Category: Cambridge Independent

A cabinet full of cups

6/4/2020

This article appeared in the Cambridge Independent's edition of 6-12 December 2017 and on the 100cocnuts page 25th January 2018

You can imagine the engraver, burin in hand, squinting at the scrap of paper in front of him and trying to decipher the handwritten scrawl.

‘That must be C Alsop and he’s first, so he must be the goalkeeper,’ he mutters to himself. ‘That one looks like F Tuff … funny name; and that one must be … no, it can’t be … yes, it’s R Twirmore. Must be a foreign chap.’

Our craftsman was doing his best to inscribe the names of the Abbey United team that had just won the Cambridgeshire Challenge Cup for 1924/25. To be fair to him, he got most of the names right, although not necessarily in the right order.

But the C Alsop he inscribed should have read G Alsop, and he was a centre half, not a goalie. ‘F Tuff’ was actually wing half Frank Luff, and as for R Twirmore … how he arrived at that interpretation of Joe Livermore’s name is anybody’s guess.

To put the record straight, the Abbey team that beat Girton United 6-1 at Cambridge Town’s Milton Road ground lined up: R ‘Percy’ Wilson; Joe Livermore, Bill Walker; Jim Self, George Alsop, Bill ‘Pim’ Stearn; Fred Stevens, Frank Luff, Harvey Cornwell, Tom Langford, William ‘Fanny’ Freeman.

United club historian Andrew Bennett, in Newmarket Road Roughs, the first volume of his Celery & Coconuts history of Abbey/ Cambridge United, tells how Walker converted an early Abbey penalty.

Girton equalised on the half-hour but Cornwell put his side in front again before half-time. Bennett continues: ‘Inspired by a penalty save by goalkeeper R “Percy” Wilson early in the second half, Cornwell went on to complete his hat-trick, which included a superb score after sprinting half the length of the pitch.

‘Further goals from Langford and Freeman sealed a resounding 6-1 win and a third trophy for skipper Alsop to hold aloft in the space of eight days.’

A third trophy? It was indeed, and Abbey would add another before the season was out.

The Wasps set out on the trophy trail by playing the first of three cup finals in eight days on April 11.

In the Chatteris Engineering Works Cup, Cottenham United had no reply to three early second-half goals and Abbey won 5-0, with Cornwell claiming four.

Two days later, in the Cottenham Nursing Cup final, Watson put Girton ahead early on, but then Stevens crossed for Wilson to score and Alsop struck a majestic 30-yard winner on the half-hour.

Two weeks after the Cambs Challenge Cup win, it was on to the Creake Charity Shield final, against United Cantabs at Milton Road.

A goalless draw was followed by a 1-1 stalemate in the replay, with Alsop notching the Abbey goal. The clubs, understandably not wanting to play a second replay in September, agreed to share the trophy for a year.

United’s remarkable cup performances had established them as a force in Cambridgeshire football.

Above, the slightly battered Cambridgeshire Challenge Cup. Below, the 1925/25 inscription.

In celebratory mood, players and officials, along with guests from the town council and Cambs FA, made their way to the Livingstone Hotel in Petty Cury. During the evening, the three cups Abbey had won outright were filled and passed round, and doubtless many a toast was proposed.

It must have been a jolly evening. Exactly how jolly, and what the trophies were filled with, we may never know. The Livingstone was a temperance hotel.

George Alsop, one of Abbey United's star players in the 1920s.

The name of George Alsop, the man who picked up the four 1924/25 cups on behalf of Abbey United, was seldom absent from match reports of the time.

The Barnwell-born lad had made an impression in 1921/22, and had spent the following two years at Chelsea.

He never made it out of the Pensioners’ reserves, and returned to his local club for its record-breaking season.

A centre half who could switch to centre forward to great effect, Alsop was a mainstay of the United side until the early 1930s. By the time his Wasps career finished, he had scored 62 goals in 160 appearances.

Two of those goals came in his first reappearance in amber and black, a 2-0 away win over St Ives on 13 September 1924.

After a 6-2 home win over Cottenham two weeks later, the local press hailed him as Abbey’s best player, adding: ‘He was originally a forward, and it was in that capacity that he was signed by Chelsea about two years ago.

‘He was then a good shot, but he has not only benefited by his sojourn with the professionals in that direction, but in all-round football ability.’

Alsop’s career was punctuated by periods when he concentrated on Thursday league football, and there were times when he seemed to be on the verge of signing for Cambridge Town.

But he occupies a prominent place in the list of the most influential players United have ever had.

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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.

