Well I set a target of four points from the two games and we got them. Kanu`s goal could be worth a lot to the club as beating Bolton pulled another club into the relegation mix. More of Kanu later!
Anyway another busy week Toasters along with a few exclusives so let`s start with –
Birthdays
Remember the link to Pompeyrama stats – just click on the player`s name.
20th April – Nicos Kyzeridis 38
Alan McLoughlin 42
Both Nicos and Macca are subjects of Rug`s biographies which will be published shortly.
Laurie Milligan 51 – left back who was bought in on loan from Blackpool by boss Jimmy Dickinson in 1978/79.
Norman Uprichard 81
Norman the Northern Ireland goalkeeper once scored winner for reserves at Nottingham Forest. It happened in January 1959 after he was injured and Mike Barnard took over in goal. Remember Toasters that was way before substitutes were allowed.
22nd April– Darren Moore 35 – Darren is now at Barnsley.
Steve Soley 38
Lee Sandford 41
Scott McGarvey 46
23rd April – Bobby Campbell 72 – manager who took Pompey to the Third Division title in 1983. Bobby had previously played for Pompey in the sixties as a wing half having signed for Liverpool in 1961.
– Charlie Vaughan born 1921 – veteran centre forward signed from Charlton in 1953 – played 26 games and scored an impressive 14 goals – including a hat-trick in a 5-2 Fratton win over Huddersfield. Charlie had scored 91 league goals for the Valiants in 227 starts and was a player who suffered career wise because of the war.
Was an England B international (Holland 1952) and died in March 1989.
– Phil Rookes born 1919 was one of only seven players to play both sides of the war for Pompey. Left back Phil played in both Championships seasons winning a medal in 48/49.
25th April – Jimmy Dickinson M.B.E. born 1925 – died 8th November 1982. His ashes are scattered in Alton Cemetery and is marked with a simple plaque. At his funeral in St Mary`s Church in Portsmouth the Pompey chimes were sung.
What can one say about the great man that has not already been said? Every schoolboy knows that Jim played 764 league games for Pompey his only league club and he was never booked in any of those games or his 48 England Internationals.
What does impress me looking at the stats is that Jim played nineteen seasons and missed just thirty eight games in that time! In seven of those seasons Jim played in every league game. Seventeen of those missing games came in the 1954/55 season when after injuring his ankle in pre-season on his comeback he stumbled and broke the same ankle and was in plaster for four months. With Jim`s reputation I am surprised that stopped him playing for his beloved Pompey.
At the end of his career he played an amazing 185 consecutive games before being rested at Norwich after playing twice in the previous three days to enable him to rest before his final game on his fortieth birthday at Northampton.
Jimmy Dickinson, 1978
Northampton was to the place to be in 1965 as the Cobblers had already achieved promotion behind champions Newcastle and would play in the Top Division for the first (and the last) time in their history. The three sided County Ground was pack with over 20,600 fans inside as Jim was given a special welcome by the players and the fans.
Many Pompey fans travelled to the game which strangely was played on Saturday evening. They knew that as Southampton had beaten Swindon 2-1 earlier all we needed was a point to avoid relegation. There was only one problem Northampton had the best home record in the division – they were unbeaten and Pompey the worst away record with only one win (at Coventry).
We listened to our transistor radios at home for score flashes but those days they were hard to get. Half time 0-0 then with twenty minutes left another Pompey stalwart Johnny Gordon diverted the ball into his own net and defeat was staring the blues in the face. Surely Jim`s career could not end in relegation? Cometh the man they say and with minutes left Alex Wilson scored from long range. Pompey held on and Jim was chaired from the pitch by players and fans alike. In fact everyone was celebrating with the home team promoted.
Meanwhile back in Portsmouth fans were desperate for news of the result and there were queues at newsagents throughout the City waiting for the Evening News special to be delivered with the match report printed in the stop press!! (most were sold out of the back of the van in an ungainly scramble) Modern days fans just do not realise how lucky they are with the Internet, Teletext, radio, television etc.
