February 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

February

1 John Radford is out of the Arsenal team-Charlie George is taking the place of the injured striker. . . Tommy Hughes goes to Brighton on a month's loan. . . Birmingham fine George Smith 25 pounds, suspend him, and he is on the transfer list. Smith takes the matter up with the P.F.A. . . . Jimmy Lindsay (Watford) will be out of the game for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

3 Only five First Division clubs facing opponents from a lower division manage to clinch a place in the Fifth Round of the Cup. Millwall win 2-0 at Everton, Luton beat Newcastle by the same score at St. James's Park, and Carlisle and Hull k.o. Sheffield U. and West Ham respectively. Only 31 goals are scored in the 16 ties-not one team scores more than two! . . . Rimmer (Bolton) and Reece (Cardiff) are both sent off in the second half, and the game ends in a 2-2 draw. Holders Leeds (v Plymouth 2-1) and last year's finalists Arsenal (v Bradford 2-0) are both through to the next round. . . Ken Burns will referee the Bayern Munich v Ajax European Cup-tie.

5 The Football League Management Committee is recommending that next season should start Sept. 1-the latest for 54 years. This was one of the suggestions at a recent meeting of the League Club chairmen. . . Sunderland defenders Richie Pitt and Keith Coleman are to have a month's trial with Arsenal. . . Leeds are drawn at home against W .B.A., and Arsenal away to Carlisle in the Cup. . . Five Manchester U. players are in the Scotland squad for the centenary international against England. . . Five Second Division clubs, including Fulham and Oxford enter the Anglo-ltalian Tournament alongside C. Palace, Manchester U. and Newcastle . . . In the Scottish Cup, Celtic are away to Motherwell, and Rangers will play Hibernian at Ibrox Park.

6 Rodney Marsh is axed from the England squad, and his place goes to Allan Clarke . . . George Readle is to become deputy to League Secretary Alan Hardaker, who is taking a month's rest on medical advice. . . C. Palace and Sheffield W. draw their Cup replay and will meet again at Villa Park. . . Derek Rickard, the Plymouth striker, carried on playing with a broken leg and scored in his club's 3-0 home win over Scunthorpe.

7 The Anglo-ltalian Tournament is launched in Milan with the draw for the group matches . . . Derby beat Tottenham 5-3 with two extra-tirne goals in a brilliant Cup-tie at White Hart Lane. Tottenham are 3-1 up with 10 minutes to play, but I Roger Davies equalises and later completes a hat-trick . . . Manchester C. beat Liverpool and Sunderland k.o. Reading. . . Charlton sign goalkeeper Mick Kearns on a month's loan from Oxford. . . Frank Lord is the new assistant manager of Preston.

8 Ron Harris (Chelsea) is given a three-match ban, which rules him out of the Fifth Round of the Cup. . . Gordon Lee, the Port Vale manager blames the Press for 'the alarming gulf that exists between football clubs and the paying public.' In an article published in the League Review, Lee accuses sports writers of publici sing the ills of the game, rather than emphasising the positive aspects of it. . . Brentford sign Q.P.R. winger Barry Salvage for 9,000 pounds.

10 FIFA withdraw permission for overseas teams to compete in next month's South African games. . . Q.P.R. are suing Sheffield W. over the transfer of Vic Mobley. They paid 55,000 pounds for him, but shortly after the deal in 1969, Mobley had to give up football on medical advice . . . Liverpool lose their first home league match since 1.1.72-conquerors Arsenal go on top of the table. . . Leicester beat Leeds 2-0 and C. Palace win 4-0 at West Bromwich . . . Manchester U. defeat Wolves 2-1 with two Bobby Charlton goals-their first victory under Tommy Docherty . . . Millwall win 3-1 against Oxford but the visitors might ask for a re-play. Harry Cripps wasn't on the original team-sheet, but played when substitute Smethurst failed to turn-up.

