November 1972

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

November

1 Dave Mackay resigns as manager of Swindon . . . A three-man committee, Sir John Lang, Stan Cullis, and FA official Norman Hillier, will form the Tribunal to decide on the appeal of Larry Lloyd against a sending-off and the automatic suspension. Cliff Lloyd, secretary of the PFA will represent the Liverpool player, and filmed evidence will be admissible. . . Bob Wilson (Arsenal) is included in Scotland's squad v Denmark, although he has yet to playa League match this season.

2 Dave Mackay to take over at Nottingham F. and Maurice Evans at Shrewsbury . . . Gordon Banks, in the first interview after his accident, says he hopes to play again . . . Gary Sprake put on the transfer list by Leeds because he wants first-team football . . . The two linesmen will change into luminous orange tunics for the second half of the Tommy Lawton testimonial match as part of a League experiment following complaints from referees that they often have difficulty picking out their linesmen during floodlit matches.

3 Alan Hardaker meets TV bosses to discuss the future of television football in England. The slow-motion playbacks concerning referees' decisions is one of the topics on the agenda.

4 Don Rogers scores the only goal of the match at Selhurst Park for C. Palace v Everton . . . With Arsenal losing at home to Coventry and Leeds dropping a point at 1pswich, Liverpool, 3-1 winners over Chelsea, increase their lead to three points at the top of the table.

6 BiII Shankly says that Liverpool would like to opt out of European football for one season because the pressure of playing in domestic football is increasingly severe. . .
Brentford are drawn against Yeovil in the first round proper of the FA Cup. . .
Harry Gregg is the new manager of Swansea . . . The 16-strong England squad v Wales includes Kevin Keegan and David Nish-both uncapped at senior level.

7 Liverpool win 3-1 in Athens and go through to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup.

8 Allegations of attempted bribery to 'sell' the Football League Championship match between Leeds and Wolverhampton last season have been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Wolverhampton won the game and so prevented Leeds gaining the FA Cup and League double. But Wolverhampton defender Bernard Shaw says later that an approach had been made to him to 'sell' the match. The FA said today: 'Statements by players furnished by the Sunday People and statements obtained by the Football Association relating to allegations of bribery in connection with the match Wolverhampton v Leeds played on March 8 1972 have been considered by the Football Association. In view of the seriousness of the allegations it has been decided to send the papers to the Director of Public Prosecutions with a request that the matter be investigated.' . . . All English clubs are through to the next round in the European competitions, but Celtic are beaten 3-0 in Budapest and are out of the Champions Cup. . . 'If the current trend continues, League gates will be the lowest since the war' says the official organ of the Football League.

9 Larry Lloyd, Liverpool's defender, made disciplinary history yesterday. He became the first player to fight a three-match ban before soccer's newly-formed independent disciplinary tribunal. And he won. Lloyd, three times capped for England, was sent off in the opening game of the season by Amersham referee Gordon Kew for 'chopping and then kicking' Wyn Davies, then Manchester City's centre-forward.
Sir John Lang, 75-year-old retired civil servant; former soccer manager Stan Cullis ; and ex-referee Norman Hillier formed the three-man tribunal, which sat for 2 hr. 10 min. Neither the referee nor his linesmen were summoned to give evidence, but the tribunal did watch TV film of the incident, in which Davies was also sent off.
Sir John Lang issued a statement after the hearing that said: 'The tribunal is satisfied that Lloyd is not free from blame. It does, however, regard his sending-off as sufficient punishment and therefore quashes the sentence of a three-match suspension imposed by the Football Association.' . . . Brian Clough says that the Benfica match made him sick because his team played so much better than in the League. 'We must close the gap between us and Liverpool.'

