Tales from Grandad's Tool Shed
The Ruthless Messiah – June to December 1962
Published by Eccles on February 25, 2008
“How much ‘ave they paid yer” has been shouted by fans down the years as someone makes yet another defensive howler that costs a goal, or a referee delivers a string of incompetent and biased decisions, but no-one really believes that referees or players are on the take to distort the result of a match. Sadly, in the early 1960′s that wasn’t the case. There were a number of allegations levelled concerning bribes, and in several cases they were proved. The Sunday People exposed a betting ring centred in Mansfield, organised by a former player and which involved several Mansfield Town players, and also a notorious match between Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday where three Wednesday players, two of whom had played for England, were proved to have taken bribes and received prison sentences. In other cases, like several involving Revie’s Leeds, nothing was ever proved but the rumours circulate to this day.
Such cases showed that bribes weren’t just the province of the down-at-heel. If big name managers and internationals could be tainted, who was safe? The allegation that bribes had been offered and taken to ensure Wrexham beat Gillingham twice over Easter 1962 was about as serious as it could get. As far as Gills fans were concerned, it put all discussions about England’s World Cup prospects in Chile, and who was going to be our new manager, firmly on the back burner. I asked Grandad what those days had been like.
“Terrible. Initially no-one could believe it, and then we laughed about it saying who would want to bribe a team as bad as us. But it was no laughing matter. The players named were four of our better ones, who had all been retained. If they were found guilty and banned for life, and the FA didn’t muck about on something like this, we’d be down to seven players and no manager. The inference was that the bribes had been offered to ensure Wrexham won promotion, rather than to achieve some wider betting scam as happened in the cases later exposed in the Sunday People. But who exactly had offered them? The Wrexham Chairman was incensed at suggestions that they hadn’t won promotion fair and square, and probably feared demotion if they were proved. Gills Chairman Doctor Grossmark was equally forthright, saying publicly ‘Four players were named but they are such strange bedfellows that any form of joint action is unthinkable. We have made inquiries and now believe this was set off by a jocular remark by one player to another which was misinterpreted’.
“Irrespective of these denials, the FA announced an immediate full scale enquiry. The first sitting took place the following Monday, and everybody they could think of was called to it. In our case, Doctor Grossmark was there with the four accused, as were most of the players and also former manager Harry Barratt. I did hear that the previous players grouped round Barratt, and the current players round Grossmark, and they sat glowering at each other across the waiting area all day, and not a word was exchanged. That did make us all wonder about the allegations themselves. The following day the enquiry called the Wrexham directors, manager and players, then the match officials and so on. After all that, the enquiry seemed to go into limbo, and we had to get on with things as best we could. It wasn’t until mid-September that the FA published a somewhat barbed ‘Not Proven’ verdict and we were out of trouble.
“So, whatever could hit us next? It was like something out of the bible. ‘And lo, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the fans were sore oppressed. And in their agony they didst cry out as one, saying ‘Who is there who can save us?’ And behold, their messiah did appear, and his name was Freddie Cox’”. He laughed out loud. “The truth is SunBoy, we didn’t realise it at the time, but in our despair the Football Gods really did smile on us. That Walsall fan in the newspaper cuttings was about to be proved right. For a start, new manager Freddie Cox was someone we’d heard of. He’d been a winger with Spurs and Arsenal, and played in two Cup Finals. As manager of Bournemouth he’d taken them to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup, and then gone on to manage First Division Portsmouth. Stuck with an ageing team, he’d resigned and spent eighteen months building up a newsagents business in Bournemouth, so to some extent he’d been out of touch with the game, but in our position that was a minor worry. Freddie had been a fighter pilot during the Second World War, and in the next few years there were going to be plenty of people shot down in flames, believe me. He took no prisoners – anywhere.
“Talk about a manager having to start from scratch though, the bloke didn’t even have enough players to field a team. The senior pros left were goalkeeper Johnny Simpson, left back Dennis Hunt and centre half and captain Harry Hughes, wing half Alec Farrell, and forwards Charlie Livesey, Ronnie Waldock and Gordon Pulley. Then there were two young full backs Pat McIntyre and Roger Challis, and two rookie wingers Peter Godfrey and Bob Ridley – and that was it. Total eleven – and even that could be reduced to seven. So in July and August we were signing players like mad, and on the surface it looked as though Cox was signing anyone who was available. But that wasn’t the case. He was looking for particular types of player who would fit into his plans, and who would follow his instructions implicitly. We soon saw that anyone who didn’t toe the line, or who messed up during a game, was out on their ear. There was also no room for sentiment. Regardless of how much a fixture a player had been in the team, if Cox thought there was someone better available, then that was the bloke picked or signed. In a nutshell, Freddie Cox was absolutely ruthless.
