Note : The news from thirty years ago has an archive below

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September 1973

As appeared in Rothman's Football Yearbook 1974-75 (5th year) :

The Queen Anne Press, London 1974

September

1 Leeds beat Tottenham 3-0, their second win in London in five days, and they are the only l00-per-centers in the First Division. Allan Clarke is carried off in the second half with a bad leg injury . . . Two players are sent off-Billy Wilson (Portsmouth) and Barrie Murphy (Barnsley) . . . A missile thrown from the crowd after the final whistle at Millwall knocks out Jim Cumbes, the Aston Villa goalkeeper. . . Hearts centre-forward Don Ford scores a hat-trick of penalties in his team's 3-2 away win at Morton.

3 Prompted by the Football League, the clubs promise support to Sir Alf Ramsey.
League Cup ties will be brought forward to give time for an England get-together before the vital World Cup match against Poland on October 17.

4 Sheffield U. register the new season's biggest First Division win-5-0 v Arsenal!

5 Alan Hardaker attends the UEFA conference, specially convened to discuss the fall in attendance figures throughout the Continent. The English League Secretary blames the coaches for the decline in interest. 'We have to re-educate the coaches in order to make the game more interesting. There has been too much concentration on defence and not enough on attack.' . . . Leeds are the only club in the First Division with full points after four matches. They beat Wolves 4-1, and Derek Parkin is sent off . . . W. Germany beat Russia 1-0 in a friendly at Moscow.

6 Ted Croker takes over from Denis Follows as FA Secretary . . . George Best reports back to Manchester U. and will begin training next Monday. . . Johan Cruyff makes his debut in a friendly for Barcelona. The Spanish club wins 6-0 against Circle Bruges . . . Norwich sign Les Wilson, the ex-Bristol C. player, on a free transfer.

7 Alan Hunter, the N. Ireland international, is put on the transfer list by lpswich.

8 Leeds beat Birmingham 3-0 with a Lorimer hat-trick, and lead the First Division with maximum points after five matches. . . Rotherham inflict an 8-1 beating on Crewe. 'Go home to bed, just keep out of sight,' says Jimmy Melia, the Crewe manager, to his players after the match. . . Everton coach Stewart Imlach is booked by reteree Pat Partridge after his team lose 2-1 at Derby. Imlach admits that he called the official 'a cheat'.

10 Alan Ball claims that he is the victim of a personal vendetta being waged by Welsh referee Clive Thomas, who booked him on September 8 in the Leicester match. Ball indicated during the match that one of the linesmen needed spectacles, and was cautioned for 'ungentlemanly conduct' . . . George Best reports for training at Old Trafford.

11 Eddy Kelly, the Arsenal player who threw his shirt at the trainer's bench in disgust on Saturday when he was substituted, comes on the field bare-chested against Sheffield U. at Highbury. To the crowd's amusement, he pulls on the No. 11 jersey just before the start of the game, which the Gunners win 1-0 with a late Kennedy goal. Malcolm Allison decides to move the touch lines 3 yards and narrows the pitch at Selhurst Park. C. Palace draw 0-0 with Aston Villa-their first point and first 'shut-out' of the season. . . Leeds still have a 100 per cent record they win 2-0 at Molineux.

12 Alan Durban, the Welsh international, moves to Shrewsbury from Derby for a reputed fee of 12,000 pounds . . . Steve Burtenshaw offers his resignation as Arsenal's first team coach and it is 'reluctantly accepted by the Board'. During the last two seasons, since Burtenshaw took over from Don Howe, Arsenal reached the Cup Final once in 1972 and were runners-up in the league last season. Later it is announced that Bobby Campbell, the Q.P.R. coach, will take over the Arsenal job. . . Alex Stepney scores from a penalty at home against Leicester, but the visitors win 2-1 . . . Gillingham score seven goals in a Fourth Division match against Scunthorpe . . . Ken Wallace moves from Hereford to Exeter on a free transfer. . . In the first European competition match of the season Ards beat Standard Liege 3-2 in the UEFA Cup. . . Holland win 2-1 at Oslo against Norway and need only one point against Belgium to qualify for the World Cup Finals.

13 Polish star Lubanski has a knee operation and is out for the season. He will not be available to play for Poland against either Wales or England.

14 Brian Bromley joins Reading from Brighton for a 10,000 pounds fee. . . Bobby Moore is pressing for a transfer from West Ham! The England captain tells manager Ron Greenwood that he 'would not be against a move'. According to reports, Brian Clough would like to sign Moore and move Colid Todd to midfield.

15 Bobby Moore is dropped against Manchester U., and West Ham lose 3-1 at Old Trafford . . . In the Second Division five clubs are joint top with seven pointsamongst them are Aston Villa and Sunderland, both pre-season favourites for promotion. . . In Scotland, Celtic beat Rangers 1-0 with a Jimmy Johnstone goal...
Argentina draw with Paraguay 1-1 in a World Cup match.