10 Dave Mackay makes sweeping back-room changes at Nottingham F. Bob McKinlay who has been with the club for 21 years, is sacked, and the axe also falls on reserve team trainer Frank Knight and assistant youth coach Alan Hill. Des Anderson takes over from McKinlay as chief scout. . . Millwall have signed Robin Wainwright from Luton for a 10,000 pounds fee . . . In the UEFA Cup draw, Tottenham are paired with Red Star Belgrade and Liverpool will play Dynamo Berlin. . . Keith Weller is suspended for two matches. . . Peter Eustace has signed for Sheffield W. after being on loan from West Ham - 30,000 pounds . . . Les Allen is the new manager of Swindon

11 Manchester U. beat Liverpool 2-0 and the gap narrows at the top of Division 1. 75 people were arrested at Old Trafford when fans invaded the pitch before the game.

13 Injuries will keep out Shilton from the England team to play Wales in the World Cup qualifier. . . Page and Roberts are unavailable for Wales.

14 In a unique 'Old Boys' international match at Stamford Bridge, Europe beat Great Britain 5-4. Amongst the goalscorers, Puskas, Gento, and John Charles, the latter getting a hat-trick.

15 Keegan and Clemence make their debut for England, who beat Wales 1-0 with a goal by Colin Bell . . . Scotland beat Denmark 2-0 but the victory is spoiled by the sending-off of Lorimer . . . Eire are still not out of World Cup reckoning-they beat France 2-1 in Dublin. . . George Best is suspended for three World Cup matches by FIFA as a consequence of his sending-off in Sofia. . . A young Tottenham side win the Daily Express Five-a-Side trophy at Wembley.

17 John Bond signs a 10-year contract, reputed to be worth 100,000 pounds, for Bournemouth. The youngish manager says that the relationship between himself and the club's chairman, Mr. Harold Walker, is the best in the League. . . Clyde Best is dropped from the West Ham team against Derby

18 In a scandalous match, Manchester C. beat neighbours United 3-O-only two names are taken, but according to reports several players should have been sent off! . . . Derby register their first away win of the League season with a 2-1 triumph at West Ham. . . Leeds salvage a point against C. Palace at Selhurst after a 0-2 half-time scoreline.

19 Belgium draw with Holland 0-0 in a vital World Cup match. Acimovic scores for Yugoslavia v Greece to give the Yugoslavs a 1-0 win and two valuable points.

20 The fight against the new Value Added Tax (VAT) begIns. The Football League and FA are to meet to launch a 'kill V AT in sport' campaign. So far their efforts have been independent of each other's, but League president Len Shipton said last night: 'This is a matter for combined action by all clubs and parties. The extra ten per cent would, of course, have to be passed on to the customers. When I started watching League matches I paid a bob. Through VAT the lowest admission charge will be ten times as much next season.' FA secretary Denis Follows calls it 'The killer tax'. He said yesterday: 'It will have an extremely serious effect on football in this country. I can foresee the early demise of a number of clubs.' . . . The Leeds v Liverpool League Cup replay is postponed due to unfavourable ground conditions and will be played on the 22nd. It seems that the semi-finals dates will have to be altered as both Liverpool and Tottenham (the winners' next opponents) are both involved in the UEFA Cup. . . Bob Stokoe might become manager of Sunderland if Blackpool agree to release him. A question of financial compensation is being discussed between the clubs.

21 Charlie George and John McDowell are included in the England Under-23 squad v Wales. . . Eddie Kelly signs a new contract with Arsenal but remains on the transfer list. . . Willie Johnston (Rangers) refuses to join W.B.A. . . . Norwich beat Arsenal in the League Cup 3-0 with a Graham Paddon hat-trick.

22 Denis Follows, secretary of the Football Association since 1962, has been nominated for the presidency of UEFA by the English FA. . . C, Palace sell 21-year-old striker Ross Jenkins to Watford for 30,000 pounds . . . Roy McFarland is given a twomatch suspension. . . Chelsea reach the League Cup semi-final by beating Notts Co. 3-1 at Stamford Bridge. . . In the Scottish League Cup, Hibernian beat Rangers 1-0 in the semi-final. . . A last-minute goal by Kevin Keegan beats Leeds at Elland Rd. Liverpool will play Tottenham in the next round of the Football League Cup.

