THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

So one of great comedians, Ronnie Corbett has passed on to Heavens Stage and we shall be inundated with his many brilliant "sketches" over the next 24 hours. He was 85.

So I thought, in tribute to him, since he was little fellow, I would have  look to see who were the smallest players to play football in England. Well, it was a tough job because everything seemed to go to the Premier League, so I shall never know about that midget in 1947 who played for Charlton Athletic, without ridiculously in depth research, Does anyone know who is the shortest footballer in Division Two?

I do know that the smallest side in the Premier League on average is Arsenal "taping in" at 1.788 metres. Next smallest are Manchester City and then Norwich. There are mms in it.

Tallest unsurprisingly happen to be long ball WBA at 1.841 m with Watford and Southampton in the top three.

As I found out more about individuals in PL, the following names came amongst the "shortest"; Pienaar, Baines ("tall at 1.70m), Lennon and Barmby (now retired I should think) all of whom played for Everton, a team presently ranked 4th tallest on average.

Others you will know who are still playing include Aaron Lennon (5'5" 1.65m), Leon Britton, Nathan Dyer, Jermaine Defoe, Wes Hoolahan and a few others all around 1.68m mark and smaller.

Little footballers are a pest. With a low centre of gravity, quick feet, they dive between your legs as Tommy Harmer, late of Spurs used to do. On March 31st 1928, 80,000 people at Wembley witnessed the "Wee Blue Devils", a Scottish international side with Alex James (5'7") in the forward line. He was the tallest of the five and scored two (one a header) in a 5-1 mauling of England. Alec Jackson snatched a hat trick. Alan Morton of Rangers at 5'4" played on the wing and supplied crosses.

Being little their skill and science did the trick on the famous turf, Despite the diminuitive Scots having to defend England's long ball tactics, the only England goal came at the end of the game.
LEFT!
The long (Frederick Goodall) and the short (James McMullan) and the ref (William Bell).

PRESTON AT THE DOUBLE AND THEN TROUBLE

The Preston of 1888-9 was not going to fail at the last hurdle. Playing in the newly formed Football League the club won 18 and drew 4 of its 22 matches, 74 goals were scored for and 15 against. No other team could match the Invincibles. Preston, on Saturday March 30th, did the double by winning the FA Cup 3-0 against Wolves, a team that came third in the league. Preston did not concede a goal during their cup run and put on a wonderful show at the Oval, kicking off at a balmy 4pm with 22,000 watching. Major Marindin reffed!

Wolves had beaten the Old Carthusians 4-3 in the First Round of the FA Cup, the old boys having been spared the four qualifying rounds. Preston, as a league member, were also spared the early rounds and beat Bootle 3-0 away at first.

Grimsby Town were beaten 2-0 on the Lincolnshire coast as the lads from Cleethorpes had waded their way through six qualifying games and five rounds to meet the best team in the land. Preston then beat Birmingham St George's 2-0 and West Bromwich in the semi-final 1-0. It might have been the OCs had ther old boys' side taken their chances.

So it was the first Double.The following season Preston won the league again, only two points ahead of Everton and lost in the quarter-final of the cup to Bolton Wanderers 2-3. From 1890-1 to 1892-3, Preston came second in the league but then in 1893-4 they came 14th out of the extended division of 16 teams. It was typical, that Major Sudell who had run the club like a dictator through the great period, was overthrown and in June 1893 the club was created into a Limited Company with a new board of directors. In 1895, the Major was charged with embezzling club funds, he was jailed and then emigrated to South Africa where he died in 1911. This rather spoilt the reputation of a man who set out to build the "finest team in the country" acquiring the best players in the game, which happened.

Players came and went with poor results that meant  the club had to play in a "Test Match" against Notts County at the end of the season to avoid the "drop" to the second division. Preston survived 4-0. Beneath Preston were Darwen and Newton Heath, both were relegated.

THE INVINCIBLES NEARLY

Preston North End was the team of the 1880s and in 1888/9 The Invincibles won the first "Double"; that is winning the First Division Football League Championship and the FA Cup in the same season.
The Football League was founded in 1888-9, so the chance of doing the "Double" was not possible!

In the Autumn 1887 they whopped Hyde 26-0 in the First Round of the Cup, still a record score, with eight Preston players scoring. The team asked the Hyde goalie for his autograph after the game because he had played so well, seriously! The photo is of PNE March 1888.

Preston led the way in professionalism at this time, enticing players away from the mills and over the border, turning vigorous exercise into a science. As the Football League had been formed with twelve teams filling the season's fixture card, the amateurs were nearly a fading force. Can you name the original 12 FL members?

Some amateurs, including the Old Carthusians (old boys of Charterhouse School), were still shining bright in the FA Cup with the OCs gaining a First Round 5-0 win over Hanover United.

Preston then took two ties in the Second Round to beat Everton 6-1 but this game was announced to be "void" and they then had to play Bolton Wanderers, winning 9-1. What ever the circumstances , they won through. The Carthusians by this time beat Watford Rovers 3-1 away.

In Round Three the Public Schoolboys beat the Old Brightonians, another "posh lot", some might say and Preston (the working class heroes) beat Halliwell 4-0.

Round Four saw the posh chaps get a Bye...favouritism for the elite classes obviously, but wait, Preston got one too.

In Round Five Preston beat Aston Villa away 3-1 and the Carthusians beat Bootle 2-0.
Round Six-WBA 4 Old Carthusians 2;-Professionals versus Amateurs! Sheffield Wednesday 2 Preston 4.

Leaving behind Crewe Alexandra in the semi-final 4-0, Preston then fell at the final fence losing the West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the Oval on March 24. 19,000 watched the game. So confident were the Preston team of winning, that they asked if they could have a photo taken of them with the cup before the game. Referee and FA President Major Francis Marindin suggested that they should win it first. He was right.

Preston eventually did the double the following season, but that is a story for tomorrow.

KICK OFF DECIDED BY THE TIDE

I did try quite hard, without phoning a friend, to get the Varsity Soccer match result played at Craven Cottage yesterday. The game was played just before the Boat Race was rowed next door on the Thames.

With the weather as it was, the game might have been postponed or abandoned for all I know, but there is no news. I'm waiting for Jerry to tell me; he knows everything.

With the Men's Boat Race going to the Light Blues (actually it is technically duck egg blue) and Cambridge United (12th in League 2) hanging on to a 0-0 draw against Oxford United (2nd in the division) at the Abbey Stadium, a positive result in the historic tie between the ancient universities. would make a splendid weekend for me.

In "local derbies" between professional Cambridge United and professional Oxford United, the honours are not quite even with Oxford winning 9, losing 7 and drawing 8 of their league clashes.

Cambridge United was founded as Abbey United in 1912 and changed their name to the present one in 1951. The club played in the Football League from 1970 until 2005 and then regained league status in 2014.

