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Rise and shine

9/26/2017

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This article appeared in the Cambridge United programme for the match against Forest Green Rovers on 26 September 2017.

Several elements of the photograph on this page allow us to date it to the late 1960s/early1970s. The buzz cut, braces and button-down collar sported by the tall gent on the left, for example, were undoubtedly complemented by a pair of DMs, useful in the event of the aggro that was all too prevalent at the time.

The real giveaway, of course, forms the centrepiece of the tableau and permits us to pinpoint its exact date: 2 May 1970. The magnificent trophy held aloft by Malcolm Lindsay and his U’s teammates is the Southern League championship shield, and they had just won it by beating Margate 2-0 in the final league match of the season.

Play Spot the Player and you’ll pick out Jimmy Thompson, Robin Hardy and Terry Eades. Those of us who were around at the time could pass a happy half-hour playing Spot the Fan among the masses on the Abbey pitch.

It’s a memorable image, which is one reason it was chosen for the front cover of Risen from the Dust, the second volume of Andrew Bennett’s Celery & Coconuts history of Abbey/Cambridge United. It will be published next month; preorder your copy now from the CFU online store or the caravan in the front car park on a match day.

Another reason for the photograph’s choice is that it represents the culmination of two decades of sky-high ambition, dogged determination and sheer, unceasing hard work on the part of supporters, directors, officials and players. The rapidity of the club’s rise from local league part-timers to a position that made it almost impossible for Football League clubs not to elect United to join them was unprecedented. It will never be repeated.

In the early weeks of 1951, the year in which Risen from the Dust opens, the U’s were still called Abbey United and were grubbing around in the semi-pro United Counties League.
Picture
​A limited liability company looking after the club’s affairs – a declaration of the ambition burning bright at Newmarket Road – had been set up the year before, but the change of name to Cambridge United and acceptance into the Eastern Counties League were still in the future. Even the Southern League, at that time the biggest non-League competition, was a very distant prospect.

​The book recounts the story of the nineteen short years it took the U’s to surge upwards through the ECL and the Southern League, win the latter twice and its league cup three times and hammer irresistibly on the door of the Football League’s art deco headquarters in Lytham St Annes.


Over the course of 388 pages, Andrew (belated congratulations on your appointment as club historian, lad) covers all the great moments and talking points in his familiar, eminently readable style. They include the development of the Abbey funded and carried out by supporters, the sight of football legend Wilf Mannion in amber and black, the unforgettable derby tussles of the 60s, the incredibly successful pools operation driven by Dudley Arliss, the constant bitter argument over the issue of City-United amalgamation … it’s all there. And stats fans get page after page of the factual stuff.
​
It can be yours for the ridiculously low price of £19.99, or £1 less if you’re a CFU member. We look forward to taking your order.
Cheerio
Harry
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Days in the sun

6/1/2017

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This article first appeared in the 24-30 May 2017 issue of the Cambridge Independent.

While some English footballers are currently seeking new employers or poring over contract offers, others are in a more relaxed state of mind. Those Cambridge United players whose futures at Newmarket Road are secure – at least for another season – may well be dreaming of a faraway beach, or perhaps getting down to a little light DIY. They won’t be pulling on the amber and black for a while.

Twice in United’s history, however, the season has extended well beyond the usual mid-May finish and taken the players on punishing overseas tours that must have had them yearning for their deckchairs. On both occasions, those players had already endured long, hard seasons – and been rewarded with unprecedented success.

By the end of May 1970, the U’s had fulfilled more than 80 competitive fixtures, had secured the Southern League title for the second year running and were waiting to hear if the 92 Football League clubs would vote to admit them to the game’s elite. The all-important meeting was a day away when the squad set out for West Germany, to take part in a summer tournament.
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The news of United’s election to the League, when it reached North Rhine-Westphalia, inspired the players to win all of their three group matches inside five searingly hot days. Bonner SC, captained by former Uruguay skipper Horacio Troche, were beaten 2-1, then Wesseling District were despatched 3-0 by a U’s side putting on a show: goalkeeper Rodney Slack played up front and winger John McKinven delighted the crowd when he flicked the ball up, caught it on the back of his neck and ran past a defender.

United then beat DJK Gütersloh 4-3 after falling behind three times, before, exhausted by the schedule and the heat, losing 2-1 in the final to Bayer 04 Leverkusen of German football’s second tier. Jubilant crowds awaited them on their return to Cambridge.
Picture
Cambridge United first-team squad 1972/73.
Three years later, United had just won promotion to League Division Three, thanks to a breathless 3-2 win over Mansfield at an overflowing Abbey Stadium, when they flew to Cyprus for a tournament organised by ASIL FC. One man who didn’t join them was manager Bill Leivers, who was enjoying a family holiday in the Spanish sun. Under the wing of trainer John Simpson, and in stifling heat, the U’s played three European teams in the space of four days.

