SATURDAY 27TH DECEMBER 1958
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT ELLAND ROAD, LEEDS
LEEDS UNITED 0 WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 (Kevan) Attendance 45,000
Wood; Ashall, Hair; Cush (capt), Charlton, Gibson;
Humphries, Crowe, Shackleton, Revie, Overfield;
Potter; Howe, Williams (S.G.); Setters, Barlow (capt), Drury;
Forrester, Jackson, Allen, Kevan, Hogg;
Referee:- L.J. Hamer Horwich
After their unexpected 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns yesterday Leeds were unchanged but Albion brought in local boy Alec Jackson at inside right in place of England international Bobby Robson. Albion wore red shirts to avoid a colour clash.
Leeds, whose recent improvement dates from the signing of Don Revie from Sunderland and Alan Shackleton from Burnley, were first on the attack on an absolute quagmire of a ground. However Albion's defence was in fine form right from the start and Howe showed his class by bringing the ball upfield to start dangerous attacks, in which young Forrester twice missed good chances. Revie was proving to be the brains of the Leeds attack and was providing the speedy Humphries with some splendid passes.
Whenever the winger managed to get past Williams, Barclow came across to cover splendidly. The right winger managed one splendid centre from which the energetic Crowe shot just wide. Shackleton had the best chance of the game when Howe, trying to be a bit too casual, completely mis-kicked and left the centre forward in possession just twelve yards out. Potter raced out of goal and Shackleton lobbed the ball over his head, but over the bar as well. Kevan had to leave the field for attention just before half time. H.T. 0-0.
After the interval it was apparent that Kevan had pulled a thigh muscle and he had to limp along on the left wing with Hogg moving inside. Hogg proved just as dangerous in his new position and broke through on his own to shoot just wide. Then a spell of continual pressure by Leeds saw several shots charged down and Potter also made two good saves.
After fifteen minutes of the second half Williams was carried off injured and Albion were down to nine fit men. However after sixty two minutes it was Albion who took the lead and it was the injured Kevan who scored. Hogg now operating on the right wing, beat Hair cut in along the goal line and crossed the ball low across the goalmouth. Kevan hobbled in to the far post and tapped it home from a yard out. Williams returned at inside left, with Hogg playing a roaming centre forward game, Allen at right half and Setters moved to left back. Despite constant Leeds pressure Albion held on for a remarkable victory.
WEDNESDAY 28TH JANUARY 1959
F.A. CUP FOURTH ROUND AT ST ANDREWS, BIRMINGHAM
BIRMINGHAM CITY 1 (Jackson) FULHAM 1 (Hill)
Merrick (capt); Hall, Allen; Watts, Smith, Neal;
Astall, Gordon, Jackson, Larkin, Taylor;
Macedo; Cohen, Lawlor; Bentley, Stapleton, Lowe;
Leggatt, Hill, Cook, Haynes (capt), Johnson;
Referee:- J. Mitchell, Prescot
This long delayed cup tie was played on a ground frozen hard and was spoilt by fog which became gradually worse as the game progressed, so that spectators could see little of the last quarter of an hour's play. Fulham were without their international full back Jim Langley, injured in the replay at Peterborough. They moved Lawlor into his position and brought in Stapleton at centre half. Birmingham were at full strength with young centre forward Jackson continuing in the place he has recently won from Eddie Brown.
It was obvious that the players would have difficulty in keeping their feet on the treacherous surface from the start. Fulham got in some good combined moves, with Haynes as ever the architect, but they could not pierce the strong Birmingham rearguard. After twenty minutes the crowd had it's first bit of excitement when Macedo was forced to push a curling Taylor corner over the bar. From the second corner Jackson got in a good header but it was cleared off the line by Lawlor.
After only six minutes of the second half the home side were level. Hall took a free kick just inside the Fulham half and lobbed it right into the goal area. Jackson, with his back to goal, jumped high and headed it over Macedo, who had advanced a little too far, into the net for a surprising equaliser. Birmingham continued to have most of the play as far as it was possible to see through the ever thickening fog, but they hardly seemed likely to score against a compact Fulham defence.
The Fulham attack disappointed in the second half when few attacking movements of the same quality of those see in the first half were mounted. Leggatt was not up to the stand of a winger with a reputation of one of Britain's best, indeed only Haynes played consistently throughout the game. Replay next week.