Oxford United was founded in 1893 as Headington United and changed its name in 1960 joining the Football League two years later. United then dropped to the Conference in 2006, regaining a FL place in 2010. During their heady time in the FL, Oxford played in the top flight (1st Division) and won the League Cup in 1986. When relegation came, the club made history by being the first major trophy winner to be relegated from the Football League. 

Varsity matches between the Dark and Light blues began on March 30th 1874 and the head to head is still keenly contested. It is the culmination of a year's hard work, including competing in the British Universities Sports' Association and playing important "friendlies". The Blues' match was played at Wembley for a numbers of decades until 1989 and recently the match has gone to any prestigious venue that would have them. 

Most recently Fulham FC has hosted the match and given the students a great experience, playing on the same day as the Boat Race swelling the crowd which also benefited from also having a view of the river. The Varsity match kick off is timed to suit the start of the Boat Race which varies with the Thames' tide. Cambridge Ladies (above) found the pitch wet.

FA IN A PICKLE

Big day today! No, not because it is my birthday but it is the anniversary of Pickles, the mongrel (harsh) dog, finding the stolen 1966 World Cup, three months after it had gone missing. 

Bobby Moore had proudly shown it to the crowds and few knew the story of the missing trophy.

The valuable trophy was put on display in the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster in March.

Five guards detailed to look after the glass cabinet housing the Jules Rimet Trophy went AWOL. Three months before hosting the World Cup, the trophy has been lost.

The FA, for ever making up "cock ups" went to silversmith George Bird in Fenchurch Street and asked him to make a copy and to keep his mouth shut. 

Top men from the Flying Squad were told that two men, one tall and one short, or was it the other way round? entered the Methodist Hall and nicked the World Cup. Then a Mr Jackson got in touch with the authorities and asked for a ransom of £15000 for its return. 

The police set up a trap and with a suitcase full of old newspapers covered by real notes arranged to meet in Battersea Park but one way and another the operation went wrong. Jackson saw a transit van that he assumed was full of coppers and ran but was soon arrested. The thief was called Edward Bletchley, a 46 year old ex soldier with an exemplary record.

Meanwhile, with no cup to show for their efforts, two days later Pickles saved the day, rummaging around in the bushes, he came across the Jules Rimet Trophy wrapped in newspaper on Sunday March 27th.

His owner, David Corbett, could not believe his luck and took the cup to the local police station but was immediately suspected as an accomplice. After some further investigation Corbett was cleared and rewarded with £5000, which in those days would have bought a lot of Winalot. Instead of fattening his favourite pooch, he bought a new house, which you could in those days, with a lovely garden for Pickles to run around in. 

Pickles became a celebrity and appeared in "The Spy with the Cold Nose" with Eric Sykes. He was on Blue Peter, Magpie, was Dog of the Year, was given free food from Spillers and offered travel to foreign countries, but needing quarantine certificates this was declined.

Pickles and his master attended the World Cup winners' celebration dinner in Kensington and although the dog made an appearance in the main hall, they ended up slumming it with the players' wives who were banished by the tight fisted FA to a room "downstairs" away from the men.

The replica trophy was returned to Bird and the real one given to Brazil when they won the cup for the third time in 1970. It was stolen in 1983, never to be returned. 

The replica once at auction and bought by FIFA for over £250,000, now sits in the National Football Museum in Manchester

Unfortunately Pickles, chased a cat in his nice Lingfield garden and ended up hanging himself from his choke collar on a tree branch. He died.

Some say that this is just part of the story! Pickles is dead, Bletchley served two years in prison and is dead, who knows the truth about Corbett?

DIRECT FROM A CORNER

Supporting the local club, Hepworth United, play in a cup match this afternoon, I watched a dozen or more corners being taken aided (or not) in a more than gusty down pitch wind. Some corners were testing for all players, all of whom tried to get something on the ball. Possibly a flick on at the near post, a big header from a defending centre back with both goalkeepers pinned inside their six yard box. No goals came from the corner, no goals came from well delivered free kicks, I didn't see one long throw, there were very few direct shots on goal.

The wind clearly did not help the players, the only goal of the game came in the final minutes from open play and that disputed by the opposition for offside. Hepworth won.

Whilst the wind can be an advantage, football is hard to play under such challenging conditions.

So I thought about in-swinging corners. This is known as an Olympic goal in South America. On October 2nd 1924, Uruguay won the Olympic tournament in Amsterdam and returned to play a friendly against neighbours Argentina, who scored a goal in such fashion. Cesareo Onzari, a left footed player, scored direct from a corner, the first time this had been recorded in football history, apparently. See below.

The Uruguayans complained about their goalie being impeded and then blamed the wind.

Scoring straight from a corner had only been made legal in August 1924 but FIFA said that this was not the first Olympic goal stating that a Scottish player, Billy Alston had scored in a Second Division game in late August. 

Inspired by the Latin's achievement, Juan Ernesto Cochoco Alvarez, a Colombian, managed 8 Olympic goals in six seasons, for his club, Deportivo Cali. Two came in the same game. His secret being "practise".

Anibal Francisco Cibeyra scored in three Olympic goals in the 1970s for Ecuadoran club Emelec in successsive derbies against Barcelona de Guayaquil.

Bernd Nickel playing for Eintracht Frankfurt achieved the feat from each of four corners of the ground, not necessarily in the same match!

Morten Gamst Pedersen, in Norwegian junior football, scored six in one match and Charles Tully in 1953 scored directly for Celtic against Falkirk and when this was disallowed because the ball was not in the arc, he took another and scored direct again.

Turkish striker Sukur Gulesin managed 32 goals between 1940 to 1954 taking corners from both sides of the pitch although he was left footed.

Megan Rapinoe for the USA women's team, scored in the 2012 London Olympic semi-final, in her team's victory, truly an Olympic goal.

These were not all wind assisted, probably just good technique.....or luck?

MARCHING FOR PROSTATE CANCER

Jeff Stelling makes no secret of his love of Hartlepool United and Sky viewers can genuinely feel the tension when the Pools result comes up on screen on match day. Today his beloved Monkey Hangers (yes, another nickname) (now 21st out of 24 in Division 2) beat 9th placed AFC Wimbldon 1-0, lifting them a little further out of the relegation swamp!

Jeff is an emotional chap and it is no surprise that he has become involved with the very important issue of Prostate Cancer and it is his idea to raise awareness by walking ten marathons in ten days, walking between football stadia from his home club to Wembley. En routee has been joined by club mascots Donny Dog (Doncaster) and Scunny Bunny (Scunthorpe) in South Yorkshire.

If you want to follow his progress then log on to:-
http://prostatecanceruk.org/
or menunitedmarch.org
and of course should you want to get involved here is the link.
http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved

Men United March is taking him and his many followers 262 miles from north-east to south and today he was half way, covering "grounds" from Derby County, Burton Albion and two in Nottingham. He has been accompanied by fellow Sky men; Matt le Tissier, Chris Kamara, Paul Merson and Charlie Nicholas. Others have joined the walk, paying for the privilege to keep him company and there are other ways to donate.

