Brindley,Needham ,Stubbs,Worthington

[since41]

Bob did get some stick but I remember he turned the corner and became a cornerstone in that back line.

Nixon used to also get a lot stick until he scored 14 goals one season he then all of a sudden turned into Tricky Nicky. Great days to be a Maggie.

[upthemaggies]

1959/60 wasn't bad, 107 goals and bounce straight back to third tier. The following season showed promise for a while then I'm not sure what happend but a couple of seasons later our best assets got sold off and another period of rot set in.

On the face of it, looks like the biggest mistake during the early 60s was not replacing manager Frank Hill and instead promoting somebody from within for a 2nd spell in charge, Gary Brazil style.

1960/61 losing at home to promotion rivals Grimsby in front of 22,292 probably knocked a lot of belief out of the club, the start of a 6 home game sequence without a win, a run ending with defeat to Bury who were one of the sides to go up. Don Roby then left for Derby at the end of that season and they don't appear to have brought in an adequate replacement, Fry arrives from Newport but only plays 15 games in 61/62 and Brian Moore from Stags who makes 14 apps, Frank Hill possibly sacked prematurely on 31st October (he was the man in charge for the 59/60 promotion), Tim Coleman back into the role and finish 13th.

62/63, Lawton/Sewell era nostalgia apparently kicks in with the club reverting back to white shirts, Astle comes into the picture and starts banging them in alongside Hateley, but that terrible winter creates a backlog of more away games than home in the run-in and they only win one game on the road in the 2nd half of that season, Hateley leaves in the summer, replaced with Terry Bly who scores only 4 goals in 63/64 whilst the other new signing Mike Barber gets an injury that ultimately forces him to retire and under a player/manager Eddie Lowe (age 37) it's relegation back to tier 4. Incredibly they stick with Lowe the following season, which proves to be a then all-time low.

[since41]

On Magpie Circle Worthington recalls giving the County Road stand the V sign when he scored his one and only goal v Rotherham, a last gasp equaliser.

I was right behind the goal with my cousin who was arguing with some fans slagging him off when he slammed the ball into the net unstoppable shot with a sweave fit for a Brazilian.
Shut the whingers up to the great delight of my cousin.

[Old_pie]

62/63, Lawton/Sewell era nostalgia apparently kicks in with the club reverting back to white shirts, Astle comes into the picture and starts banging them in alongside Hateley, but that terrible winter creates a backlog of more away games than home in the run-in and they only win one game on the road in the 2nd half of that season, Hateley leaves in the summer, replaced with Terry Bly who scores only 4 goals in 63/64 whilst the other new signing Mike Barber gets an injury that ultimately forces him to retire and under a player/manager Eddie Lowe (age 37) it's relegation back to tier 4. Incredibly they stick with Lowe the following season, which proves to be a then all-time low.

Terry Bly was a crock before he arrived which is why he was sold by Peterborough? for whom he'd been banging in goals for fun. Mike Barber (QPR?) was a classy winger who loved cutting inside. I remember seeing him close up as I was on the front of the County Rd stand and I think it was the game he got crunched. My Dad was excited at the signing of Eddie Lowe, classy in his day, soon turned sour as you say.

How are we so good at being bad? Practice?

[upthemaggies]

I was right behind the goal with my cousin who was arguing with some fans slagging him off when he slammed the ball into the net unstoppable shot with a sweave fit for a Brazilian.
Shut the whingers up to the great delight of my cousin.

That's a good story.

Does anybody recall being at Saturday 27th October 1962 v Wrexham, won 3-2? This was the weekend when the Cuban Missile crisis reached boiling point with the threat of imminent nuclear war, I wonder if there was a bit of a weird atmosphere in the ground that afternoon or much chatter about it? It doesn't appear to have had any impact on the gate with people staying at home to white wash their windows and take the inside doors out of their frames to lean against the hallway walls with a matrass to create a makeshift bunker. I can imagine most people just got on with things as normal, not really appreciating the gravity of the situation pre-Threads, QED and Panorama specials frightening the living daylights out of everybody 20 years later.

[Mark_Ross]

[QUOTE=Thordardaughter;40475573]The first team I remember and memorised and can still recite today was

Brown
Brindley
Worthington
Masson
Needham
Stubbs
Nixon
Randall
Bradd
Carter
Carlin

Snap <game> We must be exact contemporaries.

I was very young and didn't really know what on earth was going on half the time, but the ferocity of our defensive line certainly sticks in the memory. "They shall not pass."

There was also some serious talent and skill.

re: DURHAM
I beg to differ. Steve "Twinkle Toes" Carter in particular ran rings round everybody - even himself.

[upthemaggies]

Terry Bly was a crock before he arrived which is why he was sold by Peterborough? for whom he'd been banging in goals for fun. Mike Barber (QPR?) was a classy winger who loved cutting inside. I remember seeing him close up as I was on the front of the County Rd stand and I think it was the game he got crunched. My Dad was excited at the signing of Eddie Lowe, classy in his day, soon turned sour as you say.

Colin Slater spoke about the Bly signing in his book, inferring Hateley might not have been sold had Eddie Lowe not been appointed. They had originally intended to stick with Coleman and discussed summer transfers with him, former manager Hill rang Slater up to tell him he thought Lowe was mad to sell Hateley as he would have kept him in the job. Machin, the chairman, apparently then withdrew all of his loans to the club once the Villa money was in the bank without informing his fellow directors.

[BanjoPie]

I can’t remember who we were playing but one of my favourite memories at the lane was seeing Stubbs tearing down the left wing towards the family stand and hitting a perfect cross for little Steve Carter to head in the net - a complete reversal of roles.

[Old_pie]

Colin Slater spoke about the Bly signing in his book, inferring Hateley might not have been sold had Eddie Lowe not been appointed. They had originally intended to stick with Coleman and discussed summer transfers with him, former manager Hill rang Slater up to tell him he thought Lowe was mad to sell Hateley as he would have kept him in the job. Machin, the chairman, apparently then withdrew all of his loans to the club once the Villa money was in the bank without informing his fellow directors.

Wow, didn't know that about Machin, verging on financial/criminally reckless behaviour. This adds to the recent thread at https://boards.footymad.net/showthread.php?t=38313049

It would have been unfair on Hateley to not give him first tier opportunity which he took to the full. Still a bit of a hero at Liverpool isn't he despite not quite fitting in?

[Piessince67]

Does anyone remember Charlie Crickmore ,there was a famous time in the 70 71 season when he got the ball in the centre circle ,clean through on goal and ran it out by the corner flag,but he was a brilliant crosser of the ball.