Part 7 Lot of Robin goin’ on..63/64

                                                         Lot of Robin goin’ on

                                                            
                                                                    1963/64

Bristol City players checking out the Occupation Road  quagmire before the F.A.Cup Tie

1963 is best remembered for the infamous Profumo Scandal involving Christine Keeler, Mandy Rice Davies, Tory MP John Profumo and the other participants in the sordid affair which brought down the Conservative Government. Commanding the headlines was also Dr Beeching's ‘Axe’ which wiped Corby off the railway map. Then there was the JFK assassination which stunned the world.. and Corby Town hosting Bristol City in the F.A.Cup. Two weeks before the start of the football season there was the Great Train Robbery. With all these events going on it makes you wonder how one could concentrate on sorting out a football team. Tommy Hadden was one manager who faced the task and Tommy was off on his travels again during the summer months with his trusty News of the World Annual in his pocket 

First stop was Barnsley where he picked up wing half George Jagger.  George had a beard, not fashionable at the time. Only beard you saw those days was on the sailor on a packet of Players Cigarettes. Next stop on his journey was Glasgow where left winger Hugh Curran had been released by Third Lanark. Heading south again Tommy picked up former Hereford full back Davy Pollard. To round his trip off he then headed for Bedford where he signed the prolific goalscorer Arthur Hukin. Nice shopping trip you might think, don’t suppose it was like that for a minute really but it was a productive summer for Tom nonetheless. Pollard would become a huge favourite with his robust style of play, fair to say most wingers he faced cacked themselves. Arthur was a great foil for Tommy Crawley and the two of them became known to the fans, us lot anyway, as The Tommy and Arthur Show. Both sort of clumsy, scored goals anyhow or which way for fun. Arthur didn’t lack confidence, telling Tommy he’d guarantee him 30 goals this season. In fact, he was under selling himself, he scored 43! Hadden was confident going into the start of the season with his new look team and showing an element of his tactical genius, he switched Jagger and Curran with great success. George haring down the wing, beard bristling was a great sight. ‘Zigger Zagger, this is Jagger’ was a chant that resonated around Occupation Road from the fans behind the goal as he left another full back for dead. Curran with his sleeves rolled up, barrel chested, slick hairstyle could have been a rock star. Striding forward he was majestic. Formerly a youngster at Manchester United he was heading in the right direction again after his release from Third Lanark and would soon catch the attention of league scouts. Hugh eventually ended up playing for Wolves and Scotland. All thanks to Tommy Hadden

Hugh Curran

you could argue. So with all the enthusiasm and optimism flying around, we then promptly lost the first two games of the campaign against Folkestone and Canterbury! Some tinkering needed done and the next game, again against another Kent team, Deal Town saw the Steelmen return home after thrashing  The Hoops 5-1. Yes, that is their nickname. I’ll leave it there…Burton 3-0 was next before a Monday night return fixture with Canterbury that would long live in the memory. Barry Parsons was missing from the team which caused some consternation for the fans but reserve Frank Will proved an adequate replacement and had the easiest game of his career. The Steelmen won 9-0! Bobby Laverick and Hukin getting four apiece. The other was an own goal. For some reason I can still remember the City full back, a guy called Crombie, having a nightmare against the beard. Jagger ran him ragged and we laughed all night as George went past him time after time. It was the look on his face. Petrified. Laverick was another favourite, his class stood out a mile. 

By this time the fans were getting really excited and using toilet rolls as streamers every time the steelmen laid siege to the opponents goal. Dick Dighton, who would later become a Steelmen star in the 80s recalls: “We were at the Boys School and every Friday or the day before a game we would go round all the toilets in the school and nick the bog rolls. After a time suspicion grew with the caretaker who was scratching his head as to what was behind his disappearing Izals. These were the modern toilet rolls, a step up from the quartered Daily Mirror or Evening Telegraph hanging on a nail on the door in the outside toilet. And long before the more comfortable and softer Andrex. The Izal was the best. Hard as hell on your ass but great for streamers. The trick was to hold the last piece and hurl it on to the pitch or the back of the net. It did get on the club’s tits after a while and a watch was put on to get the culprits. Great fun it was.”

At the Boys School at the time was Frank McGregor, a strapping centre half, head and shoulders above everyone else, literally, he was a big lad. Frank was signed up by Manchester United. Matt Busby thought highly of him but as it turned out, he only lasted a season before after many warnings by Busby, he was released. It later emerged that Frank was ‘keeping the wrong company’, which included a young Irish guy called Georgie Best.  So the story goes.

