1966 and all that

1966 and all that

"Where's Harold?"

The country was awash with celebrations following England’s World Cup victory over West Germany. The exploits of Roger Hunt, Bobby Moore, Gordon Banks and the boys had entranced the nation. That is I suppose, apart from our Scottish cousins. Even the Welsh begrudgingly admired their achievement. Might be stretching it a tad there but all the same, overnight, footballers had become like pop stars, feted, celebrities. 

Reflected by an increase in attendances which rose significantly in 1966. Decades before the advent of the Premier League and Sky TV, crowds thronged to see the superstars of the day. T’was the dawn of football becoming showbiz. Glitz and glamour it was but down in the bowels of the football pyramid, clubs were to suffer a backlash. 

Memories of the World Cup for me are pretty scant really. There wasn’t the hype and overkill that there is nowadays and I remember starting shift work for the first time, having just turned 16 and being ensconced into the C.W.Mills in the ‘Works’ a month prior to the tournament. First impression was the Mills  being full of Jocks, Poles, Yugoslavs, Italians..so there was little interest in England’s efforts to win the World Cup. Put it this way, I can’t recall any celebrations, overjoy, hollering. 

The C.W. Mills

The other memory is of the wall next to the Number One Mill daubed with graffiti. FTP, FKB, Boyne 1690 and suchlike. This intrigued me and being a piss taker when nobody was around I grabbed the paintbrush and daubed on the wall..Hastings 1066 and changed 1690 to 1960! Caused an uproar! My workmate was Gavin Vint who wasn’t a shy fellow, Rangers through and through! Luckily he did have a sense of humour. Not like the nightshift manager, an overweight miserable looking old fellow, feeling his name was Wheatley, he used to prowl around the mills during the night, trilby perched on his head, looking as if he’d just woken up, annoyed at having being disturbed from his slumber and always with an eye on us youngsters. He caught me one night when I was writing LFC or something on the wall. “Oy!!” I looked round and saw the menacing Wheatley glowering at me. F—- me! I scarpered off to the canteen. He’d no idea who I was anyway. Another chap who worked alongside Gavin and us was another ‘old guy’ with the dubious nickname of Dainty, a big Celtic supporter. Taking the piss out of him when we were sitting on a bench, a wooden plank on bricks next to the wall, as he finished slinging a lift of tubes for the crane to take away, he turned round and promptly smashed me right in the mug! My head went back, hit the wall, blood streamed down from my nose, stars were circling. Taken off to the wash house to get cleaned up, someone asked if I hit him back…I didn’t answer…just thought to myself.. ‘I know when to stay down!!’ Dainty too was probably miffed at England’s success!

Anyway, I digress. In 1966 the Southern League, the premier non-league division in the country, boasted clubs with ambition, aspiring higher status and dreaming of achieving the ultimate goal of election to the ‘Holy Grail’ of the Football League. Corby was now in that group. In 1966/67 we were looking for no more than consolidation at the top table of non league soccer. Dreaming that one day we might just be playing league fixtures against the likes of Chester, Workington, Stockport County… 

No disrespect intended here but they did sound a whole lot more glamorous than Kidlington, Biggleswade, Barton Rovers. 

Alas it was all but a dream.

The reality of life in 1966 was highlighted in the opening day match programme with Corby’s financial situation compared to our rivals, Wisbech, Romford, Bath, Rugby, Hinckley, Tunbridge Wells, Sittingbourne, Canterbury City and Burton Albion, all of whom were announcing they were in dire straits and considering resignation from the Southern league. “Many clubs are scraping the barrel” Manager Tommy Hadden observed in his notes.

If we were feeling smug by comparison, a reminder that we weren’t too far behind the

se clubs already mentioned came from director Harold Stimson; ‘Many of you may have noticed that our floodlights have recently failed to shine as brightly as they did some years ago. Lack of finance has again prevented regular maintenance and now they require major attention.’ 

Mr Stimson had a point!

Bright lights or not, Vice Chairman Jim Kerr was more sanguine when quoting a comment from a journalist in the Daily Mirror who wrote; ‘Corby has got the potential interest for league football’. 

“What do you think?” asked Jim to his followers, “My fellow directors are more than interested in what you, the fans, think about the present and the future of Corby Town Football Club.”

Well, they didn’t think too much apparently, attendances had never been absolutely brilliant compared to many other non league clubs and a run of early season defeats would see them dip even further. 

The season was kicked off with a home game against Wimbledon on August 20th with a number of new faces in the team. Jimmy Knox who had been recruited along with his pal Les Carter from Lockheed Leamington could play equally as well at centre half or centre forward, just like the great Welsh giant John Charles, ‘King John’, who was now player/manager at Hereford United. Jimmy had been on Tommy Hadden’s radar for years and Tom was well pleased when he eventually arrived at Occupation Road. Les had pedigree having played for Queen of the South and Gateshead and would regale his pals in the Rockingham Arms with tales of his adventures over a pint of Sovereign. Also along for the ride came Les Barratt from Southport, Tony Claypole from Cheltenham, Mick Walker from Rotherham, Joe Gadston from Brentford and Billy Harber from Luton. All of whom, apart from Barratt and Tony never lasted five minutes! Could have been Hadden’s promise of getting them a good job in the steelworks but who knows. 

