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Spring 2006

Bob's 1970 -71 Diary

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May 2006

31 May

Next Generation News

1) Nicky Summerbee, son of Mike Summerbee has left Conference National side, Tamworth. He joined them in February and played 4 League games.

2) Paul Trollope, son of John Trollope (Swindon Town), has retired from playing at Bristol Rovers. He took over as Caretaker manager in September, and was appointed first team coach in November.

Though registered to play, he did not play at all last season, and his last match was for Bristol Rovers on 7 May 2005 a 1-0 win at home against Wycombe Wanderers in League Two. He came on in the 78th minute, when it was already 1-0. He played for Wales 4 times.

30 May

Next Generation News

1) Frank Lampard, son of Frank Lampard, and Michael Owen - son of Terry Owen (Bradford City) both play in England's friendly v Hungary at Old Trafford. The final score was 3-1 to England. This was Frank's 39th cap in which he has scored 10 goals and he played the whole 90 minutes. Frank had missed the last game v Uruguay - the first in 30 England matches - due to injury. It is Michael was substituted in the 65th minute when the score was still 2-1. This was Michael's 76th game in which he has scored 35 goals.

2) Martin Allen, son of Dennis Allen (Bournemouth) has left as manager of Brentford after 2 years reportedly due to the lack of ambition of the club's board.

28 May

Cups,Ups and Downs: 2005-2006

Prior to the World Cup, and now the domestic season's play-offs are over bringing the season belatedly to a close, here's a review of some of the Bob 70-71 Players achievements, or failures in 2006-2007.

(NB Looks like I started this and forgot to finish it!!!, Apologies, Bob)

Peter Taylor (Southend United) Peter finally helped to lead Hull City out of Division Three by coming runner's-up. Automatic promotion.

Neil Warnock (Rotherham United) Neil's Sheffield United won the second automatic promotion slot into the Premiership.Sheffield United were founder menmbers of the division, but were relegated to the Division One / Championship after two seasons and have been there ever since. Neil has been the sixth manager to attempt to restore Sheffield United, and he was in charge when they narrowly missed out in third place, losing in the Play-Offs in 2002-3

27 May

Ellis Leaves

Sam Ellis (Sheffield Wednesday) leaves Leeds United at the end of his contract by mutual consent.

Email Subject: Hollins Brothers

You ask how come Dave Hollins (Aldershot) was  a Welsh international and (his brother) John (Chelsea) an England player?  

Dave was born in Bangor where his father was playing for Bangor Town. 

They later moved back to England where John was born. 

I think that there was an elder brother who broke his leg early on in his career and never made the grade.

Graham Hedger

26 May

More Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore Mug

Cancer Research Charity shops are selling a lot of England products to raise money for, er, cancer research. Included is the mug pictured, which cost 2-99 pounds, and pin badges of Bobby Moore in that famous World Cup winning celebratory pose on the shoulders of his team mates.

See Bobby Moore Fund - Cancer Research UK products

Also if you go to the BBC website you can download the image as a wallpaper for your desktop. (I'm presuming a 2006 understanding of computer terms here, not 1966 - though hardy paper to protect your work-table top may be quite handy, too...)

BBC SPORT Football World Cup 2006 England World Cup wallpaper

Gorman Leaves

John Gorman (Celtic) leaves Wycombe Wanderers, who finished a respectable 6th in League Two, losing the Play-off semi-final to Cheltenham. At the end of the season, John had taken temporary leave of absence due to the death of his wife Myra from cancer

25 May

Next Generation

Established England international Michael Owen - son of Terry Owen (Bradford City) took the unusual step of playing for England B in an effort to get match fitness prior to the World Cup tournament. The home match against Belarus played at Reading's Madejski Stadium was lost 2-1. Michael came off in the 61st minute when it was still 1-1.

Tobias Linderoth, son of Anders Linderoth (Helsingborgs IF), plays in Sweden's friendly at home to Finland in Gottenburg. The match is a 1-1 draw and Tobias was substituted in the 46th minute.This is Tobias's 57th cap for Sweden, he has scored once.

24 May

Frank Gray is appointed the manager of Conference National side, Grays Athletic. Frank had been manager of Farnborough Town.

23 May

Following the club's relegation from League 2 to the Conference, Paul Hart (Stockport County) steps up from his unpaid advisory role at Rushden and Diamonds to become the manager.

