April 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

April

2 England will playa full international in Prague on May 27, as the final warm-up game before the World Cup tie v Poland. Sir Alf Ramsey is in Poland booking accommodation for the England party. . . Leeds beat Coventry 1-0 in the league . . . Manchester U. ease the way back into football for George Best. Contrary to previouS pronoUncements, Tommy DoCherty says that if a reasonable offer comes in for him, Best won't have to train with United first.

3 Lazio borroW eight players from lower division clubs for their Anglo-Italian tournament match v C. Palace. . . Spurs win 1-0 at Stamford Bridge with a Pratt goal. . . Chelsea sub. Mike Brolly comes on for the injured Kember and is the 27th player appearing for the London club this season.

4 England will play Italy and Austria next autumn. . . Of the eight Anglo-Italian matches played, seven are won by the English clubs and Fulham draw v Torino at Turin. . . West Ham beat the Israeli national team 3-2 in a benefit match for Paul Heffer, Who has to quit the game at the age of 25 . . . Tommy Coleman is the new manager at St. Albans . . . Wigan Athletic beat Stafford Rangers 1-0 in a semi-final replay of the F.A. Challenge Cup, and will meet Scarborough at Wembley.

5 Rodney Marsh's transfer request has been granted by Manchester C. . . . Charlton are approached by a progressive Midland borough to move the club 'lock, stock and barrel' to the north. Charlton's plans, which include re-building the ground, and making it into a Sports complex, have been rejected by the Greenwich Council.

6 Alun Evans (Aston Villa) is suspended for five matches. . . Ipswich agree to put Allan Hunter, Irish international centre-back, on the transfer list. The player is unhappy because manager Robson isn't satisfied with his 'work-rate' in training. . .Orient put Barry Dyson and Micky BulloCk on the transfer list.

7 Sunderland beat Arsenal 2-1 in the F.A. Cup semi-final, and will be the first Second Division team since 1964 to play at Wembley in this competition. They'll meet Leeds, 1-0 winners oVer Wolves. . . Liverpoo1 were beaten 2-1 in the league at Birmingham, and minutes before the end Emlyn Hughes is sent off . . . Hereford, the league's youngest club, are poised for promotion. They beat Newport 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 14,849. . . Rodney Marsh says that he is suffering from nervous strain and will never play again for Manchester City . . . Juventus, Derby's European Cup opponents, lose 2-1 at Florence against Fiorentina . . . The first relegation-promotion issue definitely settled - Scunthorpe will return to the Fourth after just one season in the Third. . . Celtic draw 0-0 with Dundee in the Scottish F.A. Cup semi-final.

9 Tommy Taylor will have a cartilage operation later this week and won't be available for West Ham or the Under-23 tour. . . Neither Orient nor Cardiff are willing to switch league dates to suit Sunderland's preparations for the F.A. Cup Final.

10 Southampton put Ron Davies on the transfer list. . . Roger Davies is doubtful for the Juventus tie, but Brian Clough is very optimistic that Derby will reach the Final of the European Cup: 'The postponement of last Saturday's league game with Wolves was a magnificent piece of luck. No English club enjoyed such a rest before an important European match.' . . . A special smallpox vaccination unit at Castle Donnington airport deals with hundreds of fans flying out to Turin for the match . . . Ken Burns, 41-year-old president of the Referees' Association, will take charge of the F.A. Cup Final. . . Helenio Herrera, highest paid coach in the world, is dismissed by A.S. Roma and is likely to take oVer Inter Milan. . . Ian Moore is oUt of football for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. . . Liverpo01 beat Tottenham 1-0 in the UEFA Cup with a goal by Lindsay.

11 European semi-finals night. In the Champions Cup, Derby are beaten 3-1 by Juventus and in the Cup-Winners' Cup Leeds beat Hajduk Split 1-0 at Eiland Rd. Allan Clarke is sent off in the second half and will receive a tWo match automatic suspension from the UEFA . . . Manchester U. beat C. Palace 2-0 . . . W.B.A. defeat Everton 4-1, thus going up two places from the bottom of the table. . . C. Palace make a bid for George Best.

12 Harry Catterick is kept on the Everton staff as general manager, but the club is advertising for a 'track-suit' team manager. Several well-known names are mentioned, but in the meantime Tom Eggleston will be in charge. . . Manchester City will collect 20,000 pounds from C. Palace for releasing Malcolm Allison from his contract. . . Denis Follows says that the disciplinary system will be unchanged next season, although some of the anomalies will be removed. . . The F.A. announce that after advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions, they consider no useful purpose would be served by holding an inquiry into allegations of bribery in the match between Wolves and Leeds on May 8 1972.