The core of the Steelmen team from the last couple of years was still in place. Alan Alexander, Alan McBain, Davy Pollard, Alex Stenhouse, Alex Garden, Maurice Goodall, and John Rennie made a welcome return after having a miserable year at Kettering. 

Wimbledon confirmed their status as one of the favourites for the title by comfortably beating us 2-0 in front of a crowd of 1300 which was impressive but still a disappointment for the directors who were quick to moan about the turnout in the next programme. I too was disappointed as it happened. Reading a diary from way back I discovered my comment on the Corby performance as being ‘rudy useless!’ No wonder then that the following week I opted to go to Leicester to watch City play West Ham rather than travel to Cambridge City to see the Steelmen. The opportunity to see the World Cup trophy being paraded before the game by World Cup winners Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Matin Peters was obviously also an attraction. It all helped to make a great atmosphere at Filbert Street and a great game it turned out to be with  the Foxes beating the Hammers 5-4. 

As for the Corby fans who followed the team to Cambridge City, they too had an enjoyable afternoon as they saw the Steelmen win 4-1! With Alex Garden grabbing a hat-trick. Didn’t see that coming!

The week after this I was in London with Club Shop boss Wilf and future Steelmen custodian Dick Dighton with other friends, including Frank Clayton, to watch Liverpool play West Ham. A trip memorable for a couple of things, being ambushed by West Ham fans after the game and being bombarded with bricks, bottles, anything that came to hand as we made our way back to the tube station amongst all the scousers. Welcome to the world of ‘Big’ football! A battleground. Other thing was less serious and something you couldn’t do nowadays. Me and Dick posing for a photo outside 10 Downing Street, making out we were popping in to see the PM, Harold Wilson. We stood on the porch first before a scuffer, to use the scouse term for the police, told us to get off! Got the picture though.. as you can see.

Dick, Clive, Wilf and Frank before the Battle of West Ham

Hopes of success soared following the Cambridge result but were soon to be quashed with a succession of defeats, some heavy which saw our confidence, and attendances disintegrate. An ever changing line up didn’t help matters with Gadston, Walker and Harber all giving up the ghost after a few weeks which meant Hadden was on his bike again looking for replacements and soon enough, in came David Partridge from Kings Lynn who was a flier on the wing if you excuse the pun, centre forward Barry Kelcher from Rothwell, who it was rumoured, drove a tractor - lot of bollocks I think - but his uncompromising agricultural style soon ingratiated him to the supporters. Another guy who arrived and shone briefly was a wee ginger haired winger from Scotland, Pat Foley. Pat’s ‘wholehearted’ displays ensured he too was soon a big favourite - but he was gone before you knew it as well! Tommy had found him ‘digs’ at the notorious Brigstock Camp, which probably frightened him to death. Fights and the occasional murder amongst the inhabitants, immigrant steelworkers from north of the border, from across the Irish Sea, the Welsh Valleys and the Eastern Bloc was commonplace. Pat must have thought ‘Bollocks to this’ and ran off, it was rumoured, back up to North of the border. 

Tommy Hadden recalled Pat’s debut for the Steelmen when Dave Tilley and I were writing the 40 Years book in 1988. 

“Pat turned up late for his debut at Occupation Road and when I asked him where he’d been, he told me he didn’t know how to get to Corby from Brigstock and after getting directions, he walked the 5 miles to the ground!”

Pat had played for Alloa Athletic, Falkirk and East Stirlingshire and made 9 appearances for Corby before he went awol which had fans asking for weeks afterwards, ‘Where’s Pat?’ A reference to the popular Stanley Baker/ Tommy Steele film on at the Odeon at the time. ‘Where’s Jack?’ 

Joe Gadston incidentally signed for Cheltenham with the Steelmen receiving a fee of £22.10s. Yes, you read that right! Better than nothing I suppose. As a footnote, he later became a director at Exeter City. Interesting also and I know everything is relevant but this season Liverpool signed a young Emlyn Hughes from Blackpool for a fee of over £66,000. Obviously Gadston wasn’t rated as highly as ‘Crazy Horse’ as he became affectionately known at Anfield but surely Joe was worth more than a measly 22 notes! Begs the question of who it was that negotiated the fee with Cheltenham? Maw Broon in the Tuck Shop?

Knocked out of the F.A. Cup by Cambridge City didn’t do the finances much good and changes were made with some of the high earners at Occupation Road being told they were no longer required. Attracting players of quality was difficult though. Full-time clubs held an advantage as the best Corby could offer was part time wages and a job in the steelworks. Gone were the days when this was deemed a marvellous offer. Particularly if a house was thrown in as well but times had changed. Brigstock Camp was the best they could do at this point, and to be quite frank, its hardly a surprise many footballers declined Corby’s advances.

