Deleted
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Why?
Oct 12, 2012 12:54:07 GMT
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 12:54:07 GMT
Two questions which arise from the marvellous Plainmoor 1946 thread?
Why did Plymouth Argyle have to play Ipswich at Plainmoor in 1961? Crowd trouble was relatively rare in those days so what had happened at Home Park which was serious enough for Argyle to be banished to Torquay?
And why did only 967 turn up for the notorious match against Chester? Were any of you there and if so was it as miserable an occasion as it sounds?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 16:03:56 GMT
Not sure why that Chester crowd was quite so poor. There was probably still reasonable optimism following the appointment of Dave Webb and we'd done okay since losing the Mike Squire Match at Saltergate. But, beyond that I was miles away, and can't think what the local circumstances may have been. A rearranged game at the f*g end of the season is all I can suggest. It wasn't even the night of Liverpool or Tottenham's European finals.
Not sure either of the precise circumstances surrounding the closure of Home Park and I've recently disposed of a couple of books which may have given the answer. Possibly local dissatisfaction with a referee? Amazing there was such a crowd at Plainmoor for the game but it was several years before I'd have been tempted to go along. Ipswich, of course, were under Alf and definitely on the rise.
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Oct 12, 2012 16:19:31 GMT
Post by stewart on Oct 12, 2012 16:19:31 GMT
A bottle was thrown on to the pitch during the game against Huddersfield at Home Park in February 1961.
I went to the match, principally to have a look at the goalscoring partnership between Ray Crawford and Ted Phillips, and also to check out the unusual style of play which had Jimmy Leadbetter playing as a deep-lying outside left, which was a startling innovation in those days.
In a ground which used to hold over 20,000, the crowd of 9,000+ did not seem excessive. Bear in mind that in that era spectators were more concerned with watching an entertaining game rather than what the result was.
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Oct 12, 2012 17:25:30 GMT
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 17:25:30 GMT
The point that Stewart makes about the crowd for that Argyle v Ipswich game is an illuminating one. In those pre-so-much-football-on-TV days people would have been enticed by curiosity and the spectacle of football at a higher level than normal. Maybe the change is as much about a combination of partisanship and television as it is about anything else. If it was just about quality and entertainment, this summer's Olympic football matches would have been packed out with regular fans. As is was, that was precisely the group that was indifferent and largely absent. Nor do I think it was hugely different for Euro 96. Maybe we've become more focused on paying only to watch our own teams with TV sating the appetite for all our other football. And, of course, TV does this in abundance so that we no longer have any real need to pay to watch players or teams that raise our curiosity.
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Oct 12, 2012 19:31:53 GMT
Post by Deleted on Oct 12, 2012 19:31:53 GMT
www.tmwmtt.com/TheRamseyYears/index.php?year=1961&month=3(Well worth a look since it has an image of the match programme.) Plymouth Argyle (a) 2-1
Match 263: 18-3-1961: Division 2 (at Torquay United)
With an FA disciplinary committee having ordered Home Park to be closed for 14 days, Torquay United`s Plainmoor became Plymouth`s temporary ‘home’ ground. Having initially arranged it for White Hart Lane, the FA agreed to Argyle`s plea to switch the match to Torquay when Ipswich raised no objections. While it seemed less of a handicap for Plymouth to play so locally, the change was clearly responsible for the paltry attendance. Once again an off-form Town rode their luck to pick up both points. Ted Phillips opened the scoring with a deflected free kick, and with time running out Johnny Williams cracked a 25-yard effort against a post. Within a minute Town scored the winner when Geoff Barnsley dropped a harmless-looking cross at the feet of Ray Crawford. So Stewart saw both Crawford and Phillips score and a "home" defeat for the Argyle. How satisfying!
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sam
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Why?
Oct 13, 2012 20:30:30 GMT
Post by sam on Oct 13, 2012 20:30:30 GMT
In fact there were other games which were under 1000 as far as I can remember. Crowds were down all over the place, this coincided with an awful Torquay team and dire football on show. It was really grim.
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sam
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Why?
Oct 15, 2012 17:08:56 GMT
Post by sam on Oct 15, 2012 17:08:56 GMT
I often use Leigh Edwards 'The Definitive Torquay United' for ref. As regards home attendances he has 989 for Scunthorpe 5/3/85; 895 for Colchester 31/8/85; 946 for Hartlepool 21/9/85; 983 for Halifax 1/10/85; 926 Cambridge 14/12/85; 947 Scunthorpe 18/1/86, 850 and the lowest for Crewe 1/3/86 959 for Tranmere 12/4/86. All league. Perhaps the lowest paying ever is 601 v. Swansea in Freight Rover 2/12/86.
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