Part 6. The End of the World’ - not the U.S. Soviet contretemps - Peter Kearns leaving!

‘The End of the World’ - not the U.S. Soviet contretemps - Peter Kearns leaving!

The Steelmen had been making steady if not slow progress since they entered the Southern League in 1958. Could the trend continue and promotion to the Premier Division be achieved in the 62/63 season? This was Tommy Hadden’s first full season in charge and he had already shown a ruthless streak by saying goodbye to ten players from the last campaign. The search for new players began with the aid of a publication that all football fans waited for every summer. The News of the World Annual. Not only did it have the forthcoming fixtures but also all the stats you needed about players, their appearances, goals, if they had been released, where they were born, a real almanac for football fans, and football managers alike. Tommy Hadden told me he regarded it as his Bible. So, in the beginning…after the Exodus of so many players…he signed goalkeeper Alan Alexander from Bradford Park Avenue. Full back Scott McLuckie was poached from Albion Rovers, John Richards, a premature grey haired fellow was signed from Aldershot. He looked older than what he was, I remember thinking he looked like my granddad in a football kit. He was faster than that though, even if he wasn’t easy on the eye. Another signing was a wee fellow with an appropriate name, David Short. Snapped up on his release from Bedford, Davie must have only been about four feet tall! He played on the wing, was a bit of a whippet and Hadden obviously thought the little guy would prove to be an asset as he slipped between defender’s legs.

Whilst Tommy was flitting around the country looking for players, the Occupation Road ground was being given a facelift with a new roof on the Westfields Road grandstand, the surrounds of the pitch given a lick of paint in club colours, the centre of the pitch dug up for new drainage, new turf laid and last but not least, a new brick built tea kiosk to replace the old wooden shed at the Occy Road end of the ground. And in case Maw Broon was looking on in envy from the kiosk that was her domain in the stand, this too was given a makeover. Not that we noticed much. When she opened the shutters, clouds of steam would still belch out and envelop you. Don’t know what the renovation was, maybe they had a new tea urn or something. The cost of the whole revamp was £1760, ‘paid for by supporters, officials and directors, including 21/- from Gateman Tommy Edwards.’ who if I remember right, was the miserable chap who commandeered the gate at the top end of the ground, and scowled at all of us youngsters who he thought were trying to sneak in. We avoided him best we could. To be honest this was all part of the fun. Climbing up the Poplar trees at the Welfare End to scramble over the wall, crawling through hedgerows behind the Westfields Road stand, sneaking through gardens and climbing over garden fences at the Occy Road end. And trying to steer clear of the eagle eyed Tommy!  

Excitement was gripping us lads in the street. A group of us set about making banners for the coming season. Wood, nails, tins of paint were sought out from sheds or the back of shops. We painted slogans on the banners, ‘C’mon the Steelmen’, ‘The Steelmen For Me!’ The day of the opening game against Barry Town, we trudged off, six of us, carrying these wooden banners, noisy rattles, a hooter, all the way down Occupation Road like a band of CND marchers. Women looked out of windows to see what the racket was. It wasn’t ‘Ban the Bomb’ or “Get out of Vietnam!’ we were hollering, it was ‘Up the Steelmen!’

By the time we were settled on the half way line, perched on the perimeter pipe, we were knackered! Our enthusiasm drained. Great fun it had been, but at the end of the match, which Corby won 2-1, we dumped the banners. We couldn’t be arsed carrying the things home again! 

The Corby 'Ultras'.

The season was off and running again. Sittingbourne away was the next match and a rude awakening and bruising encounter it was. Jimmy Kelly was sent off for retaliation, Scott McLuckie was stretchered off with a head injury and we were down to nine men, holding our own despite the handicap, and then Alan Alexander was fouled as he attempted a save in the last minute, the referee turned a blind eye, the goal stood and the Kent boys had won it 2-1.

The Steelmen dressing room looked like a casualty ward. 

Niggles and aches would cause an early season selection crisis which wasn’t helped when wee Davie Short was stung on the back of his knee by a wasp! You couldn’t make it up. Could have been the reason why the Steelmen struggled to gain some rhythm in the early matches but they still managed to negotiate their way through the early rounds of the F.A.Cup though manager Hadden was clearly unhappy about things. Despite defeating St Neots 1-0 he described the game as pathetic. Tommy might have been losing some sleep over the football but worldwide there was a crisis brewing that threatened to to make everyone lose some sleep. The Cold War was being ramped up with the Cuban Missile Crisis after the Soviet Union had sent warships carrying their cargo of nuclear warheads towards Cuba. The world was on the brink of Armegeddon. U. S. President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Kruschev were playing a game of poker with the survival of the planet at stake. The world held its breath as they negotiated a way out of the crisis. The fears were real. The tension great. Even as a 12 year old I can remember the worry that this was going to be our last day on earth. Fears not eased with a huge hit by country star Skeeter Davis being played relentlessly on the airwaves. ‘The End of the World’. Was that coincidence or exploitation to get a hit? Sounds dramatic and a tad over the top but whatever, you had to be there. 