19 May

Sammy McIlory (Man U) becomes manager of National Conference side Morecambe, having taken over as Caretaker Manager in November 2005.

14 May

Bobby Moore Clothing

Burtons have teamed up with The Bobby Moore Fund which raises money for and awareness of Bowel Cancer. Anyone buying the Booby Moore shirt for 12 pounds will contribute 2 pounds to the fund, and there is a 3 pound wristband in the syle of a laced bootlace to purchase, also.

Anyone going to Burtons will see pictures of Bobby all over the store. I presume this is in part a build-up for the World Cup, but I personally was in '66 heaven looking around one store in Leeds.

See Bobby Moore Fund - Burton products

Best of Moore, and , er, More of Best

Meanwhile WH Smiths are selling an excellent exclusive magazine all about Bobby Moore, priced 6-99 pounds, which also ties in nicely with the World Cup. The magazine producers have also made one for George Best, and both are available to buy online.

See Sporting Legends - Bobby Moore - Gentleman and Player
and Sporting Legends - George Best - His Greatest Matches

Sir Geoff Hurst in Advert

World Cup Final Hat-trick hero, Sir Geoff Hurst is starring in an advert for McDonalds. Sir Geoff has long been the organisation's Director of Football, and as part of their promotion to win World Cup finals' tickets, Sir Geoff is seen talking to someone who doesn't recognise who he is. The punchline (from memory) is along the lines that only those interested in football need apply.

http://www.visit4info.com/details.cfm?adid=32914 reports:

A man sits and asks 1966 World Cup Hero what line of business he is in, and before Geoff can answer the mans mobile rings and he answers in a typical salesman speak, so Geoff walks away, as this happens football pundit Andy Gray is narrating the advert about the McDonald's Text To Win World Cup Tickets promotion.

See www.mcdonalds.co.uk

13 May

Royle Leaves

Joe Royle has left Ipswich Town in the Championship after finishing just 15th this season.

10 May

Peacock Leaves

Keith Peacock (Charlton Athletic) has left Charlton Athletic as Assistant Manager following the resignation of Alan Curbishley. Keith, who spent his entire playing career at the club and is Charlton's second most played player behind Sam Bartram, had been on the management team since 1991.

8 May

Hurst Book

Sir Geoff Hurst releases a new book 'World Champions: Relive the Glorious Summer of 1966'.

www.amazon.co.uk describes it in the following way:

In this lavishly illustrated commemorative book, England's World Cup hero, Sir Geoff Hurst, describes how he and his team mates took on and defeated the football world in the glorious summer of 1966. He relives all the action, on and off the pitch, as the England team embarked on the quest to capture the sport's biggest prize.

Sir Geoff has provided photographs from his personal collection and these, together with numerous personal reminiscences from a host of celebrities - including Terry Wogan, Dickie Bird, Lulu, Sir Jackie Stewart, David Essex, Sir Alex Ferguson, Tony Blackburn, Henry Cooper, John Peel and Glenda Jackson - and flashbacks to the films, news events and music of that year, brilliantly capture the time and place of England's greatest sporting achievement.

Next Generation News

Scot Gemmill, son of Archie Gemmill (Preston N.E.), has left Oxford United after playing only17 minutes of football to join New Zealand Knights in Australia's Hyundai A-League.

5 May

Brian Little (Aston Villa) leaves League One side Tranmere Rovers after finishing 18th.

3 May

Classic Football

Just a note to anyone who hasn't found it yet ... look up Sky channel 442. The ESPN Classic channel shows classic sport clips, and though there has only been a narrow range of available shows there is some real classic football included among some irrelevant basketball shows.

For instance, this week they have been showing 60s and 70s European Cup Finals (usually at 6-30 pm and 10-30pm). I personally haven't seen these since they were shown live at the time of the event. I hope I haven't missed the channel's re-showing of the 70-71 final, yet, or as a Leeds United fan, the 1974-75 Final (so I can throw my seat at the telly!), but if I have, I get the feeling they will come round again eventually.

There are old Superstars episodes, too, and I have wiled away several hours watching old Liverpool matches and a Eusebio Special.

If you have Sky telly set it as a favourite, it is amazing what pops up on the channel when you are flicking through and would otherwise settle for watching boring unimportant things like, say, the news or nature documentaries. Personally I force my son to watch it so he gets a decent history lesson for once in his life...

