11 March 1970 – Leeds and Man Utd Both Win Away

 

Saturday 7 March 1970- Sunderland lose Forest Close In

A shock loss to Southampton has Sunderland fearing for their top place. In the first half of the season Sunderland accumulated 20 win from 21 games, 41 from 42 points. Whatever the psychology of the team, they have managed only 3 wins from the last 8 games, a total of 8 points.

On the other hand Nottingham Forest is now only a game away after their 12th win in a row, The freight train is blasting away to the top.

Stoke had a surprising away win at Ipswich to help them with their relegation battle.

Cup semi finalist Crystal Palace prepared for next week’s cup tie with a 3-3 draw at Wolves. Palace haven’t won in 7 games in the league, Wolves have only had 1 in 6.

 

What Really Happened- for Saturday 7 March – League Cup Final

What Really Happened- Wednesday 4 March 1970

What Really Happened: Preview for Saturday 13 December 1969

 

 

Palace Snatch Early Goal and Win over Southampton

Saturday 29 November 1969

Division One

Southampton   0

Crystal Palace  1   (Kember  7)

In a disappointing game Crystal Palace grabbed all two points from a well worked early goal. Satisfied with that goal the Palace team then decided that was all the attacking guile they would offer for the afternoon, and stepped back and prepared to defend the rest of the game. Unfortunately Southampton couldn’t provide anything of an attacking nature and couldn’t by pass the visitor’s stronghold defence.

Palace are sprightly early on in the game.

Dawkins receives the ball and waits for Tomkins’ run.

Tomkin’s run is perfect as he meets the ball.

 

Tomkins slips the ball through the Saints defence, where Kember has slipped behind the Southampton defence.

 

Kember puts Crystal Palace 1-0 up.

 

Wednesday’s Warboys Slaughters Coventry

Saturday 29 November 1969

Division One

Sheffield Wednesday    3  (Warboys 4, 22, 90)

Coventry City                    0

Sheffield Wednesday’s Warboys thrilled the home fans with a delightful hattrick that pushed the Owls further away from the relegation zone, while Coventry have fallen into the mire.

Wednesday displayed the hunger, the passion and the endevour to completely overpower a poor and lackluster Coventry side.

Wednesday going forward with Pugh.

 

Pugh sends it to Whitham.

 

Whitham with a crisp pass to Coleman

 

The ball is slipped to Warboys in a dangerous position.

 

Warboys is ready to shoot amongst a confused Coventry defence.

 

After only 4 minutes, Sheffield Wednesday hit the lead. They go on to dominate the game and run out 3-0 winners.

 

 

Leeds Too Good For Liverpool

Saturday 22 November 1969

Division One

Leeds          3    ( Gray 27, Giles 45, Jones 58 )

Liverpool      0

It was the Leeds of old, dominant through a powerful and inventive display of their wares.

Liverpool could not cope with Leeds’ interplay and smart football.

Bremner heading forward showing the confidence Leeds showed all day.

 

Giles receives the ball from Bremner.

 

Giles slips it to Jones

 

Jones swipes to Gray.

 

Gray hits it first time and makes sure Leeds go 1-0 up over Liverpool.

 

What Really Happened – Preview of Saturday 22 November 1969

Problems of Derby and Clough – Michael Carey (Guardian Thursday November 20 p.23)

At first glance, the issue between Derby County’s  board of directors and Brian Clough, their abrasive young manager, is purely domestic. The remarkable success of Clough and his team however, magnifies the issue to one of wider interest.

Neither Clough nor his assistant Peter Taylor have signed five year contracts drawn up for them by the board last summer. As a result, they are technically free to leave as and when they wish.

Last weekend, it was reported from Spain that Barcelona were contemplating an offer of £9,000 a year, tax free.

The affair became inflammatory when Derby’s Chairman, Sydney Bradley, was reported to have suggested that the offer could have been a fabrication. Clough…”blew his top” and made a statement that he “would consider offers…from anywhere”.

 

 

What Really Happened – Saturday 15 November 1969

Football Round Up – Ronald Atkin  (Observer 16 November 1969 p.24)

The Manchester derby pulled in the season’s biggest crowd, 63,000, and the fact that City beat United at Maine road for the first time in 10 years – and by four goals too.

The League leaders, Everton, failed to puncture Chelsea’s unbeaten home record but will be satisfied with their merited draw.

Leeds might have expected to do better than a draw at Southampton, but they ran into a Ron Davies back to fitness and good form.

Liverpool at last halted their slump with a clear victory over West Ham, whose record at Anfield is something that Ron Greenwood would rather not hear about.

 

Man City 4 Man Utd 0 – Arthur Hopcraft (Observer 16 November 1969 p.24)

The game reiterated United’s current condition as one of the lesser equipped sides in the First Division and re-emphasised with much style, that City are among the very best. This was a performance of high quality from City, whose shrewdness in the middle of the field was dramatically complemented by a rich flourish of enterprise at the arrow head of the attacks.

For United and their supporters it was plainly a bitter experience, a confrontation in the emotional atmosphere of hope and fear that always ends these derby matches with the clearest possible exposition of the sides’ numerous and varied insufficiencies.

 

Chelsea 1 Everton 1 – Hugh McIlvanney (Observer 16 November 1969 p.24)

This was a match that outlived its strength, declining after an hour of surging incident to end in subdued anticlimax.

The weather made the perfect comment when an unnatural twilight settled on Stamford Bridge during the last 20 minutes and an icy rain swept across the floodlit ground.

Both teams, having played with intensity and intelligence for so long, we now resigned to dead lock and they seemed grateful for anything that obscured their final perfunctory exchanges.

Perhaps they have given too much too soon. Certainly the pleasure the 50,000 spectators took from a relentlessly inventive and competitive first half was sufficient to encourage a tolerant response to that disappointing conclusion.

Tottenham  2  WBA  0 – Tony Pawson  (Observer 16 November 1969 p.24)

Spurs have kept their supporters on short rations in their home matches, but they were more generous against West Bromwich Albion, winning with style and assurance. Throughout they were prompted by the rich invention of Gilzean and Greaves whose deft and delicate touches lent enhancement to the game.

Gilzean can be irritatingly languid, but this was a day when he was cool and decisive, unobtrusive master of the midfield. The restless bustle of Albion was disdainfully dismissed by his unhurrying precision. In his quiet way he covered more ground than anyone else and was at the heart of every telling move.

Greaves has lost some of the hunger for goal and the devastating certainty of shot. But no one is quicker to spot an opening, no one more adept at winning space in a packed penalty area. Experience has added a whimsical humour and philosophic acceptance of misfortune that is an endearing oddity in the current age of harsh, unsmiling endeavour.