In 1973 I left school with a couple of ropy A Levels and no real idea what I wanted to do, my Careers Master’s final words ringing in my ears: ‘Whatever you do, don’t drift’. Well, drift was exactly what I did … having a vague idea of a career in journalism I joined the Cambridge Evening News as a Sub Editorial Messenger at the Princely wage of £14 a week.

The job – better known as a ‘Copy Runner’ – was basically a messenger boy, involving carrying bits of paper round the building; simple, undemanding and giving a great insight into the running of a newspaper (and quite enough to put me off journalism).

My aim here is to explain how the Blue sports paper was put together, so first we need to understand how a newspaper was put together 50 years ago, before computers and modern technology.

At the time the News building had recently moved to the site on Newmarket Road (handy for The Bird in Hand, where many of the journalists did their best work). The News Room, print room and all the associated parts of producing the paper were on the ground floor; upstairs were offices, the Features department, accounts, etc.

On entering the building a door to the left led into the News Room. Here were the journalists. Along the left wall was the News Desk – a long desk with typewriters where the reporters worked. To the right was the Sports Desk, home to luminaries such as Mike Finnis, Randall Butt and Dave Hallett. A door at the end of the Sports Desk led into the Print Room.

The centre of the room was occupied by desks and filing cabinets. Here the weekly papers such as the Royston Crow and the Cambridge Independent Press were produced. At the far end was the Subs Desk. ‘Subs’ were the sub-editors: a reporter wrote and typed up a story, where it was passed to the Subs, who checked spelling, syntax and content, added a heading for the story and otherwise prepared it to go to the Print Room.

This main room contained three other vital elements. Firstly, the Copy Typists, a team of three female typists near the entry door. Their job was the sit, with head sets, typing stories being phoned-in by reporters off-site. For football reporting their skill was essential.

Next was a small room set off from the News Room, but accessed by a large sliding window. This was the home of Ron Best and his team, operating the news tape service. Older readers will recall the Video Printer on Grandstand, in which football scores appeared on Final Score. This was a service provided by Reuters and Associated Press, supplying up-to-date national and international news via tickertape. Obviously this was a key part of the newspaper, and Ron made sure everyone knew it.

Finally, the Copy Runners. We were situated at a desk in front of Ron’s window, with the Subs Desk behind us. When Ron passed something through, we took it to the Subs.

That’s the News Room. I have mentioned a few names, but I have, sadly, forgotten quite a few, and the libel laws prevent me mentioning others - these were days when lunches were long and liquid! I should,however, mention Tony Rixon, though: a thoroughly nice chap, he was Chief Sub on the Sports desk, so it was he who ‘subbed’ the stuff for the Blue.

So now, producing the paper. When a sub called ‘Copy’, one of the three Copy Runners (me, Janice or Jane – later replaced by Chris) would take it to the Machine Room. This was a large, hot and very noisy place where the heavy metal print machines lived.

Each machine – I can’t remember how many, but there must have been 15 to 20 – was operated by a male operator who, effectively, typed the story into the machine. The end product, however, was not a sheet of paper, but a tray of metal typeface. This would be taken to a central desk, where it would be covered in ink and a sheet of newsprint (paper) placed over it. A heavy roller would then be run across if, providing a ‘proof’ of the story.

This would then be taken back to the Subs Desk for checking. They would make any alterations or corrections at which point the corrected proof would return to the Machine Room. At some point in the process the story would also pass through the Proof Readers’ office where it would be checked and corrected for spelling, etc (no mistakes between ’there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’ in those days).

When everyone was happy, a page layout would be made and checked and the final result would appear as a semi-circular drum which went onto the print machine … and the paper would appear. The most difficult part, and the cause of the worst language, was trying to get the metal blocks of stories to fit the page size: we’re talking about large chunks of metal rather than words on a computer screen.

The print machines were at the back of the building. Extremely loud (louder than the machine room), huge rolls of newsprint would be loaded … and at the end, ready-folded copies of the paper would appear. They would be loaded into vans and despatched to newsagents across the county.

Producing the Blue

So how did all this affect the Blue?

The aim was to have the Blue on the streets as soon as possible after the final whistle on a Saturday, so you can imagine the time constraints. As a result, most of the paper was ready to go by Friday afternoon. The ‘Feature’ stories (the background stories, stuff about Royston Town’s new groundsman or Haslingfield’s stolen mower) would be written during the week and prepared for publication.

The real problem was the match reports and scores – the reason why people bought the paper, so how did these appear in those pre-computer, pre-mobile phone days?

