Anxious Listeners in Manchester : Episode Seventeen

"I was absolutely flabbergasted by that performance. I did not expect that at all. I am not interested in giving reasons or mitigating circumstances. It was just a very bad performance." (Sir Alex Ferguson)

A splendid word, "flabbergasted", which I was told covered two entire pages in one of my sister's books when she was a small child, and which she proclaimed with gusto whenever those pages were turned. Perhaps she and SAF read the same book, being of similar generations. The etymology is unknown, although the word dates back to at least the 18th century; a collision of the roots for "flabby" and "aghast" in a Germanic construction seems the most popular guess.

Because the bus was over an hour late, and I was standing in the pouring rain, I must count myself lucky enough to have missed the first chunk of this match. I hadn't thought to take a radio with me (and anyway I haven't got a portable DAB yet).

So by the time I got home, we were a goal down and obviously playing achieved rubbish. The Sun the next day had a pointless piece about our playing a reserve side (and at the same time forcing the season ticket holders to buy a ticket to watch it), but this wasn't really a side of inexperienced kids. It had six internationals; it had a defence with considerable experience on loan to various clubs; it had a midfield worth a small fortune; it had John O'Shea. It had no strikers to speak of, of course, but that is our current approach. Presumably, if they'd stayed, Rossi and Smudger would have had a game, so you can't really blame them for going.

I can fully understand why SAF thought the side was "good enough to win", and that has more to do with overestimating our own players rather than underestimating the opposition. But it is has happened too often; for SAF to say he "didn't expect it" is surely disingenuous. He should expect it by now, because we have done it so often.

In fact, if we look at the history of SAF's teams, he has never shown himself adept at rotation. Our greatest successes have been achieved with a settled side, most of our blips when that side has been disrupted by injury, suspension, the rules of European competition (in the early days) or managerial meddling.

Although we were the first team to have the brainwave of using the League Cup in its various guises to play our younger reserves, we have never demonstrated notable success at the practice (as distinct from Arsenal, for instance), whether in the League Cup or the early rounds of the FA Cup (0-0 Exeter City, for example) or indeed some dead group ties in Europe. The recent year when we won the League Cup was when injuries virtually forced us to play a stronger side at an early stage.

I really thought he might have given Rooney and Tevez a few more minutes together against Coventry, even from the bench, although bringing on Rooney and Ronaldo last year didn't help. And maybe he should have started with Wesley and Carrick. Even so this is simply the curse of Mickey Mouse again.

Because, generally, this competition has been cursed for United. We were one of the last teams to enter the League Cup when it started and have shown it little affection, enthusiasm or success ever since. Look how long it took us to win it and then only in a fairly shoddy performance in a dreadful powder blue shirt.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is the end of Phil Bardsley as a United player. I can well imagine he will be on his way out of the transfer window in December. "Defenestration" is another splendid word. You must have a word for throwing someone out of the window.

It certainly shows us that the quality of our reserve strength is lacking en masse. A number of them may be capable of slotting into an established and settled side and doing a job, but we only seem to grow squad players these days, not players with any touch of greatness. Who was the last great player we produced through our own youth set-up? Scholes, I would suggest. And Giggs before that.

Anyway, as I was saying, I missed the first goal. Apparently "Best's crossfield pass picked out Michael Doyle inside the United penalty area and Doyle hit the ball to the far post, where Mifsud was lurking to turn the ball past the stranded Tomasz Kuszczak". Who would have thought we'd ever hear of Best and Michael Doyle playing on the same side? From the highlights, it didn't appear startling defending, particularly by Johnny Evans. And not long after that, Mifsud hit the post.

Overall, we matched them for goal attempts, apparently, but I suspect many of those were Nani having a blaze from nowhere in particular. It may likely take a season or so to harness his talent, but I suspect we are always going to suffer from the occasional spectacular goal in the middle of rather too many dreadful efforts. Ronnie was wasteful in the early days, but Nani is older and should already have learned better.