A game that sticks in the memory was against Barry Town, how many times have I said that. This time it was all about the referee Roger Kirkpatrick. Roger was from Leicester, a squat slightly bald figure resembling Mr Pickwick a character out of a Charles Dickens novel, the Pickwick Papers. Comical he may have looked but he could run backwards faster than you could run forwards,

Roger stepping in between Liverpool's Tommy Smith and Leeds' Billy Bremner

amazing to watch. It was his enthusiasm that caused one of the most bizarre incidents Ive ever seen on a football pitch. Crouching down by the edge of the area for a Corby corner he suddenly choked, nearly keeled over and left everybody watching bemused. What had happened? Corby’s trainer wee Donald Johnson was summoned out of his dugout, hared across the pitch and found a distraught Roger choking on his pea! Well, actually he had bitten the end of his whistle off. You couldn’t make it up.

Roger recovered, a new whistle was found and the game carried on. He was destined for the top and a few years later I was witness at a game when he robbed Liverpool of the League championship at Highbury. Drawing 0-0 with the Arsenal John Toshack scored for the Reds with minutes to go. Enough to win the league. The scousers were ecstatic, until Roger blew his whistle and cancelled the goal out! He claimed Toshack was offside. The scousers went berserk, including our lot, John Wilson, Alan Clarkson, Pat Devlin, Dennis Taylor. Jeff Stewart was also at the match with his mates and recalled spying Roger on the train home afterwards. Having approached and chastising him, polite way of saying things, Roger made an escape to hide in the toilet. And the funny thing is, many years later, during the 90s, Jeff met up with Roger when Jeff was chaperoning a tour of sports people around in South Africa. And asked him if he remembered that night! I’m pleased to say there was good will and laughter all round.

This was by far the best start to a season for a long time and hopes were high of a decent cup run and reaching the first round proper for the first time in a decade. The last time was in 1954 when I was four, so it was before my time but Watford came along and knocked us out 2-0. Lockheed Leamington, nickname The Brakes, away in the 4th qualifying round had Corby fans dreaming of getting through and drawing a league team out of the hat in the first round. Had me dreaming too, so much that I booked a seat on the supporters bus even though I dreaded coach travel. Years of being sick on busses going to Wales had ingrained in me a fear of these charabancs. But, I took the bull by the horns, was on my own come to think of it, where were all my pals? And lo and behold, the relatively short trip to Leamington saw me spewing my guts up again! I recovered in time for the match and we managed to scrape through for a replay, 2-2. By the time of this, the draw had been made, Monday dinnertimes those days on the radio. essential. Another piece of magic Sky TV and the FA have managed to dispense with.

We were drawn at home to Bristol City! Wow. The Robins. They included former England

John Atyeo

international centre forward John Atyeo. I had a picture of him in a football book! Big J promised to give Barry Parsons a real test that was for sure. If we beat Leamington in the replay that was. Tension was appreciable. To make matters worse Tommy Crawley was missing with a thigh injury obtained at Leamington. Jimmy Stanley stepped in. A crowd of over 3000 turned out to see a nail biting encounter until Alex Stenhouse fired home after Laverick set him up. The jitters only intensified as Lockheed fought for an equaliser, taking their foot of the brakes you might say. Shorthose and Straw failed with only Alexander to beat and then they had a shot that crashed against the bar. I don’t remember this to be honest..I read it in the Telegraph when I was looking this up! Not long before the end a defender scored an own goal to make it 2-0 to the Steelmen and the men from the Brake manufacturing company of Lockheed were beaten. Worn down. Thats the best pun I can come up with but the final whistle was the cue for a pitch invasion which I do remember!

So to Bristol City. Cup fever hit the town big time. Programmes were printed and sold around the

pubs the week before the game, rosettes,  hundreds of them it seemed, were made and sold by some entrepreneurial wise guy. A daily bulletin of injuries and updates on City was posted in the press. One downer for the Steelmen fans was that Bobby Laverick would be missing due to suspension after being sent off a month before at Trowbridge. It was a feeling akin to when Roy Keane missed out the European Cup Final for Manchester United in 1999 under similar circumstances. Well OK might be getting carried away there but you get my drift. Laverick was an experienced former league player, saw service with Chelsea, Brighton and Everton, pure quality and to have him missing the most important Corby game for years was almost disastrous. Young Jimmy Stanley, who was having trials at Leicester City once again stood in. 