Day ten takes his party from AFC Wimbledon, via Brentford on to Wembley and the whole event has been sponsored by Carlsberg.

AND FINALLY HAVE A LOOK AT HIS FAMOUS RANT ABOUT MIDDLESBROUGH ON SKY...DONATE
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/watch-jeff-stellings-new-version-11072925

DEATH OF A STAR

You only have to look at past photos and film of Johan Cruyff to appreciate what a revolution he and his Dutch countymen brought to World football. I watched most of the 1974 World Cup through an Army Camp kitchen hatch. This excursion was one part of my "Stag Month" in late June and early July, working for just a week with the Cambridge University officers' corps at Warcop in Cumbria. I was a scivvy, serving them food, tidying away, washing up and generally waiting on hand and foot. I got paid and had board and lodging which paid for "stag beer". The World Cup was viewed through the hatch in the Officers' Mess during dinner and post dinner drinks in their bar. Of course, I was not allowed in. So I saw this kind of thing happening in Germany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1k7DGqRF5g
BTW the poor defender being stitched up by his famous turn was Jan Olsson of Sweden.

Born in Amsterdam in 1947, Cruyff joined the Ajax Academy and played football and baseball. Obviously he quickly dropped baseball and his senior clubs included Ajax, where he made his debut in 1964,  Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, Ajax and then Feyenoord. This totalled 514 senior club appearances and 290 goals.

For Holland he played 48 times with 33 goals, during the time of "Totaalvoetbal" a style that he adopted along with Dutch coach Rinus Michaels, who influence much of Cruyff's career.

He later managed Ajax, Barcelona (establihsed their famous Academy on the model of Ajax's) and curiously the Catalonian national side, which typified his knowledge of world affairs and in this case his opposition to the Spanish dictatorship. He was intelligent and outspoken!

When the Dutch national team were sponsored by Adidas, he wore a shirt that only had two stripes on it, because his sponsor was Puma! He also wore the No 14 shirt in 1970, the first time that a player would wear a number outside the normal 1-11 and in 1966, his red card against Czechoslovakia in a friendly international was the first ever for a Dutchman. He was given a long "club" ban but not an international one.

His last attachment to a club was an advisor to Mexicans, Chivas Deportivo Guadalajara.

A heavy smoker, having had surgery in 1991 for lung cancer, he finally gave into it today. Suitably he will join "in space", an asteroid 14282 Cruijff, named after him by the International Astronomical Union. Only Josef Bican (a member of the Austrian Wunderteam) and Ferenc Puskas (The Galloping Magyar) have been privileged to have this recognition.

Died today aged 68.

MANAGER SIGNS HIS OWN TRANSFER CONTRACT.

Carlisle United were managed by 26 year old Ivor Broadis in January 1949. He took on the managership in August 1946 and is still the youngest person to manage an English Football League side at 23 years young. 
He was also a player, well in his prime, so it was a bit of a shock to the club when he transferred himself to Sunderland for £18,000, an incredible amount of money at the time.

On March 22nd 1949, a certain Bill Shankly acccepted the appointment as the club's new manager, his first challenge and of course Shankly had a fabulous career from this humble beginning. Broadis lived and trained at Carlisle and that was where he learned a lot about football and himself, listening to and working at his game under Shankly.

Born on the Isle of Dogs, Broadis served in the RAF during the war and got involved with Carlisle having been posted to a nearby RAF station. From his transfer to Sunderland, he went on to Manchester City for £25,000 and earned his first England Cap. He then went to Newcastle for £20,000, playing with the likes of Jackie Milburn and back to Carlisle in 1955, finally ending his career at Queen of the South.

In 2006 he went to watch a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park and was "not allowed into the ground because he was carrying an offensive weapon", namely a vacuum flask! When the police were told whom he was they allowed him into the ground.

He is 93. Born Ivan, a printing mistake on a Tottenham programme, when he guested for them during the war, left him always known at Ivor.

POMO

March 18 flew past and I was wrapped up in nostalgia with friends in the Lake District, hence yesterday's blog on Kendal Town.

I missed the opportunity to tell you about "Opportunities".

Charles Reep was an accountant and former RAF Wing Commander who liked statistics. He also enjoyed analysing football matches and on the 18th March 1950 at 3.50pm, he was watching Swindon v Bristol Rovers in a Division 3 South League match. After considerable sampling of football matches, he came to the conclusion that most goals (85%) were scored after three passes or fewer and 66% of goals were created when the ball was recovered in the final third of the pitch. The long ball into the opposition's final third, usually into the corners, was called a "reacher" and he aimed at tall ball winners and players who could get around the target man and win the second ball. Set pieces also brought results, so players tried to win those in the final third too. The long ball towards a defending full back to win a corner in the game was one way of getting into the oppo's danger area....all you needed was a long throw expert and a big centre forward.

The successful Wolves manager Stan Cullis adopted Reep's ideas and his team was successful in that decade, winning three league titles and the FA Cup. Charles Hughes, the Director of Football for the FA, also liked the idea of the long ball which he named gaining the Position of Maximum Opportunity or POMO.

Graham Taylor at Watford and a few other coaches in England followed suit. John Beck at Cambridge United would have been one disciple and so would the technician behind the Wimbledon Crazy gang.

Egil Olsen, the Norwegian national coach adopted the technique and his national team was remarkaby efficient at the "skill"and his 1990's team were true believers.

On June 2nd 1993 Olsen's Norway played Taylor's England in a World Cup qualifier in Oslo. Reep was the guest of honour in the stand and the game was a shocker. England lost 0-2 and "Do I not like that!"
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/performance/tactics/graham-taylor-playing-long-ball

IT'S TIME FOR A RESURRECTION

While my good friends were playing golf at Kendal (Cumbria) and I was striding over another Lake District mountain, I thought, where is there flat land to park a football pitch? Well, there is a very nice ground in Kendal where  K shoes dominate employment. Founded in 1919, Netherfield AFC was formed to accommodate the employees work the K Shoes factory.

In 1945 the team joined the Lancashire Combination and basked there until they entered bigger competitions such as the Northern Premier League. Prior to that the club had success in a number of FA Cup ties, one memorable match being a defeat against Barrow in the 1st Round Proper.

By 1998 Netherfield Kendal FC was formed and by the early 2000s the club was 3rd in the league and in a playoff beat Stocksbridge Park Steels...Jamie Vardy's club and then  Gresley Rovers in the final, so they got uplifted. A place higher than they ever been before.

In 2012, all went pear shaped and the club lost a lot of support but kept going with a recruitment from the local Ambleside United. The. club was relegated in 2014 however and the following season hung on to a mid table finish.

So games this week are against Clitheroe and Lancaster City over Easter. The club is surviving and looking forward to a new beginning. Well it is Easter isn't it?

AMATEURS SPONSORED BY IRN-BRU

Queen's Park 2 Arbroath 1 was not a score to grab the attention of many today, but when you know that the game would have been played at Hampden Park, the home of Queen's Park, then it becomes a little more interesting.