This is where Ron Best’s team and the Copy Typists came in. Ron would be receiving scores from PA or Reuters: as these arrived they would be passed to the Subs (Copy Runners didn’t work at weekends; I was normally at the Abbey) and thence to the Print Room, suitably marked and edited and put in a box on the front page.

The United and City match reports were phoned in by the reporters covering the games. At the Abbey in those days the Press Box was next to the Main Stand (before it had been extended), between the stand and the Corona End. It was a wooden box on top of a brick plinth, with two rows of bench seats with a desk in front. It was equipped with telephones so the reporter (Hallett, Finnis, Butt) would phone in the report. This would be done in stages – at half time and at full time. The Copy Typist back at Newmarket Road would type this up as it was dictated and then pass it across for subbing.

Speed here was essential, so a dedicated team would be on hand to ensure that the reports were prepared and the Blue could be out as quickly as possible. Once the final report had been phoned through the reporter would track down the Manager for comments, and speak to anyone else prepared to comment; these would be added to the report in Monday’s paper and also be used for filler stories in the next week’s Blue.

Generally, League grounds were all equipped similarly to the Abbey so the reporter could phone his report from away matches as easily as for home games. Non-league grounds could be a different thing, though, as I found out on the 22nd November 1975.

United had been drawn away in the First Round of the Cup – to Isthmian League Leatherhead, home of the notorious Chris Kelly, ‘The Leatherhead Lip’. I went with the reporter (I cannot for the life of me remember who it was) to assist. There was no real Press Box, and the only phone was in the club house. As a result, the reporter wrote up a report half way through the first half and gave it to me to phone through.

This required me to leave the stand where we were sitting and run along the touchline to the club house and call the typist. Same again at half time, mid-half and at the end of a very depressing 0-2 (while the reporter went off to get quotes from Big Ron … given the result, I bet they were good).

This sounds quite simple, but remember this was early 1976. The pitch was a pool of mud and I was wearing four-inch stacked shoes, trousers with a 28” flare and a greatcoat with lapels the size of an aircraft carrier. By the time I got home I looked like I’d been digging on the allotments. My mother was not pleased.

As an aside, before leaving school I worked for a while at Stop’s on Newmarket Road. I never understood why they didn’t deliver the Blue until the manager pointed out that a walk to collect a copy meant that the blokes bought a packet of fags plus some chocolates for the wife, and possibly sweets for the kids. It was an early demonstration of marketing! Interestingly, my father had always sent me, but he did give me the money to buy his Weights; the Happy Harry cartoon on the front was always the first thing I looked at.

While I worked at the News I cadged a lift to away matches several times. Apart from the Leatherhead game I was able to see a crushing 0-6 at Aldershot and a thoroughly depressing 0-2 at Scunthorpe, both in 1974 but a cracking 2-0 at Doncaster in 1975 (debuts of Spriggs and Biley).

Looking back over nearly 50 years is like a different world. A long process to provide news that we now expect immediately. There wasn’t even teletext back then – the result of a Fourth Division game on a weekday evening would have been unobtainable until the following morning’s papers and even results of a Saturday match would be a mystery if you missed Grandstand or the scores on the radio.

I left the News about the time of the Leatherhead game but over time my respect for the team who put the paper, and especially the Blue with its extremely tight time constraints, has grown. It all changed not that long after I left so I really feel proud to have been present at the end of an era of newspaper production.

100 years of Coconuts are pleased to announce the release of the latest Celery & Coconuts publication ‘ The Moose that Roared’.

The latest installment in Andrew Bennett’s acclaimed history of Cambridge United books he created, which have being put together will be popular for u’s fans.

The Moose that Roared will be volume four of the books documenting the clubs history. This volume features one of the most successful periods & exciting times for Cambridge United fans & with a foreword from a legend from that period in Shaggy it should be an exciting read for fans.

There will be limited stock available for the latest volume of the book, but you can pre order today for just £22.99 incl post & packing to avoid missing out on owning another piece of great U’s history. To pre order your copy of the book please visit the CFU store here:

Roly Horrey - like Mel Slack originated from Bishops Auckland. He started his footballing career there and at Ferryhill Athletic  before moving onto Blackburn where he made his league debut. Roly made the move to York for a fee of £4,000 in 1966, During the preseason of  1968 he was coming south and to Cambridge United along with York teammate Dennis Walker.

Roly made his debut in the first match of the 1968 season against Poole and scored his first goal against Burton on the 31st August.

