Tales from Grandad's Tool Shed
Darkening Skies – August 1959 to July 1961
Published by Eccles on February 14, 2008
“I felt a bit sorry for the players when they reported back for pre-season training in the middle of July, SunBoy. The summer of 1959 was one of the best on record, week after week of unbroken sunshine, and high temperatures. No better weather than for sitting under the lime tree at the St Lawrence Ground, which is what I did, watching Colin Cowdrey developing into the finest batsman in England, but lethal for doing some of Harry Barratt’s marathon road runs and commando training routines.
“I remember the groundsman telling me once as I walked past Priestfield on my way to the station to catch the train to Canterbury ‘He’s killing them Charlie. Even some of the hard nuts are being physically sick after what Barratt puts them through. Gawd knows what state they’ll be in when we play Gateshead in the first match.’ I must admit that wasn’t the only worry. We also might struggle for goals. Johnny Edgar, leading scorer last season, was forming a devastating front partnership with Pat Terry, but Johnny found he couldn’t settle in the area and asked for a move back up north. We sold him to York City for £1,500 in June. Replacing him was Gordon Brown, a gritty left winger from Newport County. Bill Albury, wing half or inside forward, joined from Portsmouth, but going into the season we were a strike-forward short. A lot was going to rest on Pat Terry.
“As always Pat came up trumps, particularly in the opening match against Gateshead. It was to be their last season as a league club. They scored first early on, then two bullet headers from Pat put us in the lead, only for them to level again for 2-2 at half time. Pat completed his hat-trick, and further goals were traded with Bill Patrick and Bill Albury netting for us, and we ran out 5-4 winners. It was a match of incredible excitement to start the season, and the above average crowd of 7,300 lapped it up. We then lost the next two games, away at Rochdale 1-0 and Darlington 2-1, and won the next two home – Rochdale 2-0 and Aldershot 3-0. The Rochdale games were midweek, and for the first time in memory, were scheduled for a Thursday night. Here was proof that the League were starting to acknowledge the real travelling problems that were now arising from moving from one end of the country to the other on a clapped out road and rail system. We stayed up north Thursday and Friday night, and Rochdale did the same after their match with us.
“Our first five games established the pattern for the season – win the home games, lose the away games. We won 17 of our 23 home games, losing only to Stockport County 2-0 in October and Notts County 1-0 in April, but away from home we only won four and lost thirteen. Mind you, never write off Gills capacity to do the unexpected. One of the away wins was a thrilling 3-2 win at champions Walsall on Easter Saturday. We took ‘em apart in the first half, turning round 3-1 up, and despite a late rally by them when they scored, Johnny Simpson made some brilliant saves to clinch our win. Walsall won an incredible 14 away games that season, but they lost 2-0 at Priestfield and so we became the only side to do the double over them.
“If only we could have had a bit more of that we could have been in at the death. We finished seventh with 52 points, five points behind Watford who were promoted in fourth place, but this ‘win one lose one and the odd draw’ type of cycle kept messing up any serious challenge. We did have a couple of satisfying draws though on our dwindling number of local away trips. Barratt seemed to have the knack of doing well against Millwall, and we forced a thrilling 3-3 draw at The Den in October. Gordon Brown put us ahead against the run of play, scored another early in the second half to put us 2-1 up, then after an absolute barrage with a baying mob of nearly 22,000 dockers forced them into a 3-2 lead, Pat Brady put through his own goal to give us a point. The Brady brothers were quite the own goal experts when Millwall played us in Barratt’s time! The game at Crystal Palace after Christmas finished 3-3 too, with another unlikely scorer grabbing a point for us after we’d been under the cosh towards the end. Chopper Proverbs surged forward from the halfway line and crashed a thirty yarder right into the top corner five minutes from time. Brilliant.
