March 1973

Note : The news from thirty years ago has an archive below

As appeared in Rothman's Football Yearbook 1973-74 (4th year) :

The Queen Anne Press, London 1973

March

1 W.B.A. sign David Shaw from Oldham for 80,000 pounds. . . Jimmy Hill is appointed as commercial consultant of Fulham . . . John Fitzpatrick of Manchester U. is advised to give up football due to an arthritic condition in his knee joints.

2 Ted MacDougal1 is not eligible to play for West Ham today, because his registration didn't arrive in time at the League's office due to the railway strike. The club fail to confirm the signing by sending a telegram to the League. . . West Ham lose to Ipswich 1-0, and C. Palace are beaten at Coventry.

3 Tottenham are the League Cup winners! In a disappointingly flat Final, they beat Norwich 1-0 with a goal by sub. Ralph Coates, who came on for the injured John Pratt in the middle of the first half. . . All three title contenders win. Leeds with the help of a controversial penalty at Derby, Liverpool at Goodison, where two Hughes' goals settle the local derby, and Arsenal at home v Sheffield U. After this game Bertie Mee reveals that they wanted to postpone the game because of injuries and illness, but the League refused. 'I am not unhappy about the decision' he said, 'as long as other clubs are treated the same way.' . . . Alex Stepney breaks two fingers in the dying minutes of the game v W .B.A. and will be out of action for at least a fortnight. . . A group of Manchester businessmen would like to take over United and are willing to pay a high price for a controlling interest. . . Bristol R. sign Alan Warboys for 35,000 pounds from Sheffield W.

5 Ray Kennedy (illness) and Kevin Beat tie (injury) are out of the England U-23 squad.

6 Norwich sign Ian MelIor (Manchester C.) for 65,000 pounds, despite Malcolm Allison's objection to the deal. The club Directors have decided that some money must be recouped from transfer deals. . . Charlton have their smallest post-war crowd fora league match-they beat Halifax 1-0 . . . Liverpool sign Peter Spiring from Bristol C, for 60,000 pounds.

7 Derby are the only British team to lose in a European competition-Leeds, Liverpool, Tottenham and Hibernian all win! . . . Ajax beat Bayern Munich 4-0 in the European Cup-a special chartered plane takes a party of English managers and coaches to the match.

8 The Chelsea v Arsenal Cup-tie will be televised on a special close circuit channel to several cinemas in N. London. With the permission of the F.A., about 15,000 people will see the game live on giant screens. . . Over 8 1/2 million pounds was spent on the transfer market, which closed for the season rather quietly. Last deals, Don Gillies, Morton to Bristol C. 30,000 pounds, Bertie Lutton, Brighton to West Ham 15,000 pounds, Alan Tarbuck, Preston to Shrewsbury 14,000 pounds, Paul Aimson, York to Bournemouth 12,000 pounds, Ron Wigg, Watford to Rotherham 10,000 pounds, Graham Rathbone, Grimsby to Cambridge 4,000 pounds and Bobby Noble, Colchester to Southport for 2,000 pounds.

9 Derby players will collect only 100 pounds per man if they win the European Cup. . . Malcolm Allison writes: 'My row with Manchester City directors this week has gone right to the heart of football's greatest problem. It has been about moneythe need for it, the balancing of it against such assets as young, First Division-class players. My directors insisted that we sold Ian MelIor, a player of striking potential. They are responsible for the club, and I'm not going to resign.'

10 The neck-and-neck race continues on top of the table-all three leading teams win . . . Liverpool's new 60,000 pounds stand is officially opened by the Duke of Kent, and the Shankly team beat Southampton 3-2 with a late Kevin Keegan winner. . . Arsenal win at Ipswich, but Radford is injured and is doubtful for the Cup. . . Joe Mercer receives a great ovation at Maine Road before the match, and his team, Coventry beat Manchester C. 2-1-Lee misses a penalty. After the game Mercer says: "1'm really pleased, but I don't regard it as putting one over on City. How can 1 when I know these lads so well.' . . . Malcolm Allison: 'Gordon Milne has done a very good job at Coventry' . . . Trevor Cherry becomes the second Leeds player to be booked eight times in a season, . , The entire Wolverhampton half-back line is booked at Selhurst Park, along with the Palace player Bobby Bell . . . Osgood plays in the back-four for Chelsea and wins universal praise. He says: "1 fancy playing in the defence-when I am 40!'

