May 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

May

1 Johnny Hart is appointed as Manchester City's new manager. . . Derrick Robins resigns, and his son Peter will take over the chairmanship at Coventry. Robins makes a four-points proposal before his resignation. 1. League clubs should press for a much better deal from the Pools Promoters than the one recently negotiated by the management committee. 2. There should be no televised soccer other than the Cup Final and internationals. 3. There should be less soccer in an effort to 'get back to the days when soccer was an occasion to be looked forward to rather than an everyday occurrence.' 4. League soccer on Sunday should be sanctioned.

3 Pat Jennings, who is presented with the 'Player of the Year' award at the Football Writers Association's Dinner says in his speech, 'How could I avoid being player of the year playing behind our defence.' . . . Bert Head resigns as general manager of Crystal Palace after seven years with the club.

4 Bobby Charlton is the new manager of Preston. . . Sheffield U. give free transfers to David Ford and Ian Holmes. . . Aldershot draw at Stockport and are promoted to the Third Division for the first time in the club's history.

5 Sunderland beat Leeds 1-0 at Wembley and became the first Second Division club to win the cup for 42 years! Ian Porterfield scores the winner in the 32nd minute. . .

Ian Porterfield scores for Sunderland 1973 Cup Final
Ian Porterfield's goal

from Rothmans Football Yearbook 1973-74, 4th Year St Annes Press, p. 57

In Scotland, Rangers win 3-2 v Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final.

7 34,963 people attend Jackie Charlton's testimonial match - Celtic beat Leeds 4-3.
Charlton officially announced that he is taking over at Middlesbrough . . . John Craven is sold by Crystal Palace to Coventry for 60,000 pounds. . . 15 other players are either put on the transfer list or given frees by Malcolm Allison. . . Peter Marinello signs for Portsmouth, but won't be officially transferred until the end of June when he returns from Arsenal's summer tour. . . Ipswich complete a double over Norwich and win the Texaco Cup.

8 N. Ireland beat Cyprus 3-0 in a World Cup match. Terry Anderson gets two of the goals and is the outstanding player on the field. Morgan of Port Vale scores once for an experimental Irish team. . . Hughes (Liverpool) and Ball (Arsenal) are cleared by the Disciplinary Committee, but Peter Storey loses his appeal.

9 The Liverpool v Moenchengladbach UEF A Cup Final is abandoned by the Austrian referee Linmayr because of the waterlogged state of the pitch. . . The season's last two games provide some shocks - Leeds beat Arsenal 6-1 and Q.P.R. win 3-0 at Roker Park against Cup winners Sunderland. Horswill is sent off in this game and the referee calls off the players for seven minutes because of crowd misbehaviour. Manager Stokoe broadcasts an appeal to the fans, and ref Peter Reeves resumes play.

10 Big changes announced at Portsmouth. John Mortimer is appointed team manager and Ron Tindell will move up to become general manager. John Deacon is the new chairman and there are other changes in the boardroom. . . Derby will propose the four-up-and-down system at the League's A.G.M., but the League's own plan of three-up-and-down has a better chance of being accepted. The self-imposed 'one city-one team' rule in the UEFA Cup will also be reviewed.

11 Two Keegan goals and a Lloyd header give Liverpool an impressive 3-0 win over Moenchengladbach. Both sides miss a penalty and the Germans also hit the post. After match comments: Bill Shankly: 'It was an international-class game. Really tremendous. I am not making predictions about the second-leg, but we have a distinct advantage because we did not give away a goal.' Hennes Weisweiler, 'Gladbach's manager; 'I think our chances of winning the trophy have disappeared, for we wasted them tonight.' Ray Clemence: '1 watched Heynckes take a penalty in the semi-final on television and decided to dive the same way. The save was a reward for my homework.' . . . Watford dismiss manager George Kirby. He has two years of his contract to run.

12 The Home International Championship starts depressingly with two poor games in front of small crowds. England beat N. Ireland at Goodison Park 2-1, and Scotland win 2-0 at Wrexham v Wales.

13 Russia take a step towards the World Cup Finals by beating Eire 1-0 in Moscow.

14 Both Sir Alf Ramsey and Dave Bowen condemn the timing of the Home Internationals. ' At the end of a hard season, the players are jaded and the matches clash with the European Finals.'

15 Everton want Don Revie to join them as team manager. The Leeds boss will announce his decision after the Cup-Winners' Cup Final. . . Terry Neill decides that he'll not select himself again for Ireland or Hull City. '1 believe this is to the benefit of everyone. Hull and Ireland must take preference to any personal enjoyment I get from playing.' . . . Chelsea place John Dempsey on the transfer list. . .
England beat Wales 3-0 - their first home victory for two years.

