Steve Finney 1973-2022
 
Cambridge United is sharing with the rest of the football family its sadness at the news of the death, at the early age of 48, of striker Steve Finney.

Steve started four games, made three substitute appearances and scored twice for Roy McFarland’s U’s team in the 1997/98 season, while on loan from Swindon Town. It was at the County Ground that he had his most successful years, scoring 18 times in 73 games between 1995 and 1998, and helping the Robins to the Division Two title in 1995/96.

But Steve’s life in football started and ended much farther north. Born in Hexham in 1973, he began his career at Preston North End and spent 18 months at Premier League Manchester City, before joining Swindon in 1995.

He was 23 when he joined United in October 1997 and he quickly made his mark, scoring on his debut in a 3-1 loss at Mansfield. Another goal followed as the U’s drew 1-1 with Rochdale at the Abbey.

He returned to more familiar territory in 1998, signing for Carlisle United and scoring six goals in 38 games, including a run of four in eight matches in the campaign that famously ended with goalkeeper Jimmy Glass's last-minute goal keeping the Blues in the Football League. There followed spells at Leyton Orient, Barrow, Chester City and Altrincham.

Following his playing career Steve worked in sales and business development in the car and fuel industries, while coaching in local football. His most recent appointment was at Ullswater United in the Westmorland League.

He died on February 4, after a short illness.

Ian’s Kruse to a world record
 
Always happy to correct an error, especially when it involves an old friend and a world record.

The pal in this case is Ian Seddon, who plied his cultured midfield trade with the U’s between 1976 and 1977, racking up 47 appearances and four goals for Ron Atkinson’s side. The world record is that for football’s fastest own goal.

Let it now be proclaimed: the ‘assist’ for the fastest ‘oggy’ in English and even world football – scored by Torquay United’s Pat Kruse in a Division Four match against United on 3 January 1977 – should be attributed to Ian Seddon. Somehow, Coconuts got its facts twisted when it credited the assist to Dave Stringer back in 2018.

The own goal took just six seconds and was greeted by stunned silence on the Plainmoor terraces. It was so quick that United physio Ron Simpson, who had been in the United dressing room when the game kicked off, had no idea that a goal had been scored and afterwards took some convincing that the U’s had gained a point with a 2-2 draw.

Ian tells a cracking story – for evidence, have a look at Ah’m Tellin’ Thee, his entertaining biography of Bolton Wanderers and England full back Tommy Banks; available on the usual book sales websites – so let’s listen to his account of the record-breaking events. Bear in mind that the frozen, rutted pitch, with one muddy goalmouth thawing slightly, was barely playable that day.

‘We had a set week-in, week-out kick-off routine,’ Ian recalls. ‘Ron always wanted the ball long behind the full back, even if it went out of play – he wanted to put the emphasis on the opponents getting out of their last 20 yards.

‘When Tom Finney played the kick-off back to me it hit a rut and I didn’t catch it clean, resulting in the ball swerving inside the wide centre half, Pat Kruse. He raced back inside the box towards his goal and headed it past the goalie (Terry Lee), who was sprinting out of goal to collect. They almost collided.’

Referee Tony Glasson’s opening ‘pheep!’ had barely died away and the U’s were a goal ahead. Remarkably, they went two up just before half-time when Phil Sandercock supplied the game’s second own goal with a spectacular header from a Tommy Horsfall cross.

The Gulls’ failure to win a game in which they scored all four goals is legendary on the English Riviera. It has even inspired Torbay musician Ian Churchward to compose the song The Fastest Own Goal and feature it on his album Thrilling Blunder Stories.

It was a strange day all round, and the weirdness was in keeping with the rest of the weekend, Ian remembers. ‘Ron had taken us to Devon over the new year, to train before the game,’ he says. ‘For some reason we were billeted at a holiday camp. The place was closed, although the canteen was opened for us, but there was no heating in the rooms, which were absolutely freezing, and there was nothing to occupy us after training. A few of the lads who made the trip were recovering from injury – Graham ‘Willie’ Watson was one.

‘After one full training session, Big Ron summoned John Simpson to collect a golf driver from his room. Ron then commenced driving balls into the wooded ravine below the complex, demanding that Willie and the other lads recovering from injury “go fetch”.

‘Seeing Willie and co panting and puffing on endless sorties like gun dogs seeking shot-down pheasants was embarrassing to the rest of us, but in true football teammate humour the cheek of it brought a smile.’

Willie remembers the incident slightly differently. Ron was armed, he recalls, with both a driver and a pitching wedge or similar. Willie, as the senior member of an injured duo with full back Bill Baldry, ensured his younger colleague was dispatched to fetch the manager’s shots from the driver, while reserving the shorter wedge shots for himself.

Not like Willie to take the easier option, observes Ian with a grin.
 
Tale tellers: Tommy Banks (left) and Ian Seddon

Afternoon, folks. Hope you are all well. For the usual pragmatic deadlines these notes are quite early but I trust the bubble of euphoria is still inflated following recent cup advancements.
 