You can plan your viewing at DeadGoodSport Sky 442

England v Germany 2006

UK terrestial television channel, Channel 5, hosted a charity match England v Germany: The Legends tonight. Shown live on the channel, the game held at Reading’s Madjeski Stadium aimed to raise money for the British Red Cross & The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

The England Team included England Rugby international, Ben Cohen, who is the nephew of 1966 England World Cup winner, George Cohen. He played the opening 12 minutes. Sadly I couldn't watch the whole game, but I believe I saw England 1966 squad goalkeeper, Peter Bonetti on the bench for England.The final score was 4-2 to Germany.

See england v germany the legends five.tv

Tony Currie Update

Tony Currie

Desparately trying to get the site back up to date after putting things on hold during my degree is a little like swimming in custard. But it does mean that I keep finding gems I have missed up to now. One such is an interview with Tony Currie, which you can now see at Where are they now?.

I'm not entirely sure how old the article is as it lists his nephew, Darren, as being at Wycombe Wanderers whom he left in August 2004.

Tommy Spencer

Most interestingly the article states that Tony Currie's assistant as Sheffield United's Community Officer is Tommy Spencer, who was at Workington in 1970-71 season. Tommy is added to the site for the first time. Indeed his is the first time I have ever referred to a player at Workington in 1970-71, so to celebrate, I have given Workington their own page and included everyone from the Rothman's Football Yearbook for 1970-71 season.

John Burridge

Included in this team is John Burridge (Workington), the goalkeepr who played for several hundred clubs, and did not end his League career until the 1995-96 season. Peter Shilton was the last playing player from the FKS World of Soccer Stars, but I'm guessing that John will be the Bob 70-71 Player who played the last ever League match - certainly if one excluded youth team players from 70-71.

Wikipedia

Also the online free encyclopedia Wikipedia seems to making a point to include biographies of footballers, and thus it makes a fascinating read. Career details are becoming more complete as I found out reading the entry for Tony Currie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

To see a list of all the players included so far, visit Category Football (soccer) players by country - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, then choose a country !

1 May

Dalglish Plays Charity Match

Kenny Dalglish (Celtic) returned to the playing field for a whole 53 seconds in the 1986 Liverpool v Everton Charity Cup rematch. The game played at Anfield was played to raise money for the Marina Dalglish Appeal.

It was shown live on UK TV's satellite channel Sky One, and the final score was 1-0 to Liverpool.

Liverpool's Official site reports the following at REDS LEAVE IT LATE TO WIN REPLAY 86

Almost 20 years to the very day Liverpool clinched an historic league and cup double against Everton at Wembley, a magnificent crowd of 32,947 turned out to see John Durnin grab a 90th minute winner for Liverpool in a charity re-match of the 1986 final.

Reds and Blues joined forces at Anfield this afternoon to raise money for the Marina Dalglish Appeal as legends from both divides dug out their boots again to restage the first ever all-Merseyside FA Cup final. The crowd had to wait a full 90 minutes before Liverpool could grab the goal that would secure a hard-fought 1-nil victory but there were no complaints from a delirious Kop.

After an emotional minute's applause to remember the lives of Denise McAllister and Brian Labone, it was game on again as 10 of the players who starred at Wembley for the Reds back in '86 (Craig Johnston's place was taken by Steve McMahon) took on their Everton counterparts, captained by Kevin Ratcliffe.

For Kenny Dalglish, the man who organised the day, the action lasted all of 53 seconds! Unable to reach a Jan Molby pass out towards the wing, the Reds Player-Manager made his first substitution of the game – himself. As he carried on jogging right off the pitch and towards the bench, laughter rang out from all four corners of the ground.

The substitution did little to dampen Liverpool's goal threat however and the deadlock was almost broken after just three minutes through the unlikely figure of Dave Watson. The Liverpool-supporting defender, who joined Everton three months after the original final was played, spectacularly headed against his own bar with Bobby Mimms easily beaten. Fortunately for Everton, the ball rebounded to safety.

With waistlines a good few sizes bigger and knees no longer as steady, the pace of the game was anything but frantic. Chances were few and far between and while the first-half never seriously threatened a goal after Watson's near-miss, the game was worth watching for Steve McMahon's antics alone. The midfielder had flown in from Singapore to play and in didn't take him long to show he's lost none of his trademark bite. Snapping into every tackle and disputing every decision that didn't go Liverpool's way, McMahon was soon involved in an ongoing tussle with Peter Reid. With the equally competitive Kevin McDonald alongside him, the pair were determined that Everton weren't going to enjoy a leisurely stroll around the Anfield pitch.