Incidently, the music being supplied by Harold Sturgess at BBS Records in the Town Centre for the Steelmen featured a whole swathe of sounds from the Merseybeat phenomenon. The Beatles were the sensations but at number one the week of the Bristol game was a record that would become iconic and the all time football anthem. Gerry and the Pacemakers with ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Have to say that the faithful behind the Occupation Road goals weren’t singing this though. The repertoire which was usually led by our pal Frank Clayton included ‘Daisy daisy, give me an answer do…’ ‘Zigger zagger’ or as Frank preferred, ’this is shagger, this is shagger..’ and the old chestnut ‘A Steelman for me..’

Frank 'cheerleader Clayton pictured fourth from the right on back row of the Corby Boys School team 1963

The pitch was a typical Occupation Road quagmire. The middle resembling Skegness beach. Makes you smile nowadays wondering how some of the superstars would cope on a pitch like that.  A crowd of over 6000 crammed in, spectators even clambered up the floodlights to get a better view. When Barry Parsons led the team out, the roar deafened even the noise from the steelworks! Real cup stuff this was. The Steelmen tore into the Robins, headers from Crawley and Hukin grazed the bar before the place went wild when Tommy Crawley fired Corby into the lead. Bristol with Atyeo battering away up front, a feller called Jantzen Derrick on the wing, an England Under 23 international gathered their composure and before the half time whistle was blown, City were 2-1 up! The second half was similar to the first, Corby working tirelessly for the equaliser. Jagger, Stenhouse, Hukin, Stanley, Crawley all had efforts turned aside by Gibson in the Bristol goal. With time running out, Clark nailed it for City with the third goal two minutes from time. That was the dream over, but what an exciting game it was. Thats the magic of the F.A.Cup. Or was.

                                                         Jimmy Stanley goes close against Bristol City

After the disappointment of the cup exit, form dipped temporarily and it took until january to get things back on track in the league. Two 6-0 victories over Tunbridge Wells signalled the Steelmen were back. Disappointing for the fans though was that Hughie Curran was being tracked by a host of league clubs and it was inevitable when he left to sign for Millwall. He was converted to centre forward at The Den, moved on to Norwich and then Wolves, scoring goals everywhere and being  selected to play for Scotland in the Home Internationals. Funny the memories people have of players and one that George Bradshaw has is of Hughie Curran having a pint in the Raven the night before the Bristol City game. “Shouldn’t you be at home resting up for tomorrow?” George asked him. Curran looked at George, replied with two words and carried on with his darts match. 

Promotion was still the target and to bolster the team Tommy Hadden signed up a couple of players, wing half Brian Wright from Bedford, who would create his own bit of folklore for the Steelmen a year later, and a former Celtic forward, Jim Sharkey, who had been traipsing around England’s non league clubs before ending up at Wisbech, which is where Tommy Hadden signed him from. Jim made an impact right away, if not on the pitch, but off it. He regularly turned up for matches attired in his bowler hat! Bit of a poser but it went down well with the piss taking Corby crowd, which Jim undoubtedly loved. My memory of Jim was that he started off well, scoring twice in a 5-1 rout of Gravesend, and then got slower and slower. Like a slug in the end. Could be why he had so many

Jim Sharkey

clubs. 

The fight for promotion continued and was going well until a trip to the seaside at Clacton put a big dent into it. Around the time there was an outburst of fighting between so-called Mods and Rockers at Britain’s seaside resorts. The scooter brigade against the motorbike boys.  Clacton featured and though there was no connection with the football, there could have been a riot this night thanks to the referee. Arthur Hukin had two goals disallowed and was was then sent off by this gentleman when he thought he should have been given a penalty. In a game fractured with robust play by the hosts it was said the Clacton goalkeeper had the game of his life as his side won 2-1.

The Beatles had released their latest record ‘A Hard Days Night’ whilst Corby were striving to achieve their goal of promotion. You can assume if it was played on the radio on the return journey home this night, the players would have seen the irony.

After this, it was a deflated Steelmen that saw the season peter out. Folkestone were feted as the Champions. Corby trailed in 5th, their best effort since the early 50s. The Tommy and Arthur Show had produced some great entertainment, scoring 77 goals between them. Alex Stenhouse with his rocket shots added another 20 and Bobby Laverick chipped in with 19. 

The promotion so desired was as elusive as ever though and Tommy Hadden was determined to deliver it sooner rather than later. He would be waiting with anticipation for the News of the World Annual to come out in the summer! Bargain hunting again!

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. 