The changes for the second half seemed to give us a bit more shape, and it looked as if we might even get away with this sort of thing again, and at least take it to extra time.

There was the one moment when Coventry keeper Andy Marshall produced an outstanding fingertip save to deny Dong after 69 minutes, when a header was floating into the top corner. But within a minute they were down the other end, Mifsud doubled his tally and that was it.

Later, Mifsud should probably have had a hat-trick when Tomasz pushed the ball into his path, but he somehow failed to find the goal.

Manchester United 0 Coventry 2

Goals: Mifsud 27, 70.

Manchester Utd: Kuszczak, Bardsley (Brown 45), Evans (Carrick 56), Pique, Simpson, Nani, Martin (Campbell 45), O'Shea, Eagles, Dong, Anderson.

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Eckersley.

Booked: Pique.

Red shirts, white shorts, black stockings.

Coventry: Marshall, Osbourne (McNamee 88), Ward, Turner, Borrowdale, Simpson, Stephen Hughes, Doyle, Tabb, Mifsud, Best (Adebola 90).

Subs Not Used: Konstantopoulos, De Zeeuw, Thornton.

Attendance: 74,055 Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).

Anyway, so much for the Glazers' latest attempt to squeeze the fans. No more home cup-ties here for them. And the atmosphere of fans who were there only begrudgingly, and well outsung by the visitors, went some way towards that.

The attendance figure is largely a myth, of course. United have long counted the number of tickets paid for (which includes all season ticket holders whether or not they - or indeed anyone else - are actually in the seats), rather than the number of bodies through the turnstiles. In theory you could have an attendance of 75,000 with less than 20,000 in the stadium.

Wednesday 26.09.2007 : 5Live Extra Radio

The Anti-Semitic Referee and Others

One of the more bizarre follow-ups to the victory over Chelsea was seen in their manager's homeland. In the Maariv newspaper Gady Carmeli, an assistant coach at an Israeli club and a friend and adviser to Grant, wrote: "What the anti-semitic referee did [at Old Trafford] yesterday was worse than injustice. Everybody agrees, Chelsea played its best half an hour of football this season at the start of the game. Avram was at his best preparing the tactics but no British pundit could understand it." (Shaul Adar, September 25, 2007 The Guardian)

This is, of course, a classic example of the tactical paranoia commonly adopted by certain factions in Israel and their support lobby. Any opposition is automatically categorised as "anti-semitic".

But it seems it may also go deeper. Abramovich has long positioned himself as Jewish, rather than Russian, and has been giving financial support to Israeli football, which was how he met Grant in the first place.

A piece in the Daily Mirror noted 'Chelsea were in danger of letting their paranoia take over last night as anti-Tottenham jibes by Blues fans were being seen as a dig at Roman Abramovich...one chant, of "We hate Tottenham", was being seen in the upper echelons of Stamford Bridge as a potentially anti-Semitic statement aimed directly at Abramovich, who has never hidden his Jewish faith.'

Perhaps nobody at Chelsea has ever bothered to tell Abramovich about the traditions of anti-semitism already rooted deeply in their fan-base, elements of which always used to greet Spurs fans with what were supposed to be impressions of the noise a gas chamber makes.

Whether opposition from fans to Grant and Abramovich will indeed express itself as anti-semitism remains to be seen, but I doubt those particular fans will be subtle enough to bother couching it as opposition to Spurs.

Anxious Listeners in Manchester : Episode Sixteen

So the question was always going to be, how will they react. Either way, we seem unlikely to be the story, it's going to be entirely about Chelsea, which must be all to the good.

Not especially concerned, until the television decides to go on the blink about an hour before kick-off. It's clearly the NTL feed, or the Virgin feed as it has now become. The programmes via the roof-top aerial seems fine, so the set itself must be fine.