Goalless at half-time, Dalglish brought himself back on for the restart and his re-introduction brought the game to life. With Molby pulling the strings in midfield, Liverpool upped the pace and might have taken the lead but for a great save from Mimms when Dalglish found himself with a rare yard of space in the box. The Everton 'keeper was twice called into action moments afterwards when first Rush then Barnes tried their luck in the box.

With the game looking destined to end in stalemate, John Durnin popped up in the 90th minute to score the goal that would win the game and break the Everton hearts. Anfield loved it!

Liverpool: Bruce Grobbelaar, Mark Lawrenson, Jim Beglin, Steve Nicol, Ronnie Whelan, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish, Kevin McDonald, Ian Rush, Jan Molby, Steve McMahon. Subs: Alan Kennedy, Bob Bolder, Gary Gillespie, John Barnes, Ray Houghton, John Durnin, John Wark, Gary Ablett

Everton: Bobby Mimms, Alan Harper, Neil Pointon, Kevin Ratcliffe, Dave Watson, Peter Reid, Trevor Steven, Adrian Heath, Graeme Sharp, Paul Bracewell, Ian Snodin. Subs: Barry Horne, Ian Atkins, Paul Wilkinson, Alan Irvine, John Bailey.

See www.replay86.com

Women's FA Cup Final 2006

With my team Leeds United reaching the Women's FA Cup final for the first time, this season, I made a point of cheering them on by watching the live broadcast on BBC 1. Sadly, they were thumped 5-0 by a strong Arsenal side who therefore won the cup for their 7th time in 7 final appearances.

So why do I mention this? Is it because this was an Arsenal League and FA Cup double, just like the 1970-71 season for men???

No.It's more relevent than that! Yes, the very first Women's FA Cup final was held in ... the 1970-71 season.

The 70-71 final saw Southampton beat Stewarton and Thistle 4-1. Southampton went on to retain the trophy for two more years and ultimately won 8 of the first 11 finals - being runner-up in two of those they didn't win. This meant they appeared in all of the first ten finals, or to put it another way, every final in the 1970s.

Their crown as most people know was eventually handed on to the Doncaster Belles who dominated women's football in the1980s and early 90s, but since then it's been all Arsenal. They have won the treble (League, FA Cup, League Cup) twice in 1993 and 2001, and the double (League and FA Cup) a three further times.

See TheFA.com - Gunners grab the double

April 2006

25 April

Brian Labone (Everton) dies. See obituary

19 April

Pub Football

Many thanks to Jason for sending this link for Carlsberg advert for 'Probably the best Pub Football team in the World'. The advert follows a pub team which includes Bob 70-71 Players, Sir Bobby Charlton, brother Jack Charlton, Alan Ball, Peter Shilton, and Sir Bobby Robson as manager. I think you will agree is truly a classic.

See Probably Greatest Pub Team in World - Google Video.

This is the complete version of the advert, which I have so far never seen broadcast in its entirity - even the t.v.'s long version is a little shorter than this one.

Thanks also to Danny for spotting this article by one of the players who provided the opposition. This can be found at http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1755736,00.html:

Bobby Charlton bruised my ribs

by Ben Lyle
Tuesday April 18, 2006

I have faced the "greatest pub team in the world" and survived. After years of playing on the muddy commons of south London, I finally made it on to the same turf as my football heroes - England stars of yesteryear, from Sir Bobby Charlton to Bryan Robson. We may not have met at Wembley or Old Trafford, as in my schoolboy dreams - but the potholed pitch east of Barking was good enough.

The occasion was the filming of a pre-World Cup commercial in which the stars don their kits to take on a team of bona-fide amateurs. Said amateurs were cobbled together by the ad's director, friends and acquaintances who had, at some point, turned out for his side on a Saturday morning. It's fair to say that we fancied our chances. For all their England caps, their average age was 51. It was the first time in years that I felt young on a football field as I sized up my opposite number, septuagenarian Jack Charlton.

Before kick-off, the younger Charlton, 68, confessed he hadn't pulled on his boots for three or four years. He told me he could feel "the buzz" building, though. To recap, that's Bobby Charlton (World Cup winner and European player of the year 1966) telling me (south London Christian League runner-up and Battersea Juniors' most improved player 2005) that he was excited.

