Programme of the Week Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 15th March 1966
Programme of the Week Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 15th March 1966
The latest in a series about football programmes from my collection that relate to a game being played in the next few days.
Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 2019 / 2020
So, it’s back to league football after the international break and in the Championship, Huddersfield Town host Birmingham City.
After 16 games, Huddersfield Town sit 19th with 16 points, just three points and three places above the relegation zone. Relegated from the Premier league last season, the Terriers had a dreadful start
Blues Managers
Chinese owned Blues are no strangers to Managerial comings and goings! In 2016, seemingly well placed in the Championship, the sacked former player Gary Rowett. In the three years since, Gianfranco Zola; Harry Redknapp; Lee Carsley (caretaker); Steve Cotterill and Garry Monk have occupied the St. Andrews hot seat.
Today’s incumbent is Pep Clotet. Spaniard Josep Clotet Ruiz did not play professional football and took up coaching in his 20’s. He has worked in the UK since 2013 as Assistant Manager at Swansea City; Leeds United; and Birmingham (as Monk’s assistant). He also managed Oxford United during the first half of the 2017/18 season before being sacked in the January.
Three points for Birmingham on Saturday will propel the Blues into the top half of the table. Three points for Huddersfield will help consolidate the Terriers upward mobility.
Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 15th March 1966
This is a Tuesday night fixture, the original game on the previous December 27th having been postponed by severe frost.
In a 42-game season, Huddersfield Town have played 31 matches and sit in 2nd place in the table, two points behind the leaders Manchester City. Hot on their heels are Coventry City in 3rd with 40 points. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bristol City are a further two points behind on 38 but have played a game more. In 6th place is Southampton; played 31 points 37.
Relegated from Division One the previous season, Birmingham City are 10th. They are in little danger of another relegation; but seem equally unlikely to challenge for promotion.
In the sixties, two games in two days is not uncommon. The fixture at St. Andrews went ahead on December 28th and Blues won 2-1.
Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 15th March 1966 – Match Programme
An 18-page match programme was produced. The cover is blue and white; the inside pages all black and white.
The cover is an aerial photograph of Huddersfield’s Leeds Road Stadium. I enjoyed visiting this ground, though the present-day John Smiths Stadium is a massive upgrade. But Leeds Road had a great atmosphere and was not a little intimidating for visiting teams!
The programme costs 4d.
There are numerous adverts in the programme and the ‘Spotlight’ feature on pages 2 and 4 is somewhat overshadowed! Amongst the adverts on page 5 we can read the league table and absorb the Huddersfield players’ appearances and goals to date. On page 6 there is a similar table for the reserve team.
In this list are Derek Parkin (later of Wolves) who has made 27 appearances and his full back partner Chris Cattlin, who has played 23 times. Cattlin went on to have a strong career at Coventry City. With 20 games under his belt, is a young Trevor Cherry, soon to depart for Leeds United.
Pen Pictures
Pen pictures of the Birmingham City players are on page 7. The team is now managed by the legendary Stan Cullis. Cullis had been (disgracefully) sacked by Wolverhampton Wanderers, the previous season.
Some would say it was karma that Wolves were then relegated along with the Blues.
The centre pages apologise for the absence of the Soccer Review insert. As a result, the programme cost is reduced to the 4d cover price.
Page 11 has the first team and reserves fixture and results to date. Page 12 has a random table of attendances to date; but adverts predominate this page and page 13.
There is a playing register on page 15, but again the content is just advert after advert. Fair play to the commercial department! The back page has the probable team line ups.
The Main Men
It would be easy to focus on the two managers; Stan Cullis and Tom Johnston. Less well known, Scotsman Johnston is associated with the Terriers throughout the 60’s and 70’s.
Also, the team sheet throws up some interesting names. Bob McNab, later of Arsenal fame, is at left back for Huddersfield Town. Centre half John Coddington played 332 times for the Terriers and is 13th in the all-time appearances list. Just ahead of him are Town’s wingers that day, Steve Smith and Kevin McHale.
The Birmingham City teamsheet includes ex- Villain Ron Wylie and Malcolm Beard as wing halves. Beard would later play 6 times for Aston Villa after a 350 game career with the Blues.
The forward line includes the maverick Welshman Trevor Hockey and Scottish centre forward Bobby Thomson. Thomson played once for Wolverhampton Wanderers before Stan Cullis moved him on to Aston Villa. Supporting them at inside left is Geoff Vowden; another who featured for both teams in Birmingham.
Goalkeepers
But I want to highlight the two Goalkeepers.
Between the sticks for Huddersfield Town is John Oldfield who I saw play 19 times for the Wolves when he left Leeds Road in 1969. He plays in 47 games for the Terries during this season and is ever present. He kept 22 clean sheets.
In goal for the Blues is Scotsman James Herriot. Herriot’s career spanned 20 years in Scotland, England and with Durban City in South Africa. He made the most appearances for Birmingham City (181) and second most for Dunfermline Athletic (81), prior to joining the Blues.
Of course, Herriot is most remembered Herriot is probably best known today for giving his name to the writer James Herriot, a Yorkshire vet whose real name was Alf Wight. Wight needed a pen-name to comply with professional rules banning advertising and chose Jim Herriot’s name after seeing him play for Birmingham City in a televised match against Manchester United.
Huddersfield Town vs Birmingham City 15th March 1966 – The Outcome
In front of a crowd of 19,156, Huddersfield Town won 2-0 with goals from the season’s leading scorer Allan Gilliver. The win takes Huddersfield to the top of the table, with 10 games remaining.
Ultimately, four draws and four defeats saw the Terriers fall away to end up in 4th position. Southampton had a storming end to the season and were promoted with champions Manchester City.
Birmingham City held on to 10th spot until the end of the season but were to spend a number of seasons outside the top-flight.
Good luck to both teams on Saturday!