“By the eve of the season the team had pretty much taken shape, but Freddie then stunned everyone by making a double-signing coup late on Friday evening. Right-half John Arnott was signed from Bournemouth for £2,000 and centre-forward George Francis from Brentford for £4,000. Arnott was the sort of player that you don’t really notice in a team, but he was utterly dependable, a clean crisp tackler and rock-solid. One of the best £2,000 Gills ever spent in my book. George Francis was a proven goal-scorer surplus to requirements at Brentford. He had formed a marauding partnership with Jim Towers, but it hadn’t saved Brentford from relegation to the Fourth Division that season, and the Londoners decided to buy their way back with a huge cash injection, leaving no room for faithful servants like George.
“So on Saturday, August 18th 1962 the Freddie Cox revolution began with a 2-1 home win against Chester, who’d finished bottom the previous season. Charlie Livesey confirmed his place as our star player with the opening goal, Alec Farrell made it 2-0 with a trade-mark run-through and powerful shot just before half-time, and although we got into a bit of a tizz in the second half, missing several chances before conceding a sloppy goal near the end, everyone was pretty happy at the result. But Tuesday’s match away to championship favourites Brentford would be a totally different kettle of fish.
“It was at Griffin Park that we first saw for real the ruthless single-mindedness of our new manager. Freddie Cox had not been happy with our approach in the second half of the Chester game, singled out Charlie Livesey as not playing for the team, and dropped him. Who else would dare to drop the goalscorer and star player for an away fixture like this? And if that wasn’t a talking point, Gills general performance was. Me, Bert and several other old timers couldn’t believe our eyes as Gills put on a stunning first half display of passing and movement the likes of which we’d rarely ever seen. George Francis and Alec Farrell were magnificent, running the match between them, and the 12,000 inside Griffin Park stood in shocked silence as somehow the home team clung on to 0-0 at half-time. None of us thought Gills could keep it up, but they did and after fifty-five minutes went ahead from the spot when Brentford’s right-back punched Alec Farrell’s shot over the bar. Harry Hughes took his usual enormous run-up, and smashed the ball home. There was a furious row when Brentford were given a penalty to equalise, but we needn’t have worried. Gills just pushed the tempo higher, Ronnie Waldock scored from close range and in the last fifteen minutes we could have had three or four more. 2-1 to the Gills, but it could have been anything.
“That match showed what Gills were capable of, but the following week in the return we were brought back down to earth. We were shambolic in defence and within ten minutes Brentford had raced into a 2-0 lead. Gills battled back, and around the half-hour mark got two penalties. Hughes nearly broke the net with the first one, but the second he miscued horribly and nearly took someone’s head off in the Rainham End. Further goals either side of half-time saw Brentford run out 4-1 winners. Cox immediately pulled apart and rebuilt his defence and in the next seven games we only conceded three goals. Four of those games were won, all by George Francis getting amongst the goals. There was a clear tactic for George to go in fearlessly with head or boot to get on the end of one of Gordon Pulley’s thunderbolt crosses, and it worked a treat.
“In mid-September Gills had reached the lofty heights of third place and a crowd of 11,500 was in to see us take on runaway leaders Mansfield. They scored after half an hour – Ken Wagstaff, a tough gritty player who really got up my nose and who always scored against us – and that was it. We tried hard, but they were strong and well-drilled in defence and once again it showed that against the best in the division we still had some way to go. A week later we took our worst beating of the season, 5-2 at Workington.
“So it was with some trepidation that the following week we travelled to Oxford. After all the crap we’d taken from their Chairman the previous year, claiming our League place for themselves and so on, this was a game I desperately wanted us to win. They had a slimy Chairman, mouthy supporters, and poser players, especially their captain, a fat wing-half with a Tony Curtis quiff and shorts about three sizes too small which were so explicit that they showed his religion – Ron Atkinson his name was. I wonder what happened to him. Anyway, they’d started well as a League club and were unbeaten at home, and by half-time we were in real trouble. 2-0 down. Then with half an hour to go, Fat Atkinson dived in the box and got a penalty. Curtains surely, as Cyril Beavon, their right back, had a 100% success rate. We then saw a fabulous piece of football. Johnny Simpson sprawled at the foot of the post and blocked it. He immediately picked the ball up, threw it to Charlie Livesey, who had been restored to the team after the Workington game, and Charlie raced right down the field beating about five men before he got to the edge of the box. And then he buried it from twenty yards! Magnificent! It turned the game, and there could only be one winner after that. Atkinson now started filling the back of his shorts every time Charlie Livesey got the ball, and from one of Charlie’s lay-offs in the last ten minutes Gordon Pulley equalised with a trademark thunderbolt, and then Harry Hughes thumped a header in from a corner. Gills won 3-2, Oxford were beaten at home for the first time, and I enjoyed one of my most satisfying Gillingham wins. Ha! Ha! Oxford! Pick the bones out of that!