At first the match seemed so familiar - dark, dank surroundings, a bobbly pitch and a player (ex-Liverpool superstar Peter Beardsley) turning up late. Under the director's instructions, we started as if playing a normal game. It was my task to keep former player of the year Chris Waddle quiet and for the first 30 seconds, I did a good job.

After being dumped on my arse three times by Waddle and his snake-hipped dribbling, however, I thought I'd try my luck marking Bobby. As I did so, Bryan Robson picked up the ball in midfield and burst clear. He slipped a pass through towards Charlton, who immediately dug his elbow into my ribs and pushed me on my heels before speeding off, leaving me to eat OAP dirt. So much for my 37-year age advantage, I thought, as I watched him notch his hat trick.

During the breaks in play we passed the time playing keepy-uppy with Robson, taking pot shots at goalie Peter Shilton and laughing at Jack Charlton's belly-hugging shorts. It turned out that the pros were even taking it easy on us. Stuart "Psycho" Pearce placed his hand gently on my shoulder at one point, reminding me to "jump out of the way when I scythe you".

Despite our pre-game hopes, we didn't have a chance against the ageing maestros. They thrashed us and we loved it. Indeed, we were having so much fun that the director got exasperated and yelled "Cut". "Guys, don't forget you're the losing team. For God's sake, stop smiling." Stop smiling? Not much chance of that.

18 April

John Lyall dies

John Lyall (West Ham United) was one of the 'Back room boys' at West Ham United in the 1970-71 season which I have newly added to the site on the West Ham United page. See Obituary.

4 April

Happy Birthday Bob and 1970-71 Footballers !!! It is 7 today.

This year the site survived being put on ice several months whilst I finished a degree, but it was worth it as I got a first!

More recently it has had to take third place in my football world due to 1) me becoming my son's football team manager, and 2) my son and I having Leeds United season tickets.

But in spite of all this, the site is still going strong, and long may it do so...

2 April

Morrissey No 1 Fan

Dagenham Dave
by Morrissey

As Morrissey reaches number 3 with a single from his new album, I thought it timely to mention that he is in fact a big 60s / 70s football fan. Indeed, the cover of his 1995 single 'Dagenham Dave' features Terry Venables (QPR) as a very young lad blowing a raspberry in what looks like a football kit. The choice of Terry has something to do with him hailing from Dagenham.

The single reached number 26 in the UK charts, but was only around for 2 weeks in September 1995. Details of CD: label, RCA Victor; tracks, Dagenham Dave / Nobody Loves Us / You Must Please Remember. See Dagenham Dave and Dagenham Dave (2)

Many moons ago this site passed on the fact that Morrissey had a picture of Bobby Moore on his wall in his Los Angeles home, see November 1999.

George Best

George Best
By The Wedding Present

Unrelated pictures of Bob 70-71 Players on the covers of records is not that common. Another that comes to mind immediately is George Best on the cover of Leeds band, Wedding Present's album entitled ...George Best. Obviously the picture does relate to the album title, but it does not relate to the subject of any of the songs. This came to mind because I see Amazon are cynically attempting to re-promote the album on the back of George's recent death, which I have to say is a bit low.

The album itself was pure tribute to George at a time when his profile was at his lowest in his post-star life. It was a classic indie album of its era, though there were no charting singles on it and it reached only 47 in the UK charts, hanging around for just 2 weeks from 24 October 1987. Even a re-release with extra tracks called George Best Plus in 1997 did not trouble the charts. That said there won't be many indie music loving Leeds students of my age who won't have it collecting dust on the shelf!

Let me know if you are aware of any further examples of footballers on non-sports related singles or albums.

Scopitones - the home of The Wedding Present and Cinerama lists the following details of the George Best album.
George Best
1987.
Reception LEEDS 1CD [CD] (also released on lp and cassette- remember them!)
Produced by Chris Allison.
Tracks: Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft / What Did Your Last Servant Die Of? / Don't Be So Hard / A Million Miles / All This And More / Getting Nowhere Fast / My Favourite Dress / Shatner / Something And Nothing / It's What You Want That Matters / Give My Love To Kevin / Anyone Can Make A Mistake / You Can't Moan, Can You? / All About Eve.

George Best Plus
1997
Cooking Vinyl COOK CD 134 [CD]
Re-release of the classic 1987 debut album, with these extra tracks:
Nobody's Twisting Your Arm / Nothing Comes Easy / Don't Laugh / I'm Not Always So Stupid / Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now? / Not From Where I'm Standing / Give My Love To Kevin [Acoustic] / Getting Better / Pourquoi Es Tu Devenue Si Raisonnable?