The QPark players are amateurs and play for a club that has been at the forefront of Association Football since their formation in 1867. The club was at the centre of the foundation of the Scottish FA and organised the first ever international between Scotland and England under association rules. QPark supplied all the players for that very first match on 30th November 1872.

The club had a very intricate scheme of playing, mixing the "English" dribbling game to a clever passing game. The Scots adopted this early on.

The team wore their club jerseys which were dark blue, the same colour worn by the national side today. Over 4,000 watched a 0-0 draw!

QPark also entered the English FA Cup in its first year 1872, entering the tournament at the semi-final stage! They drew with the Wanderers but were unable to afford the journey to London for the replay, so they scratched. The club did get to the final twice in 1884 and 1885, losing to Blackburn Rovers, who in those days were the top team.

The following year the Scottish FA Cup was started with QPark as founder members. On October 25th 1873, the club played their first game in the Cup and this was held at Hampden Park, the first of three stadia to bear that name. They introduced the famous black and white hooped shirts, giving them the nickname, The Spiders. They beat Dumbreck 7-0 and won the cup in its inaugural season.

The club travelled abroad to promote the game and established Cliftonville FC in Ireland after their tour in 1879. A year later the Irish FA was formed.

QPark also introduced rigid crossbars, the concept of half time and free kicks, all of which were adopted by the modern game.

When the Scottish League was formed in 1890, QPark did not join, regarding such competition as detrimental to the development of football; inevitably they gradually became "frozen out". So they joined up in 1900 and reached the Cup Final once again. The club survived their first season in the League, in the First Division, and were given dispensation not to be relegated should they come bottom of the division; in fact they came 8th out of 11.

However, some of their players were being poached and the FA ruled that no QPark player was to be approached by another club until April 30th each year, the end of the season. That rule still stands.

By 1921-2 the dispensation was lifted as the club came 22nd out of 22 in the First Division and they dropped down. BUT they quickly bounced back playing their well branded football and stayed in the top flight up to the start of WW2.

If I said that Alex Ferguson and Andy Roxburgh began their careers at Queen's Park then you can see that the club has given Scottish and indeed World football quite a legacy.

The club is sponsored by IRN-BRU-bit ironic since they are "amateurs". Their badge states Laudere Causa Ludendi-Playing for the Sake of Playing.. Pass me a can...

RICHARD AND THE MONKS

1485 was the year that King Richard III met his death at Bosworth Field and his remains were found in August 2012 under a car park in Leicester. His body had not been hurled into a river as once thought and after scientific examination the University were confident to confirm that the skeleton was indeed that of the King.

Sampled DNA was linked to the King's relatives, Carbon dating put the skeleton of a male between late 20s and 30 sometime between 1455-1540s and there was the curved spine. All in all enough evidence was found to have the remains re-buried in Leicester Cathedral. And that may be where the City's luck began in March 2015.

Leicester City have now a handful of Premier League matches to earn enough points to win the title, leaving behind Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham in their wake. Is it excellent coaching and managership by Claudio Ranieri or the work of some more powerful force?

After promotion from the Championship in 2014 as Champions, the Foxes were under the leadership of Nigel Pearson. His team soon were bottom of the Premiership at Christmas and rarely does a side in that state survive relegation. By April 2015, Leicester did survive and despite his momentous efforts, Pearson was let go by the club at the end of the season.
There were many personal and family issues behind that decision. Next decision!

Ranieri was appointed for the new season as his replacement, with much "tutting" from the "experts", for many thought and stated that "The Tinkerman" surely could not save the club? He took Pearson's squad, added an odd player here and there and let loose Jamie Vardy. You know the rest.

The owners, Asian Football Investments, headed by Buddhist Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha will be pleased with their decision making. SO it is not Richard III who has cast his spell, more like Thai Monks, whom Vichai encouraged into the stadium and squad with their magic. IT WORKED....

Was it the inspiration from one of English history's greatest Royal events or the work of the Thai Monks?

The King is at rest "Long Live the Team at the King Power Stadium".

Leicester City, in a few weeks time, should be the Kings of England.(or Monk(ey)s?).

GIGGS

Ryan Giggs got a full spread in the paper today, so today, he must be important. Actually he is important most days and although he has had his name appear in the tabloids, actually he has set a fine example to footballers far and wide.

With United playing Liverpool, then he will be in full support of Louis van Gaal as the Dutchman tries to insert his influence on the Red Devils. Giggs is very much the supporting coach and has the ear of the squad.

Ryan Joseph Giggs was born to mixed race parents, his father being Danny Wilson, a rugby league footballer, who was born in Sierra Leone. His mother was Lynne.When his father moved to Swinton to play for the local team, Giggs was suddenly part of the Manchester scene, leaving behind him Cardiff in South Wales. If only he had been born in England-when our need for a left sided winger was at its greatest.

His parents separated and Giggs took on his mother's surname. He then joined Manchester City but at 14 signed for United in 1987. He is now the right hand man of Louis van Gaal with a UEFA A Licence.

He was capped 64 times for Wales between 1991-2007 and captained GB in the 2012 Olympics. Giggs is the most decorated player in Premier League history with 13 PL winners medals, added to 4 FA Cup winners medals, 3 Football League Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, a World Club Cup, Intercontinental Club Cup, UEFA Super League, 9 Community Shields, PFA Young Player 1992 and 1993, BBC Personality of the Year 2009 an OBE in 2007 and the most assists in PL History, 271.
He played in the first 22 PL seasons and scored in very one of the first 21 PL seasons. There is more..

He is also involved in the Salford City venture with the "Class of '92" and has appeared in a number of films and documentaries. Along with Gary Neville, he owns a company called "GG Hospitality" and has been involved in building a Hotel like supporters' club for the United fans, a football themed Hotel at Old Trafford and a Cafe in Stratford, London.

Finally he is also an ambassador for UNICEF UK, has an honorary MA at Salford Uni and the Freedom of the City of Salford.

At the moment his team is still 0-2 down to Liverpool in the Europa Cup but he is investing his money sensibly.

NEW BRIGHTON A TOWERING CLUB

If you wander along the Mersey, south side, you might end up in Wallasey or more accurately, New Brighton. This did not attract the kings and queens of England as a spa, however there are several football teams that have emerged from the region and one of them was New Brighton FC. Founded out of the South Liverpool club in 1897 as New Brighton Tower FC, the club played at the Tower ground in the shadow of a replica of the Eiffel Tower which was part of a tourist development. The ground held 80,000 people!

The club was founded by local business men who only had money in their interest. There was none of the idea of local cricketers keeping fit over the winter, or vicars wanting their flock to keep sober on Saturdays. Joining the Cheshire League, the club eventuallly went into the Football League, Division Two, in 1898. Their first match was against Gainsborough Trinity and they ended in 5th place in the Division, a respectable start.

