1969/70 Sat. Aug 30th Crawley Town (A) 2-0 Horrey, o.g. Mon. Sep 1st Hillingdon Borough (A) 0-3 Sat. Sep 6th Burton Albion (H) 2-0 Walker, CassidSat. Sep 13th Romford (A) 3-1 Horrey, Cassidy, Butcher Mon. Sep 15th Brentwood Town (H) 0-3 Thur. Sep 18th Nuneaton Borough (A) 1-1 Horrey With six Southern League matches in 19 days and the last three coming in a week it was a busy time for United. Can you imagine today’s teams coping with such a schedule? With a small squad there was very little room for player rotation. Eight players played in all six matches. The match at Hillingdon proved to be a bit of a crossroads for attitudes and commitment. Three goals down at half-time a furious Bill Leivers fumed at his players, telling them they had forgot the pre match instructions and that thumping the ball around aimlessly never works and that too many of them think they know better than the manager. After the earlier match at Weymouth, Leivers had given the players four games to prove themselves. This being the forth match, Leivers was as good as his word, putting Bill Cassidy, Peter Leggett and John Saunders on the transfer list and giving three others a warning “buck your ideas up or you will be on the list”. Five days later, Saunders and Cassidy were still in the starting line up, but Leggett not. After the match Leivers commented “ Cassidy and Saunders both looked determind”. There was bad news for goalkeeper Rodney Slack when it was revealed he had broken his leg. With Keith Barker unsettled, Leivers brought in former Arsenal keeper Peter Goy on a months trial. The registration papers being signed in a bus shelter outside Addenbrooks Hospital in the middle of a 150 mile dash from Colchester to Nuneaton | 1989/90 On Satuday 9th September 1989 Chesterfield were the visitors to the Abbey. Neither team had so far shown anything like the form they were to later in the season. The only goal of the match came when Chris Leadbitter got his bearings wrong and planted a header into his own net from a Chesterfield corner. The following Saturday the U’s travelled to Exeter again losing, this time by the odd goal in five. After going a goal behind in the 21st minute, United came back with a goal from Phil Chapple and a Alan Kimble penalty to go in 2-1 up at half-time. However second half goals from Dryden and Rowbottom saw the Grecians take all three points. No wins in five matches and United sitting in 21st position it was worrying times for manager Chris Turner. FOOTBALL IN SEPTEMBER 1989 This weekend was international break for the top teams. England played out a goalless draw in Sweden which may be enough to see them through to the following season’s world cup finals, although in theory they need a point from next month’s visit to Poland. Terry Butcher was England’s hero, continuing to play the captains role after having 10 stitches in a cut head during the interval. THE WORLD IN SEPTEMBER 1989 Black Box, remember them? Not many people do. Were No1 in the charts with “Ride on Time.” Number 2 was Jason Donovan, what happened to him? With “Everyday.” |
This season marks the 50th anniversary of Cambridge United’s last season in the Southern League which concluded in being elected into the Football League. Week by week we will look back on events of that memorable season and also 30 years ago, a season which saw the U’s win the first ever play off final at Wembley. This season marks the 50th anniversary of Cambridge United’s last season in the Southern League which concluded in being elected into the Football League. Week by week we will look back on events of that memorable season and also 30 years ago, a season which saw the U’s win the first ever play off final at Wembley.
![]() 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.
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. |
Happy Harry's blogI'm the living embodiment of the spirit of the U's, and I'll be blogging whenever I've got news for you, as long as I don't miss my tea. Archives
February 2021
|