The boys of 1969/1970 - What happened to the players? Part 3

It is now fifty years since Cambridge United won the Southern League for the second time in succession and  were elected into the Football League;this was achieved with a squad of primarily sixteen professionals most of whom stayed on for the first season in the Football League.

If we look at the team photograph above, what happened to those players after they left the club?

Below is Part 3 of a series to provide some information of what happened as the players moved on. 

Today we look at Malcolm Lindsay, Dennis Walker, Colin Meldrum, George Harris

Colin Meldrum will be a name that is forever etched in the history of Cambridge United for scoring the clubs first goal in the Football League. Ironically, he was also the first Cambridge United player to be sent off in a League match for the U's  later in the season against Lincoln in the return fixture

Signed from Reading with George Harris in October  1969. His influence at the club was cemented when he was elected by the other players to replace Robin Hardy as captain before the League season began.

Having played in most of the matches during the inaugural season he was released by Bill Leivers at the end of the season. He took on the role of player-manager at Hillingdon Borough (1971/72), from there he was chief coach at York City when they won promotion to Division 2 in 1974, player-boss with Workington 1974/75

As manager at Stafford Rangers he reached the final of the FA Trophy at Wembley in 1975 losing to Scarborough 3-2  after extra time.

Finally he became a sports development officer in Blackpool

He was inducted into the Reading Supporters Trust Hall of Fame in 2019 having played over 250 times for the Royals and being named twice as Player of the Year in 1964 & 1965

Read more about Colin here

Colin died Rossall Nursing Home Fleetwood on 4 October 2019, at the age of 77

READ AMBER & BLACK HERE

.Dennis Walker was born on the 26th October 1944, in Northwich. He made his Football League debut and played his only match  for Manchester United against Nottingham Forest on the 20th May 1963.  The match was played during the week before  Manchester United played Leicester in the FA Cup final.  Alongside him in midfield that day was Pat Creland and John Giles. Bobby Charlton and Maurice Setters were being rested,replaced by Walker and a certain Nobby Stiles. Dennis was the first black player to play for Manchester United. 

Having been released by the Old Trafford side in 1964  he made the move to York City.
 During his first season York won promotion from Div 4 and he went on to start  154 league appearances for the Minstermen.

Dennis joined the U's along with Roly Horrey from York

He made a major contribution in of  both the Championship as well as the football league seasons

He was granted a transfer and moved on to Poole Town in October 1972 for £1600. 1972-73 season saw Poole relegated from the Southern Premier League to the Southern League Division 1 South, Dennis Walker was made player manager following a recomendation from Bill Leivers. There several new signings one being Ivan Hollett

It is reported that when he left Poole he went to South Africa in July 1975. While at He made 74 league appearances for Poole  scoring 4 league goals.

When he returned to the UK where he worked as operations manager of the Arndale shopping complex. He was working there at the the time of a terrorist attack in 1996.

Dennis Walker died in 2003

George Harris - It was on the 2nd May 1970. Eighty minutes had passed and for all the United pressure it was goalless. Then Utd were awarded a penalty -George  looked into the eyes of the Margate goalkeeper. He ran up, struck the penalty  scoring the goal that  would secure  the Southern League title for the second season running and that would lead to the club gaining election to the Football League,

His career was linked with Colin Meldrum for eight years, playing together at Watford and Reading. George was a known goalscorer at both clubs before joining Cambridge United on the 17 October 1969 for a then club record fee of £4.500. Like Colin Meldrum he had a past Player of the Year at Reading 1967.

While at Reading he had been secretary of Woodley Photographic club

When he made his debut against Nuneaton he scored a hat trick in a 5 -1 home win. By January 1972 George's time at the club was  coming to an end. He asked to be transfer listed.  George would play his final match away against Exeter. The previous week he had scored his final goal for the U's against Hartlepool. At the end of the season he was released by the club, one month short of his 32nd birthday; injuries were now starting to take  their toll. He played and scored one more time at the Abbey Stadium in Trevor Roberts testimonial against West Ham

He had been a free scoring winger whose goals had helped the U's reach their aim of joining the Football  League

When he left the Abbey Stadium he moved back to Berkshire and joined Wokingham Athenian League   until he ended his career

George still lives in the Reading area.

Malcolm Lindsay was a legendary striker during his career at Kings Lynn where he still holds the record for the number of goals scored. It is a record that is unlikely ever to be beaten.

He scored an incredible 321 goals for the Linnetts during his time there. 187 were scored in the Southern League including 4 in a match against Cheltenham in 1965.

Born in the hotbed of football Ashington he played for Berwick and Gateshead before moving onto Kings Lynn in 1964

Signed by the U's for £750 in February 1970 he formed a formidable front line with Bill Cassidy and George Harris as the club marched towards the championship title. By the end of the season in May he had scored 8 goals in 17 matches.

Malcolm started the next season as first choice for the No 9 shirt. His only league goal would come in the 83rd minute against Crewe in a 2-1 away win.

Malcolm was signed by Boston midway through the 1970/71 season after being released by Cambridge United. He scored twice for the club on debut for them. The manager at the was Jim Smith

When leaving Boston he returned to Kings Lynn and carried on coring goals for them

Malcolm returned to the Abbey Stadium at the end of 2019 to record his story that can be heard below. It is worth listening to the story about his honeymoon in Aberdeen

Listen to an Evening with MalcoLm Lindsay

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

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