So Swindon and Swansea were relegated and Pompey were to stay in Division Two for another eleven years. And strangely the next time Pompey fans would have anything to celebrate after a league game would be fifteen years later at Northampton!!
Thanks to dedmans for the picture of Jim and his help in that piece.
Things did get better
We were asked by PFCGino in a recent article about Pompey`s record defeat which was of course against Leicester City at Filbert Street in September 1928. The story surrounding the game is about Arthur Chandler the Foxes centre forward who scored six goals that day concerns the six swans that flew over the ground after the game to mark the occasion.
Chandler was legendary for his goal scoring in the East Midlands (once scored in sixteen consecutive games for Leicester) but never managed to play for England. Because communications and travelling in the 1920s were nothing like they are today the England team was selected on the basis of trial matches played around the country. Arthur played in three of these games and scored in each but would never pull on the famous white shirt. He did however play for the Football League against the Scottish League and was selected to go on the FA Tour of South Africa in 1929 – he scored 33 goals in the 16 games.
It was on this tour that I picked up a story about ‘Channy’ as he was known by another member of the tour party. He was Johnny Price the diminutive Fulham inside forward who spent some time living in Portsmouth after his retirement. I worked with him for a spell around 1970 and he told me many old football stories. The one concerning Chandler came from a chat between the two about how Arthur always beat the centre half in the air from corners. In reply to Johnny`s question Channy replied ‘they won`t jump with their shorts around their knees!` What would modern day officials make of such tactics?
More of Johnny`s stories another day – perhaps even the day he signed Rodney Marsh for Fulham.
FA Tours
On the subject of FA tours I have discovered that a definitive list of Pompey players to go on these trips has never been published. The tours were taken on by the FA and some by the Welsh, Irish and Scots to promote the game worldwide in the days before television took the game to the masses. They were not full internationals from an England point of view but were often seen as such by their hosts.
1926 TOUR OF CANADA BY THE FA
George Clifford right back
Harry Foxall centre half
1929 TOUR OF CANADA BY THE FA OF WALES
Fred Cook left winger
1931 TOUR OF CANADA BY THE FA
Jack Smith inside right and Pompey tactical brain in early thirties.
1950 TOUR OF CANADA AND USA BY THE FA
Reg Flewin centre half
1951 TOUR OF USA AND AUSTRALIA BY THE FA
Ike Clarke centre forward
Reg Flewin was captain
1953 TOUR OF USA AND CANADA BY THE NORTHERN IRISH FA
Norman Uprichard goal keeper
1956 TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA AND RHODESIA BY THE FA
Peter Harris right winger
Jack Mansell left back
1971 TOUR OF THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND AND AUSTRALIA BY THE (ENGLISH) FA
Norman Piper – also toured Tahiti, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand in 1969 when a Plymouth Argyle player.
Next week we will list all of Pompey’s England B internationals.
Pompey clean up on Southampton
This headline has nothing to do with the upcoming celebration of the fourth anniversary of the thrashing of our near neighbours at Fratton Park on 24th April 2005 but it has to be remembered nevertheless.
As we told you recently Pompey have taken to staying in a hotel the night before home games to help raise team morale. All players except those suspended or injured are gathered in a local luxury hotel and have an evening of fun etc.
Last Friday deep in the Hampshire countryside six Pompey players were crowded round the hotel television watching the Wolves v Southampton game while they milked the spread betting systems. After the second goal went in they were £17,000 richer and then had to decide whether to stay in or pull out. They took the money but had they waited for the third goal to inevitably hit the back of the net their winnings would have rocketed to £29,000!!
Who were the six players you ask? Well we are sworn to secrecy but as a clue, four were from England, one Scotland and one Iceland. The team location? – don`t bother you cannot afford it.
and finally
‘In it to win it no.2’ – Question no.8…
Other than scoring the winner yesterday, Kanu of course scored the winning goal for us in last season’s FA cup final.
The guy has won just about everything there is to win in the game, but how many FA cup winners medals did ‘the King’ win during his time with Arsenal?
Do not shout out the answer! Mail it to me by clicking here.
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