Evening Chronicle Football Pink (Issue 2)

[Div3North]

Evening Chronicle Football Pink

Edition Two

So sad to hear the news a few days ago of (Sir) Bobby Charlton having been diagnosed with dementia, and I know every single English football fan will wish him well, as will millions of others world-wide..... Munich survivor, one of the greatest players the world has ever seen, one of the greatest ambassadors for the sport in its entire history, a thorough gentleman, and the bloke who invented the ‘comb-over’ and thereby influenced a million haircuts ...........So this week’s Starter for Ten; how many times was Sir Bobby booked during his career, which lasted from 1956 to 1980, totalling 652 games (not counting internationals etc) – 606 (plus 199 goals) for Man U, 38 (8 goals) for PNE, who he also managed from 1973/75 and – second Starter for Ten – one game for the final club he played for, which was ........... who?

And continuing the In Memoriam after Bobby Ball and Nobby Stiles in the last few days, Requiescat in Pace Sir Sean Connery, who was one of the most charismatic and watchable film stars of the last forty-plus years, and who was famous for playing Russian submarine captains, Americans, Irish cops, everybody, all with a Scottish accent you could chop with a claymore............ and he deserves his mention in the Football Pink, because – before taking up his acting career, which he decided might last longer than the alternative – he was offered a professional contract by a well-known British Manager of a well-known British football club, which he turned down ............ So, for your ‘Back of the Net’ Hat Trick this week, (a) who was the Manager, (b) which club was it, and (c) how much per week was he offered to sign?

And I’m about to write and apologise to Mike Jackson, the (now) ex-manager of the Trannies, who lost 1-0 at home to Morecambe on Saturday, and was summarily if metaphorically tossed off Vauxhall Bridge immediately afterwards, having been in situ 105 days (which is a few more days than Napoleon got managing AFC Elba) having taken over when Mickey’s Mellon went to Eat Cake; you’ll remember that I said in last week’s Pink that very few swords of office had been publically snapped over knees, or epaulettes ripped off, and obviously Mark Palliasse, Chairman of Tranmere, must have read that and thought it might be the answer to all their problems .... which include being in 18th place in Division 4 with only 2 wins (Southend and Scunnie, both at home and both by 2-0), three draws, and five defeats – nine points from ten games, 6 scored and 12 conceded; and because I raised it, I sort-of feel responsible for him getting Ye Olde Heave-Ho ........... and it occurs to me, academically, that 2-0 is, in a different way, half a Desmond ...... but that might get too confusing! Oh, and by the way – Nigel Adkins (who’s been out of work since the end of the 2018/19 season when he quit Hull) is evens to take over at Prenton Park, where he previously played (he was a GK) 83 League games between 1983 and 1986, which was followed by seven years at Wigan and three at Bangor (and apparently he had a Lovely Day, the day he went there .....)

And so, a quick canter round the Leagues from Halloween onwards;

Le Championnat

PNE hadn’t scored at home since 29th August (5 games), and Brum had one goal in their four away trips .......and the Blues went ahead on 2 mins, PNE scored (at last) on 24 (Jaden Stockley), but Brum won it in the 85th minutes, to give the Lilies an unwanted club record of six home defeats on the bounce, and Manager Alex Neil a nasty dose of the trots ..........although they went and demolished Reading 3-0 away on Wednesday; can’t win at home, don’t lose away! And here are the scores; Wycombe Wanderers one, The Owls didn’t ...... bet Gareth thought that was a Bit of a Hoot! – and then they went to Brum and did it again, 2-1; Reading lost 3-2 at Cowsentry but stay top, two points from Bristol City and 3 points from Swansea (who drubbed – there’s a good old soccer word! – Rovers .........)

