minute to be ruled out due to an infringement, yet respite for those in red did not last much longer. Sixteen minutes from time Whitham completed his hat-trick as Wednesday made their comeback complete in recording an astonishing victory.
For the blue half of Sheffield it would be a season of negligible improvement, Wednesday climbing three places to come in 15th. But after gaining rave notices for their monumental Hillsborough victory over Sir Matt Busby’s side, the next game brought nothing to write home about – The Owls knocked out for the League Cup at fourth division Exeter City.
CHELSEA 5 SUNDERLAND 1 – (29,381) 22/2/1969: If The Who had put mid-60s West London on the map with music incorporating pop art overtones, in SW6 Chelsea were doing likewise in a football sense – Who writer/guitarist Pete Townshend and Blues striker Bobby Tambling almost matching each other in hit single/goalscoring feats.
If Spurs had the prince of strikers in Jimmy Greaves, then with Tambling Chelsea had the lord mayor, his accuracy in front of goal manifesting in days such as a five-goal salvo in a 6-2 Villa Park win in September 1966 – and a four goal haul on this late winter afternoon at the Bridge.
Trailing at the break to an Alan Birchenall effort, in eighteen second half minutes the Rokerites are ripped apart by a hat-trick and spare as Tambling (56, 64, 65, 78) produces another masterclass in marksmanship. Midfield man Colin Suggett briefly interrupted the feast with a 66th minute riposte.
Suffice to say, Sunderland ‘keeper Jimmy Montgomery, the only member of the side who would survive through to their FA Cup winning triumph of 1973, would enjoy better afternoons in London.
For Townshend and Tambling, however, things were coming to an end. Six weeks later Pete would take The Who from rebel yells to rock opera with release of ‘Tommy‘, Tambling departing Chelsea for Crystal Palace the following season.
Yet for all the billions the Stamford Bridge club would later spend on world renowned forwards, their Sussex-born 60s sensation invariably appears – and rightly so – in any all-time great Chelsea XI.
BURNLEY 5 LEEDS 1 – (26,423) 19/10/1968: Having only lost one league game so far (and that at champions Manchester City), the visit by Leeds to Turf Moor, where a largely inexperienced home side had already taken a 4-0 hiding from Liverpool, did not look a stern test of their title aspirations.
But after these ninety autumnal minutes, Don Revie’s side were given reminder of how an off-day could have stark consequences, with a strip or two (five in fact) torn off the meanest defence in the land.
Future England international Ralph Coates was the first to profit when Reaney, Cooper, Charlton and Hunter suffered a collective calamity, his 18th minute opener complimented in no time by a Frank Casper strike. Midway through the half skipper Billy Bremner pulled one back, but any suggestion Leeds would rally to save the day were dashed when England U-21 international John Murray restored the two goal advantage on 65 minutes, with winger Steve Kindon – another on the Burnley books with England youth and U-21 honours – putting the issue beyond doubt thirteen minutes from time.
There was still time for Burnley to go nap with Casper adding a fifth, Turf Moor enjoying its most glorious afternoon since the early-60s days of McIlroy, Adamson and Pointer – Leeds most pointedly reminded how small was the margin for error.
LEEDS UNITED 6 BURNLEY 1 – (31,409) 21/12/1968: If revenge is a dish best served cold then Burnley received their comeuppance on a chilly West Yorkshire afternoon.
Since their October tanking at Turf Moor, Leeds had progressed through ten league and cup games without defeat, conceding just six times in the process. While quickly regaining the knack of being difficult to beat, by not scoring more than two in a league match since late-August, the feeling remained they were a side who found difficulty turning possession into goals.
It was a theory, at least until Burnley arrived at Elland Road – the Clarets blasted to kingdom come inside 40 minutes as Peter Lorimer (twice), Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner each went about the business of settling a score, the shortest day of the year feeling anything but to a visiting side who barely encroached beyond the halfway line.
When they did manage a sortie downfield Ralph Coates pulled one back on the hour, but it proved scant consolation when Mick Jones (75) and Eddie Gray (88) joined in as Leeds exacted full retribution for their Turf Moor trauma – the win beginning a run of nine wins and a draw from the ensuing ten league matches.
To their credit Burnley recovered well from what they endured at Elland Road, taking a Boxing Day point from Anfield in their next game.
MANCHESTER UNITED 8 QPR 1 – (36,638) 19/3/1969: The topsy-turvy nature of the season being endured by Manchester United was reflected in a visit from basement boys QPR that drew the smallest league gate of the season to Old Trafford – the home side spending the past month failing to pull up any trees, scoring only four times in a five match run that had returned two draws and three defeats.