17 Middlesbrough sign Bobby Murdoch, Celtic's Scottish international, on a free transfer. . . Denis Law is included in the Scotland squad for the decisive World Cup tie v Czechoslovakia and Mike England is named as skipper of Wales for the Poland match. . . Jim Hall scores four goals for Peterborough against Doncaster the best individual haul of the season. Other hat-tricks are registered by Bobby Shinton (Walsall) and Terry Eccles (Mansfield) . . . Two Walsall directors, Arthur Foxall and Don Anderson resign. . . Southern League Romford are involved in Cup 'walk-out'. In an Essex County Cup match at Chelmsford the score is 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes, and when the home team stays on for extra time, Romford refuse to continue, saying that there is no rule to play extra time.

18 Bobby Moore is not for sale! That is the latest announcement from the West Ham board. The England captain is included in Sir Alf Ramsey's squad for the Austrian match, together with team-mate Trevor Brooking. Other comparative newcomers besides the Hammers' forward, are Osgood and Kevin Hector. . . Bristol C. goalkeeper Ray Cashley scores a freak goal against Hull in a league match. His huge 100-yard clearance bounces past Jeff Weelands, the Hull 'keeper, into the net. City win 3-1 and are top of the Second Division table. Their neighbours Rovers win 2-0 at Shrewsbury and they are leading the Third Division.

19 West Ham sign Sunderland full-back Keith Coleman for 20,000 pounds . . . A good start for British teams in European football; although Leeds and Liverpool only draw their away fixtures, Sunderland win 2-0 at Budapest and Spurs beat Grasshoppers 5-1 at Zurich! Highest scorers are Celtic--6-1 winners v Turku in Finland.

20 The transfer market is beginning to wake up-Everton sign Dave Clements, Sheffield W.'s Irish international for 80,000 pounds, Birmingham pay 40,000 pounds to Huddersfield for Dennis Clarke, and Walsall keep on loan striker Alan Buckley from Nottingham F. for 20,000 pounds.

21 John Boyle, the Chelsea player, has been loaned to Brighton, but Dave Sexton makes it clear that the player is not for sale. . . Derby sign Everton defender Henry Newton for 100,000 pounds.

22 Kevin Hector scores a hat-trick in Derby's 6-2 win over Southampton . . . Leeds drop a point for the first time this season-Manchester U. draw 0-0 at Elland Road. Jim Holton and Joe Jordan are booked, so Leeds blot their record in that respect as well! . . . Still without a win are West Ham, Birmingham, and Stoke in Division 1, and C. Palace in Division 2. Palace are 2-0 up at home v Cardiff, but the teams finish level at 3-3 . . . A Notts Co. penalty is taken at Portsmouth by three different players and all fail to score. The first re-take is ordered because the goalkeeper moved, the second because the referee didn't give a signal. . . All three Liverpool goals are scored by their full-backs against Chelsea-Lawler gets two and Lindsay one.

23 Television commercials are screened to advertise the England v Austria match at Wembley. The advance sales are poor and the FA decide to make a bolder bid for customers.

24 Palace buy Derek Jeffries from Manchester C. for 100,000 pounds.

25 Bobby Moore has been dropped from the England team against Austria, but he is one of the five substitutes named. Hunter takes over from him in the back four and Martin Peters is the new skipper. . . Denis Law is included in the Scotland team v Czechoslovakia, and Tommy Hutchison of Coventry will collect his first cap in the same match. . . In Portugal, George Best plays 45 minutes in the Eusebio testimonial match. The score is 2-2 between Benfica and an International XI.

26 Scotland qualify for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1958. They beat Czechoslovakia 2-1 at Hampden Park with goals by Jim Holton and Joe Jordan. The visitors go ahead through Nehoda, but Scotland equalise before half-time. In the 75th minute sub Jordan heads the winner. . . Poland beat Wales 3-0 at Chorzow.
Trevor Hockey is sent off, but according to the reports several players of both sides deserved the same fate. Now England must beat Poland in October at Wembley to reach the Finals. England have a highly encouraging warm-up game against Austria. Only 48,000 people see England win 7-O-the highest score against a foreign side since 1961! After the match Sir Alf Ramsey says that he is delighted by the team's performance, but will not commit himself to name the same eleven for the Poland match. 'I've been manager of England for ten and a half years and people are always telling me that I'm no good. They pick teams for me, they write letters. But I'm afraid they'll have to wait to know the team I'll play against Poland.' . . . In other World Cup matches, N. Ireland draw with Bulgaria, Switzerland beat Luxembourg 1-0, and E. Germany defeat Rumania 2-0. The Russia v Chile play-off match ends in a goalless draw in Moscow. . . Palace sign Roy Barry from Coventry for a 45,000 pounds transfer fee. . . John Richards is sent off in Lisbon, where Wolves beat Belenenses 2-0 in the UEFA Cup.

27 Brentford sign Dave Metchik, who was previously with the Atlanta Apollos in the USA . . . Jimmy Hagan leaves Benfica after an argument concerning the selection of players for the Eusebio testimonial match. He has been the manager of the club for two seasons and won the championship with them in both seasons. Hagan says that he would like to work in English football.

28 A newspaper campaign calls for the live televising of the crucial England v Po]and game. The ITV channel has the right to show highlights of the match, but they can only show the entire game live if the BBC agrees. The Corporation would only give its consent if both companies -the BBC and the ITV- could show the match... Tony Book has been named as the assistant manager of Manchester C.