LAND OF HOPE – NO GLORY: England in the 70s……….

[email protected] March 29, 2021

When Bob Ferris and Terry Collier (played with great aplomb by Rodney Bewes and James Bolam) were reunited in the brilliant early-70s sitcom ‘Whatever Happened to The Likely Lads‘ they often reflected upon ‘life’s bitter ironies.’

While not an expression used directly in discussing the England team, as Bob and Terry did on occasion, it feels appropriate using the phrase in relation to a decade when those carrying the footballing hopes of a nation appeared involved in the football equivalent of snakes and ladders – the board populated by far more serpents than upward staircases.

Indeed, from being world champions when 1970 dawned with repute as a team to fear, England diminished to the extent they became viewed as decent warm-up opposition for those who actually qualified for tournaments to determine World or European champions – England, as non-qualifying also-rans, absent from the finals of the 1974 and 1978 World Cups and 1976 European Championship.

In this era of fleeting hope but precious little glory, looking for clues, scapegoats even, for the drop in standing feels no less confusing than some of the tactics and team selections aimed to either keep England at the forefront of world football, play catch-up with those heading over the horizon or merely arrest the decline altogether – the later managerial reign of Sir Alf Ramsey and period overseen by successor Don Revie, both affected by strategies that were unwieldy or worse outdated.

In leading England to World Cup glory in 1966, Ramsey had been a paragon of clear-thinking, square pegs in square holes, picking his best team opposed to best players – although having at least half a dozen top draw international talents at his disposal also helped.

When time came to defend the trophy in Mexico four years later, Sir Alf – Knighthood now bestowed – displayed remarkable faith in his all-conquering team, eight of whom were included in the 22-strong squad who flew to South America, despite England showing a tendency to tread water in the intervening period.

By a strange twist of fate, the first of several in relation to England as the years passed, their first fixture of the new decade was a home friendly against Holland – the ensuing goalless draw in mid-January 1970 revealing more about the place England had arrived at than where the Dutch were bound.

Although failing to qualify for Mexico, their team contained an impressive mix of Feyenoord and Ajax players who were about to dominate the European Cup for the next four years (Feyenoord one win, Ajax three) – the Wembley stalemate a small steppingstone on the path to ‘total football‘ that by 1974 made Ajax and Holland the envy of Europe.

Such would be the fluidity of the method they created that by the time the two countries faced each in February 1977, their only other meeting at senior level during the 70s, Holland were almost three years down the road from finishing runners-up at the 1974 World Cup and gearing up to lead the European challenge in the 1978 Argentina tournament.

They rolled into London and pretty much rolled England over, the gulf in ability and acumen evident from virtually the first whistle, their command of the match not reflected in a 2-0 margin of victory. Floundering in the face of superior opposition, the cause of the home side was not helped by manager Revie selecting a team lacking balance, with three players, at least, playing out of position.

In a decade of regression and retrograde steps, for England it was not even the acknowledged low point (an abysmal 1974 Hampden Park showing in losing to Scotland took that unwanted honour), but with hindsight defeat against the Dutch in early 1977 set in motion a train of events leading to the most embarrassing episode – Revie leaving in ignominy five months later, covertly negotiating with officials of the United Arab Emirates to take charge of their national side, this while still manager of England.

In the event the Football Association (no doubt breathing a sigh of relief at not having to consider sacking an unpopular incumbent who had won just two of his last seven matches), reacted by imposing a ten-year suspension (later over-turned in the High Court) on the man they had appointed to succeed World Cup winner Ramsey – his services dispensed with in typically ham-fisted fashion by the FA in April 1974.

In leaving his post amidst a faltering campaign to qualify for the 1978 World Cup (added to the failure of not qualifying for the 1976 European Championship finals) Revie had gone from ‘saviour’ to ‘deserter’, those wanting the best for the national team convinced the time had come for straight-talking, football idealist Brian Clough to take charge. The decision, however, was in the hands of senior figures on the FA International Committee, their self-preserving interests leading them to West Ham United General Manager Ron Greenwood, whose major achievements at club level had occurred a dozen years before.

Pragmatic and conformist, Greenwood was the safe pair of hands the FA could not resist in emerging from the wreckage of the Revie-era, the stupefying 70s at least ending with a semblance of success – and although the Argentina World Cup had occurred without English involvement, 1979 drew to a close with qualification all but assured for the finals of the 1980 European Championships.

All of which seemed highly improbable when the 1970s dawned, although the friendly against Holland a fortnight into the new decade offered more pointers than could have been imagined at the time.

Of the thirteen players on duty, seven had twenty or more caps, making the most notable selection that of Ian Storey-Moore. His first England appearance also proved his last, Ramsey deciding in those ninety minutes the Nottingham Forest winger was not the answer or more likely confirming his belief that one player providing width was a luxury the team could do without – particularly when overlapping full-backs, of which Ramsey had several, could provide the same service without affecting his preferred 4-4-2 strategy, for which the triumph of 1966 brought complete vindication.

For Ramsey, however, keeping a tight structure to the side would bring diminishing returns and ultimately lead to his downfall. At the Mexico World Cup England had excellent spells during the group game defeat against eventual champions Brazil and 3-2 quarter-final exit against West Germany – their elimination more to do with an erratic display from stand-in goalkeeper Peter Bonetti than formation issues.

But as the early 70s unfolded, with the Dutch at club and international level pioneering a modern, flexible style of play, England, in contrast, became even more rigid – difficult for the most part to beat, yet displaying little in the way of ambition and originality.