13 Q.P.R. are also interested in George Best. Chairman Gregory and manager Jago discuss a possible transfer at Manchester with Sir Matt Busby and other United officials. . . Pat Jennings is elected 'Footballer of the Year'. Paul Madeley finishes second in the voting organised by the Football Writers Association, and Emlyn Hughes and Alan Gilzean are joint third.

14 Next season will start a week earlier - August 25 - to help Sir Alf Ramsey in his build-up for the World Cup. . . 'The Football League today sealed a 13-year deal worth more than 23 million pounds with the pools promoters', writes the Evening News.
'They immediately ran into bitter criticism from the chairmen of top clubs. The League have agreed to accept 1,300,000 pounds a year - double the present sum of one per cent. on the gross pools turnover - for 13 years for the use of their fixtures by the Pools Promoters' Association. There is an additional 500,000 pounds negotiated for the Scottish League. But their acceptance of the agreement is certain to cause a revolt because clubs believe they should have been consulted with a view to a bigger hand-out. Derrick Robins, outspoken chairman of Coventry City, today called for an extraordinary meeting of the League and said: "The whole thing stinks. It is absolutely disgraceful"
. . . West Ham goalkeeper Bobby Ferguson is taken to hospital after an accidental collision with his own full-back. Allan Clarke heads a goal past sub. goalie Clyde Best, but Pat Holland equalises and West Ham draw I-I with Leeds. The game marks the last appearance of Norman Burtenshaw in London. The FIFA referee will retire at the end of the season. . . Liverpool win at home, but Arsenal drop a point, and the Merseysiders are now 4-1 on favourites to win the league title. . . It is reported that Alan Hudson wishes to leave Chelsea and Stan Bowles would like to move back to the North. . . Norwich beat Chelsea 1-0 - their first league win since November! . . . Roger Morgan, the Tottenham winger, has to retire due to a knee injury.

16 Chelsea state that neither Hudson nor Osgood will be allowed to leave the club. . . Bob Wall, Arsenal's general manager, warns the league clubs not to be too greedy over the question of the Pools money, otherwise the big Pools companies might use Continental fixtures and there won't be any pay-out to English clubs at all ! . . . Jimmy Hill is appointed commercial consultant to the Football Association - and the move is likely to herald sponsorship of the F.A. Cup Final and England internationals. His first job at the F.A. is to raise 1 million pounds - the total needed to open the new National Football Sports Centre at Annersley Hall, near Mansfield. Denis Follows, the F.A. secretary says: 'The F.A. have never been faced with the task of raising money of this magnitude.' The target for the 1,000,000 pounds is about three years. 'This is part of the awareness among football administrators that money is being made from the game and not going back into it,' added Follows. . . Bobby Charlton is to retire at the end of the season, but hopes to stay in the game as a manager. His record speaks for itself: 1956- League debut against Charlton at The Valley. 1958 - Munich air crash. 1958 - First cap against Scotland. 1957, 1965 & 1968 - League Championship medals. 1963 - F.A. Cup winners' medal (runners-up in 1958). 1966- World Cup winners' medal. 1968 - European Cup winners' medal. 1970- Last cap, against West Germany in Mexico World Cup establishing a new record of 106 international appearances. 1973- Captained 'The Three' in the Common Market match at Wembley . . . Burnley beat Sunderland 2-0 and clinch promotion into the First Division. . . The two-year international ban on Alan Hudson and Colin Todd is to stay.

17 Tony Currie wins an appeal against a sending-off and will be available for Sheffield United. . . Liverpool beat Coventry 2-1 with a couple of goals by Phil Boersma, and are within sight of the Championship. . . Bobby Robson says that he is not interested in joining Everton as their new manager - he has signed a very long and lucrative contract with Ipswich.

18 All three England matches will be televised during the Home International Championship - the Scotland game live. . . Ron Davies signs for Portsmouth for a 40,000 pounds fee. . . Tommy Smith is suspended for three matches - Liverpool's two last league fixtures and the UEFA tie v Spurs. . . Ralph Coates might ask for a transfer at the end of the season. 'I am trying to decide whether the club wants me or not, but I am not prepared to be the one who is always substituted during a match' . . .
Q.P.R. make sure of promotion with a 0-0 draw at cardiff . . . Southport are also certain to play in a higher grade after a 2-0 away win at Crewe.

