Tommy Trinder CBE (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) , will not mean much to a certain age of "readers", but he was a true "live on stage" show man for 6 decades and very much part of my early TV viewing.
A comedian, he had the gift of the gab and I remember him being the original host of the TV variety show, "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" from 1955-8, with a catch phrase "You Lucky People". Many will know Bruce Forsyth, who took on the role of the show compere more recently! and continued to perform on stage in the 1980s. He also starred in Ealing Studio Films. AND THE POINT IS?
In 1959, Trinder became chairman of Second Division, Fulham FC until 1976 and during his time of bringing "show business" to the London club, he signed both George Best, who was playing in the US, for Los Angeles Aztecs and Rodney Marsh (Tampa Bay Rowdies), persuading them to play for The Cottagers during the NASL off season in August 1976.
In the first round of Second Division fixtures, the pair turned out at a "joyous" Craven Cottage against Hereford Utd, winning 4-1. Best hit the post from 30 yards and Marsh scored twice. The major moment in this "debut", was when Best accidently took the ball off team mate, Marsh and then Marsh deliberately tackled Best creating a 1970s maverick phenomenon.
| 25 Sep 1976 | Fulham v Hereford United | W | 4-1 | League Division Two |
| 05 Mar 1977 | Hereford United v Fulham | L | 1-0 | League Division Two |
Typically, as the season went on, Best got into the news for the wrong reasons and became one of the first players to be given the newly introduced "red card", at Southampton.
(Yellow and red cards were introduced to the English league in 1976, with two red cards shown on the first day of their use. There was initially a bit of confusion over what they were supposed to be given for, with Blackburn Rovers’s David Wagstaffe becoming the first player to be show a red card when he argued with the referee after thirty-six minutes of the match. Sixty-seven minutes into his match for Manchester United that same afternoon, George Best was shown a red card for swearing.)
Luton player Mick Harford became the first person to be shown a red card during his club's match with Derby County on the 15th of August 1987.
In December Best was fined £75 for making obscene gestures to the referee at Chelsea and in February, he drove his car into a lampost in front of Harrods at 4am. Best admitted to being "out at dinner" and then at Tramps Discotheque but was not breath tested and claims he would have been negative if the police insisted. He said he had three drinks all evening!! Fulham ended the season (1976-7) escaping relegation, just and Best and Marsh went back to the US in the Summer. Best returned at the start of the new season in 1977 but a "pay dispute" put an end to his "dalliance" with The Cottagers.
Jimmy Hill OBE, the well known TV pundit, once was a player for Fulham (below with Trinder) made a return to the club in 1987 to become chairman, helping his old club survive near-bankruptcy and blocking an attempted merger with Queens Park Rangers. Born: 22 July 1928 and died: 19 December 2015. Hill's career below.
| Senior career* | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1952 | Brentford | 83 | (10) |
| 1952–1961 | Fulham | 276 | (41) |
| Total | 359 | (51) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1961–1967 | Coventry City | ||
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