This coming Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of what I regard as one of the blackest days in Notts ‘ long history. The occasion was a 1-0 defeat in the first round of the FA Cup to Runcorn of the Cheshire League. Non League football in those days was not as structured as it is now, so it’s difficult to judge what standard Runcorn were at, but the fact that they used to play the reserve sides of the likes of Tranmere and Chester, suggests that it wasn’t all that good.
Apparently there was a sloping pitch and a layer of snow on it, but the Notts performance that day was absolutely dire and there were no excuses.
The team that day was Rose, Ball, Gibson, Thompson, Needham, Keith Smith, Weaver, Farmer, Jack Smith, Bradd and Elliott. Sub. McGovern. For Terry Thompson, a wing half signed from Wolves the previous season, it was the last time he played in the first team.
The only consolation was in the reaction to the defeat - wins in 3 of the next 4 games.
To me this was just about the worst defeat ever. I got a massive amount of stick from my Forest supporting classmates and it took ages to live it down. I guess the only other defeats which come close to matching this debacle were a home defeat to Rhyl in the 1950s (but that was before my time) and the more recent losses to Havant and Waterlooville and Salford City, but the Runcorn match stands out.
Does anybody remember going to the match (there were over 6000 there).
Just hope we can mark the anniversary with a win at Luton....