The club could not maintain itself and folded in 1901 despite some good performances, coming 4th in the division. By 1921-2 the expanding  Football League established a Third Division North and South and by 1923-4 New Brighton re-emerged as a FLeague club and a claim to fame was meeting the famous Corinthians in an FA Cup tie in 1927. New Brighton hung on in the division through the 1930s and after the War, never really challenging promotion but by 1950-1 they came bottom of the division and they lost their league status to Workington Town.

In March 1947 the club had made history when their manager Neil McBain, a much travelled Scot, found himself without a goalkeeper to play in a league match, so he donned the cotton gloves and made history as the oldest FLeague player (to date) at 51 years and 120 days, playing against Hartlepool. He also played 97 times for Everton, 117 for Ayr, 85 at Watford, and Man U, St Johnstone, Liverpool, with a hint of Hamilton Academicals and once for New Brighton!

McBain kept travelling and after a spell at Leyton Orient he was last heard of coaching at Estudiantes de la Plata in Argentina....where else? Well actually, Watford (twice), Ayr(3 times), Luton also.

A more recent excitement was the club's performance as a non-league club in 1956-7 FA Cup proper round, when they met Burnley and were thumped 0-9. The club knocked around in local leagues as New Brighton Tower FC before the inevitable happened. They folded again.

In 1983 the club shut down but there is a phoenix risen today somewhere in the West Cheshire leagues though I believe that imploded in 2012. 

DAVE WALSH, A BAGGIE

I love social media. I wasn't stuck for something to write about today but I hadn't made my mind up whether to blog about fires in football grounds, or overhead kicks or sacked managers, then from an Old Carthusian, Julian Hill (not a star footballer but decent and a very good golfer) I get on Facebook a nudge about Dave Walsh. Ever heard of him? Not me!

Now Arthur Rowley I have heard of since he was the highest goalscorer in League history scoring 434 goals in 619 games between 1946 and 1965, but only 4 for the Albion because he moved on!

Albion (WBA) fans will be mourning Dave Walsh's passing just before his 93rd birthday. Dave was part of the post War revival of the Baggies and the building of a team that blossomed in 1953-4. if you know your football history, then WBA won the FA Cup and were Division One runners up. Albion found themselves in the top part of the Division in the late 50s, 4th, 5th and 4th between 1957-8 and 1959-60. Overall he played 165 times for Albion scoring 94 goals, a terrific return.

Playing in Ireland for Linfield, Walsh scored 73 goals in the 1945-6 season and was spotted by the evergreen scout Fred Everiss. He was signed by director Claude Jephcott and started his career in 1946. Rather like Jamie Vardy, Dave had an eye for goal and scored in his first six matches.

Apparently, he was ready to go back home as he was suffering from persistent nose bleeds, due probably to the chemically infested air in the Bromwich area. The club moved his accommodation to Droitwich and all was solved.

In 1948/9 he scored 23 goals in 41 games in Division Two, with Albion missing the title by one place and one point to Fulham, but getting promotion. Walsh had missed a few sitters at Grimsby in the run in, on the Saturday which upset him but his excuse was that the lads had won promotion by beating Leicester in the midweek and had sunk a few celebratory jars on the Thursday night, so he wasn't at his prime best.

In the top Division he amassed 100 goals in 174 games and got tapped up by Aston Villa and he gave in on December 1950, moving down the road. A bad mistake! He scored 37 times in 108 appearances for the Villa.

Walsh played for both Northern and Southern Ireland and was in the first team (the Republic) to beat England on their own soil, at Goodison in 1949.

In retirement he ended up in Devon playing golf and was full of vitality even into his late years.

BEACH BALLS AND INFLATED LADIES

Roland Duchatelet cannot be sleeping comfortably, knowing what he knows about the state of Charlton Athletic and the recent demonstrations by fans at the home game against high flying Middlesbrough.

In charge of the Addicks since January 2014, he has clearly upset the south Londoners who yesterday carried a coffin along Floyd Road to the Valley, midst a huge procession of angry fans, who see the coffin as representative of "their hopes and dreams". They don't want them to be buried six feet underground. The club deserves more than that.

It was a clever demonstration which continued inside the ground with black and white beach balls being booted onto the pitch and whistles blown randomly to confuse the referee and players. Individuals invaded the pitch too. After 74 minutes many fans left their seats at a time representing the number of goals conceded so far this season by Charlton.

On the other hand Middlesbrough supporters chanted to their manager Aitor Karanka "Not to go" as he has shown disapproval over matters in the Teesside club, despite his success this season. He stormed out of a club meeting during the week. Middlesbrough seem to be in a better position than Charlton, so he can't be upset about what is going on the pitch.

Beach balls don't feature a lot in football apart from their friendly bunting around the stadium. Liverpool suffered at the hands of one a few seasons ago which got lost in the Pool penalty area and deflected the match ball past the hapless Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina and the odd "inflatable doll" gets paraded by the fans as the cameras try hard not to focus on the sex toy. Too many youngsters will be asking their dads "what is that for?".

Quick fact about Charlton is that the club got to the post War Cup Finals in 1946 (lost to Derby 1-4 in extra time after 1-1 when the Addicks' Ben Turner scored an own goal after 80 minutes and then equalised a minute later). In extra time the Sddicks had had it.

Middlesbrough beat the Old Carthusians (old boys of Charterhouse School who were the Cup holders) at Headingly to win the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and they won it again in 1898 before they turned professional.

BLACK FLASH-CUTS A DASH

I am publishing this one again mainly because only 15 people read it originally and that Laurie Cunningham is the subject of another article by Dermot Kavanagh in today's Sunday Times.

Laurie Cunningham was a pioneer of football and the London Soul scene. He was born in 1956 to Jamaican parents living in Finsbury Park. A new biography " Different Class: Football, Fashion, Funk. The story of Laurie Cunningham" by Dermot Kavanagh (Unbound £20) tells his story and there are four YouTube clips based on the film "Black Flash".

In March 1976 for the first time, a black footballer, Cunningham, was the front cover of the Sunday Times Magazine, at a time when racism was commonplace. Many today will not have heard of him  but at the time he suffered overt racism from English crowds and coped with that with courage and dignity.

The Great Black Hope was tipped by Sports' writer Brian Glanville to be England's first black international. Glanville would have been delighted to have an interview with him, but Cunningham was not to be found, he was not at home, having been clubbing with girlfriend Nicky Brown. Glanville spent two hours chatting to his mother.

Cunningham was an amazing talent on the pitch and also very hot on the London Soul scene. He won cash prizes for his dancing, which were often used to pay his fines for being late to training. He was even offered an audition with the American Ballet Company, Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Signed by Leyton Orient, he moved the West Bromwich Albion in 1977 and formed a trio of black footballers with Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson, known as the "Three Degrees". Cunningham became the first black footballer to play professionally for England, starting at Under 21 level, earning only 6 full caps. An outstanding match for the Baggies against Valencia in the Uefa Cup in 1978 drew the admiration of Real Madrid and he became a millionaire overnight.

