| An edited version of this article appeared in the Cambridge United matchday programme for the game against Notts County on Saturday, 11 August 2018. ‘It’s the man who made me!’ yelped Alan Biley excitedly as Graham ‘Willie’ Watson joined the merry throng assembled in the Abbey Lounge for a Cambridge United Former Players’ Association gathering. It was a big build-up but one that was wholly merited. There’s no counting the number of goals that Willie laid on a plate for United’s will-o’-the-wisp striker, who reaped further reward by going on to play at the top level of the English game. But while Alan became a legend at the likes of Derby County, Portsmouth and Brighton, Willie’s only subsequent foray outside his adopted Cambridgeshire home came when he joined Lincoln City for a while. He ended up making 233 U’s appearances, contributing 28 goals for the cause. And he’s still around. Gone are the days when he turned out for Soham Town Rangers and Histon and kept the Three Horseshoes in Comberton, but he’s never too far from the Abbey. When Bill Leivers lured him south in 1972, he knew what he was laying out £5,000 for – the 15-year-old Willie had been his first signing at Doncaster. The young apprentice-turned pro had already played 48 times for Rovers (and 13 for Rotherham) after being introduced to first-team football as a 17-year-old. He also knew what winning a league was all about: he had done that at Belle Vue in 1969. Nicknamed after a fellow Yorkshire sportsman – the first Willie Watson was a post-war England international at both football and cricket – he made his United debut in a 2-0 Division Four win at Newport County on September 16. His first goal came a fortnight later at Northampton as he set about his business: pulling the midfield strings and occasionally getting on the scoresheet. There was no more committed or more talented footballer around. Willie allied a solid work ethic to terrific ability with the ball, yet his contribution to the U’s has often been undervalued. Even at the time, for inexplicable reasons, he was sometimes the target of ill-informed terrace criticism. His teammates would have none of it, and quite rightly so. Striker Nigel Cassidy declared: ‘Willie’s vision is fantastic … the crowd gives him so much stick it is embarrassing, but he has got real talent …’ Ron Atkinson, who succeeded Leivers as manager at United, appreciated what he brought to the side. ‘It seems that when Willie is playing well, we always appear to be playing well,’ he said at one point in 1977/78. ‘I have a feeling all our best performances come when he is having a good time.’ That season was memorable for a brilliant Watson goal at Exeter: running on to a Tom Finney ball, he left his marker flailing with a delicious body swerve and slotted home from 15 yards. Willie was in the form of his life as the U’s ended the season by winning promotion to the old Division Two. Sadly, new gaffer John Docherty sold him to Lincoln City for £15,000 before he could have much of a bash at the higher level. But he was back in 1980, explaining to the Cambridge Evening News: ‘I feel more at home here than I do at Doncaster, so when the chance came to return to United I jumped at it.’ Cambridgeshire welcomed him back with open arms. Cheerio Harry |  From top: Tony Willson and Derek Haylock listen as Willie Watson spins a yarn at a Cambridge United Former Players' Association gathering; Watson grounded (photo Cambridge Evening News); getting a perm at Reeds Hairdressers with Lindsay Smith (left) and Gordon Sweetzer (photo Cambridge Evening News); shooting for goal; with Chris Turner (centre) and Phil Chapple at a fans' forum; in familiar pose.      |
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That's not strictly true … not every single one of Cambridge United Former Players' Association's 133 members was in the Supporters' Club last night, but the occasion was all about quality, not quantity.
And what quality! First-time attendee Alan Biley was in sparkling form, recalling some of the many goals he cracked in at the nearby Corona End. A good number of them were supplied by midfield craftsman Graham 'Willie' Watson. 'He's the man who made me, as he never tires of telling me!' cried Alan gleefully as Willie embarked on another scandalous reminiscence. It was also good to see CUFPA get-together debutant Brian Grant, stalwart left back of the Bill Leivers era. 'I was Brian Clough's first ever signing,' he recalled of his Hartlepool days. He delighted in swapping memories with the likes of CUFPA chairman Rodney Slack, 1950s goalkeeper Derek Haylock and Tony Willson of roughly the same era. For Alan and Brian, the evening presented a first chance to sign the visitors' book at The Story of the U's, Coconuts' mini-museum recounting the history of Abbey/Cambridge United. The exhibits provoked another round of reminiscing and storytelling, as they're designed to do.
This article appeared in the Cambridge United official programme for the game against Accrington Stanley on Saturday, 1 October 2016. Footballers’ nicknames can be really boring, can’t they? Too often it’s just a case of adding a ‘y’ or an ‘o’ to a surname – Mooro, Bally, – or shortening the name and adding an ‘s’ – Becks, Blatts, Cholmondeley-Warns. The U’s have been as guilty of this lazy practice as any other club. On the other hand, we have a proud history of nickname creativity: who was the genius who first dubbed John Taylor ‘Shaggy’? How did Gary Clayton become Hedgy? Was Lindsay Smith’s ‘Wolfie’ moniker the result of a Habbin wit’s contribution to a Saturday afternoon? Go further back in U’s history and you’ll come across the likes of Buzzer, Cruncher and Scobie. But if you explore the period covered by Andrew Bennett’s wonderful book Newmarket Road Roughs, published this month by Lovely Bunch, you’ll be able to mine a fabulously rich seam of nickname gold. Here are some of the mysteries 100 Years of Coconuts researchers hope to solve (if you know the answers, please get in touch at 100yearsofcoconuts@gmail.com): whence came the ‘Pop’ in Stan ‘Pop’ Ballard? Why was Harold Watson known as Darley? Who put the ‘Pim’ in Bill Stearn? What was the story behind Jim ‘Squatter’ Smith? Why did everyone call William Freeman ‘Fanny’? Was it a result of dressing room bants? I shudder to think.
My favourite is the byname bestowed on Albert Dring, who was Abbey United’s top goalscorer in 1922/23 and finished his Wasps career with 34 goals from 46 appearances. I would love to know why he rejoiced in the nickname ‘Twitter’. We can rule out the suggestion that he spoke in sentences of 140 characters.
An extract from Newmarket Road Roughs (yours for £14.99, or £13.99 if you’re a CFU member, via the CFU online store or the caravan on a match day) shows how important Twitter was to the Abbey, and gives a flavour of the kind of football they were playing in the 20s: ‘In the Minor Cup, Abbey were favourites to beat Soham Comrades in the semi-final at Cambridge Town’s new Milton Road ground, but found themselves two goals down after 70 minutes. Wilson then swapped positions with Dring and converted a penalty to pull one back before Soham’s Talbot skied a spot kick that would surely have clinched it; duly encouraged, Dring headed an equaliser ten minutes from time and seconds later right winger Tom Langford snatched a dramatic winner. ‘The final at the same venue two weeks later was against Cambridge GER, whom the Abbey had already thrashed 10-2 and 5-1 in the league, but they were shocked when Cracknell fired the Railwaymen ahead inside the first minute. Dring soon equalised, but GER had a game plan that involved stopping the Abbey from playing their normal game and the nearest United came to scoring again was when Wilson hit the post in the second half. ‘United had no such difficulties in the league. In February they thrashed their nearest rivals, Newnham Institute, 6-0, with Wilson and Dring contributing two goals apiece. “Abbey played on the top of their form, and won with ease,” stated the match report. “They are a well-balanced side, and it will not be a surprise if some of their players find a way into higher class teams.”’ Recognise the players pictured above? Of course you do. Now, recall their nicknames, then order Newmarket Road Roughs here and enter a nickname wonderland. Cheerio Harry |
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
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