Ligue Uno

Charlton moved from 1-1-2 to 7-1-2, having won their last six; Gillingham lost their fifth in a row without scoring, but then did Crewe away 1-0; the Posh did the Pointy-nosed furry things 5-1 to move top on GD from Ipswich, and then beat Brizzle on Tuesday as Ipswich and Lincoln both lost to open up a three point lead, with Ipswich, Charlton and the Imps all on 22, and Hell and Slumberland next on 21; bottom five are Wigan (lost 3-2 at home to the Gobblers – sorry, Cobblers, and 1-0 at Blackpool), Burton and the Shrews all on 7 points, and Oxford (P9 GD-6 GF 11 = 9 pts) alongside Swimdom .......... The Tangerines peeled Burton 2-1 away, and did Wigan on Tuesday (up to 12th); Donnie hammered Lincoln 1-0 before slightly spoiling the Wombles’ return to Plough Lane with a Desmond; and SwimDon beat the Tigers 2-1 and then lost 4-2 at the Argyle............ Shrewsbury and Wigan one point out of 15; Gillingham, Crewe and the Posterior-Free Windows (Burton to you!) 3/15

Seria B

JohnLeytonStone and The Orient trussed up the Trotters 4-0 on Saturday and lost to Vegan Greenpeace (don’t you long to go down to their pitch and plant genetically-modified grass seed all over it?); Barrow did Bratfud 1-0 then lost to Grimsby by the same score; Newport beat Harrogate with an 88th minute Brandon Cooper goal (I have a mate who was a barrister who once swore that he drafted a divorce petition for a Mr and Mrs Pickles, who’d christened their only son “Branston”) but then lost to Carlisle away ............ The Exiles top with 25 points from 10; Cambridge second with 20, Vegans third, then Exeter, Carl Lyall, Cheltenham, and Portly next on 19, Vegan Greenpeace on 18 .......... Southend and Scunthorpe have both lost their last five/six respectively; LuckyLuckyStevenage have two points and Mansfield 4 from their last five games ............ The Stags and the Shrimpers haven’t won yet

Bananarama

Torquay (won their last 5, overall P7 W6) smacked Hartlepuddle 5-0 away; Chesterfield (1-0 at Yeovil) and Altrincham (1-0 at Dover) raced out of the bottom 3 to 17th and 19th respectively, leaving the GreasyPole spots to Aldershot (4 points from 5), Yeovil (4 points from 7, no wins) and the Daggers (4 pts from 6) ..........no unbeaten sides, only Yeovil without a win ............

Northern Bananas

Still Gloucester on 100% records after four games; AFC Fylde (away at Exeter, in the Cup, don’t forget) now top with 13 points from 5 following a half-Desmond at Alfreton ............. Chorley eventually score a point but not a goal; Blyth bottom, one point, two goals and a -14 GD from 5 games ; Chorley next, but only -6 GD, and Leamington also on one point, but with two games in hand

And in other news ....

Gillingham have just LoanSigned QPR keeper Joe Lumley on an emergency loan (the emergency is that their other goalkeepers can’t stop the ball going in their net (see above); Colchester have signed Watford’s Michael Folivi; Aaron Chapman replaced the injured Motherwell keeper Trevor ‘Beast’ Carson before Saturday’s 2-0 win at Livingstone, and the ‘Well promptly went out a signed GK Jordan Archer (ex Fulham) – way to go, Aaron ........... and the Posh’s antiquarian winger George Boyd (35) has signed for SalfordMoneyBags ............. and Salford have also nicked manager Richie Wellens from Swindon, and Nigel Clough has hooked the Mansfield job as of today ................ and Eddie Howe’s being touted as a possible replacement for Neil Lennon at Celtic (or the next manager at Palace, the Baggies or Newcastle – but not all at the same time)

Hit the Bar

True or false? The Music Hall and Radio comedian Ted Ray was once a right winger on the books at Liverpool .............. And has any Football League side ever scored 6 goals away from home in a League game and still lost? And who holds the record for the quickest-ever sending-off in a League game? And is Lincoln City’s ground still Sincil Bank?

FA Cup Round One week, and not a lot going on ........... no mid-week games next week, but hopefully we can get us boots mended on 14th at the Cobblers ...... and good luck to Us when we go to the Wirral on Saturday .................