Birmingham City won the replay at Fulham the following Wednesday 3-2 and will now play Notts Forest in the fifth round
SATURDAY 7TH FEBRUARY, 1959
LEAGUE DIVISION FOUR AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL 3 (Hodgkisson 2, Richards) OLDHAM ATHLETIC 0 Attendance 7,180
Woodward; Haddington (capt), Guttridge; Jones, McPherson, Rawlings;
Davies, Hodgkisson, Kelly, Richards, Taylor;
Teece; Beswick, Taylor (capt); Chaytor, Murphy, Hall;
Bazley, Robinson, John, Stringfellow, Phoenix.
Referee:- J. Barradell, Leicester
Walsall had Jim Kelly signed from Swindon Town yesterday at centre forward and John Davies, from Scunthorpe, who made his debut at Barrow last week continued at outside right. Stan Jones was brought in at the last minute at right half as Billingham had been injured during a game for his Army unit. Oldham fielded a very young side whose only experienced players were Taylor, their captain, the former Grimsby and Southport defender, Teece, formerly Hull City's reserve goalkeeper and centre forward John recently signed from Exeter City. Notable among the younger players was right back Ivan Beswick, formerly a member of the all conquering Manchester United youth team.
Although Walsall dominated the first half their finishing was atrocious and the new centre forward was far too slow. John had perhaps the best chance of the game when he broke away on his own but Woodward came out very quickly and smothered his shot. Eventually Walsall did take the lead after forty minutes play. Richards took the ball to the goal line on the left before pulling it back for Ken Hodgkisson to head it into the net. Half time 1-0.
Walsall went further ahead immediately following the interval. Hodgkisson pushed a lovely through pass out to Davies on the right wing. He raced away and put over a perfect centre which Kelly could not reach but Richards appeared running in at full speed and threw himself full length in mid air and headed a brilliant goal.
Five minutes later Walsall scored a third goal. Hodgkisson won a race for the ball with goalkeeper Teece on the edge of the penalty area and calmly sidestepped him and another defender before hitting the ball into the net.
Walsall continued to have most of the play but could not add to their score mainly due to the poor form of Kelly who seems rather a poor buy. Davies at least did send across some good centres but is by no means sure of his place when Askey is fit again. The defence was rarely troubled but McPherson and Guttridge were outstanding and Jones playing in the unaccustomed position of right half also did well.
MONDAY 23RD FEBRUARY 1959 Attendance 34, 458
F.A. CUP FIFTH ROUND (SECOND REPLAY) AT FILBERT STREET, LEICESTER
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 5 (Dwight 3, Gray 2 (1 pen)) BIRMINGHAM CITY 0
Thomson; Whare, McDonald; Whitefoot, McKinlay, Burkitt (capt);
Dwight, Quigley, Wilson, Gray, Imlach;
Merrick (capt); Hall, Allen; Watts, Smith, Neal;
Astall, Gordon, Orritt, Larkin, Hooper;
Referee:- Arthur Ellis, Halifax
The first game of this F.A. Cup marathon was played at Birmingham and resulted in a 1-1 draw, Tommy Wilson scoring the equaliser for Forest in the very last minute of time. The first replay at Nottingham had the same result with Dwight equalising near the end of extra time. Birmingham therefore had been in the lead for most of both games and this coupled with their cup fighting tradition seemed to make them favourites to go through to meet Bolton in the sixth round next Saturday. The game was played at the neutral venue of Filbert Street, Leicester and the size of the crowd on a Monday afternoon suggested that many people, like myself, had taken a day's holiday or more likely stayed off work sick.
Birmingham continued with Orritt at centre forward in place of the injured Jackson and must have pinned their hopes on Harry Hooper, who scored two splendid individual goals to knock out Fulham in the previous round after a spell in the reserves. Forest were unchanged and at full strength.
Forest did all the early attacking and it came as no surprise when they took the lead after seventeen minutes. Wilson, who had moved out to the right wing sent over a high centre which Dwight breasted down inside the penalty area, brushed past Smith and shot well out of Merrick's reach into the corner of the net. Forest continued to press playing splendid football, their two wing halves Whitefoot and Burkitt setting attack after attack in motion.
Whenever Birmingham did get in an attack they found McDonald in fine form at left back for Forest, McKinlay also commanded the middle and although Birmingham tended to neglect Hooper, the veteran Whare at right back proved equal to the task of stopping him with ease. After thirty five minutes Forest deservedly went further ahead with an excellent goal. Gray robbed Smith in the centre circle and passed to Wilson in the inside right position.
Wilson put it out to Dwight on the right wing and he hit over a fine centre which bounced on the edge of the goal area level with the far post. As it bounced Gray, who had raced up field, hit it first time and the ball flew into the same corner of the net as the previous one by Dwight. Half time 2-0.