22 January is an interesting date in the life history of CUFC but during the 2010-11 season(of blur) in the Conference(then BSP) we saw an entertaining fixture at the Abbey v Wrexham. Lest we forget that nine seasons after leaving the dreaded our friends in north Wales are still there. Sobering.
 
At the time Wrexham were flying in the playoff positions whilst the U’s were floundering(at best middling) in the lower half of the table. By half time the game was effectively over as the Dragons had cruised in to a three goal lead with Andy Mangan, Chris Blackburn and Paul Pogba hitting the old onion bag. Did you spot that……? It was actually Matias Pogba. He’s still playing you know, in France. Only 31. Robbie Wilmott pulled one back just before the hour but a consolation only. The Wrexham line up had some interesting names that day, coached by a certain Dean Saunders. Frank Sinclair, Dean Keates, Andy Morrell and in goal…………..Chris Maxwell. Pretty much his hometown where he spent four seasons and made 76  league appearances. Before moving on and up to the Cod Army in Fleetwood. Not so sure I ever knew the first  part of his journey. Always worth having a coffee over when you’re at home.
 
That season Wrexham ended up in the playoffs(fail) and we were stuck in 17th position on 50 points and a goal difference of -8. Poor. One thing of positivity. Errea from Italy were producing our kit at the time. Hardly the most imaginative of designs but the shade of amber remains up there in the pantheon and spot knocking-off of both previous and subsequent colours.
 
Enjoy the game and keep safe. Remember, there’s only one United.
 
Harry,

Afternoon, all. Hope you enjoyed your football-free break. At least for you cricket fans out there(and there are many I know), the England team will return victorious from Australia shortly.
 
Welcome to Pompey this afternoon. Did you see that Fratton Park ranked at no 20 in FourFourTwo’s 100 Best Football stadiums in the UK survey? We’re at 81.
 
We’re going back to our first fixture of 1983 for our stroll back down Cut Throat Lane way today. A home game in division two against Blackburn Rovers who were sitting ninth in the table at the time whilst we were struggling in the bottom four. In truth our second division days were starting to run out. We managed miraculously to stay up that season and actually finished a very creditable 12th, one spot below the Rovers. Looking at some of the crowds in the first half of that 1982/3 season it is clear to see that the Cambridge public were becoming disenchanted with second division life too. The 1983/4 season though was a disaster from the start and we finished rock bottom, 24 points from safety.
 
The programme for the Blackburn game was a brief affair dictated by the time of year. Some interesting highlights though. The Goal Sponsors’ page is interesting and who could fail to notice a certain Peter Mills from Ditton Fields. He of indomitable Supporters’ Club doorman fame! Some of you older fans will recognise quite a few players in the Rovers line up. Simon “goals” Garner, Derek Fazackerley, infamously on the bench for Newcastle through various management regimes, now assistant to Karl Robinson at Oxford. And Mr Blackburn Rovers himself, Tony Parkes. Six spells as caretaker manager between 1986 and 2004 must surely be a record. When he left for Blackpool eventually he even got them promoted via the playoffs.   I must also make comment about Blackburn’s shirts, surely one of the most identifiable in our game. Consistently in blue and white halves since 1878. Did you know though that the halves have been switched nearly ten times over the years? Looking at the shirts front on we have blue on the right hand side which has prevailed for three seasons following a switch from the other side in 2018-19. The halves design appeared for the first time in 1878 and then the blue(albeit navy) was on the left hand side. Clearly never set in stone.
 
Finally for today a chance to celebrate the birthday on this day in 1892 of one John Ronald Ruel(JRR) Tolkien. Tolkien was English but actually born in Orange Free State in S Africa. Works such as The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion propelled his status and he became the Father of High Fantasy. Tolkien died in Hampshire in 1973 having been made a CBE just the previous year. In 2002 a poll conducted by the BBC voted him the “92nd greatest Briton”. Praise indeed.
 
Enjoy the game.
 
Harry,

Afternoon and seasonal greetings from the old codgers at Coconuts. I hope those who travelled to the Valley by boat last week enjoyed themselves. I certainly did. Sunday was a very quiet affair.
 
We’re travelling back to 18 December 1999 for our bout of reminiscence on the programme front today and a third tier encounter with the Latics from Oldham. This was our 21st competitive encounter since we entered the League in 1970 and to this day I still harbour bitter memories when I hear mere mention of their name; this goes back to the three epic Cup ties in the first half of January in 1974. Ending in bitter disappointment at the City Ground, Nottingham(home of Nottingham Forest, NOT Notts Forest as I was reminded recently by an avid reader) on a dank Monday afternoon on a ‘gluepot’ of a pitch. Even the Oldham manager admitted that the better team lost. Remarkably my old man let me go with him and miss school for the day. He was stricter than a methodist minister with a bull whip but suspect my old dear would have said he was a bit more selective when it came to the mighty U’s!
 