20 Bryan Robson scores his first hat-trick of the season and now leads the league's goalscoring list with 28. . . C. Palace lost at home to Leicester and are in deep relegation trouble.

21 Eddie Hapgood, one of the all-time greats of football, dies at the age of 64 . . . Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1 with goals by John Tudor, Leeds win 4-0 v Palace, and Arsenal draw at Everton . . . Norwich win 1-0 at West Bromwich - their first away win since last October. . . Colin Viljoen and Francis Munro are sent off at Ipswich by ref. Gordon Kew, who himself creates a new record by dismissing seven Football League players in a season. . . Chelsea win at home at last and score two goals in a league match for the first time since Feb. 10 . . . At Old Trafford, 61,500 people see the local derby which ends 0-0. . . Bolton win the Third Division Championship.

23 George Connelly, the Celtic back-four player, is voted 'Footballer of the Year' in Scotland. . . Liverpool virtually win the Championship by beating Leeds 2-0 at Anfield in front of 55,738 people. Bill Shankly says: 'I think we can call ourselves champions now. I'm delighted for the players, for the club, and especially for the fans, who have again proved themselves the greatest in the world.' . . . Bobby Charlton's last home appearance is witnessed by a crowd of 57,280, but United lose 2-1 to Sheffield U. Despite the disappointing results, Manchester United's crowd figures for the 21 league matches were 1,027,525! . . . Brentford are relegated to the Fourth Division.

24 Norwich beat C. Palace 2-1 with an injury-time goal by David Stringer. The London club is certain to be relegated after four difficult seasons in the top division. . . Both leading teams win in Division 2, and Burnley's championship is assured. . . For the first time in history, one county - Lancashire - provides all four divisional champions!

25 Arsenal put Frank McLintock on the transfer list. . . W.B.A. are reJegated after 25 years in the First Division. They lose 2-1 at home to Manchester C. . . . Derby are out of the European Cup following a 0-0 draw at home v Juventus. Alan Hinton misses a penalty in the second half, and Roger Davies is sent off . . . Leeds draw at Split v Hajduk and will meet A.C. Milan in the Cup-Winners' Cup Final on May 16 . . . Liverpool lose at White Hart Lane 2-1, but win the tie on the 'away-goals' ruling. Martin Peters scores both Spurs goals in a magnificent match, and Steve Heighway gets the vital goal for the visitors. After match quotes: Bill Shankley: 'For both teams to give that sort of dispJay after each playing more than 60 games this season was unbelievable. It was a fantastic game and so close, but we are obviously glad to be in the final and will now go for the double'. Bill Nicholson:
'We had a good start but it didn't last. We wish Liverpool all the luck in the final.'

26 Q.P.R. and Nottingham F. are bidding for McLintock . . . The England squads are announced for the Home Internationals, the foreign tour, and the Under-23 tour. Surprise omissions - Marsh and Lloyd. . . Kevin Lock. the West Ham player, is included in the Under-23 party on the evidence of only 13 first team games. . . Bobby Thomas, boxing manager, offers a new career to Roger Davies, the Derby centre-forward. He wants to train him as a heavyweight boxer and will approach Brian Clough for permission to talk to the player.

27 Q.P.R. sign Frank McLintock for 25,000 pounds. The player decided to accept the offer, because it will mean First Division football and his family won't have to move home. . . George Best resumes training - four months after he announced his retirement. . . Gianni Rivera, the A.C. Milan star, is banned for four league matches, but will be available for the Cup-Winners' Cup Final.

28 Manchester United give Tony Dunne and Denis Law free transfers, but both players will have testimonial matches and will receive lump sums in recognition for their contribution to the club. . . Bobby Charlton says goodbye to domestic competitive football at Stamford Bridge in front of a capacity crowd. . . Most of the issues settled in the league - Notts Co. are promoted into the Second Division, and both Cambridge and Hereford are going up into the Third. . . Celtic win the Scottish League for the record eighth consecutive year. . . Len Shipman presents the Championship trophy to Liverpool before their match v Leicester at Anfield . . . Willie Carlin, the Notts Co. linkman, has played in three other promotion teams before - Halifax, Derby, and Leicester, and was associated twice with relegated clubs - Halifax, Sheffield U .

29 Hungary draw 2-2 with Austria in Budapest in Group 1 of the World Cup.

30 Roy Stark is sent off in an Aston Villa youth match in Lusaka. Gate figures for the London clubs show a drop of nearly 700,000.