With only a Willie Morgan goal separating hopeful European Cup retainers from relegation certainties at the break, the stay-aways appeared to have made the right decision – yet the absentees then had cause to regret their decision as the second half took epic, if one-sided, proportion.
George Best started things rolling with a 47th minute goal, with John Aston (60) on target before Rodney Marsh (62) – who in three years time would be found on the sky blue side of the city – pulled one back for the fast-sinking Shepherd’s Bush outfit. Best then grabbed his second as United went 4-1 up and with Rangers having no answer to a side who had suddenly rediscovered their scoring mojo, Morgan (75, 86) completed his hat-trick, Nobby Stiles (85) and Brian Kidd (88) also partaking in the pummeling.
While the Stretford End could revel in such enjoyment, the shooting boots of their heroes appeared to go back on the wrong feet in the weeks that followed, the next four games yielding just three goals. For Rangers it was a sixth successive defeat and 14th game without victory, three more losses to come before they managed another win, their fourth and final of the season coming in the penultimate match of the season – a 2-1 success against Stoke City achieved when their return to Division Two had long since been sealed.
WEST HAM UNITED 4 LEICESTER CITY 0 – (26,328) 16/11/1968: When the paths of these two sides next cross it will, of course, be in the multi-hyped Premier League, with its multi-camera coverage and multi-national players, many of whom earn will be earning multi-million pound salaries. Irrespective of all those multiples they could play until the end of time and not produce a goal to match the one scored in this contest by Martin Peters – a multi-talented footballer if ever there was one.
Already leading 2-0 through Brian Dear and an Alan Woollett own goal, The Hammers are producing one of those exhilarating late-60s performances that seems an extension of the times. England are world champions, Manchester United reign as kings of Europe and during the past couple of weeks The Beatles (‘White Album‘) and The Kinks (‘Village Green‘) – to be followed in a couple of weeks by the Stones seminal ‘Beggars Banquet‘ – have lifted rock music to new heights.
So at a brief moment in time when it appears things can hardly be any better, early in the second half West Ham sweep the ball out wide to winger John Sissons. He delivers a deep cross into the visitors box where the advancing Peters connects with a thunderous volley that flies past Peter Shilton into the net.
Elsewhere in this article Peters has been referenced in relation to Glenn Hoddle, but here no apology is made in describing the goal as ‘Bergkampesque‘ for which there can be no higher praise.
West Ham duly wrap up one of their most proficient displays of the season when Dear nets his second with a late tap-in and while destiny has an FA Cup Final date in store for Leicester, they are also destined for the drop. Yet of the nigh-on 70 league goals they were to concede in failing to stave off relegation, none would have the majesty that came this day from the right foot of Martin Peters.
BRAZIL 2 ENGLAND 1 – International Friendly (135,000) 12/6/1969: Just because a pitch is brimming with world class talent it does not necessarily follow a great game will ensue – yet these sides were to make it happen twice within the space of 12 months.
In this the first installment world champions England come within 11 minutes of beating the side most fancied to take their crown when Mexico came to host the World Cup the following year. Against top notch opposition (seven of whom would have much to celebrate in the Stadio Azteca 53 weeks later), in the stifling nighttime humidity of the Maracana in Rio, England produce a gutsy display offering much that is commendable.
Even before Colin Bell converts a Martin Peters cross after 14 minutes England look an accomplished unit. Comfortable in possession and with the great Pele well-marshalled by Alan Mullery, Bell and Alan Ball look the standout midfielders as the visitors probe for a second, attacking with purpose and perhaps too much energy for their own good.
In these circumstances it also helps having the best goalkeeper on the planet watching your back – not for the last time Gordon Banks thwarts Brazil in stunning fashion, plunging to his right in saving a penalty from Brazilian skipper Carlos Alberto late in the first half.
Eventually the effort England have invested in trying to secure a notable win has obvious consequences, Sir Alf Ramsey’s men showing signs of fatigue when Tostao (79) and Jairzinho (81) turn the game on its head – the England manager still moved to remark afterwards, ‘I am proud of every one of our players. We were so close to a deserved victory.’
Thus Brazil prevailed by a single goal margin, as they would when the sides produced their next epic, an unforgettable 1970 World Cup group game in the searing heat of Guadalajara.
As a best of three we can only guess at what have transpired had Brazil played a Wembley friendly on a dank night in say March of that year – such a fixture offering so many parallel universe possibilities, your genial host here at SAMTIMONIOUS.com astonished he didn’t think of it before…………
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