12 Jeff Blockley is called up for England instead of the injured McFarland . . . Alan Ball senior is sacked by Preston N.E. when his contract still has two and a half years to run. Preston haven't collected a point this year, and last Saturday they were beaten 5-0 by Portsmouth at Deepdale . . . W .B.A. signed Walsall forward Joe Mayo for 10,000 pounds . . . Bolton beat Cardiff 1-0 and are the only club left in the Cup from the Third Division.

13 England beat Scotland in an Under-23 international in Kilmarnock 2-1. In the icy conditions Scotland take the lead through Jim Bone, but second-half goals by Whymark and Barrowclough give the visitors a deserved win . . . Willie Carrick, the 20-year-old reserve keeper of Luton will replace Keith Barber, who broke a leg in training. . . Gordon Banks will be playing competitive football again in May, when Stoke tour Australia and New Zealand. . . Millionaire bookmaker John Banks says that he is ready to aid Northampton financially. At present the Fourth Division club is losing about 500 pounds per week.

14 The Scottish F.A. celebrates its Centenary with a disastrous 5-0 defeat against England at Hampden Park. On a hard surface the slow-turning, uncertain Scottish defence is severely punished for every mistake. . . Allan Clarke, scorer of two goals, Mick Channon and Peter Shilton all play extremely well and justify their selections. . . Cyprus beat N. Ireland in a World Cup qualifying match, and W. Germany lose to Argentina 3-2 at Munich in a friendly-their first home defeat since 1965. . . Derby, with five reserves, lose at home to Stoke 3-0! Bert Head, the C. Palace manager calls it 'a farce' and says 'Our boys are wild about it. There is no action I can take. It is a ridiculous situation. When the European Cup gets more important than the Football League, it's time to pack-up'. The reason behind this outburst? Both C. Palace and Stoke are relegation candidates.

15 Colin Suggett (W.B.A.) signs for Norwich. The transfer fee-75,000 pounds - is a record for the Norfolk club. . . Pat Saward the Brighton manager, orders short hair-cuts for his players. . . Brian Clough refutes Bert Head's allegations: 'Our best hope of qualifying for Europe next season lies in finishing in the top places of the First Division' . . . The 'Daily Express' writes: 'Stockport striker Ian Lawther had his prayers answered yesterday at an F.A. Disciplinary Commission meeting in Manchester. For Lawther, 30-year-old Northern Ireland international, had to thank Methodist minister John Bingham for saving him from a suspension. Lawther was sent offduring the F.A. Cup tie against Hull on January 13. He retaliated after being brought down from behind by Hull player-manager Terry Neill and Mr. Bingham was an eye-witness of the incident. After hearing his evidence the commission decided to take no further action against Lawther. The minister, who is a former referee, said later: "It was only the third time I'd watched Stockport. I am no supporter of the club, in fact Chesterfield is my team. But I was so incensed by what happened that I decided I had to do something to help in the interests of justice.".

16 Hearts, the Scottish club, make an offer for Denis Law. The player rejects the move, saying he wants to finish his career at Old Trafford.

17 Tommy Smith is sent off at Manchester against the City, but Liverpool equalise through Boersma, with 10 men, against an earlier Tommy Booth goal. Leeds also draw, and as Arsenal and Ipswich both won, the championship race is finely balanced between the four teams. . . Ken Hibbitt scores for Wolverhampton against Newcastle and his brother Terry equalises for the 'Magpies' . . . W.B.A. lose 2-1 at West Ham with a goal scored in the 96th minute-referee Kerkhoff added seven minutes for time-wasting! . . . Northern Premier League leaders took their unbeaten league record to 50 matches! . . . Celtic miss two penalities, draw at East Fife, and are now one point behind Rangers. . .

18 matches were postponed in Britain due to bad pitch conditions.