“Finishing seventh shouldn’t have felt like a let-down, but it did, and the crowds continued to drift away. Another 700 was sliced off the average gate, now down to 6,200. For the right matches though, the crowds were there. We proved this with the FA Cup. We took nearly 2,000 to Bedford for a tricky First Round Tie. A lot of pundits forecast defeat for us against one of the top Southern League sides, but I was pretty confident for Gills when I saw Bedford. They were pretty much a team of baldies and fatties, and Barratt’s training methods clearly served us well. We strolled to a 4-0 win. Then we were home to Torquay, rivals near the top of the Fourth Division, and over 10,000 turned up. Twice as many as for the home game two months previously. We were always chasing the game, but late on the referee awarded us a penalty, when incredibly he ruled that someone had actually fouled Pat Terry rather than the other way and Bill Albury, who was a spot-kick hot shot, belted it in for 2-2. In the replay at Plainmoor, they scored after a few minutes, Pat equalised, and in the second half, against the run of play Jack Hannaway put us in front. Johnny Simpson then put in one of the first of his many legendary performances, defying Torquay to put one past him. They couldn’t and we won 2-1.
“The Third Round Draw gave us a home tie with Swansea Town. Everyone thought this was winnable. They were only mid-table in the Second Division, and we had an excellent home record. Being the second club in Wales, they had a few Welsh Internationals in their side, most notably inside-forward Len Allchurch, but Harry Barratt told everyone he was confident we had the answers to his trickery. 15,301 turned up hoping to see Gills go into the Fourth Round for the first time. We should have known better. It was bitterly cold, and there were fears that Swansea wouldn’t make the game due to Wales almost being cut off after blizzards, but they made it, and we pretty soon wished they hadn’t. They took us apart. Len Allchurch ran the show, setting up both Swansea goals before the interval. Barratt obviously then told the team to get stuck in, and roared on by the crowd we really gave it portions. Pat Terry was at his most robust, and in one mighty scramble caused by his goalmouth marauding Griffiths put through his own goal. Then with Pat smashing into a couple of defenders the referee spotted a handball, and we had a penalty. Bill Albury, who never missed, stepped up to put us level – only this time he did miss, slicing the ball horribly to put it well wide. Everyone knew our best chance had gone, Len Allchurch rubbing it in by setting up another goal and then scoring himself. We’d lost 4-1.
“The Cup disappointment was more intense as everyone hoped a win could be dedicated to the memory of Charlie Cox. The man who had been Chairman for twelve years had died in December after a short illness. As I’ve said before, Charlie Cox was my type of bloke, knew what he wanted and didn’t stand on ceremony. One of the best Chairman we’ve ever had, without a doubt. Took over the Club when we were on our knees, built us into one to be proud of again, and achieved the virtually impossible at that time, which was getting a League place back. If we’d have had a few more like him in the Board Room we’d have gone a lot further than we have, I’m sure of that. If you want to see his legacy, look around the ground. The improvements he drove through in 1955 basically haven’t been touched or added to since! The choice to succeed him, Joe Leach, didn’t inspire anyone. Joe had been on the Board since 1938, replacing his father who was a director from 1923 – the years of Alderman Knight you will recall. Everyone feared we’d go back to those sort of days again, when we were struggling for survival, both on and off the field.
“As a pointer to the fact that austerity was beginning to kick in, Harry Barratt did nowhere near the wheeling and dealing that he had done in previous close seasons. His only notable signing during the summer of 1960 was Alec Farrall, a wing-half or inside-forward from Preston, for £2,000. Alec was a dapper man with a boyish grin, which belied the seriousness in which he took his football and the incredible skills which resided in his size six feet. For two years under Barratt he was one of our better players, but later he blossomed into one of the finest midfield players we’ve ever had and who on today’s market would be worth millions. Other than Alec, the only signing had been Johnny Shepherd in February 1960, an inside-forward from Brighton, who would be the foil for Pat Terry that we were looking for.