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.

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

Brian 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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Rich pickings

5/20/2017

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100 Years of Coconuts is delighted to be contributing a regular column to the Cambridge Independent. The first column appeared in the newspaper's 12-18 April 2017 issue.

Modern sports science stresses the importance of post-performance rest and recovery – and they will both be in fairly short supply for Cambridge United players over the coming Easter weekend. The U’s face a Good Friday trek to Grimsby, before returning to Newmarket Road for the Easter Monday fixture against Exeter.

Players of earlier times might have looked on the bus journey home from Humberside as their rest-and-recovery period, knowing they would have to pull on their boots again the following day. The Easter weekend, crammed to bursting with crucial games, often went a long way towards deciding which clubs would be champs and which would be chumps.

That was certainly true of Easter 1970, when United were aiming to clinch their second successive Southern League title and strengthen their case for election to the Football League. In the space of four days they were to face Hereford United at the Abbey Stadium and Chelmsford City home and away.

Hereford arrived at the Abbey on Saturday, 28 March 1970 with legendary player-boss John Charles in defence, but United showed championship mettle in smashing them 4-0 with striker Bill Cassidy, at his impish best, scoring twice. The result saw the U’s climb the table to fourth, five points behind pacesetters Yeovil Town but with five games in hand.

The Chelmsford double-header was scheduled for Easter Monday and the following day. U’s manager Bill Leivers had experimented with a sweeper system in away games, with Robin Hardy in the key position, and at New Writtle Street the tactic proved its worth.

With the hosts playing the second half with ten men – Glen Andrews had suffered a broken leg after sub Tony Butcher had been used – ex-Reading goal machine George Harris notched the game’s only score on the hour. It was his fourth strike in three games and he was on his way to an incredible season’s tally of 35, despite only signing for United in October.

On the Tuesday United beat the Clarets at the Abbey to make it a six-point Easter. The goals in the 2-0 win were claimed by Malcolm Lindsay, but the chief architect was flying right winger Peter Leggett who, at his teasing, tormenting best, ripped his former teammates’ defence apart. The first U’s goal came when he nutmegged his full back by the corner flag, sped along the byline and pulled the ball back for Harris to strike the bar; Lindsay dived to net the rebound with a header. Leivers insisted after the game that he couldn’t work out why Leggett wasn’t playing in the First Division.

United were now second in the league, three points behind Yeovil but with nine games left to play, against the Glovers’ five. 'My team are playing wonderfully well and on our Easter showing it will take a very good side to beat us,’ said Leivers. ‘Make no mistake, Cambridge United and Bill Leivers are on the way up.’

Bill Leivers: Chelmsford shopping spree

Peter Leggett: ripped defences apart

He was spot on. That Easter marathon gave the U’s the impetus they needed to overhaul Yeovil and clinch the title with a 2-0 victory over Margate on the final day. Now it was up to League clubs to decide if United’s achievements merited a place among the 92.

Cheerio
Harry

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, the saying goes. Bill Leivers, the manager who took Cambridge United into the Football League, adapted the adage to ‘if you can’t beat ’em, sign ’em’ as he assembled the side that won back-to-back Southern League titles in 1969 and 1970.

Chelmsford City’s championship-winning side of 1967/68 contained many good players, but four of them – striking double act Tony Butcher and Bill Cassidy, centre half Terry Eades and scintillating winger Peter Leggett – were outstanding. So, in one of the most astute managerial moves in United’s history, Leivers persuaded them to fight for the amber and black cause.

The U’s looked like a good side before the arrival of the Chelmsford Four. After it, they had the look of title winners.

First Claret to join the Leivers revolution, in October 1968, was Scottish hitman Cassidy who, having notched 29 goals in Chelmsford’s league-winning season, had spent the summer in the States with the Detroit Cougars. Driving to his Essex home, Leivers persuaded King Cass to jump in his car and follow him back to Cambridge.

Next to arrive, just two days later, was Butcher, Chelmsford’s record goalscorer, for a fee of less than £500. ‘This should solve our failure to score goals,’ observed Leivers.

The others were a little slower to follow. Leggett, hailed as the non-League George Best, signed in March 1969 for an undisclosed fee and a couple of days later Eades followed him to Newmarket Road, the U’s handing over a cheque for £2,500 in return.

‘This finishes my shopping at Chelmsford,’ said Leivers. His spree had laid the foundations for the next stage in United’s rapid evolution, from Cambridgeshire League minnows in the 1940s to Football League members in 1970.

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A cabinet full of cups

Days in the sun

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