Shortly before and just after the interval Birmingham seemed to be getting into their stride, but their attack was unbalanced with the main threat coming for their right wing pair of Astall and Gordon. Orritt was having a nightmare game at centre forward and could do little right. When he realised he could not get the ball he decided to go for the man but Mr. Ellis, who was standing for no nonsense from this vigorous Birmingham side, gave him a smiling rebuke. Hooper who had missed a great chance before Forest had scored when he dispossessed McKinlay on the half way and ran through on his own to shoot just past the post, saw more of the ball in the second half but Whare gradually got on top and played him out of the game.
Forest got a real grip on the game between the fifty eight and sixty fourth minutes during which time they scored three further goals. There seemed some doubt about the first as the ball went out of play mid way inside the Birmingham half and the linesman clearly indicated a throw to Birmingham. However Wilson picked up the ball and his long throw found Dwight unmarked in the centre. The Forest winger had time to pick his spot before Hall could challenge and crashed the ball home to Merrick's right.
Several Blues players appealed to the linesman but he seemed quite satisfied and Mr. Ellis allowed the goal to stand. A minute later a centre from Imlach found Dwight again in position in the centre to prod the ball home from close range to complete his hat trick and put Forest 4-0 in the lead. Four minutes later Imlach again weaved his way in from the left wing, he went round Hall but was brought down inside the area by Watts. Gray took the penalty kick and calmly hit the ball into the corner of the net for number five.
After this it was all over Birmingham realised their task was hopeless and Forest knew that they could not lose. So eventually after 300 minutes of playing time Nottingham were through to the sixth round and Birmingham, who had twice been so close to winning, had been humiliated and knocked out of the cup in no uncertain manner.
Mr. Billy Walker, the Forest manager, has got together a splendid side and if they can beat Bolton at Nottingham on Saturday they must stand a great chance of going to Wembley. They play very good attractive football as one would expect from a side which contains five Scots, Thomson, McDonald, McKinley, Quigley and Imlach. Of these McDonald and Imlach have already been capped and they will probably be joined by McKinley and Quigley. On this form Whitefoot, the former Busby Babe, must also stand a chance of being capped by England.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1958-59
Front row:- Billy Walker (Manager), Wilson, Quigley, Burkitt (capt), Gray, Imlach and Tommy Graham (Trainer) Nottingham Forest did indeed go on to win the FA Cup, beating Luton Town 2-1 in the final, despite losing Roy Dwight with a broken leg and playing with ten men for two thirds of the game.
SATURDAY 28TH FEBRUARY 1959
F.A. CUP SIXTH ROUND AT VILLA PARK, BIRMINGHAM
ASTON VILLA 0 BURNLEY 0 Attendance 54,100
Sims; Aldis (capt), Winton; Dixon, Dugdale, Crowe;
Myerscough, Sewell, Hitchens, Wylie, McParland;
McDonald; Angus, Smith; Seith, Cummings, Adamson (capt);
Connelly, McIlroy, Pointer, Cheeseborough, Pilkington;
Referee:- T.W. Dawes, Norwich
Aston Villa, although struggling at the bottom of the First Division, have managed to reach the quarter finals of the Cup mainly due to two splendid performances at Chelsea and Everton in previous rounds. Their form in these two matches is said to have been produced following the appointment of Mr. Joe Mercer from Sheffield United as manager. Mercer was of course captain of Arsenal for many years. Villa included their latest signing Winton at left back who was playing against his former colleagues.
Burnley, a side who get very little publicity, have got to the sixth round almost unnoticed. They have always been noted for their strong defence, but in recent years their small and clever forwards seem to have lacked punch in front of goal. One player who might remedy this is 19 year old inside forward Robson, who scored a hat trick at Chelsea last week. Unfortunately he was missing today with an attack of influenza.
For the first quarter of an hour play was very scrappy indeed with both sides guilty of aimless passing and poor control of the ball. The first excitement came when Pointer, the young, fair haired Burnley centre forward hit across a centre cum shot which surprised Sims by landing on the crossbar. Sims went up late and crashed into the post as the ball went behind.
There was little danger from the Villa attacks and the Burnley defence looked very compact, all marking closely, especially new left back Smith who kept on top of Myerscough throughout the game. Just before the interval Pointer, who was Burnley's most dangerous forward, got in a grand shot on the turn from Pilkington's pass but it went just wide. Half time 0-0.
In fact Villa won the replay at Burnley on 3rd February by 2-0 and will face Notts Forest at Hillsborough, Sheffield in the semi- final on 14th March.