March 2006

31 March

George Best Airport

Belfast has paid the ultimate tribute to one of its most famous ever sons, George Best, by naming the airport after him. The date it will be renamed is 22May 2006. This follows Flybe naming an airplane after him.

For the full story see BBC NEWS Northern Ireland Airport renamed after George Best

Belfast City Airport is to be renamed in honour of George Best, it has been announced.

A ceremony at the east Belfast airport is planned for 22 May, with the new signage being unveiled on what would have been his 60th birthday.

The decision followed meetings with his father, Dickie, and close relatives.

The Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend died last November after suffering organ failure.

Airport chief executive Brian Ambrose said: "We believe that renaming the airport after George is a fitting and permanent tribute to his footballing brilliance."

George's sister Barbara McNarry said the family was "absolutely delighted" by the gesture.

"The family has been consulted at every turn in the naming of the airport and have been involved in all the meetings with Brian Ambrose," she said.

"We are so delighted they have pulled out all the stops in getting this done in time for George's 60th birthday."

It is estimated that 2.2 million passengers use the airport each year.

Since his death, there has been a wide-ranging debate on how to commemorate Best in his home city, with proposals considered including a statue of Best outside Belfast City Hall.

Earlier this year, snooker star Alex Higgins launched a campaign to call a referendum on removing the letters "lfa" from Belfast and rename it "Best" city. He has since dropped this plan.

Last week, airline Flybe named one of its aircraft in honour of George Best.

The aircraft has a picture of him in his Manchester United strip and will fly between Belfast and Manchester.

The renaming move follows a similar decision to rename Liverpool Airport after one of the city's most famous sons, John Lennon, in 2002.

The exact title of the airport will be announced at the ceremony on 22 May.

Email: Regular visitors to the site will remember this email from last month...

Subject: Georgie Best

Hi,

As a Dutch fan and singer/songwriter I wrote a song about Georgie.

I'd like to know if you want to share it

All the best.

Simon

Just click to http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/bobdunning/george.htm

The song is really great and I really recommend you download it. Simon now has a website so please visit www.samalone.nl

New links

Did a bit of updating today and came across the following excellent sites for the first time...

Every Swindon player ever is listed at Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk, many with a biography. Look in the archive.

Every Hartlepool player and season is listed at Pool Stats- including Pool Stats - 1970-71 Season !!

Tony Brown has now added an amazing George Best MATCH BY MATCH page to his site.

Just in case you have missed it Nigel Mercer now has added a new feature in which he charts the careers of players through football cards (etc). So far there is , George Best, John McGrath, Peter Osgood and Martin Peters. I hope more will follow.

Where are they now?

Two new interviews by Andrew Taylor with ex-Newport County players have been added to the site. The new additions are Ronnie Radford and Richard Walden.

Thanks to Andrew Taylor this is Richard's first appearance on Bob's 70-71 Pages, and to celebrate I have added an Aldershot page.

And for no particular reason I have also now given Norwich City and QPR their own pages.

All three pages include all the players listed in the 1970-71 season Rothman's Football Yearbook, and include many players added for the first time.

27 March

A new page is under development that updates the sites old Rothmans / Sky format. Though it still has a way to go to be completed, see Current Posts Players A-Z, for this season's 'Where are they now?' of Bob 70-71 Players still in a footballing post.

25 March

Best Tribute

Goodbye to the Belfast Boy
by Cracked Flag

See www.goodbyebelfastboy.com

Email: Goodbye to the Belfast Boy

Hi,

I'm a member of Salford band Cracked Flag.

We've released a charity tribute CD to George Best available from

www.goodbyebelfastboy.com & also Man United's Megastore.

Paul Johnston

Many thanks for that Paul. The profits raised will be going to The Foundation For Liver Research - George Best Appeal (Reg Charity No 268211). At the website you can download a sample of the song and see a clip of the video. I've ordered my copy, I hope you'll do the same.

23 March

Next Generation News

Scot Gemmill, son of Archie Gemmill (Preston N.E.), has left Leicester City to become player-coach of Oxford United of League Two.

N.B. Debuts on 1 April 2006 away to Mansfield Town in the League. He comes on in the 73rd minute at 0-0, but the tie is lost 1-0. It proves to be the only time Scot plays for Oxford United.