When Kennedy and Kruschev sorted things out we got our heads down again at school. Not that I was an academic by any stretch, I was more interested in getting into the school football team to be honest. Charlie Kluk was holding trials and so I asked him if I could turn up. “What position do you play Smeez?” I told him, thinking that not many would claim they wanted to be a defender, that right back was my preference. The trial at the Studfall Infants School ground, where the Boys School played their games, went well, Charlie picked me for the first game at the Our Ladys School, and I played in every game we had that year! Not at right back though I hasten to add. I’d made a balls up in the last minute of that game when we were drawing 2-2 and tried to dribble the ball out of the area after our keeper Robert ‘Nick’ Nicol was left stranded. My mucker Danny Coyle took the ball off me and scored! Couldn’t believe it! And I’ve never forgotten to call him ever since. Anyway Charlie moved me into the inside left position, I scored a couple against Hazel Leys in a 5-2 win, then a few more against the Grammar School, 10-3 that was against the rugby minded lot and a few more against other schools. In the team were future Corby heroes Gordon Hall and John Fyfe and future Corby Club Shop star, my old pal John ‘Wilf’ Wilson. 

Anyway, away from all that, Jimmy Kelly had meantime left for pastures new at Wisbech with the Fenmen’s Tommy Huckstepp coming the other way. Tommy was a barnstorming centre forward, whatever that was meant to be. Never have heard of anyone storming a barn but that was the term they used. Memory does have him as more of a wrecking ball but I guess he complemented Tommy Crawley who picked up the pieces. Larry Wealthall remembers Tommy Huckstepp's arrival. "His first game was in the reserves, and the shorts were all in a heap, first come first served basis. Tommy was left with the baggiest shorts. 'F--- me!' he said in his cockney accent. I know there's a lot of Jocks at the club but I didn't know we played in kilts!'"


David Short had been released at his own request, never quite got over being stung by that pesky wasp! Two significant moves occurred prior to Christmas. One was Peter Kearns, the popular inside forward inevitably leaving and signing for league club Aldershot, just a few weeks after he’d scored four goals in an 8-0 demolition of Tunbridge Wells and had signed off with a brace in a 3-0 win at Burton Albion on Boxing Day which brings back fond memories for winger Gordon Anderson. "I vaguely remember a bottle of whiskey kindly supplied at half time by Burton which was happily devoured with our tea. Can't remember the half time score  but I think the drink worked the opposite way Burton thought it might!"
There were a lot of sad faces around when it was announced but Hadden had already lined up a replacement and in came a guy who would become over ther next decade, a Steelmen legend. Alex Stenhouse from Bedford. Alex had one of the fiercest shots in football. Forget Bobby Charlton, Peter Lorimer. When Alex lined up a shot, you could feel the excitement and intake of breath. BANG! Wilf in the Club Shop was such a fan of Alex he would be shouting 'SHOOT!' as soon as he appeared out of the players tunnel.

'Hot shot' Alex Stenhouse 

Everyone will associate the Cold War with the relations between east and west in those early years of the 60s but in the winter of 62/63 there was another Cold War to contend with. The freezing and horrendous weather that consumed the country. Snow began on Boxing day and never let up until three moths later. The country was at a standstill. Only a handful of football matches were played. A Pools Panel of former professional players and a referee was set up to help the millions of punters who placed their bets on the football matches every weekend. Unfortunately the cold weather didn’t prevent us from going to school! On the upside though, you could make slides a 100 yards long on the paths and have fun crashing into each other and garden hedges. Old people whinged about it and threw buckets of salt over the slides to spoil the fun but we just made another one! Best fun of all was standing in the Boys School playground on the corner of Pen Green Lane and James Watt Avenue with all the other kids and cheering and laughing at everyone coming off their bikes as they tried to round the corner. Especially the teachers. There weren’t many had cars those days. If they did they were old bangers. The favourite was a loathsome teacher called Parker, if he fell off his bike he got the biggest cheer of the lot. His idea of punishment was standing on one leg with arms outstretched for half an hour. If you began to wilt he’d be there with his cane. Dispicable bloke. 

As we headed into 1963 shivering, coal fires and paraffin heaters going into overdrive, a lighter note came with the emergence of a Liverpool band that came to have a seismic effect on the music world and life in general. The Beatles! Suddenly the austerity and dullness of the post war years were canned with the Beatles in the vanguard of a revolution. When we got back to football and the weather had released its hold on the country, the Merseybeat sounds of the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J.Kramer and co were on the play list for the Occupation Road pre-match entertainment, a breath of fresh air from the Frank Ifields, Anne Sheltons, The Temperance Seven. At last the 60s were beginning to swing!