“That fabulous Charlie Livesey cameo turned out to be his last goal for us. Two weeks later he was sold to Watford for £6,000. It was extremely controversial. Without question, the crowd idolised Charlie, and I’d say that he was one of the most talented players we have ever had, easily up there with Terry Cochrane, and Damien Richardson and Alan Wilks at the height of their powers. But as we have already seen Freddie Cox had his own clear ideas as to what he was looking for to build a team, and Charlie’s brilliant individual skills were not to his taste. Effectively, Charlie was swapped for Brian Gibbs, who joined a week later from Bournemouth for £4,000. Gibbs hadn’t got Livesey’s ability, but he was a player in the Cox mould, a player who would run all day, forage and get a boot or head in where it hurt to nick a goal against the odds. For the type of team that Freddie Cox was building, Brian Gibbs was perfect, and he was to become one of our greatest-ever goal-scorers.
“At the time of course, people needed to be convinced, and there were plenty moaning and groaning at the home match against Torquay at the end of October. They were answered in the best possible way. Although Gibbs had a quiet debut, centre stage was Gordon Pulley who blasted a hat-trick in a 4-2 win. Torquay were near the top of the table, took the lead in fact, but they were laid waste with some superb football and the little man with the tree trunk legs was well-nigh unplayable. Pulley’s hat-trick goal saw him powering through in the inside-right position, and with the crowd roaring him on hammering a shot that nearly took the Rainham End net off. But even better was to come in the next home game.
“Saturday, November 10th 1962 is a nothing day to many, but for those who had travelled the long stony road with Gills from way back when, it really was the dawn of a new beginning. We were home to leaders Oldham, who had only been beaten once and had not lost an away game. They were probably the best footballing side in the Division, and had several former Internationals in their team. A class act, without a doubt. In a beautifully balanced game which went one way then the other, Gills won 4-3 and played some superb stuff in doing so. Once again our passing and movement were stunning. With only two minutes gone, Pulley cut in from the left and hit a drive which beat the keeper all ends up and cannoned in off the far post, but the League leaders cancelled that out with a free-kick after ten minutes, and then went in front after half an hour. Straight from the restart the ball went back to John Arnott playing at right back, and he went on a slow Livesey-like run beating man after man before he found himself in the penalty area. With everyone expecting him to pass, he cracked it under the keeper for 2-2. The start of the second half was something else. Gills forced several corners, Harry Hughes bulleted a header in off one of them, and then Brian Gibbs got up with the goalkeeper and looped the ball over his clawing hands for 4-2. As the crowd got more and more excited at what was being put before them, Gills had the ball in the net three more times, only to be denied each time by dubious offside decisions. Oldham reduced the arrears late on, but Gills were not to be denied a landmark win.”
Grandad showed me his scrapbook. “Look it’s all here, SunBoy. ‘Boom days return for Fighting Freddie Cox’. ‘A match which director Charles Cox described as ‘Wonderful! Wonderful!’ and ‘After years in the doldrums Gillingham this morning wakes up to find itself a success’. At last Fleet Street was on our side, but for how long? In fact, were even the supporters on our side?
“Battle lines started to get drawn at the AGM of the Supporters’ Club, held on a Friday night at the end of November. We were going well in the league, we’d got through to the Third Round of the Cup by winning 1-0 at Andover and seeing off Bedford 3-0 at Priestfield the previous Saturday and everything in the garden was lovely. The meeting was the usual stuff, somebody going on about how many daily draw tickets they sold to help the club, the state of the china cups used by the tea bars, who’d filched the Cup Final tickets and so on, and then someone asked Freddie Cox to say a few words. Blimey! He started off by outlining his plans for the team, how he intended to get promotion, and then he expanded into what a joke the club was as far as facilities were concerned. We had no floodlights, there were few seats and very little cover. He put the blame for this down to the Supporters Association for not raising the funds, and launched into a spectacular attack on the Committee and their acolytes. ‘Southern League people with Southern League outlooks’ he dubbed them and said we would never move forward until they worked with the Club rather than against it with their petty rows and point scoring.
“None of the mere members like me could understand what had bought that on, but there was clearly something that had been done or said which we didn’t know about and which had really got up Freddie’s nose. Some bloke in the audience got up and said that if Mr Cox thought he could do a better job than the Committee perhaps he’d like to try, but he was soundly booed down by the audience before he could finish. Then someone got up and said that the football in the last few months had been the finest he’d ever seen at Priestfield and he was drowned in applause before he could finish. So the meeting concluded in some disarray, but we’d seen the opening salvo in a feud that got pretty personal.
“Back on the field, by the time we reached Boxing Day and put up our seventh consecutive home win, beating Chesterfield 2-1, we had got ourselves into fifth place in the table. Oldham, Brentford and Mansfield were comfortable in the top three places, but fourth place was open to a number of teams, including Gills. The second half of the Chesterfield match was played in a blizzard, and there were doubts that the match would be completed. It was – but it was the last football we saw for nearly two months.
(Next – Climbing To The Top)
Eccles
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