And you may want to know that Sir Bobby was booked twice, it seems; once was against Argentina in the 1966 World Cup – seemingly for dissent (which is improbable, since the other side spoke Spanish and the Ref was German (Rudolph Kreitlein), so no-one understood anyone) – and he didn’t know he’d been booked for 32 years, until someone looked it up in the FA archives (no cards in those days, of course); the belief is that he was trying to peace-make when the Antonio Rattin sending-off incident arose. The other time was during a League game against Chelsea (the official version was that it was for time-wasting (although the Reds were losing at the time, so that’s unlikely), and the vox pop version is a confusion over the taking of a free kick) ............... and his final appearance (1980) was for New South Wales semi-pro side Blacktown City FC – and he scored!

And Sir Sean Connery was invited to sign for Man U by Sir Matt Busby, at a wage of £25.00pw – the equivalent of £862.31 (or £44,840 per year) at current money values ........ bargain or what? And it’s right; Ted Ray – then called Charlie Olden - was on Liverpool’s books, although he never played for the First XI; and you may remember – I’ve mentioned it before, a few years back, that Huddersfield managed to lose 7-6 at Charlton (from a 5-1 lead by the 63rd minute) on a chilly but dry Saturday 21st December 1957 (Happy Christmas!) ... and the Manager of Huddersfield at the time was .............. Bill Shankly, who managed there from November 1956 to 1st December 1959, when he resigned to take over at Anfield ....... Finally, the quickest recorded sending-off was Keith Gillespie, playing for the Blades at Reading; he came on as a sub during a break in play when the ball went into touch; before the throw was taken he’dswung an elbow at Reading’s Stephen Hunt and was red-carded – technically, because play hadn’t re-started – after zero seconds! And lastly, Lincoln’s ground is currently called The LNER Stadium - as in,

“There’s a great big door in the front of the house,
There’s a little old door in the back,
But we can’t have doors in the middle of the house,
‘Cause that’s the railroad track”

Yes, the “London North Eastern Railway Stadium” ......... about as much to do with football as the Cherry Red Records Stadium .... “’Scuse me Mister, can we have our ball back?”

See you all next week! And let’s hope for a good draw in Round Two of the FA Cup .......... actually, let’s just hope we’re in the draw for Round Two of the FA Cup!

[cashman]

i cannot recall him ever being booked or sent off?

[Div3North]

Originally Posted by cashman

i cannot recall him ever being booked or sent off?

Never was sent off, but all the sources I’ve found say what I’ve reported

I watched Man U win the title in the (63/64?) season - Law, Best, Charlton .... Fabulous side

[cashman]

Was his last un Preston? memorys not great these days. near sure he was not booked for united?

[Div3North]

Not sure - details fairly sparse - but I don’t think it was PNE. If you asked anyone I guess they’d all say he was never booked, and I don’t remember it either (but I’m as old as you) but it seems he was

[cashman]

Originally Posted by Div3North

Not sure - details fairly sparse - but I don’t think it was PNE. If you asked anyone I guess they’d all say he was never booked, and I don’t remember it either (but I’m as old as you) but it seems he was

Perhaps it was for England?just looked it up he was booked for dissent England v Argentina 66. but dont really understand what i read.

[cashman]

It was Preston played 38 times for them, then played a few for Waterford season after in 75. amazing my memorys knackered yet remembered preston lol

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Div3North

once was against Argentina in the 1966 World Cup – seemingly for dissent (which is improbable, since the other side spoke Spanish and the Ref was German (Rudolph Kreitlein)

Font of all footballing knowledge that you is your worshipfullness, but I beg to disagree with your assumption that no one knew who said, did or perpetrated whatever upon whomever, due to lingual complications.



It seems there would have been a somewhat large influence of "Auf Deutsche" parleyers in the Southern Americas & Argentina at this time due to a certain amount of "Immigration" of the Volkische kind some years previously.


Other than this minor quibble, a most enjoyable & entertaining read.