“The season lived down to our expectations. Our home form dipped badly. From 17 wins and 2 defeats in 1959/60, we went to 9 wins and 7 defeats in 1960/61, and although the away record improved slightly, we slid to fifteenth. Not surprisingly the average gate drifted down again, to barely 6,000. Pat Terry was top scorer of course, with 20 goals, Johnny Shepherd got 14, and left winger Gordon Pulley, the little man with the tree-trunk legs, belted in another 10, so goal scoring was no problem. But we kept letting them in as fast as we could score them, and lost so many games by the odd goal. Ironically, a season which was such a miserable write-off became memorable for a handful of incredible games.
“First was the home game with Aldershot in September. We were shocking in the first half, and went in 2-0 down. It could have been several more. But fired up by Barratt’s rhetoric, we came out in the second half and gave them an absolute thrashing. Rasher Bacon was inspired. Pat smashed in a hat-trick of headers from his crosses, Johnny Shepherd blasted one in after bulldozing his way into the box, and Rasher rounded off the rout with a chip to the far post. 5-2 to Gills – loved it.
“Then in October we had 11,500 to see runaway leaders Peterborough. For a number of years they had been an ambitious club in the Midlands League, with a good pedigree for knocking out league clubs in the FA Cup, and almost by public demand they had been elected to the Fourth Division that season, in place of Gateshead. There were others, like Oxford, who were campaigning to join them. This was a worrying trend for Fourth Division clubs slipping into trouble, because Gateshead had finished third from bottom, six points better off than bottom club Hartlepools, but it was Gateshead who were the ones who lost their League status. The fans took an instant dislike to Posh, baiting and cat-calling them all afternoon, and went delirious when Pat Terry got their defence in such a shambles that the Peterborough left-half put through his own goal. Terry Bly, who went on to score a league record 52 goals that season soon equalised, but a Gordon Pulley thunderbolt put us ahead at the interval. It was goal for goal in the second half, but near the end Bly looked as though he’d given them the points when he completed his hat-trick, but Alec Farrell, who’d scored to put us 3-2 ahead, hit a raking high ball towards the far post, Pat Terry leapt like a salmon, hung in the air, and scored with a ferocious header. The place went mad. 4-4, and that was the result.
“That finish was nothing compared to the home game with Southend in the Second Round of the Cup. We¿d won 2-1 at Ashford in the First Round, and expected to give the Third Division side a run for their money, but after an even first half they took complete control to get 2-1 ahead with fifteen minutes left. From then on we hardly got a kick of the ball, and with a couple of minutes to go the ground was emptying fast. From nowhere, Johnny Shepherd popped up in the box to get on the end of a Pulley pass, and lashed in the equaliser. The people walking away must have heard the cheer and cursed their lack of faith, but for those of us who stayed it got even better. From the next attack, Pat Terry nodded down Ron Bacon’s centre, and Shepherd lashed in the winner. Cue pandemonium. Magic!
“We fancied our chances in the Third Round, home to Leyton Orient, who were struggling near the foot of the Second Division. As against Swansea twelve months previously, a crowd of 13,300 saw us given another footballing lesson by a side two divisions higher. They were 4-1 up at half-time, and it was all over. Pat Terry had scored for us after they’d gone 3-0 up after half an hour, and we got a penalty when Rasher Bacon was scythed down early in the second half. Harry Hughes’ unique penalty-taking style, when he ran up from the halfway line like a fast bowler and blasted it for all he was worth, worked and at 4-2 we were in with a glimmer. But Orient’s Tom Johnston, an ageing centre-forward who was dominant in the air, completed his hat-trick and with twenty minutes left it became 6-2. We’d been hammered. Even now, this was the last time that we conceded six at home.
“Barratt went berserk, but it was nothing compared to the mayhem that occurred the following Saturday, when we were at home to Oldham. Very few people anywhere have seen a game quite like it. I certainly haven’t. It was a typical January day, damp and dark, and the pitch was an oozing mud patch. Although Pat Terry had scored twice to keep us in the game, we were trailing 3-2 to a good side, and there were only a few minutes to go. With no floodlights it was getting really murky, but everyone could see a cracking equaliser from Gills right winger Fred Morris, and celebrated accordingly. But Mr Rowbottom, one of the most incompetent referees ever, saw something else – no-one knew what – and theatrically disallowed it. There was uproar. Players gathered round arguing and pointing – common now, but then very rare – but he would have none of it. The goal would not stand.