Fifty Years Ago This Week...November 1963

Corby v Dover Nov 9 2013

Jimmy Stanley heads wide against Bristol City in the F.A.Cup 1st Round at Occupation Road 1963

The world was stunned with the assassination of American President John F Kennedy, gunned down in Dallas, Texas. Conspiracy theorists have had a field day ever since over who really killed JFK. This was at the height of the so-called 'Cold War', East verses West, Russia verses the United States, CND marches, Soviet spies. Doom merchants predicted we were staring into the abyss of World War 3. Suddenly the world seemed a frightening place to be. "Where were you when you heard the news?" became the question generations would ask each other whenever the event was recalled.
Back in Corby, Tommy Hadden had other events on his mind. The manager of the Steelmen had his own spies out whilst attempting to plot the downfall of Third Division Bristol City in the F.A.Cup 1st Round Proper at Occupation Road. "Nothing to beat" Tommy was told, "this lot are cack". City may have been on an eleven match unbeaten run but Tommy was confident. "We too are on a ten match unbeaten run." He didn't go as far to say that 'we can shoot them down' but did say in his programme notes; "However good City are, I feel it is not beyond us to at least get a draw, our lads have proved as much against the glamorous Chelmsford City side." Which must have had the Bristol supporters quaking in their boots.
The Bristol City tie had the town buzzing with excitement. Programmes and rosettes adorned with 'Up The Steelmen!' were being sold in all the town pubs and clubs a week before the game. Schools were suddenly finding themselves short of toilet rolls as they were pilfered to be used as streamers at the game. Rattles were being oiled. Over 6,000 spectators jammed the roads with cars around the ground; Occupation Road resembled an early version of the M25. Non football fans on the 289 bus from the steelworks were less than enamored as it crawled through the traffic after the 6 to 2 shift. "Hurry up driver, the pubs shut at half two!" cried irate and gasping for a pint steelworkers.
A distraction from the excitement enveloping the town was provided with the announcement of the Dartford Tunnel being opened this week, the first episode of Dr Who being broadcast on BBC, 'With The Beatles' being released prior to the band departing on their first tour of the States and world domination. This was also the week that saw Gerry and the Pacemakers sitting proudly at the top of the record charts with a record that would be adopted by the supporters of their home town team Liverpool F.C and become the club's national anthem 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.
Steelmen fans had their own anthem, 'Ye Canny Shuv Yer Grannie Aff A Bus!"

The Corby team showed one change from their regular line up with forward Bobby Laverick sitting the game out due to suspension following a sending off at Trowbridge a month before the cup game. It was a blow without a doubt; Laverick had been around for a long time playing for the likes of Everton, Chelsea and Brighton. His experience would have been invaluable. However as one door closes, another one opens they say and stepping into the breach was local lad Jimmy Stanley who had already caught the attention of league scouts for Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers. Bristol City were led out by former England international centre forward John Atyeo, a big strapping guy that must have seemed a daunting task for Corby's centre half Barry Parsons. Not that Barry lost much sleep over the prospect; he was one of the most laid back players you could meet. Alongside him in defence was his mate, the tireless John Rennie. The two of them were stalwarts in the Corby side and according to their pal and still Corby supporter, George Bradshaw, 'the Raven' also, for over a decade. George maintains to this day that after a game at Occupation Road, the two of them would be in the Raven bar before the supporters! The Raven, apparently, was a favourite haunt for the Corby Town players, a handy drinking hole around the corner from the ground where they could chew the fat after games, and quite often, before the games! Hughie Curran the shining star of the Corby team who moved onto greener pastures and won Scotland caps whilst with Wolves was in the bar arguing with regulars John Black and Willie Ross the night before. John said Curran was half blootered and told him he should be at home resting. Curran told them to bog off, or words to that affect!

The atmosphere in the ground was electric when they kicked off and erupted when Tommy Crawley narrowly headed a cross over the City bar in the 3rd minute. Crawley wasn't to be denied though and opened the scoring by guiding in a free kick from full back Davy Pollard after 18 minutes. Rolls of Izal were unfurled onto the pitch by ecstatic young Steelmen supporters now beginning to dream the unthinkable of the mystical 'giant killing act' famous in the F.A. Cup. The illustrious West of England visitors were there to be slain by the minnows from the Southern League. Atyeo and his brothers had other ideas. Before half time that had replied with two goals in eight minutes to stun the home crowd and take the sting out of the match. Corby continued to batter away at City in the second half with Curran driving his forwards on, showing no signs of an Ansells Ale too many. Crawley Hukin and Jimmy Stanley all went 'agonisingly close' before a third goal scored by England Under 23 player Jantzen Derrick proved to be the killer blow and the Steelmen were down and out. But what a fight it had been.
A great day in the annals of Steelmen history, even if we were humped.
Other notable results in the cup on the day was Kettering drawing at home to Millwall, Harwich getting hammered 8-2 at Crystal Palace and Coventry thumping Trowbridge away 6-1.