22 March

Smith Returns

Jim Smith (Boston) returns to management at League Two side, Oxford United. He is also appointed as one of the club's directors. Jim's last role was as a coach at Southampton, but his contract was not renewed at the end of the season. The club are currently struggling to avoid relegation out of the League this season.

18 March

Newport County

Newport County

Thanks to the efforts of Andrew Taylor, the Newport County page has been added to the site, including a great new picture.

Where are they now?

Thanks also to Andrew Taylor for his interview with former Newport County player, Laurie Sheffield which can be seen at Where Are They Now? Spring 2006

17 March

Second Division Sheets

This week I hoped I was the proud owner of my very first Second Division Sheet from the FKS Wonderful World of Soccer Stars album. These sheets had to be sent for and stuck on an empty page in the album entitled 'Favourite Second Division Team'.

Sadly it proved to be just a picture of one, but in a moment of eBay greatness I was offered and given a full refund by the seller (for which many thanks), so the story did end happily for me. Not least because I can now add the names of the players who appeared on the Sunderland sheet to the site. See Sunderland.

If you are the proud owner of a Second Division Team Sheet, I would love to include the details of these sheets on to the site. If you could send me a scan of it I would be even happier! See Favourite Second Division Team.

Complete Albums

Now for some information about purchasing copies of complete FKS 1970-71 albums on www.eBay.co.uk

All of us may know to look out for an album with no writing in them or damage to the pages or cover. But I would like to warn future purchasers of the 1970-71 album that dealers are now buying up incomplete albums and using old stickers in their stock to complete the album.

Great, you may think. Well no, not really.

The problem is that the newly added pictures are often of a very poor standard, i.e. ripped out of other incomplete books, or formerly loose and therefore dog-eared from having been taken into school in the original owner's blazer pocket for two years!

These albums are often advertised as having the order sheets in tact. Well of course the sheet is in tact if no order was made from it. If no order was made from it consider how it was that the collection was completed ? Getting the last one or two pictures is always a nightmare and I doubt too many people did it. Whilst some people may have ordered from a second album especially to keep the order sheet in tact, most of us did not consider the order sheet as part of the album back in 1971.

Nerdish collectors are starting to notice this sort of thing and will almost certainly not buy an album off you if it is an obvious re-construction.

So if you just want a full set just for fun, buy one of these albums, but don't pay more than 20 to 30 pounds. If you want it for collecting purposes be a lot more particular. Ask lots of questions and be prepared to compete with other serious collectors. These albums sell from 30 to 50 pounds.

If you are the owner of a genuine complete mint-standard collection compiled in or around the 1970-71 season, well done your book is top notch! Now does it have Second Division Team Sheet (click for more information) !??? If so, these albums will sell for any price from 40 to 100 pounds (even more if you are very lucky).

Jimmy Johnstone's Funeral

BBC NEWS Scotland Final farewell for Celtic legend reports

Thousands of mourners have turned out to say their final farewells to football legend Jimmy Johnstone.

The former Celtic and Scotland winger, nicknamed Jinky, died on Monday after a long battle with motor neurone disease.

His former Lisbon Lion team-mates, the Old Firm managers and Celtic's current first team joined mourners at the St John the Baptist Church.

Many more fans gathered outside the church in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire to pay tribute to the former player.

Floral tributes were piled up in front of the church before the funeral got under way.

One, in the shape of a football, was dedicated to "Wee Jinky, Lisbon Lion".

There was a tribute of lilies "to the greatest ever Celtic" from everyone at Celtic Football Club.

After the service the cortege travelled through the east end of Glasgow to allow people to pay their respects.

The Lisbon Lions team, with captain Billy McNeill, current Rangers manager Alex McLeish and former Rangers players Ally McCoist and John Greig attended the service.

Author William McIlvanney and Glasgow councillor Alex Mosson were also at the church to pay their respects.

Others in attendance included singer Rod Stewart and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Thousands of fans lined the streets as the procession made its way to Celtic Park, where supporters had left scarves, shirts and written tributes to arguably the finest exponent of the Scottish game.

Johnstone was a member of Celtic's Lisbon Lions team, who became the first British side to win the European Cup, beating Inter Milan in 1967.

He scored more than 100 goals for Celtic and won 23 Scotland caps.

Born in Viewpark, Lanarkshire, Johnstone made his Celtic debut in 1963 and his skills on the ball earned him the nickname Jinky.

He became part of the team which won nine consecutive Scottish League titles between 1965 and 1974.