I call the Virgin call-centre. Their menu has an irritatingly perky female voice; their customer service centre a male voice, which I assume to be on the sub-continent. We try the usual tricks like switching things on and off and unplugging various devices and plugging them back in. I try and explain the problem. It occurs to me that there must be an entire generation that does not understand the concept of "vertical hold"- and its absence - a perennial fault of televisions in my childhood. It is quite hard to explain what's happening without this bit of available vocabulary.

Eventually, we lose the entire Virgin picture, which at least has the advantage of now being extremely simple to describe. By then we have established that it is affecting all their channels, although some worse than others, so it must be the set-top box. I dread the fact that this is one of their old analogue boxes and will probably be beyond repair or replacement (they were unable to replace even the remote a couple of years back). OK, that will pre-empt the decision to go digital, which I would probably have made in the next few weeks anyway, but that in itself is bound to lead to delays, waits for engineers and the usual trappings of any change in service (including an increase in the price). In the meantime, an engineer can come out on Wednesday. Seems pointless to do anything other than agree.

In the more pressing meantime, we need to get to the nearest pub; as it's a standard Sky game, this can be interpreted quite literally for once.

It's somewhere we don't really go that often. The beer is tolerable, rather than good, but as good as the place where we usually go for Setanta games, anyway, although that says virtually nothing. But it isn't a CAMRA branch meeting after all (and frankly they have been known to meet in some of the most bizarre pubs , in the cause of evangelism).

I read bits of the piece in The Observer about how J Terry was the one who pushed Mourinho over the edge. It is strange how Terry seems to have come to believe a lot of the stuff about him being an "icon". This rumour about him demanding a clause in his contract that will always make him their best-paid player was perhaps the start (although I suppose it is only a way of putting some form of inflation-proofing - or Ballack proofing - into a long-term contract, it does have that aura of crazed arrogance - if they sign Kaka or Ronaldinho, for example, does Terry really think he should be in that same bracket? I'm not even sure he should be in the England team).

Useless grainy slow motion montage of Mourinho clips. There is obviously an entire group of television workers who make a living out of putting these things together, for a purpose which is entirely beyond me, other than to use up time which regulation says cannot be used for advertising. It is presumably a cheaper method of programming than many others, although surely not cheaper than talking heads talking bollocks.

As the game is about to start, baskets of "roast" potatoes and chicken are put out on the tables. This is a most civilised version of an old tradition, which harks back to those distant days of the last century when you were only allowed a couple of hours in the pub from 12 to 2, in between church and Sunday dinner. Although it seems like ancient history, it can't really be that long ago, when the only way we could watch the Sunday afternoon game in the pub was via a lock-in. Certainly, less than fifteen years ago.

Saha is on the bench and Tevez starts alongside Rooney is the only notable team news, although it's reassuring that John O'Shea is back on the bench, in case we need an emergency striker.

Chelsea are playing all three of their holding midfielders - Makalele, Mikel Obi and Essien - and Shevchenko on his own up front between Joe Cole and Malouda. The three who might be most upset by Mourinho's departure (Lampard, Drogba and Carvalho) are injured, of course. Grant's fellow Israeli, Ben Haim, replaces Alex. If this is Abramovich's team, the cavalier instinct is not notable. Wright-Phillips, for instance, one of their better players this season, is on the bench.

Early on, Rooney cuts inside Ben Haim on the edge of the box and curls a shot on goal which Petr Cech just finger-tipped wide at full-stretch.

Cech is probably the only player I envy Chelsea. Essien and Mikel we would have had, of course, and would have saved us the need to buy Hargreaves, but they chose the money, or their agents' did. (I don't think either of them are Mourinho men; more like Kenyon men). But I don't think I'd have anyone else from the Chelsea team.