16 A.C. Milan win the European Cup-Winners' Cup in Salonika, beating Leeds 1-0.
The goal is scored by Chiarugi in the 4th minute and four players - two from each side - are booked in a disappointing match. Shortly before the end Hunter and Sogliano are sent off by the Greek referee Christos Michas, who was severely criticised by the Leeds management. . . N. Ireland defeat Scotland 2-1 at Hampden Park. Once again Trevor Anderson of Manchester U. stars for the Irish. . . Poland beat Eire 2-0 in a friendly.

19 England win the Home Championship with maximum points. Martin Peters scores the only goal of the match v Scotland at Wembley. N. Ireland finish second after their 1-0 win against Wales at Goodison Park -less than 5,000 people see the match . . . The two most important senior competitions outside the Football League are planning a merger. It has been proposed that from the 1974- 75 season the Southern and the Northern Premier Leagues should form a national league with regional feeder leagues to support it.

21 Kevin Beattie is out of the Under-23 squad through illness and won't travel on their tour. Willie Maddren of Middlesbrough will take his place. . . Brian Clough is approached by London Weekend TV to take the place of Jimmy Hill - occasionally - as member of their panel. Hill will work for the BBC from next season.

22 Asa Hartford is banned for four matches. . . The Leeds directors decide that a counter-offer will be made to Don Revie, which is near the figure offered to him by Everton. Revie will telephone his answer from Greece where he is on holiday. . .
The Scottish 'fan' who ran on the pitch on Saturday at Wembley and attacked Alan Ball, is fined œ10 at the Harrow Magistrates Court.

23 Billy Kellock, the Cardiff player, signs for Norwich . . . Mick Hill, Ipswich, will go on loan to Plymouth. . . Frank Grimes resigns as youth coach to Watford after 12 years with the club. . . Colin Prophett joins Norwich from Sheffield W. for œ45,000. . . Liverpoollose 2-0 at Moenchengladbach, but still win the UEFA Cup on a 3-2 aggregate. They are the first English club to win the championship and a major European trophy in the same season.

24 The Government's Pay Board is to launch a probe into the alleged financial offer made by Everton to Don Revie. According to 'Phase Two' regulations, a newcomer must not be paid a higher salary than his predecessor in the same job. . . Peter Lorimer, who is banned from the World Cup matches, is omitted from Scotland's squad for the summer friendlies v Switzerland and Brazil. . . Gary Towse joins Brentford from C. Palace on a free transfer. . . The England U-23 team draw their first tour match v Denmark 1-1.

25 Don Revie decides to stay with Leeds United.

26 Russia beat France 2-0 and finish on top of Group 9 of the European Zone in the World Cup. They have to play Peru or Chile for a place in W. Germany '74. . . The Spanish F.A. open the doors and clubs will be allowed to sign two foreign players . . . Colin Stein drops out of the Scottish squad for the summer internationals with back trouble.

27 England draw a disappointing game in Prague v Czechoslovakia 1-1. Novak puts the home team ahead and Allan Clarke equalises in the last minute. Sir Alf Ramsey says: 'The Czechs were not a good side, but they hit us with a sucker punch. I could not see us getting a goal back and this was the old problem of elementary ball control. We did not play well. The long grass and the soft ball created problems, but those are the sort of problems which must be overcome.'

28 Billy Bingham, their ex-player, is the new manager of Everton. He has been in charge of the Greek national team, and refuses an offer by AEK Athens in preference to the Everton job. . . Dave Connor, on a free transfer from Preston, is offered a contract by the Belgian champions FC Bruges . . . Anderlecht beat Standard Liege 2-1 in the Belgian Cup Final. . . S. Korea defeat Israel 1-0 (after extra time) in the Asian Zone of the World Cup qualifying competition, and will meet the winners of Iran v Australia for a place in W. Germany.

29 Holland beat England 1-0 in an Under-23 international in Maastricht. . . Alan Hudson withdraws his transfer request.

30 Burnley sign Peter Noble from Swindon for œ40,000 . . . Ajax complete a European Cup hat-trick by beating Juventus of Italy 1-0. Johnny Rep, aged 20, the youngest player on the field, scores the winning goal in the fourth minute.

31 Trevor Hockey signs for Aston Villa from Norwich for a œ35,000 fee. The England Youth team open their bid for the UEFA tournament with a 2-0 win over Iceland.
Holland lose 1-0 to Czechoslovakia