SUNDAY FUNDAY

I was at university in 1973 and we had a few problems finding our way back to college because the street lamps were out early doors. The Yom Kippur war led to the famous oil crisis which led to a convenient miners strike and a state of emergency. Electricity had to be saved, there was a three day week and floodlit football was not on! Weekend matches kicked off earlier and in midweek they were played in the afternoons, Crowds dwindled but the Football League, FA and all were not allowed to extend the season into the summer. In December 1973 the Home Office allowed matches to be played on Sundays when there was not so much demand for electricity. CANDLES!

Some people in football objected, notably Bob Wall of Arsenal. There were issues around petrol costs to get to matches, the loss of employment and so wages and of course uncertain employment.

On January 6th 1974 the first FA Cup tie was played between Cambridge United and Oldham. On January 20th 12 league games were played the first being a Second Division tie between Millwall and Fulham at the Den (below), the Lions won 1-0.

On January 27th, the first "top flight" match saw Stoke City beat Chelsea with a goal from Geoff Hurst and Darlington played two league games on one day against Stockport and Torquay, both 1-1 draws. Sunday proved popular.

Two weeks later Jimmy Allan, Swindon Town's goalie. from Inverness, refused to play on the Sunday against Bolton in a Second Division match. Hos manager Les Allen respected his belief and said so to the press...Allan didn't play again for a long time!

To get round the Sunday Observance Act of 1780 there was no entrance fee, but a programme got you into the ground and depending on how much you paid for it, allowed you to enjoy the cheap or the expensive parts of the ground.