Sadly, for someone who had given so much to the English game, Ramsey appeared to have little instinct for 70s football. On the domestic front he appeared unconvinced by an emerging breed of flamboyant, expressive players and, uncomfortable with their off-the-cuff tendencies, continued to place faith in the roll-up-their sleeves performer – the writing on the wall unmissable when West Germany showed how much they were embracing change in winning 3-1 at Wembley in a first-leg European Championship quarter-final in April 1972.

For the Berlin return two weeks later, a game England had to win by three goals to progress, Ramsey selected a team hell bent on not conceding another goal, but with scant chance of overturning the deficit. The Germans were left baffled and bruised by an England side that utilised Peter Storey and Norman Hunter in midfield, the subsequent 0-0 draw attracting widespread criticism from the English football press – with whom he already had an uneasy relationship – his detractors accusing Ramsey of purveying negative, ponderous football.

If there was a moment for a figure such as Greenwood to take charge this was it, but the FA resisted the growing clamour for change, Ramsey given license to continue only to see the next twelve months blighted by sadness and shortcomings.

Goalkeeper par excellence Gordon Banks, whose absence through illness was the contributing factor in England losing the 1970 quarter-final against West Germany, was lost to the game on suffering a serious eye injury in October 1972 when involved in a car crash – while on the field imperious World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore was beginning to falter, making a costly error in the 2-0 World Cup qualifying defeat in Poland.

With other dropped points along the way, England faced the Poles at Wembley on 17 October 1973 knowing only victory would secure qualification for the 1974 World Cup finals.

Neither Banks (retired) or Moore (dropped) were in an England team that spent much of the game laying siege to the Polish goal, their efforts thwarted by a combination of woodwork and the inspired, if sometimes unorthodox, display of Poland goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski.

The task of winning was made even harder when the visitors broke away to score early in the second half, although England were quickly back on level terms when Allan Clarke equalised from the penalty spot.

But try as they might a winning goal proved elusive, England taking a direct approach in attempting to secure victory – and although it may sound a churlish observation from 90 minutes when Lady Luck appeared to desert Sir Alf and his men, it is worth noting that on a night when width might have done for a tiring Polish defence, Ramsey picked a backline comprising of four central defenders.

If between England winning the World Cup and the must-win Poland encounter The Who could go from ‘Happy Jack‘ in 1966 to ‘Quadrophenia‘ (their double album opus released a few days after the fixture), there should have been enough imagination on the home bench to see the Poles needed parting, so to speak, as the match wore on.

In the aftermath of failing to qualify, senior figures at the FA (for whom Ramsey had little patience) behaved with gleeful spite, ringleader and vice-chairman Sir Harold Thompson, taking the opportunity to avenge every slight, perceived or otherwise, he felt Sir Alf had inflicted upon him.

Few expected Ramsey, now 54, to lead England into anymore qualifying campaigns, but leaked committee minutes, private briefings to favoured journalists and nitpicking over a modest severance payment warranted the FA charging themselves with disrepute for such shabby treatment of the best manager they were ever likely to employ.

After being formally relieved of his duties on 19 April 1974, Ramsey maintained a dignified silence as former Manchester City manager Joe Mercer was placed in temporary charge – his brief to oversee the forthcoming Home Internationals, friendly against World Cup attendees Argentina and a trip behind the Iron Curtain to face East Germany, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, each of whom were also heading to the finals in West Germany.

But before the host nation lifted the trophy, the FA reached agreement with Leeds United with regard to Don Revie becoming England boss – who accepted the post on a yearly salary of £25,000, the figure over three times the amount Ramsey had been paid, his £7,200 on par with that of a third division manager.

Under the Revie regime changes came apace. The new manager negotiated a substantial increase in players’ appearance money, which prompted a number to conclude he missed the point with regard to representing England and for the first time the kit of the national team had the name of the manufacturer emblazoned upon it – moving a disgruntled Mr. Sambrook of Shrewsbury to remark:

‘I thought they were playing for England not bloody Admiral.’

This grievance was largely forgotten as Revie began his tenure with a nine-match unbeaten run, the highlight of his reign and high-water mark for England in the 1970s a barnstorming 2-0 Wembley defeat of World Champions West Germany in March 1975 – the showcase of an assured display being the clever interplay between a midfield trio of Colin Bell, Alan Ball and Stoke City artisan Alan Hudson (overlooked by Ramsey when in superb early-70s form for Chelsea).

With England showing welcome attacking convictions, Hudson was retained for the next match (a 5-0 European Championship dispatch of Cyprus) but discarded thereafter, Revie approaching the final two matches of the year, crucial qualifiers in Czechoslovakia and Portugal, with far more caution – a one point return consigning England to another qualification failure.

Suddenly what looked promising in the summer of 1975 looked far less convincing 12 months later, Revie complaining about Football League intransigence in not moving fixtures to accommodate the national team – to those in the know his grievances with club managers being obstructive in releasing players for international duty had ‘poacher turned gamekeeper‘ connotations.

On the field England looked a disjointed outfit in losing 2-1 to Scotland in May 1976 – and with the short-term outlook uncertain, which in reality would become worse, ten years on from winning the World Cup, England along with Likely Lads Bob and Terry, only had the past to look forward to.

Hello – hope you enjoyed another exclusive production from SAMTIMONIOUS.com

In order to create the best experience for when you drop by to read a page or two, those with the power to ordain such things (me, actually), have decided to remove all external advertising from the site – in other words articles will no longer be subject to intrusive pop-up ads. BUT – and ain’t there always one – should you wish to make a donation toward the on-costs of the most entertaining and original blog-site around, please press on the – ‘DONATE’ – button below. It will be greatly appreciated.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for dropping by – best wishes Neil

SAMTIMONIOUS.com – films, football and fabulous music at The Dominion of Opinion

NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now in paperback and available as an Amazon Kindle book.