A run of five defeats and one draw in six league games didn’t bode well for the visit to Hereford in November even though Tony Needham had returned to the Steelmen defence. Tony was up against ‘King John’ - Wales and Juventus legend John Charles - and according to Tommy Hadden, “had a decent game helping to keep John Charles ‘subdued’ in the first half of the game played in atrocious conditions”. Tommy then reflected; “Big John then started roaming in the second half, dragging Tony all over the place and creating four chances for his fellow forwards which were all snapped up.” The Bulls won 4-0. 

“Hereford were much the better team”, conceded Tommy.

Inconsistency was a problem, defeats at Kings Lynn 1-5, Wimbledon 1-6, Nuneaton 1-3 sent the Occupation Road gates tumbling to around the 600 mark. A New Years Day 1-0 victory over Cambridge City thanks to an Alex Stenhouse goal gave rise to optimism for the second half of the season but league form was woeful. 22 points out of a possible 42 ensured a fight to the death to avoid relegation which eventually saw Bath, Worcester, Bedford and Folkestone all take the plunge. Corby’s last home game which was a six pointer, or four pointer back then, was at home to Bedford, a game which was won by the Steelmen 4-1 and sent the Eagles down. A game watched by a young Dale McCann, taken to the game by his dad. Such was the impression the game had on Dale, he’s been an avid supporter and still is to this day up at Steel Park. Think you always remember your first game. Mine was against Barry Town in 58’, like I have said before.

The Midland Floodlit Cup, now in its 8th season had expanded to nine clubs and if nothing else, provided some cracking free scoring games. 73 goals were scored in 16 Corby games alone, which gives you some idea.

To cover those players who had departed for pastures new, a number of trialists appeared in Corby’s MFC games, some making an impression, some not. Dave Mattocks was one who looked good, and for some reason acquired the nickname ‘Wild Bill’ Mattocks after scoring a couple of goals against Leamington. But ‘Bill’ couldn’t be persuaded to sign on. Not even with a free pair of overalls, paint brush and pair of totector boots thrown in. 

An interesting note is that the Steelmen fielded seven goalkeepers during the 66/67 season. Alan Alexander was the number one making 54 appearances out of a possible 64. The other keepers were Robin Paterson, Andy Williams, Bob Inchley, George Flecknor, Derek Skey and our good friend, then aged 15, Dick Dighton who became the youngest ever Steelman when he made his debut at Nuneaton in the MFC. And a great impression he made despite the Borough winning 3-1. Also in the team was Franny Taylor, brother of Rab who sits with us in the ‘Grumpies’ section at Steel Park. Franny, a highly promising midfield player played a couple of games for Corby before deciding to embark on a life of adventure on the ocean wave with the Merchant Navy. Around the same time in fact as another ‘Grumpy’, Danny Coyle. 

Return of the ancient mariners. Franny and Danny team up again with Rab in 2011at the Bristol Rovers F.A. Cup match.

Dick Dighton’s career which was launched at Nuneaton, sailed on and saw him signed by Jimmy Hill on leaving school in the summer, as an apprentice at Coventry City who had just gained promotion to the First Division of the Football League for the first time. Hill was the guy with the chocolate shortbread ‘goatie’, to this day I still call those biscuits ‘Jimmy Hill’s’. Dick would return to make his second appearance for Corby, some 16 years later! 

In between time he signed for Peterborough United after being released by Coventry where he shared duties with fellow youth team goalkeeper David Icke, the guy who went a wee bit bizarre shall we say. In later years Icke would announce on Terry Wogan’s TV Show - during his ‘turquoise period’ - when he wore nothing but turquoise  - that he was ‘the son of God’, which didn’t do him any favours, ‘Jesus was laughed at too’ he told a bemused Wogan to much laughter in the audience. Making a statement that the ‘Moon isn’t real’ also went down well. Dick often said that Icke was ‘normal’ when at Coventry, but there you go. Dick’s sojourn at London Road with the Posh lasted a couple of seasons, somewhat bizarrely he made his league debut when on loan to Stockport, and then Ron Atkinson signed him at Kettering Town. He was a member of their Southern League Championship winning team in 1973. Injuries blighted Dick’s career and he would spend the next few years playing for various sides in the UCL until Matt McIllwain came calling for him to help out at Occupation Road, and become a member of one of the Steelmen’s finest ever sides in the early 1980s. 

Having escaped relegation by a whisker it was clear that changes would have to be considered during the summer months but it was still a shock when the retained list was announced in the Evening Telegraph. Fans favourite Alex Stenhouse was being ditched to much disbelief. However as time would tell..you couldn't get rid of Alex that easy. Just a few months later he was back! Tommy Hadden would be in dire trouble and having seen Alex with his can of paint in the 'Works' where he still worked with Pearce's, Tommy enticed him back. But thats a story for the next season.