Generally the atmosphere around the club seemed quite positive. Whilst the previous game against Barnet had been postponed we were still coming off knocking Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup third round. Redemption for nearly ten years earlier, maybe. That game was on a Friday night so early signs even then nearly a quarter of a century ago that the FA Cup was, let’s be honest, being messed around with. Anybody remember as well why the third round was as early as December? Me neither.
 
Leafing through the programme I thought the sponsorship page was interesting. Whatever happened to “the Buglies”? Answers on a postcard please to CB5 8LN. And there is evidence that Cambridge United Supporters’ Club sponsored players. How times have changed, eh? And some very familiar old faces on Graham Eales’ PR page…..you know who you are. God bless Andrew Bennett. And lots of CUFC/Oldham connections highlighted which we don’t see so much of these days in programmes. Anyway, the Latics beat us 3-2 that day and completed the double the following April with a 1-0 victory.
 
Finally, on this day in 218 BC, which even Colin Proctor won’t remember(!), Hannibal’s Carthaginian army commenced battle with the Romans in the second of the Punic Wars in the battle of the Trebia fought on Italian soil. By 23 December Tiberius Sempronius Longus had been heavily defeated and it took until 202 BC for the Romans to finally tame the leader/warrior from N Africa. You are duly enriched.
 
Enjoy yourselves.
 
Harry, 

Afternoon, all.
 
This feels like a big game, especially when you hear the opposition are running coaches to the Abbey from East Anglia. Well I keep saying this but it’s been a while since we last crossed swords. Given the size and history of Sunderland AFC our record isn’t so bad but it’s probably not worth mentioning the last time we met, in the League Cup at home on 1 October 2002. I always liked that fizzy lemon and lime concoction, mind.
 
If 2002 seems like a long while ago then how about 27 November 1965? The Linnets from King’s Lynn were in town for a Southern League Premier fixture. Fascinating programme, not least the cover featuring the original United in Endeavour badge. Why oh why did the badge never feature on a U’s shirt? Don’t get me started so let’s move on……
 
One spectacularly unusual feature of the programme in that era was that you had to turn to the centrefold for the basic match details including date, opposition, line ups, etc. Never seen that before or since. There is of course an argument to say that the programme cover adornment is such a thing of beauty that………….there I go again.
 
I know ads are boring but somehow when you look back to those days there is a certain air of romanticism. Some cracking pubs in there, some still with us, some not; I particularly like Mr and Mrs Prong at the King’s Head in Fen Ditton. The pub’s still there and funnily enough sits on a fork in the road off the High St. Think about it. And no King’s Lynn team of the 60s can go without mentioning Malcolm Lindsay, idol of The Walks and later of course of the Abbey. He scored 321 goals for the Linnets in a career spanning 740 games. He joined the U’s in February 1970 for £750(!) at the age of 29 and made an important contribution to the gaining of Football League status with eight goals in 17 Southern League appearances. He had returned to The Walks after a spell at Boston after leaving the Abbey at the end of 1970 after a mediocre start to life in the FL whereby he made 6 league appearances scoring just once.
 
Finally, on this date in 1920 English actor Buster Merryfield was born in Battersea. Known most popularly as ‘Uncle Albert’ in Only Fools & Horses, Merryfield learnt his trade as a fitter but later became a bank manager! A big Millwall fan. He died in Dorset in 1999, aged 78.
 
Enjoy yourselves.
 
Harry,

Evening, campers and a warm welcome to one of the Latics teams from Lancashire. It’s been a while since we last met you know, 5 March 2002 to be precise. The 4-1 thrashing we endured that day at what was then the JJB Stadium was probably a decent portent of how life at CUFC was going to unfurl in the next three years or so.
 
Enough of that misery. Let’s travel back to this day in 1996 when we entertained the O’s in an old division three fixture. Interesting programme and just £1.50 for 32 pages. All your old favourites in there including “Memories” which no doubt could have been an inspiration for this feature. Roy Mac has just joined as manager after the Tommy Taylor affair and we have just scraped through against Welling in the FA Cup. It’s easy to forget isn’t it how long it can take to assemble a promotion-winning has taken the squad although there is probably some context to how long it has taken the existing incumbent to round this lot up and having a good old crack at the division above, in what 18 months?
 
The Orient squad line up was interesting in those days…. Scott McGleish, an old foe Carl Griffiths and Alvin Martin. I don’t remember him being there? And another Martin for your delectation, Ling. Remember him! Anyway we won 2-0 in front of 4,360 to keep up a good record v the O’s which to this day shows us on 21 wins v 14 in our favour since we first met in 1978. One final thing, and I can’t let this pass, our very own DMJ has a page in the programme. If that teaches you anything then don’t get involved deeply with your football club if you want to preserve your looks and youth!
 
Finally, on 23 November 1961 one Merv ‘the swerve’ Hughes was born in Victoria. As some of us cricket-lovers anticipate the start of the Ashes next month, bit of a thorn in our side this guy and infamous for taking the art of “mental disintegration” aka sledging to a new level in his time. Took 212 Test wickets at an average of 28 before retiring in 1994 and now makes his money leading cricket tours for Aussies around the cricket world.
 
Enjoy yourselves.