“Then from just by the Gordon Road Stand, someone started running across the pitch. It was a well-known Maidstone and District bus driver, complete with his raincoat and badge. He ran up behind Rowbottom, and pushed him firmly in the back. The referee wasn’t prepared for it, fell flat on his face, and then skidded several yards in the thick Rainham End mud. The bus driver ran off, and was over the wall before the police could react. The crowd closed behind their new hero, with the police making little real attempt to catch him. The cheers and roars of approval then turned back to boos and jeers as a mud-stained and humiliated referee attempted to get the game back on track and play out the last few minutes. Gills lost 3-2 and as the teams came off Rowbottom was pelted with apple-cores and orange peel and Johnny Simpson told the referee exactly what he thought of him. It was right out of character, but it showed how high feelings were running.
“Needless to say, the FA took an extremely dim view of the whole affair. There had been several recent incidents of crowd trouble, and Sheffield Wednesday and Millwall had warning notices posted. But someone really had to be made an example of, and sure enough it was Gillingham. In early March it was announced that Priestfield would be closed for 14 days, and Simpson would also be suspended for the same period. Gills could not play any home game within 10 miles, and so the game against Wrexham was to be staged at Stonebridge Road. That led to a further row, because some blazer at the FA got the AA book out and decided that Gillingham/Gravesend was not 10 miles. It was pointed out that the ground was actually in Northfleet, and qualified. Gills lost the ‘home’ match 3-0. With Johnny Simpson suspended, and reserve keeper Alf Bentley out with a broken arm, policeman Terry Friday played in goal
“Would the blazers have made such an example of bigger clubs? I doubt it. The fact was, the tide was beginning to flow significantly against the small clubs in the Fourth Division. After months of rows, brinkmanship and threats of strike action, Jimmy Hill as Chairman of the PFA had won the argument to remove the maximum wage. From now on, clubs could pay their players what they liked. Clubs like Gills would have to find the wages for the better players, or lose them to other clubs. Separately, George Eastham had wanted to transfer to Arsenal, but his existing club, Newcastle, refused him. Eastham went on strike, and sued Newcastle in the High Court for restraint of trade. He won, which meant that clubs could no longer block transfers. It meant that smaller clubs like Gills could now easily lose their players to others.
“This double-whammy was a serious blow to clubs whose finances were precarious. Whether it encouraged Joe Leach to melt into the background again I don’t know, but in February 1961 Doctor Clifford Grossmark replaced him as Chairman. The Doctor at that time was a bit of an unknown. He had a private medical practice in Maidstone Road Chatham, and had watched Gills as a season ticket holder in the Southern League glory days after the war. He first got involved in Gillingham affairs as Club Doctor in 1954 and a director in 1957. He was born in the East End of London, and was a big Spurs fan, so it was a surprise when he became chairman over others who’d had much longer associations with the club and bigger shareholdings. He certainly made a splash with his first public pronouncement, which was basically that we were broke and couldn’t pay the players.
“We were staggered. Everyone guessed things were bad – gates were declining, there were more and more Northern teams in the Fourth Division so the travelling costs were escalating, the protection of the maximum wage and transfer restraints had gone. The Fourth Division was being referred to in the press as ‘football’s graveyard’, but broke? Many fans wrote to the papers wanting explanations – how had it come to this so quickly? Almost as a determination to prove it, Grossmark and his board took action. Pat Terry was sold to Northampton for £5,500. Now tell me SunBoy – with a team sliding towards the bottom of the Fourth Division, how do you replace a bloke whose scored 60 goals in 108 games, when you’ve got no money? It was a recipe for disaster.”
(Next – Nightmare)
Eccles
Tales from Grandad's Tool Shed
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