In 1979 he became the first British player to sign for Real Madrid. In one Clasico, his performance was so fantastic that the Barca crowd gave him a standing ovation.

In 1981 he played against Liverpool in the European Cup Final, losing 0-1. For the next period he suffered from injury after having a toe stamped on and spent the early 1980s on loan, including at Manchester United with Ron Atkinson in 1983, a couple of Spanish and French clubs and then at Wimbledon, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1988.

In 1989 he was killed in a car crash in Madrid, aged 33. Having played nearly 350 games, he was soon forgotten as a star player and quickly named as a play boy or maverick.

Cunningham was well known for his love of dance, vintage suits and spending time pubs and bars in Soho such as Crackers in Wardour Street. Inspired by Robert Redford in "The Great Gatsby", he once found a trunk filled with original war time clothing and had the suit copied by an East End tailor. He also would visit flea markets in the Angel, Islington, gathering authentic fashions. He had style and also a reputation!

His funeral was held in Tottenham in 1989. Recently English Heritage agreed to place a Blue Plaque on his house In Finsbury Park. Here are four episodes of his career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiEk3-3uChs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dCqDbTDG6Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tjc5tVcOks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2JKoSflSjI

Laurie cut a dash in fashion and his 1940s style suit and fedora was not out of place in the London nightclub scene.

FA CUP-TROPHY-VASE

As Palace dispatched Reading last night and Everton has just disposed of Chelsea, it is a big weekend for the FA. The FA Cup quarter-finals will provide four clubs with the opportunity of playing at Wembley in the semi-finals.

Wembley is beckoning four more "smaller clubs" as the Trophy and Vase play out their own semi-finals, which are two legged. 

In the Trophy, Bognor Regis Town, an unglamorous south coast Regal resort and Grimsby Town (which sort of takes after its name) compete in one of the ties. Grimsby, not long ago a Football League club, should be favourites with Bognor very much the little club comparatively. I don't want to upset Grimsby dwellers, so I will say that their ground is in fact in Cleethorpes which is a very pleasant seaside town.

Bognor had the Royal approval in 1929 and was allowed to attach Regis to its name after King George V found solace there. The club then added "Town" to their name to avoid confusion with the local rugby club. Now playing in the Isthmian League Premier, the club had an amazing run of FA Cup successes in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing in the proper rounds six times, on occasion meeting Colchester Utd, Reading, Swansea City, Gillingham on their way. The playing surface at Nyetimber Road is one of the best in the league. 

Today's tie resulted in Bognor 0-1 down.

The other Trophy semi is between Nantwich Town and FC Halifax; once again a tie between an upstart and an ex league club.

Nantwich Town, known as the Dabbers, from the presence of the tanning industry in the town, was also founded in 1884 and after playing in various Cheshire leagues are now in the Northern Premier. Having won the Vase in 2006, the club clearly has a pedigree, including holding the record for the fastest FA Cup hat trick, scored by their very own, Andy Locke against Droylesdon in a Preliminary Round in 1995. It took 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

Halifax play at the Shay still and are in the Conference Premier. The club fell out of the FLeague but rose like a Phoenix in 2008 and is aiming to re-established its status in the FLeague as soon as possible. 

Today's score was 2-4 to the Shaymen.

The Vase, a tournament for "village clubs" provides much hope for grass roots clubs. Bowers and Pitsea FC from Essex and Northumbrian Morpeth Town compete in one half of the draw, with Hereford FC and Salisbury FC in the other. 

B&P is an Essex senior league club formed in 2003 when Bowers and a Sunday league club Pitsea merged. 

Morpeth, known as the Highwaymen, and located near the A1, was probably founded in 1884, well at least the club sign says so, but there are other sources that dispute that. A Northern League Division One side, the club plays at Craik Park and has nearby the "world's smallest roundabout" sited on a mini roundabout near the railway station.

The teams are locked at 2-2 after the first leg.

Hereford also was not long ago a Football League club and had their own moment of fame when Ronnie Radford smashed in a winner over Newcastle United all those years ago. 

Salisbury FC is managed and "run" by Steve Claridge and sports' journalist Ian Ridley who both had a hand in Weymouth FC recently. The club has its roots in the 19th Century but formed as a modern club after the last war. The club reformed in 2015-6 with backing from a variety of investors encouraged by Steve and Ian and play in Wessex League. Steve Claridge has part written two amusing books about his time in football including the spell at Weymouth..see "Tales from the Boot Camps" and "Beyond the Boot Camps".

Score so far favours Hereford 1-0

There is a story in every club.

MATT BUSBY 80th ANNIVERSARY

Born of Lithuanian migrant parents in a mining village, Orbiston, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Matt Busby's father was killed in World War One, along with three of his uncles. His mother looked after her son and three daughters, though she did remarry.

The family almost migrated to the USA in the 1920s but thankfully while the family was making its mind up, at 18 he signed for Manchester City on 11th February 1928, on a wage of £5 a week. He made his debut on November 2nd 1929 and played over 200 games for the light blues.

There was a chance that he might have gone across the city to United in 1930 for a transfer fee of £150, but he ended up at Liverpool in 1934-5 for £8000 on 12th March 1936. He made his debut against the very successful Huddersfield Town on 14th March 1936 and eventually became captain of the club.

He met Bob Paisley who had signed from Bishop Auckland in 1939 and they became the best of friends for life.

Busby served in the King's Liverpool Regt during WW2 and played for Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Reading, Brentford, Bournemouth and Hibernian as a "guest" in "Wartime football".

He only made one official international appearance against Wales on 4th November 1933 and played in 7 war time matches which were unofficial.

By the end of the war he was appointed manager at Manchester United with "unprecedented control" on a 5 year deal, he linked up with Jimmy Murphy, once of Wales and West Bromwich Albion, forming a formidable partnership. Between 1946 and 1952, when United eventually won the First Division Championship (top division), the Reds also won the FA Cup in 1948 and had several runners-up places in the league. The last time United had any silver ware was in 1911!

Busby also managed the Great Britain Olympic team that reached the semi-finals in London in 1948.

By 1956 he was offered the manager's job at Real Madrid, at a time when the Spaniards were just about to win the first European Cup. Busby refused to be attracted saying that Manchester was his heaven. In 1958 the Munich air disaster left a remarkable scar on his life but he bounced back with the Busby Babes and the rest is history.
During his time at Old Trafford his teams played 1141 matches, won 576, drew 266, scored 2324 goals and conceded 1566.

Busby reached his heaven in January 1994 aged 84. He was a CBE, Knight's Bachelor and KCSG.

DUBLIN'S A DUDE AND HE INVENTED THE DUBE.