19 A Brian Joicey hat-trick puts C. Palace out of the Cup-Sheffield W. won 3-2 in extra time after 330 minutes football . . . Ted McDougal1 is for sale. Manchester U. put the unsettled player, who said that his wife wasn't happy living in the North, on the transfer list. . . Willie Anderson (Aston Villa) signs for Cardiff for a 60,000 fee pounds.

21 Jim Bone (Norwich) is swapped for Trevor Hockey of Sheffield U. plus a 30,000 pounds fee. . . Brian Clough in a B.B.C. T.V. interview says that he would like to be the supreme football dictator in England. He would stop league football next March, thus giving the national team three-months' free preparation for the World Cup Finals. . . Luton buys Arsenal keeper Graham Horn for 25,000 pounds. . . Mike Pejik (Stoke) is banned for three, and Jim Holton (Manchester U.) for two matches.

22 Huddersfield loan Dick Krzywicki, the Welsh international winger, to Scunthorpe for a month. . . Paul Edwards, the Manchester U. centre-back is going to Q.P.R. on another loan transfer. . . Jeff Astle will be in the W .B.A. team against Leeds in the Cup-his first appearance for 11 months.

23 Ron Hunt has to give up the game at the age of 27, because of a knee injury. Hunt is the third Q.P.R. player to suffer this unhappy fate in recent years-the others were Frank Sibley and Vic Mobley . . . Brentford sign Bournemouth goalkeeper Kieron Baker for the rest of the season. . . The Welsh F .A. fine Jimmy Scoular 50 pounds, for remarks made by the Cardiff manager to a referee after a match.

24 Three players are sent off in the eight F.A. cup ties. Holsgrove (Sheffield W.), Garner (Chelsea) and Towers (Manchester C.) are the culprits in a round which ran mainly to expectation. Only Sunderland managed to get a draw against First Division opposition (Manchester C.) and Luton beat Bolton, becoming the only lower division club to be certain of a place in the last eight. . . Hector gets a first- half hat-trick against Q.P.R. in Derby's 4-0 victory . . . Liverpool beat Ipswich and took over the lead on better goal average. . . West Ham signed Ted McDougall for a club record fee of 150,000 pounds.

25 Italy beat Turkey 1-0 in Istanbul to strengthen her position on top of Group 2 of the World Cup qualifying competition. . . Blackpool beat Torino 1-0 in Turinafter the match the crowd attack the English team's bus, and the police have to intervene.

26 A tremendous F.A. Cup quarter-final draw pairs Derby v Leeds and Chelsea v Arsenal. . . Luton are away once again and their manager Harry Haslam says: 'I think we'll sell the ground and buy a train !' . . . According to an 'Evening Standard' survey, the London clubs have lost almost half a million supporters compared with last season's figures. Only C. Palace and Fulham show improved gates. . . Jimmy Blair will play his second full game for Norwich at Wembley next Saturday in the League Cup Final.

27 The two clubs appealed to the F.A. asking to sanction a close circuit T.V. showing of the Chelsea v Arsenal tie in North London cinemas. . . The management committee of the Football League will officially propose a four-up and four-down promotion and relegation system at the A.G.M. in June. . . Brentford manager Frank Blunstone is fined 50 pounds, and severely censured for incidents at Blackburn . . . Malcolm Macdonald is not in the England Under-23 squad for the match against Czechoslovakia, but his Newcastle colleague Nattrass, is included for the first time. . . Sunderland beat Manchester C. 3-1 in a Cup replay, and as they are paired with Luton in the quarter-finals, it is certain that there will be a Second Division club in the last four. . . Barry Kitchener (Millwall) and Stan Bowles (Q.P.R.) are both suspended for two games as they have collected 12 points. . . A joint committee representing all parties will meet to discuss the new disciplinary system.

28 Arsenal are defeated for the first time since December. Bottom of the table W.B.A. beat them 1-0 with a Tony Brown goal. . . Bobby Charlton says that he might retire at the end of the season.