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May 1974

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

The Queen Anne Press, London 1974

May 1974

1 Sir Alf Ramsey is sacked as England manager. The full FA statement says: 'The committees of the FA who have been considering the future of English football have examined some aspects in detail and progress has been made. At a meeting on February 14 the executive committee set up a sub-committee with the following terms of reference:

"To consider our future policy in respect of the promotion of international football. Following meetings, a unanimous recommendation was submitted to the executive committee that Sir Alf Ramsey should be replaced as England team manager. This recommendation was accepted unanimously by the executive committee. He had been informed of this decision. For practical reasons his duties will cease with effect from April 30.

A new manager will be appointed in due course, but it has not been possible to take any positive action on this matter until this announcement has been made. In view of the forthcoming international matches in the home international championship, against the Argentine and a three-match European tour, it was decided that a caretaker manager should be appointed. With the approval of Coventry City, Mr Joe Mercer has agreed to undertake this task. It should be stated that he does not wish to be considered for the job of permanent manager, so immediate steps will be taken to appoint a new England team manager as soon as possible.

The Football Association wishes at this time to record its deep appreciation for all that Sir Alf has accomplished and the debt owed to him by English football for his unbending loyalty and dedication and the high level of integrity he has brought to world football."

Under Ramsey, England played 113 internationals, winning 69 and losing 17. Sir Alf, who is away on holiday, will not comment on the circumstances of his dismissal.

. . Atletico Madrid are fined 14,000 pounds by UEFA for their unsporting behaviour at Glasgow, when three of their players were sent off . . . Jimmy Andrews is the new manager of Cardiff.

2 Six Tory MPs put down a motion in the Commons inviting MPs to record their appreciation of Sir Alf Ramsey. Several other commentators, including former FA Secretary Denis Follows, attack the FA Committee for the timing of the dismissal. However, well-informed people state that Ramsey could have stayed until his contract expired - June 1 - but he refused to do so. . . Brighton sign Fred Binney from Exeter for 25,000 pounds plus defender John Templeman and midfielder Robertson.

3 Tommy Docherty signs Stuart Pearson from Hull for 170,000 pounds plus striker Paul Fletcher, who is valued at 30,000pounds . . . The result of the Manchester U. v Manchester C. match stands - 0-1 when abandoned in the 82nd minute.

4 Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 in the FA Cup final, their second triumph, and the winning margin is the largest since 1960. 'Man of the Match' - Kevin Keegan, scorer of two goals. There were 50 arrests outside the ground. . . In Glasgow, Celtic complete the Scottish 'double' by beating Dundee U. 3-0 in the Scottish Cup final.

6 Vic Crowe has been fired by Aston Villa. . . Phil Boersma, who walked out on Liverpool when he found that he would not be named as sub. in the Cup Final, says that he will never play for the club again.

7 Sir Alf Ramsey will be given a 'golden handshake', reputed to be 15,000 pounds, by the FA.

8 Magdeburg becomes the first East German club to win a major European trophy They beat AC Milan 2-0 at Rotterdam in the Cup-Winners' Cup final. . . As a consequence of the British Lions rugby tour of South Africa, the Zambian Government cancels an amateur soccer tour from England. Previously, Orient's visit to Malawi and Norwich's visit to Black Africa were also called off . . .
BrianDoyle, the manager of Stockport is sacked - because he lives in Blackpool, 60 miles from the club's ground. . . Brian Yeo is the League's top scorer with 31 goals. Mike Channon finishes first in Division 1 with 21 . . . Eight league clubs will receive 4000 pounds each, as the teams who would have qualified for next season's Watney Cup competition, which is being discontinued. The clubs: Burnley, Q.P.R., Sunderland, Blackpool, Grimsby, Charlton, Northampton, and Lincoln.

10 David Webb, Chelsea's transfer-Iisted defender, has denied manager Sexton's allegations that he demanded 'double money' and complained about the club's training programme. . . The new England captains - Emlyn Hughes will skipper the senior side against Wales, and Alan Hudson is in charge of the Under-23 team in Turkey.

11 Denis Law makes a record 54th appearance for Scotland, but they lose 1-0 to N. Ireland at Hampden Park. Tommy Cassidy gets the winner in the second half. . . Joe Mercer has opened his short reign as England caretaker-manager with a convincing 2-0 win at Cardiff over Wales. Bowles and Keegan score their first goals for the national team . . .Bobby Charlton wants to play again! He has signed registration forms for Preston N.E. and wishes to become the club's player/manager next season. He says: 'I feel it would be a waste of time sitting on the touchline, if I could be out on the field helping the club. The only reason for my comeback is to help Preston get promotion from the Third Division.'