First time out they lost 3-0 to Praionia of Romania but made a great start to their second game, against Brno-Moretz: Graham Smith became the only U’s goalkeeper to score a first-team goal when his monster clearance bounced off the rock-hard pitch and past the keeper to give his side the lead. The final score was 3-3.

The following day, the tiring U’s lost 2-1 after taking the lead against Cypriot champions Omonia Nicosia – and the capacity crowd of 10,000 included at least one United supporter. Seventeen-year-old Richard Harradine, who was based in Cyprus with the Royal Navy, walked 18 miles in low-30s heat to wave his scarf – that’s dedication. I bet the players sank a beer or two after the final whistle of an exhausting year.
Cheerio
Harry

PictureBrian Greenhalgh: 1972/73 player of the year.
While the United players were toiling in the Cypriot sun in 1973, the supporters back home were celebrating promotion to Division Three and paying tribute to their player of the year: Brian Greenhalgh.

The 26-year-old striker had finished top of United’s 1972/73 goalscoring charts, notching 18 times in 47 games, but his tally of 19 the previous season had already established him as an Abbey favourite. The fans were certainly glad he had overcome his initial misgivings about dropping from the First Division to the Fourth when Bill Leivers came calling in August 1971.

Greenhalgh made his reputation with Preston North End and Aston Villa, but the goals dried up when he moved to Leicester and then, in 1969, to Huddersfield. Leivers was certain of his potential, but there were some grumbles on the terraces when he failed to score in his first six U’s games.

The moaners were silenced when his first goal came at Bury in September. Greenhalgh then married Annette the following Monday and, five days later, netted four times in a 6-0 drubbing of Darlington.

He drew a blank in his first eight games in 1972/73, but his class was plain to see and the goals soon began to flow again. The winner in a 1-0 win at Workington was a Greenhalgh classic: he allowed a Vic Akers cross to run through his legs at the near post, then flicked it in off a dumbfounded defender.

Eleven more goals followed in 1973/74, but his happy relationship with United fans came to an end in February when Leivers, declaring ‘every player has his price’, sold him to Bournemouth for £40,000.

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​Mel Slack, 1944-2016

8/9/2016

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The Cambridge football family lost a well loved member with the death on Saturday, 6 August 2016 of Mel Slack, at the age of 72.

Mel started 124 times and made ten sub appearances for the U’s between 1969 and 1971, starring for Bill Leivers’ side as it gained election to, and established itself in, the Football League. A hard-tackling midfielder, he played for Cambridge City when his United career ended.

Born on 7 March 1944 in Bishop Auckland (County Durham), he was on Burnley’s books as a youth before signing for Sunderland in 1961. He played twice in four years and then joined Southend United, for whom he played 107 league matches.
​
He arrived in Cambridge in January 1969 after Southend gave United £5,000 plus Mel in return for full back Keith Lindsey. He made his debut on January 15 in a Southern League Cup game against Chelmsford, and competed with Dennis Walker for a midfield place for the rest of the season.

United became Southern League champions for the first time at the end of the season, and Mel also picked up a Southern League Cup winner’s medal, playing in the second leg of the final at Cheltenham as the U’s won 1-0 on aggregate.
Picture
Mel Slack: brought up in a hard school of football
He was a regular starter the following season, helping to anchor the midfield as United challenged for the title again. He missed the last away game, a 4-1 loss at Yeovil, with tonsillitis, but got out of his sickbed to play in a 3-0 defeat of Worcester five days later. The following evening he started in front of the Abbey Stadium’s record crowd of 14,000 in a friendly against Chelsea, but like the rest of the first team sat out the second half in anticipation of the title-deciding game against Margate the following afternoon. United won 2-0 and were champions again.

Following the club’s election to Football League Division Four, Mel remained a regular first-team choice, although his 1970/71 season was ended three games early by an ankle injury. United finished 20th in their first League season and, as Leivers revamped his squad, Mel signed for City.

He returned to the Abbey in November 1971 to play in the first leg of the Cambs Professional Cup final. Cautioned for bringing down Peter Phillips, he reacted by throwing a punch when the U’s striker returned the compliment, earning an instant dismissal.

He had explained why he was no stranger to the physical side of the game the previous season. ‘I was brought up in a hard school at Sunderland, where we were always instructed to put our opponents out of the game before starting to play the football. Great play was made of mental attitude as we prepared before each game to do battle, and I have always played hard, whether in training or a match.’

Nonetheless, Mel’s skill on the ball was considerable and, while he was not known for scoring – he netted just three times for United – he will long be remembered for one moment of brilliance. With the score at 1-1 with five minutes to go in the first away game of 1969/70, he dribbled through Gloucester’s attempted offside trap to score an outstanding winner.
​
He believed his best asset lay in another area, however: ‘I feel I am at my best when the boss says before the game that so and so have a particular danger man and I am given the job of playing him out of the game.’

Remaining in the Cambridge area after his retirement, Mel became widely known as the landlord of the Rose & Crown in Teversham and later lived in Fulbourn. He leaves widow Joan, daughter Keely and two granddaughters.
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