I was doing my usual twenty minutes on a treadmill at the gym watching "Homes Under the Hammer". I also occasionally get excited about "Frasier" and " Four in a Bed". Dion Dublin fills my screen and whatever the public think about him as a presenter, I don't care, so long as I can write about him on a day when there is not a lot of news. He has produced a Christmas album raising money for the Bobby Moore Foundation.
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dion-dublins-christmas-presents.../id943628482

Dion Dublin is from Leicester and at the height of his career his played four times for England, a fact that he let us know today as he was assessing a house where some punter had wallpapered a bedroom with England International crests and colours. Dion certainly had an emotional monent as the camerman swung round him.

Dion did not score for his country but he was quite an effective forward and he did play with some of the greats. (he also played at centre back) He started at Norwich as a youth in 1983 but did not get a look in. He joined Cambridge United and helped them rise from the old 4th Division to the 2nd with 52 goals in 156 games. He also played an important role in some fruity cup runs.
At some stage he was out on loan at Barnet and then got signed up by Alex Ferguson at Manchester United where the original hope was of getting Alan Shearer but that fell through so Dublin was contracted instead. He only played 12 times in two years.

At one stage, manager Howard Kendall wanted to sign Dublin for Everton but he was thwarted by the "directors" who did not think he was worth the money. As a result Kendall resigned.

Coventry bought Dublin for £2 million and during 1994-8 his form improved and almost got him to the 1998 World Cup with England. Despite his high scoring, he was not selected. 61 goals in 145 matches was a decent return in that period, but not good enough.

After that disappointment, Dion went to Aston Villa and scored 48 goals in 155 matches between 1998-2004, but he suffered a broken neck and had to have a titanium plate inserted in the spine to repair cracked vertebrae. Remarkably this did not stop him from continuing his career and after a loan spell at Millwall, he joined home team, Leicester City for two seasons, making over 50 appearances. He then went to Celtic and back to Norwich where he was voted Player of the Year in 2008, scored 12 times in 70 games and retired.

Overall Dublin played in 613 matches, scoring 183 times.

As an accomplished amateur percussionist he played in bands and invented a instrument called the Dube.

After spells commentating and being a pundit with Sky, Super Sunday and other football programmes, he was signed for "Homes under the Hammer" in 2015, with mixed reviews! He's ok......

TWO LEGGED CUP TIES; A DISASTER

On March 9th 1946 at Burnden Park, then the home of Bolton Wanderers, the Trotters played host to Stoke City, the Potters, in a sixth round FA Cup tie, second leg. A win for Bolton, already 2-0 up from the first leg, would put them in the semi-final and one step away from Wembley. This was the first and only time that the FA Cup played two legged ties.

Stoke City had Stanley Matthews in their ranks, a wizard who could turn a game. 85,000 turned up to a match that was going to be a classic.

When the teams emerged from the dressing rooms the overcrowded Embankment Stand surged forward and fans lost their feet, falling to the floor and were trampled on as crush barriers collapsed under the weight of a huge crowd. 39 died and over 500 were treated for injuries.

A parent in the crowd trying to escape the crush with a little lad, had left a gate open and fans poured into the ground. Others got in by jumping over barriers, adding around 2000 extras to the disaster.

An enquiry stated that not all stands and turnstiles were open, adding to the crush as certain points in the ground. The investigation, headed by R. Moelwyn Hughes KC,  recommended that at future matches crowds should be monitored by mechanical means, hence the eventual use of counters at turnstiles. This was not enforced at the time and four decades later the complacency of the authorities contributed to the dreadful events at Hillsborough in April 1989 when 96 supporters suffered a similar fate.

Add to this disasters at Ibrox in April 1902 when 25 died during a Scotland v England international, the Bradford City fire in May 1985 which claimed 56 lives, the 66 deaths at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in October 1982 when Spartak Moscow met Haarlem in an UEFA cup tie, 43 deaths at Ellis Park (Johannesburg) in April 2001 and the deaths of 39 fans at Heysel in Brussels in May 1985 at the European Cup Final; football has much to grieve over.

HOMELESS HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.

The Non-League paper is full of interesting ideas and news associated with the Global game. In standard newspapers, issues associated with European migration are to the fore. In the NLP, Neil Jenson turns his writing to Homeless Football. This is an issue that I have referred to before.

If you are homeless it is unlikley that watching football is something that you can afford, unless of course you visit a local league match somewhere on a local recreation ground. The homeless may be football fans and enjoying the successes of their local team may bring a little joy into an other wise dreadful day.

The homeless can also play the game, but it might just be a kick around with some mates. However it can go further than that. England's marvellous performance in the Women's World Cup last season was assisted by Fara Williams, who was herself homeless for seven years. Football has helped turn her life around as it does for many others.

The aims of the Homeless World Cup, which takes place in Glasgow this year, will include changing people's lives. The Homeless World Cup Foundation president is Mel Young, who captures the spirit of the competition by describing it as a "real celebration of optimism". He hopes that the 512 players from 51 nations involved in the tournament will be on their way to a more stable future through football.

Games are "quick fire", played on small pitches, four a side and eight in a squad. This year the matches are played in Glasgow's George Square.
There are six trophies to play for; four in the men's section and two in the women's.
Last year in Amsterdam, Mexico dominated both tournaments, following on from their men's success in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Ukraine and Chile were finalists in the male and female sections respectively.

With a 100 million homeless in the world, at least and 50,000 recorded in the UK,  there is clearly a need for some good to be done and football provides one avenue of hope. Clubs are beginning to arranged food banks and collections to support those involved.
www.gameofthepeople.com
https://www.homelessworldcup.org/about-the-tournament/

PAT NEIL: A PROFESSIONAL OUT OF THE BLUE

Out of the BLUE, I was sent a link to the www.wolvesheroes.com/ website from a friend who has an interest in Cambridge University alumni. Rowan Kitt is a rugby referee and has a lovely job helping to raise money on behalf of Queens' College, as Development Director and Fellow of the college. His job gets him in contact with past members of the college and Pat Neil is one of them.

Pat's story is fascinating and I have pinched much of this from the excellent Wolves website. P.T. Neil played for the University team between 1959-61 at a time when the relative quality of these student players was close to the world of "proper" football and many undergraduates could have chosen to play in the professional game had they not been channeled into academic pursuits. They were also obliged to do National Service and after that they went into employment in more reliable and lucrative careers.

Pat Neil played First Division football for two clubs while still a sixth former and had one of his call-ups announced at his school’s morning assembly.

He also scored the goal that preserved Wolves’ unbeaten floodlit record at Molineux and went on to make four League appearances for the club (scoring once) without taking a penny piece in wages.  

Pat Neil, a skilful 1950s winger, would do his homework on the train up from the south coast and then go and pull on the famous gold shirt?

“I was at grammar school all week before going to Wolverhampton on the 3.10 train from Portsmouth,” he said. “Initially, I would stay over at the Molineux Hotel on a Friday night with Mr and Mrs Farr. Then, as long as it hadn’t been an away game up north, I came home on the Saturday night via Waterloo.

“I played in the England schoolboys team at 15 and had Bobby Charlton and Wilf McGuinness as team-mates at one stage. At the end of the season, Stan Cullis came looking for me because Wolves and Manchester United were the two big clubs scooping up talented lads at that time.