Johnstone was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2001.

The Requiem Mass was led by the Rt Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell.

He told mourners: "I sensed a tidal wave of sorrow across the land when people began to be aware that he had died, a river of sadness at the passing of the greatest ever Celtic player.

"It was the kind of sadness that eclipsed Old Firm rivalries, indeed all manner of rivalries, as Jimmy was beloved of all supporters of the beautiful game."

The Rt Rev Devine also recalled the time when Celtic Park became "the field of our dreams", his own personal memories of Jinky and paid tribute to his "immense efforts" to find funding for research into motor neurone disease.

Billy McNeill, the captain of the Lisbon Lions, told mourners Johnstone was as fond of the fans as they were of him.

"The wee man was an incredible personality and an incredible footballer," he said.

"He had unbelievable ball control, as sharp as a tack, as fit as anything, as brave as a lion.

"People talked about Jimmy's fans. Jimmy loved the fans - because he was a fan himself."

McNeill ended his tribute by saying: "Wee man - you will never walk alone, son."

Current Celtic chairman Brian Quinn said the player truly earned the title "magical".

"To see him racing down the wing at full speed, stop dead and leave the pursuing defender to storm past like a bull charging at a matador seemed almost to defy the laws of physics," said Mr Quinn.

"Twisting and turning on the proverbial sixpence he destroyed entire defences."

Meanwhile, in New York, the St Patrick's Day committee has given permission to Celtic supporters taking part in the parade to hold a minute's silence in memory of Johnstone when they stop outside St Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.

16 March

Next Generation News

Andy Gray, son of Frank Gray, has joined League One side Burnley on loan from Premiership side, Sunderland. Andy began the season with Sheffield United. As Andy scored in the first two games of his 2005-6 season, he achieved the feat of scoring on the first day of the Champuionship season with Sheffield United, and then the first day of the Premiership season with Sunderland as well !

NB Andy's debut for Burnley is a 1-0 away defeat to Stoke City in the League on 18 March 2006. His first goal comes in the next match a 2-0 home win in the League against Norwich City on 24 March 2006.

14 March

Brian Talbot (Ipswich Town) is sacked by Oxford United. Oxford are 22nd in League Two one place above losing League status.

13 March

Jimmy Johnstone dies, see obituary

7 March

Bobby's Back!

The 7-13 March, 2006 issue Match carries an advert the Bobby Charlton Soccer and Sports Academy. Presumed dying or dead, the academy runs a whole page advert, which incudes a small black and white photo of Bobby with a young pre-professional David Beckham, and advises we can 'Live the Dream'. (Peter Ridsdale need not apply).

On this site see...
Bobby Charlton Soccer Schools reported as going bust, see Summer 2005
Sir Bobby Charlton

On other sites see...
www.bcssa.co.uk
and www.matchmag.co.uk

6 March

Bob's back!

On 5 February I wrote...

Any regular visitors to the site will have noticed a near 2 month hold up in news whilst I took some time out doing my degree. I'm hoping for a final mark of 70-71 %, but as that would be graded as a 'First', I'll not hold my breath!

Some pages on the site are 6 months behind or more for this reason, and I will aim to work my way through them to get right back up to date over the next few months.

Then 13th February my computer hard drive popped taking all its information with it...All pictures, articles and emails were gone. I thank my God(s)/guardian angel(s) that this didn't happen a month earlier during the degree... But I'm afraid to everyone who sent me an email since October 2004, I have to report it is gone. I am truly sorry. If it was not featured on the site and you want to sent it to me again, I would be delighted to receive it.

Anyway, today, 200 quid poorer, with around 20 man hours lost to getting the programs up and running again, Bob and 1970-71 Footballers, finally comes active again! Now only work, family, my Leeds United season ticket commitments, and being manager of my son's football team will slow me down...

3 March

New Portrait Website

Bestie
by Richard Harris

Anyone who liked Richard's picture of George Best that appeared on this site for the first time last month, may be interested to know Richard now has his own website. Please visit pencilportraitsbyrichardharris

1 March

Peter Osgood dies. See obituary.

Next Generation News

Tobias Linderoth, son of Anders Linderoth (Helsingborgs IF), plays in Sweden's friendly away to the Republic of Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Sweden lose 3-0 and Tobias was substituted in the 70th minute with the score at 2-0.This is Tobias's 56th cap for Sweden, he has scored once.

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Further Spring 2006 news can be found at ...

News Archive

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