timbo
Programmes Room Manager 
QUO fan 4life.
Posts: 2,432
|
Post by timbo on Nov 22, 2010 8:20:53 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2010 9:51:17 GMT
In this programme for the visit of Reading in May 1947, Basil Easterbrook talks about his earlier departure for the North of England, “that happy hunting ground of sports writers”. This, we can assume from his obituary at www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-basil-easterbrook-1526651.html , would have been to work for the Sheffield Star. That too may explain why he was talking to the Chesterfield manager about coming down for Bert Head’s benefit. And, if that doesn’t sound too exciting, note Chesterfield finished 4th in Division Two in that first post-war season: Pos Name Pld W D L GF GA Pts 1 Manchester City 42 26 10 6 78 35 62 2 Burnley 42 22 14 6 65 29 58 3 Birmingham City 42 25 5 12 74 33 55 4 Chesterfield 42 18 14 10 58 44 50 5 Newcastle United 42 19 10 13 95 62 48 6 Tottenham Hotspur 42 17 14 11 65 53 48 Second team fixtures – Plymouth and District League prior to a return to the Southern League for the following season. |
|
Jon
Admin
Posts: 6,912
|
Post by Jon on Nov 23, 2010 0:14:10 GMT
It's easy to forget how long it took for Britain to get back to normal after the War.
The "appeal to your generosity for soap and soap coupons" tells a tale.
Note the season dragging on until May 31 - and it lasted longer still for some clubs. We suffered a few postponements in February but the cause of the fixture backlog was the government ban on all midweek football. Midweek games (no floodlights remember) caused the workers to skive off so the government put a stop to them.
The PDL was the only sensible option for the reserves with travel problems and the fact that we struggled to get eleven pros together let alone 22. The scores listed seem incomplete and the annotation of which competition is patchy.
The game at Budleigh Salterton was a Devon Senior Cup semi-final. The final - away to RN Barracks - was won 2-1 on 24 May.
|
|
Jon
Admin
Posts: 6,912
|
Post by Jon on Nov 23, 2010 0:27:17 GMT
It's a shame that Bert Head's benefit match had a small gate - although you can understand that the champions of Belgium would not have quite the glamorous appeal of Chesterfield.
The reason this game took place on a Saturday during the season was that TUFC had brought forward our game with Brighton to FA Cup third round day as we would both have been without a fixture on that date. All other League clubs had matches on 26 April - apart from the FA cup finalists and their scheduled opponents.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2010 7:56:03 GMT
It's a shame that Bert Head's benefit match had a small gate - although you can understand that the champions of Belgium would not have quite the glamorous appeal of Chesterfield. There must be a tale to be told about the contrasting fortunes of sportsmen when it comes to benefit matches. Take Wes Saunders and Tom Kelly, for example. One of the best-known stories is about Bertie Buse, a Somerset cricketer, who chose a three-day championship game against Lancashire as his benefit. Unfortunately for him the match, at Bath in 1953, was over in a day as Somerset were twice bowled out for 55 and 79. |
|