MONDAY 2ND MARCH, 1959 Attendance 30,437
LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT MOLINEUX, WOLVERHAMPTON
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1 (Lill) TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS 1 (Harmer)
Finlayson; Stuart, Harris; Clamp, Wright (capt), Flowers;
Lill, Mason, Murray, Broadbent, Mullen;
Hollowbread; Baker, Hopkins; Blanchflower (capt), Norman, Ryden;
Harme, Brooks, Medwin, Dunmore, Jones;
Referee:- Mr F. Cowen, Manchester
Spurs, in a dangerous position near the foot of the table, made several team changes. Blanchflower, who has just returned to the first team after a spell in the reserves and has been playing inside right, was at last restored to his rightful position of right half and captain. Tommy Harmer, normally a ball playing inside right was out on the right wing with the erratic Johnny Brooks inside him. Welsh international Terry Medwin, normally a winger, was tried at centre forward in place of the injured Bobby Smith and the powerful Dave Dunmore replaced Clayton at inside left. Wolves were in second place just one point behind Arsenal but with two games in hand.
Heavy rain which had fallen during the day made the pitch very soft and therefore more suited to the Wolves long ball style of play. The Spurs defence looked none to sure in the opening minutes and after robbing the clumsy Norman, Murray hit the post. However under Blanchflower's guidance Spurs gradually settled down to play some delightful football. Blanchflower was once removed from the captaincy for moving Norman into the attack during a cup semi-final some three years, but obviously still believes in big centre half's ability to unsettle opposing defences.
Half way through the first half Norman went right up in attack and in one move placed a shot past Finlayson only for full back Stuart to clear off the line. Hollowbread, who got his chance in the team early this season after injuries to Ditchburn and Reynolds, distinguished himself with a series of splendid saves. Possibly the best was from a fierce thirty yard drove by left back Harris which the goalkeeper caught in mid air. HT 0-0.
Spurs continued to play the cleverer football during the second half with Blanchflower an inspiration both in attack and defence, but they rarely threatened to score. Wolves had the majority of the play but due to more splendid goalkeeping and poor finishing they too seemed unlikely to score. However after sixty nine minutes Lill cut inside Hopkins and sent a left foot shot past Hollowbread.
For all their clever midfield and approach play Spurs could not get near goal. Jones seemed to delight in running at full speed diagonally across the pitch but it got him nowhere. With only seconds remaining for play a centre from the left wing found Harmer right in front of goal and the little winger hooked it fiercely into the net from close range. Finlayson got both hands to it but could only succeed in pushing it over his head into the net despite the frantic efforts of Harris, on the line, to clear.
MONDAY 9TH MARCH, 1959
BIRMINGHAM LEAGUE DIVISION ONE AT FELLOWS PARK, WALSALL
WALSALL RESERVES 2 (Faulkner 2, 1 pen) SHREWSBUR TOWN RESERVES 1 (Charlesworth)
Ball; Hill, Perkins (capt); Wright, Walker, Roper;
Askey, Kelly, Thurstans, Faulkner, Davies;
Humphries; McNab, Price; Harley (capt), Oliver, Pountney;
Adlam, Copp, Neeham, Russell, Charlesworth;
Walsall Reserves made several changes from the side beaten 3-2 by Banbury on Saturday. Harry Haddington, the former first team captain now on the transfer list, whose own goal in the last minute lost the game was omitted as was goalkeeper John Savage. Seventeen year old Kevin Ball took over in goal and Ken Hill, who made his debut for the first team against Hartlepool last week, returned at right back.. In the forward line Colin Askey was given a try out after a long lay off through injury, Kelly the centre forward recently signed from Swindon who scored for the first team at Southport on Saturday was tried at inside right.
Davies another recent signing, from Scunthorpe, who has been playing at outside right in the first team was tried on the opposite flank and Colin Thurstans, the seventeen year old centre forward who scored six against Hinckley on January 31st, retained his place. Walsall took the lead after twelve minutes when a Davies centre was pushed on by Kelly to Faulkner who scored from close range. Ten minutes later a free kick taken by Harley on the right was headed in by outside left Charlesworth for Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury included regular first team player Ray Russell , who lives and trains in Walsall, but little was seen of him. Shortly before half time Askey was brought down inside the penalty area and Faulkner made no mistake with the spot kick. Half time 2-1.
During the second half play became very scrappy and Walsall should have increased their lead. Main danger came from left winger Davies who made a great improvement on his first half showing. He sped past his full back with ease time after time. Askey was slowed up considerably by some fierce tackles by left back Price and little was seen of Thurstans throughout the match.
Walsall's defenders all did well, although due to the efficiency of others, Ball was rarely troubled in goal. Walker the experienced former Grimsby wing half was outstanding at centre half, with the younger players Ken Hill at right back and Alan Wright at right half showing great promise.
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