23 A mystery bug has hit the Leicester playing and administrative staff, and their League match v Newcastle is postponed. . . Bob Stokoe becomes the new manager of Sunderland . . . Kevin Beat tie and Trevor Whymark of Ipswich are called into the England Under-23 squad. . . Derby fine McFarland 100 pounds for getting himself suspended. Manager Clough feels that managers are responsible for their players' behaviour on the field-hence the fine! . . . Eddie Gray to have an operation on the thigh that has caused him to miss 11 games this season. . .
John Phillips, the Chelsea goalkeeper, is called into the Wales Under-23 squad he is available on parental qualification.

25 John Cozens (Notts Co.) signs for Peterborough- 8,000 pounds. Bolton beat Rotherham 2-1 with the help of an extraordinary goal. The Rotherham 'keeper thought the ball had gone out of play and placed it for a goal-kick. Garry Jones nipped in and pushed the ball in the net-play to the whistle lads! . . . Liverpool and Leeds are drawing away from the rest of the field. . . Arsenal lose 5-0 at Derby with Bob Wilson back in goal.

27 Shamateurism-the word that has poisoned amateur football for more than 50 years-is to be killed off and buried. The FA Council decided that from the 1974-75 season all footballers, whether paid or unpaid, would be known as pJayers. Denis Follows, the FA secretary, who has been campaigning for 10 years for the death of shamateurism, said: 'My headache has gone. It's been passed to the tax man.' Today's decision-there were only two votes against-means that the Amateur Cup, which has been in existence for 79 years, will no longer exist, and amateur internationals will disappear. . Arsenal manager Bertie Mee orders two days 'nonstop' training after the players and management had a long 'clear the air' meeting
. . . Eddie Kelly is taken off the transfer list. . . Tommy Taylor (West Ham) is called into the England Under-23 side instead of the injured Jeff Blockley.

28 Denis Follows makes the headlines again with an article in the FA News. He suggests a ban on all youngsters under 18 years of age from the terraces. He says:
'I know the answer is probably to have stadia with all seating accommodation. That is asking for perfection unlikely to be realised in the present state of football finance.
But in the meantime can we not refuse admission to the terraces to all under the age of 18? We should certainly not then have invasions of the pitch on the scale we have them today-if we had them at all.' Mr. Follows adds: 'I know I can be accused of cutting off the vital source of life-blood to the game-the support of the young. But serious situations demand drastic remedies, and in desperate cases the innocent have to suffer for the guilty, the many for the sins of the few. Could we not try-as an experiment for a time-to see how it works?'

29 Tottenham beat Red Star Belgrade 2-0 in the UEFA Cup, and Liverpool draw 0-0 with Dynamo in East Berlin. . . In an Under-23 international England defeat Wales 3-0 with a first-half hat-trick from Malcolm Macdonald . . . Chelsea put Tommy Baldwin on the transfer list. . . George Best faces another clash with manager O'Farrell for missing training earlier in the week. He is dropped from the team and according to rumours will be put on the transfer list. . . Paul Davies, brother of Southampton's Welsh international stliker, on loan from Arsenal to Charlton, will stay permanently with the Third Division club-the fee, 10,000 pounds . . .
Gordon Banks said at a press conference that he hopes to start training in the New Year and play in contact lenses.

30 Sir Stanley Rous put the blame on the coaches for the drop in attendances. 'There are, of course, contributory factors to the attendance slide. One of these is hooliganism on the terraces. One idea worth consideration is that all spectators under the age of 17 should not be admitted to the terraces unless they are accompanied by an adult. But I still do not think the hooliganism problem should be allowed to overshadow the fact that in many matches the entertainment level is just not high enough to attract big attendances. Players must work at bringing more skill into the game and coaches must start thinking of adjusting their tactics to allow players to play.' . . . It has been suggested that Feyenoord, the Dutch club, are interested in signing George Best.