Hardest working man at the club had to be groundsman Fred Loak who had the unenviable task of clearing the snow at Occupation Road but finally the Steelmen were back on the road, away to Cheltenham to give Alex Stenhouse his debut. He scored too, in a 3-2 defeat. Don’t know if he bust the net but he scored nonetheless. 

By all accounts the Cheltenham fans weren’t too enamoured with Corby’s performance, described as robust to say the least. Cheltenham suffered a few injuries but it was Corby’s first game for months so you can put it down to being a bit rusty I suppose. They still won 3-2 anyway!

Steelmen on their way to Kent. Goalscorer Tommy Crawley behind the wheel. "We had to haul him out of the seat, he wanted to drive the bus!' - Gordon Anderson

It took a while to get going again, and it was a couple of trips to Kent that saw us back on the winning trail. 3-2 at Tonbridge and 4-1 at Tunbridge. Then a week later we drew 3-3 with Tonbridge in the return league fixture and then stuffed Margate 6-2, which was an unusual 4pm kick off due to the clash of the Grand National on television. 971 still showed up. Those who preferred to stay at home saw Ayala at 66/1 win the race. Happy days. For those who had a couple of quid on it! 

Interestingly, for those historians amongst us, the day after the Tonbridge 3-3 game was when the infamous Dr Beeching announced his plans for the destruction, reorganisation, call it what you will, of the British Rail network. Hundreds of stations were to close, including Corby’s. Devastating news felt by towns all around the country. Dr Beeching’s axe they called it.

Back on the football pitch, barnstorming Tommy and Rocket shot Alex were among the scorers against Margate as was Gordon Anderson, one of the promising young reserve players that Tommy Hadden had signed on semi professional terms. “Tommy signed me on for £6 a week plus £2 win and £1 draw in the steelworks engineering shop”, Gordon recalls, “he was the mechanical fitter who taught me my trade. As an apprentice fitter I was earning about £15 a week. Happy days. My football money paid for a new Austin 1100, £18 pounds 19 shillings and 11 pence a month!”

A significant signing the week of the Margate game, who went on to win the league, was Bobby Laverick from Coventry City. The former Everton and Brighton forward oozed class and quickly became yet another big favourite with the Occupation Road faithful. Promotion was back on the cards but the tailback of fixtures thanks to the terrible winter we had, derailed the challenge.

Many youth team players were making their mark, Larry Wealthall had tasted first team football but with the more experienced Alan Alexander joining up was now his understudy, Anderson had progressed into the first team and two others had been snapped up by league clubs. Norman Dean at Southampton and Mick Moran at Manchester United. Maurice and Mick Goodall would also go on to carve out successful careers at Corby and Kettering. 

Stars of the youth team taking a winter break on holiday in Blackpool.
Larry Wealthall, Gordon Anderson and Dave Halsey.

The promotion challenge fell at the latter stages of the campaign, similar to the previous season but there was still two games to whet the supporters appetites before the finish. First was the final of the Northants Senior Cup which truthfully speaking was of little interest until we knocked Kettering out in the semi finals to obtain a fixture, at home, against a strong Northampton Town team who had been crowned champions in the Third Division of the Football league. The Cobblers were on a remarkable journey that would take them all the way to the top division before immediately sliding all the way back down again. So, even though the Cobblers, fielding their strongest team, may have taken the game lightly, the Steelmen didn’t. And that man Stenhouse again, with a rocket shot from the wing, and I was right in line with it, sent the Corby fans into raptures when he fired us in to the lead. A David Laird goal secured a 2-0 victory and the cup, the first trophy the Steelmen had lifted for seven years. Proudly held aloft by skipper Barry Parsons in front of a crowd of 2760.

Manager Tommy Hadden "Goodbye Tommy and John!"

The second game of note was a testimonial game against Aldershot for stalwarts Barry Parsons and John Rennie with the added attraction of seeing the return of fans favourite Peter Kearns in the Shots team. 1650 turned up to witness Peter score one of their goals in a 2-1 win but the night belonged to Rennie and Parsons, two of Corby’s finest ever servants. 

The season had stretched well into May and we eventually finished up in 7th place which again was impressive, stable and it seemed that every year, under Tommy Hadden, our hopes of gaining promotion were growing a step nearer. A number of players were released including John Richards and Tommy Huckstepp who had scored 18 goals apiece. Bit of a surprise but they were into their early 30s and, according too the press, the directors deemed them too old and they were looking to sign younger players for the next campaign.