1965-66 (May and July)

Posted by Tony Hutton

WEDNESDAY 4TH MAY, 1966 Attendance 23,000

LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT THE HAWTHORNS, WEST BROMWICH

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 3 (Clark, Lovett, Kaye)
MANCHESTER UNITED 3 (Herd, Aston, Dunne)

Potter; Fairfax, Williams; Lovett, Jones, Fraser;
Brown, Astle, Kaye, Hope, Clark;

Gregg; Brennan, Dunne; Crerand, Cantwell, Fitzpatrick (sub Anderson);
Ryan, Law, Sadler, Herd, Aston;

By this time of the season thoughts were already turning to the forthcoming World Cup to be held in England in July. The two international friendlies played tonight brought a 2-0 win for England over Yugoslavia at Wembley with Jimmy Greaves, expected to play a big part for England, and Bobby Charlton the goalscorers. However Germany's 4-0 win in Dublin, with goals from Haller, Beckenbauer and Overath 2, suggested they would be major players too.

SATURDAY 7TH MAY, 1966

LEAGUE DIVISION FOUR AT SALTERGATE, CHESTERFIELD

CHESTERFIELD 2 (Clarke, Hollett) COLCHESTER UNITED 4 (Hale, Stratton, Bullock 2)

Osborne; Holmes, Taylor; Hughes, Blakey, Phelan;
Moore, Morton, Clarke, Hollett, Bishop; sub Hallam.

Kennon; Forbes, Fowler; Blackwood, Raine, Trevis;
Kay, Bullock, Stratton, Mansfield, Hall; sub Aitchison.

TUESDAY 17TH MAY, 1966 Attendance 6,931

LEAGUE DIVISION THREE AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL

WALSALL 2 (Baker o.g., Taylor) YORK CITY 0

Carling; Harris (J), Harris (G); Sissons, Bennett, Summers;
Riley, Middleton, Meath, McMorran, Taylor;

Fallon; Wealthall, Popely; Baker, Jackson, Walker;
Cunliffe, Hawksby, Dunmore, Rudd, Hamstead;

Referee:- D. Laing, Preston

A nineteenth minute own goal by Baker typified the luck which sent York down to Division four. Goalkeeper Fallon had a Riley cross safely covered, but right half Baker, trying to head away, realised this just too late.

Riley had earned his good fortune by half time. He had one shot blocked by Fallon before the keeper knew what was happening, another was kicked off the line by Wealthall, and a further attempt by the right winger hit the post.

After 54 minutes Satchwell, who replaced the injured McMorran after the break, saw a cross bounce of a defender to left wing Taylor, who scored his 18th goal of the season with a ruthless right foot shot. Jackson worked stubbornly to blunt Walsall's spearhead, but York's class never matched their spirit.

So time to prepare yourself for the World Cup of 1966. Living in Birmingham as I did at the time I bought a ticket for all three qualifying games to be played at Villa Park. As a result I went into a draw for tickets for the final and was lucky enough to be allocated a couple of stand tickets for the memorable game at Wembley.

WEDNESDAY 13TH JULY, 1966 Attendance 42,738

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING ROUND AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM

ARGENTINA 2 (Artime 2) SPAIN 1 (Martinez)

Roma; Perfumo, Marzolini; Ferreiro, Rattin, Albrecht;
Solari, Gonzalez, Artime, Onega, Mas;

Iribar; Sanchis, Silvestre; Martinez, Fernandez, Zoco;
Ufarte, Del Sol, Peiro, Suarez, Gento;

Referee:- D. Roumentchev (Bulgaria)

SATURDAY 16TH JULY, 1966 Attendance 46,587

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING ROUND AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM

ARGENTINA 0 WEST GERMANY 0

Roma; Perfumo, Marzolini; Ferreiro, Rattin, Gonzales;
Albrecht, Solari, Artime, Onega, Mas;

Tilkowski; Hottges, Schultz; Weber, Schnellinger, Beckenbauer;
Haller, Brulis, Seeler, Overath, Heid;

Referee:- K. Zecevic, Yugoslavia.

WEDNESDAY 20TH JULY, 1966 Attendance 45,187

WORLD CUP GROUP TWO AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM

SPAIN 1 (Fuste) WEST GERMANY 2 (Emmerich, Seeler)

Iribar; Sanchis, Reija; Glaria, Fernandez, Zoco;
Amaro, Rodriguez, Martinez, Fuste, Lapetra;

Tilkowski; Hottges, Schulz; Weber, Schnellinger, Beckenbauer;
Overath, Kramer, Seller, Held, Emmerich;

Referee:- A. Marques, Brazil

Following this result Argentina and West Germany qualified for the quarter finals from Group Two.

England went on to beat Argentina 1-0 in the quarter finals, following the sending off of Argentina's captain Rattin and then beat Portugal 2-1 in the semi-final to reach the final against West Germany.