12 Pele plays his first-and probably last-game in London, when his club, Santos, meet Fulham at Craven Cottage. The Londoners win 2-1 with goals by Pinkney and Earle. Pele scored from a penalty. Edu is the star of the match, and the Brazilians' silky football delights Fulham's best crowd of the season-21,464 . . . Kevin Keegan tips a Derby v Coventry F.A. Cup Final.

14 The 'Evening Standard' reports that the Football Association will probe the apparent defiance by Chelsea of a two-match disciplinary ban on defender Ron Harris. Harris played for a makeshift Chelsea in a friendly match against the British Police at Hartley Wintney, Hampshire. Vernon Stokes, chairman of the Commission which barred Harris, is convinced that Chelsea have defied the ban, and says: 'This is the worst contravention of the rules I have ever experienced. Never before have I known a League club to break an official suspension.' But Chelsea manager Dave Sexton vigorously denies that his club had defied the ban. 'Yes, Harris did play incognito. It was a private match on a private ground and was purely a training exercise for two of my players'. Ron Harris comments: 'There were only police there and so it must have been within the law. It was a private match and as far as we were concerned just a training day. The only reason why people are upset is because I scored our goal. It was a great goal, too !'

15 Panathinaikos are banned for two matches by the Greek F.A. because of misconduct by their players last Sunday in a game which was abandoned after 84 minutes. . . Dr. Artemio Franchi is elected as the new President of UEFA. He receives 21 votes, Sandor Barcs (Hungary), acting president, seven, and Denis Follows, four 0 0 . Santos were today accused of blackmail as they prepared to fly home to Brazil after their annual world tour. Plymouth, who beat Pele's team 3-2 in a friendly at Home Park last night, claim they were blackmailed into paying the club an additional 2,0000 pounds. The storm grows when Fulham allege that the Brazilians accused them of 'fiddling' the gate receipts for their friendly at Craven Cottage on Monday. Plymouth and Fulham are making reports to the Football Association and if FIF A decide to investigate the complaints and find against Santos, they could be banned from playing in England again.

16 Bill Garner (Chelsea) and John Radford (Arsenal) are both declared unfit for the big London cup-tie between the two teams.

17 Chelsea and Arsenal draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge-all the goals are scored in the first half-hour of an exciting match ... Leeds beat Derby 1-0 with a disputed goal, and Sunderland are in the semi-finals for the first time since 1956 . . . Before the Wolverhampton v Coventry tie, Derek Dougan is actually knocked out by a ball and needs treatment. He plays extremely well in his team's 2-0 win. He says: 'I was still dazed for a long time afterwards. I don't know how I headed on to Richards for our first goal. I saw two balls coming and I must just have picked the right one' . . . Manchester U. confirm that former manager Frank O'Farrell has 'issued a writ claiming due wages for breach of contract'. . . . In the League, Liverpool win 1-0 at Stoke and are now two points clear at the top of Div. 1. . . . Ted MacDougal1 scores his first goal for West Ham v Manchester C. and the English international Tony Currie is sent off at Everton . . . In Scotland, Dundee, Ayr and Rangers are in the semi-finals of the Cup, but Celtic and Aberdeen need a re-play after a 0-0 draw at Parkhead.

19 Leeds manager Don Revie clearly commits his team to a treble target: 'We shall play our strongest possible team for everything we are involved in-Championship, Cup, Cup Winners Cup.' They are drawn against Wolverhampton in the semifinal, while Sunderland will play either Chelsea or Arsenal. 0 . Tommy Docherty refutes the allegation that Manchester U. are kicking their way out of relegation trouble. He says: 'If we were playing it too rough, Sir Matt Busby would ask me to tone it down.'

20 Johann Cruyff refuses to fly with his team to Munich, claiming that he suffers from a knee injury. . . Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in the F.A. Cup re-play, with the help of a controversial penalty. . . Frank O'Farrell is suing Manchester U. for 78,000 pounds, a sum which represents his salary for three and a half years of contract plus loss of income from bonuses and newspaper articles. . . Keith Weller is in the Football League squad for the match against the Scottish League. . . Bert Head is promoted to general manager at Palace. Chairman Ray Bloye said: 'Mr. Head will be running the whole complex here. There has always been a gap between the board and the team manager, and this is a bid to fill it. Within the next few weeks, it is our intention to appoint a first-class team manager, who will set about planning for the 1973-74 season'.

21 Derby reach the European Cup semi-final by beating Spartak Trnava 2-0 . . . All English clubs are through to the same stage in other international competitions, but Hibernian are out following a 3-0 defeat at Split. . . Malcolm Macdonald, the Newcastle striker, is sent-off against Bologna in the Anglo-Italian tournament.