13 Birmingham manager Freddie Goodwin is fined œ50 and warned about his future conduct by the FA Disciplinary Committee.

14 Scotland are showing better form! They beat Wales 2-0 in Glasgow.

15 A mixed day for the England teams. While Joe Mercer's seniors beat Ireland 1-0 with a Keith Weller goal at Wembley, Ken Furphy's U-23 side is beaten by the same score in Yugoslavia. . . The Football League have rejected Exeter's appeal, and told them to pay their fines. . . FootbaJl history is made in Brussels, where Bayern Munich draw I-I with Atletico Madrid after extra time - the first ever European Cup final to go to a re-play.

16 Roy McFarland is badly injured and could be out of footbaJl for six months. . . Stan Bowles leaves the England HQ without permission and says that he wiJl not go to Glasgow with the national squad.

17 The West Ham player and now Gillingham's promotion-winning manager, Andy Nelson, wiJl be in charge of Charlton next season. . . Bayern Munich become the first German team to win the European Champions' Cup. They beat Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the re-played final at Brussels. MuJler and Hoeness each score twice for the brilliant Bundesliga champions.

18 Scotland beat England 2-0 at Hampden and the two countries share the British Championship title. . . Wales score their first goal in this tournament since April 25 1970. Local hero, Dave SmaJlman of Wrexham, gets the winner v N. Ireland. . . It is reported that Sir Alf Ramsey has been offered the job of team manager at Atletico Bilbao - salary 40,000 pounds per year.

21 Tottenham draw 2-2 with Feyenoord at White Hart Lane in the first leg of the UEFA Cup final. . . The Scottish squad for the World Cup includes Denis Law and newcomer Peter Cormack of Liverpool. Jimmy Smith has been dropped from the original party.

22 Sir Stanley Rous has made a personal appeal to the UEF A delegates at Edinburgh.
'I ask you to vote for me when the appointment of the FIF A presidency is decided at Frankfurt. It is a Europe v South America issue and we want to retain the leadership of footbaJl in this Continent.' . . . An improved England performance at Wembley - 2-2 against a briJliantly skilled Argentinian side. Skipper Emlyn Hughes is involved in an incident with the Argentinian player Glaria, and is later blamed by manager Joe Mercer for some of the unsavoury clashes in the game. . . Sir Harold Thompson of the FA is elected to the executive council of UEFA.

23 ' A new code to combat soccer hooliganism has been sent to aJl 92 League clubs. Denis Howell, Minister for Sport, has written to the FA and the Football League asking them to inform all clubs of the first recommendations of the working party looking into crowd behaviour at football grounds. The top priority is that movement on the terraces be restricted as much as possible, and that the public be denied access to the playing area except in cases of emergency. The recommendations are being sent out now because of the short time available to clubs to undertake any alterations that might be necessary before the start of next season. The working party suggests clubs should build a waJl not less than 4ft high around the pitch with gates and access points. The working party also strongly recommends that visiting supporters should be segregated from the home crowd,' writes the Evening Standard.

25 Gordon Jago stays with Q.P.R. The manager says that his resignation was the result of a fit of temper and he has apologised to Chairman Jim Gregory . Gregory was happy to reinstate the man who made Q.P.R. the top club in London.

29 A tragic day for Tottenham on and off the field! They are beaten 2-0 at Rotterdam by Feyenoord in the UEFA Cup final, and their so-called 'fans' initiate a riot during the match. 70 of them are arrested and over 200 people hurt in the crush. Spurs chairman, Mr Sydney Wale, broadcasts an appeal before the kick-off, and at half-time Bill Nicholson speaks on the public address system: 'You hooligans are a disgrace to Tottenham Hotspur and a disgrace to England. This is a football game - not a war' . . . England draw their first tour game at Leipzig - 1-1 v E. Germany. Mike Channon equalises from a free-kick just one minute after the Germans go ahead through Streich . . . David Webb signs for Q.P .R. for 100,000 pounds .

30 Tottenham send a letter of apology to the Feyenoord Football Club and to the Rotterdam police, expressing their regret for the shameful behaviour of a section of their supporters.

31 Bulgaria beat Yugoslavia 1-0 in the UEFA Youth Cup final at Malmo. Scotland finish third, after a 1-0 victory over Greece . . . Everton pay 100,000 poundsfor Jim Pearson of St Johnstone. . . Stoke City plan to have control over tickets sold to their fans for UEF A Cup away matches next term . . . The chairman of Tottenham Supporters Club, Mr John Harris, would also like to see 'passports' issued to fans. 'The cards should carry photographs of the holders. If there is any misconduct, the passports would be taken away.'