“He knocked on our front door in Portsmouth when Wolves were playing down south but I wasn’t allowed in on the meeting! We lived above an off licence my father ran and he told Mr Cullis while I was in another room that he was very keen that I finished my O Levels before thinking about football.

“Stan came back to sign me in 1956 and I recall him being very particular. He took his trilby off when he came into the house.

“I had to talk the matter over with my headmaster because the school were a bit bemused by it all. So was I. It caused a bit of a furore at Pompey as well because they were upset and complained to the FA that Wolves had poached me.

“There was much angst round here, not least because I had good friends at Pompey like Ray Crawford.”

Neil, an England amateur international, had broken into the senior side at Fratton Park on the first day of 1955-56 as their youngest ever first-team player, aged 17 years and 300 days. Ironically, given his classroom commitments, the game fell during school holidays.

He subsequently became Portsmouth’s youngest ever goalscorer and might have made his home debut against Wolves. In the event, he watched that midweek meeting from the stand but played the Saturdays before and after, against Huddersfield away and Blackpool at home, then lined up in a 3-1 defeat in the early-season return at Molineux.

The game against the Seasiders was an attractive one for the nation’s photographers, who clamoured for a picture of him (the First Division’s youngest player) with the legendary and then 40-year-old Stanley Matthews. Pat celebrated the rise to stardom with a goal in a 3-3 draw.

The following Saturday, he impressed in one of Pompey’s most famous victories when they travelled to win 5-1 at Chelsea, who had beaten they and Wolves to the title a few months earlier. He didn’t score but was on target against Bolton in another 3-3 draw and came up with the only goal against Everton shortly afterwards.

Only a call-up for an amateur international in which he scored twice then denied him an outing in a win at Arsenal.

It was a highly encouraging baptism and, just over a year later, he was doing something similar in the West Midlands.

“Because I was an amateur, there was no fee when I moved to Wolves,” he added. “They just took over my registration in 1956-57.

“I was in digs in Tettenhall with the South African winger Cliff Durandt. We lived in the next street to Billy Wright and used to collect Eddie Stuart and Des Horne on the way to catching the bus up to the ground.

“My first match in the reserves was at Barnsley and I was thrilled over the following months to be playing at some terrific grounds against some great players. But it was Saturday games only until I had this shock call to play against the Hungarian team Red Banner late in 1956.

 “It was a coincidence because Red Banner had played at Pompey the week before and I had gone in with my father and watched from behind the goal. I had also been very impressed with them.

“I had never played under floodlights before that night at Molineux and was lucky enough to score our equaliser when the keeper palmed a corner out to me and I hit it straight back in.

 “Red Banner had some world-famous players like Hidgekuti, Sandor and Palotas and it was a dreamland for me. We kept our unbeaten record at home to foreign clubs by drawing 1-1 and that was seen as terribly important.

“My first League game for Wolves was at Manchester City the weekend after. Bert Trautmann was making his comeback following his broken neck and all the publicity was about him rather than me playing on Wolves’ left wing in place of Jimmy Mullen, who was the nicest man I have ever met. We won 3-2 and I scored the winning goal.

“I remember going into the school library on the Monday, opening up the huge broadsheet version of The Times and reading a beautiful piece by Geoffrey Green, who I knew from amateur internationals.

“I loved my time at Wolves and was so flattered to be among players like Jimmy, who sold me my first tennis racket when he had his sports shop in the town, Dennis Wilshaw, Eddie Clamp, who was a bit of a rascal, Johnny Hancocks, Billy and Bert Williams.

“Stan Cullis was such a big figure in the game, frightening at times and kindly at others. I remember him giving even Billy Wright a fearful rollocking at half-time in one game for not marking the centre-forward properly. I was sitting quivering in the corner, hoping he wouldn’t come to me!”

Neil, having played nine competitive first-team games for his home city club, played four League matches in a row for Wolves, also facing Blackpool at home and Charlton and Everton away.

He might have squeezed in one more appearance before Mullen’s New Year’s Day return at Sunderland but the weather intervened. Having turned out in a poorly attended morning clash at The Valley in Wolves’ last Christmas Day fixture, he was due to line up in the return the following day as well, only for heavy snow to cause a postponement.

The thumbs-down from the referee came an hour and a half before the scheduled kick-off, late enough for Neil to recall the two teams having lunch together in a town centre hotel. Who knows how many more matches he might have racked up had he not had the likes of Mullen, Harry Hooper and Norman Deeley as competition.

He had been an infant during the war but the continued fall-out from the hostilities now had an impact on a football career that was already highly unusual.

“My call-up papers came in November, 1957, so I played the first part of that season elsewhere than in the first team and was then posted to Exeter,” he added.

“I think my time at Molineux had run out. I played a lot in the reserves and might have had a cushy number at Cosford if I had been a full-time member of the Wolves staff.

“I still turned out for Wolves in the A and B teams when I was on leave but I drifted away from Molineux and lost contact with them when I was stationed in Cyprus, where I saw active service. I was a foot soldier in the infantry and, although I was captain of the battalion, it didn’t spare me guard duty as we fought to keep the Greeks and Turks apart.

“I had already booked my place at Cambridge University and left the Army after two years with the Royal Berkshire Regiment to read modern languages at Queens’ College. I played three times in the Varsity match at Wembley, with Malcolm Allison as the coach for the last couple of years after succeeding Tony Marchi.

“I was going to go straight into teaching but freedom of contract came in and the Portsmouth manager George Smith persuaded me to go back there in 1962, this time as a professional when they were in the Second Division. I think I was the first Cambridge Blue to become a pro footballer.

“At the same time, I did some part-time teaching at the school where I had been head boy, Portsmouth Northern Grammar. I spent four afternoons a week, Monday to Thursday, in the classroom, leaving mornings for training and Fridays in case we had to travel.

“I only briefly got back into the side, though – for one League game against Derby and the second replay of an FA Cup tie against Coventry, which we lost at White Hart Lane.

“There were a lot of distractions. I had an injury, I was getting married, I knew I was going to be a teacher who played some football, rather than the other way around, and 1962-63 was a season which seemed to go on forever because of the bad weather.

“I decided the combination of jobs wasn’t for me and went to play in the Southern League for Bath City, who Malcolm Allison had now joined. I later played for Cambridge City and Poole Town and had spent five years after Wolves with the famous amateur side Pegasus, which was drawn from graduates of Oxford and Cambridge Universities.”

His farewell to League football having come at only 25, Neil had the outstanding career in education that he had dreamed of.

Fluent in French and Spanish, he went back to teach for eight years at his old school, then switched to a local comprehensive before moving to a middle school in Midhurst, West Sussex, and becoming a deputy head for seven years and a head for ten.

He and his wife of 48 years now live in Waterlooville, just outside Portsmouth, from where he is actively involved in the Pompey Former Players Association – and still in love with Wolves. Pat is in possession.