22 Sir Alf Ramsey picks Gordon Banks to play for an F .A. XI in Gibraltar. . . The F.A. officially intervene in the Santos row. A spokesman says: 'We have written to the Brazilian F.A. to give them the opportunity of refunding the money to Plymouth. If we don't get any satisfaction we will refer the matter to FIFA' . . . John Robson is suspended for two matches.

23 Liverpool will play Tottenham in the UEFA Cup. . . Leeds draw Hajduk Split in the Cup Winners Cup, and Derby are paired with the Italian champions Juventus . . . Bertie Mee attacks the idea of not playing extra time in the Cup Final: 'It is purely a financial gimmick to raise cash for the parent association. It is unfair on spectators to be expected to pay another 4 or 5 pounds to see a re-play.' . . . Manchester U. are reporting Malcolm Macdonald (Newcastle) to the League for his allegations against them after they had beaten Newcastle 2-1 at Old Trafford . . . Notts Co. issue a writ against Bournemouth over their conduct in the Don Masson transfer mix-up last October. Notts Co. chairman says that Bournemouth withdrew from the deal after agreeing to sign Masson for a large fee.

24 Mike Doyle misses a penalty at Maine Road and Arsenal go on to win 2-1 v the City, thus keeping up their challenge for the championship. . . Liverpool beat Norwich, but Leeds drop a point at home v Wolverhampton . . . Eamon Dunphy is sent off at Burnley for arguing with the referee, and as both Burnley and Q.P.R. win, the promotion issue seems to be settled in the Second Division. . . The 'Sunday People' publish an article which states that several clubs or their agents paid out large sums of money under various disguises to sign schoolboy players.

25 Arsenal will investigate the allegations made against them concerning the signing of David Price, an England schoolboy international. The F .A. will also be looking into the article, which named two other clubs. . . Derby ask John Charles to be their special adviser when they face his old club Juventus in the European Cup.

26 George Best says that he is willing to play football again-but only for N. Ireland and not for Manchester U. The Irish selectors are interested, but Tommy Docherty states that Best's suspension is registered with FIFA and he cannot play for anybody without the club's permission. . . Arsenal beat C. Palace 1-0 and join Liverpool on top of the table with 52 points. . . Stoke ease their relegation problem by beating Coventry.

27 Two Channon goals secure a draw for the Football League against the Scottish League at Hampden Park-only 18,548 spectators see the match. . . Walsall manager John Smith resigns over an argument concerning the substitution of a player.

28 Wales beat Poland 2-0 at Cardiff, with goals by Leighton James and Trevor Hockey. They are now joint first with England in Group 5 of the World Cup. . . N. Ireland draw with Portugal 1-1 at Coventry-Martin O'Neill scores first for N. Ireland, but Eusebio equalises five minutes from the end.

29 Billy Bremner, Leeds skipper, appeals successfully against a caution-for the second time in 16 days. . . Alan Hunter is unhappy at Ipswich and asks them for a transfer.

30 'No rush for a new chief at Palace'-say the morning papers, but by lunchtime it is announced that Malcolm Allison will take over as manager. He arrives in London at 2 p.m. and signs the contract an hour later. His salary is reputed to be 13,000 pounds plus bonuses, and ties him to the ambitious London club for five years. At a press conference, Allison says: 'I am back home after spending 8 years in the provinces. I had some happy times at Manchester, but recently my relationship with the players has soured-I couldn't motivate them. Palace is a club with a vast potential and I am looking forward to the challenge' . . . Geoff Hurst is considering an offer to play in South Africa during the summer. . . Arsenal send 33,000 pounds to Sheffield for Cup Semi-final tickets to beat V.A.T. which comes into operation on Aprill . . . Southampton fine Ron Davies for 'breach of contract' . . . Brazil might play an all-star Irish side in Belfast during their forthcoming tour. . . Special security precautions are made for the Israeli national team at Heathrow-they'll play West Ham on Wednesday.

31 C. Palace beat a London club in a league match for the first time in 32 attempts! They defeat Chelsea 2-0 -a good start for Malcolm Allison, who receives a tremendous ovation from the crowd. . . Pat Jennings saves two penalties at Liverpool and his world-class display costs the league leaders a valuable point. . . Both Arsenal and Leeds lose. . . the latter having collected only two points in their last three matches. . . Seven players are sent off-a record for a Saturday-the total now 78 for the season! . . . Jimmy Reid, the Clydeside shipworker, wants to help the Scottish pro. footballers in the battle with the F .A. over disciplinary reforms.