Known as the Galloping Major,  Roly was in competition with Peter Leggett for a starting place in the side. He was a valuable member of both Southern League championship title winning sides.

Roly played his first Football League match against Crewe in September 1970. By the end of the season he had become  a regular again in the side. He would survive the Bill Leivers cull that came when the season finished when many from the Championship side did not

Brian Grant - Born in Coatbridge in May 1943 he would move south of the border to play for Nottingham Forest. Having played 18 matches for them he was signed by Brian Clough for  Hartlepool. During his time there he would play alongside John McGovern who later lifted the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and beame known as Tiger.

When he arrived at the Abbey Stadium he  established regular full back partnerships with first Keith Lindsey and then Jimmy Thompson.

He was also the first of a group of Scottish born players who were so important in winning the Southern League title in 1969/79. He was later joined by Bill Cassidy, Colin Meldrum and John McKinven,

Brian made his debut against Kettering in September 1969 and soon became a regular in the side for the next few years.  Bill would describe him as a strong, brave, big hearted player. The type all managers would be looking for.

Not known for his goalscoring exploits he scored just one Southern League goal in an 8 nil win against Crawley and once in an EPFL match against Cambridge City.

His final start was for the U's was against Barrow in January 1971. Brian had been granted a free transfer having been left out of the side following a 4-1 reverse to Notts County in the final match of 1970.

Terry Eades - signed for Cambridge United in March 1969 when Bill Leivers paid Chelmsford £2,500 for the central defender.  He was 25 and regarded as their best player at the time.  Good in the air and able to mark opposition players out of the game. Terry had excellent organisational skills in the heart of the defence.

When the U's won the championship in 1969/70 it would be his third title in successive years.

In 1974 Terry would become the first Cambridge United  player  Sunday when he scored the FA Cup equaliser against Oldham.

At the start of the 1975/76 season he was made club captain and the season saw him break his nose, get sent off and have a nose straightening operation

Terry would remain a regular first choice in the side until 1976 such was his quality.

At the start of the 76/77 season Brandon Batson was appointed club captain. This unsettled Terry and he asked for a transfer, Turning down Brentford he later signed for  Watford on loan.  At the end of the season he was released..

His final league match was away against Stockport in a goaless draw in the match that confirmed the championship

It was the end of an era. Terry was the last link to the side of the Southern League days

John Gregson has kindly provided the following in his own words. Coconuts put out a call recently to try and find out where he lived. We were able to speak to John who now lives in the North West.

The following is the history of my time as a professional footballer.

I signed for Blackpool in the late 1950s, managed by Joe Smith, after deputising for Stanley Matthews on a couple of occasions, in the early sixties I was called up for National Service for two years, when the two years was completed I returned  to Blackpool F.C. but management had changed and I was transferred to Chester F.C, then Shrewsbury town came in for me after a couple of months,  over the next few years I moved from Shrewsbury to Mansfield Town and then Lincoln City.  I was at Lincoln for one year then Bill Leivers around 1968 ask me if I would like to come to Cambridge. I was very impressed with the manager and Cambridge United as a football club, they where very ambitious and hoping to achieve league status. What an exciting time for everyone when the club got league status around 1969-1970 and the took all our families to Spain for a week as a reward.

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

.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.

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

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.

Cambridge United 1968/69. Back from left: Robin Hardy, Peter Robinson, John Gregson, Jackie Scurr, Alan Payne, Gerry Baker; middle: Bill Leivers (manager), Tony Nicholas, Keith Barker, Dennis Walker, Rodney Slack, Mick Brown, Dai Ward; front: Rowland Horrey, Alan Lord, Keith Lindsey, Brian Grant, David Chambers, Richard Habbin, John Saunders. Photo: Cambridge Evening News.

Keith Barker - started the club's first league season as deputy to goalkeeper Trevor Roberts. When Trevor became sick, Bill Leivers was not willing to play the 20 year old in the first team. Peter Vasper arrived from Norwich and became first choice until Trevor's return in January 1971

Upon becoming third choice goalkeeper Keith had his contract cancelled by mutual consent. The young goalkeeper who had so much potential left the club without playing a single match in the Football League.

His final match for the U's was in the Cambs Professional Cup against Cambridge City at the beginning of December.

Keith had made his Southern League debut against Hastings in November 1967 when Rodney Slack was injured. He was a still a teenager  training with the youth team. Keith did so well the no 1 Rodney Slack was loaned out to Corby. Throughout the the next seasons he had to battle with fans favourite Rodney Slack for the goalkeepers jersey. Starting to establish himself in the first team he attracted the attention of Chelsea.