For the first half-hour it's a relatively even game. We probably have the slight edge, whilst Chelsea look half dangerous on the break, only never seem to get their options or final ball right. I am reassured to see that Shevchenko doesn't look like suddenly finding his old form, which I had half worried about. His pace has gone, and without that half-yard the space to apply the ability to control and shoot seems to have gone as well,

We are denied a penalty when Joe Cole slides in on Evra and brings him down, before getting a faint touch on the ball, probably with his knee. That touch may give Mr Dean enough "doubt". Giggs wasted a decent chance (and was to waste another better one in the second half, after a fine ball from Carrick) - perhaps he will never reach 100 league goals and will be forever stranded on 98. I wonder if he regrets the Faustian pact he made with the devil after his first season, when he gave up the ability to score regularly so that he could acquire the ability to tackle.

On the half-hour, Mikel clatters Paddy. It's a poor tackle, but I didn't think there was anything malicious in it. However, Mike Dean is reaching for his back pocket. As a referee, he is fairly trigger-happy with red cards and gestures that he thinks Mikel went in two footed. You can see, from the replay, how Dean might have seen it that way, and Mikel certainly went studs first on to Paddy's metatarsal region, but he didn't go over the ball and the second foot didn't seem to catch him at all.

I think that with ten men and our limited ability to break down the massed defence this season, we are edging ever closer to the 0-0.

Although there are words for the next to last and for the one before the next to last, I don't know a word for the one after the last. The postultimate, I suppose. Anyway, in the last minute, we attacked and got a corner. I am not entirely sure where this concept has come from, but referees these days are clearly reluctant to blow the whistle for the end of a playing period when the ball is either out of play or in either attacking third. It is a very modern idea and can be irritating when referees seem to wait for, for example, a goal kick to be taken, so that they blow whilst the ball is in mid-air over the half-way line.

Anyway, Mike Dean allows time for the corner to be taken on the right. Usually, once the corner is cleared away, he might blow, but Wes Brown comes onto the clearance and heads it straight back wide to Giggs, who's moving out after taking the corner. Giggs turns back along the by-line and puts in a wickedly spinning cross to the near post with the outside of his foot. Cech comes to clear it out by the post and Tevez dives across in front of his hands and deflects it into the net. A great time to score, the postultimate minute.

The second half was largely anti-climactic. I worried that United might have their eye on some record of successive 1-0 victories. Although Chelsea were creating nothing - I don't think EVDS had to touch the ball in anger all game - at 1-0 there is always the fear of a wonder strike, a ghastly deflection or a moment of refereeing madness.

Shevchenko was substituted around the hour mark. Shots of Abramovich (and acolytes) applauding ostentatiously. Perhaps he always applauds when players go off, but the producer doesn't usually bother showing it.

There was one moment when Joe Cole cracked Ronnie from behind that was more deserving of a red card than Mikel's challenge, but gradually things ticked down. Cole was taken off fairly quickly, in case the referee had his eye on him.

Saha came on rather later than usual, as much to let Tevez leave the field to applause as to exploit any gaps. Still he made a run or two and the result was sealed when Ben Haim left a leg hanging for Saha to go over. Quite deliberate, I would imagine, on Louis's part, although he didn't exactly have to swerve into him.

I thought it was a clear penalty, although Louis didn't help by a piece of over-acting. The sort of thing that often puts a referee off. Perhaps this one was subconsciously remembering the one he didn't give earlier, and thought it late enough not to affect the game.

This not being Arsenal, Saha then got straight up to take the penalty. Ronnie looked fairly put out. Giggs had stopped him taking a free-kick earlier in the game and given it to Tevez to blaze over the bar. Although Ronnie had since had the chance to take a free-kick himself (it would have gone into the wall as usual but the wall obligingly let it through for Cech to scoop up with little concern), he may have seen some sort of conspiracy in demoting him for penalties as well. Louis put it hard enough down the centre of the goal, fortunately missing Cech's feet on the way.
Manchester United 2 Chelsea 0

Manchester Utd: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Ronaldo, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Tevez (Saha 79), Rooney.

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Nani, Pique, O'Shea.

Booked: Rooney (61 : dissent), Brown (80 : foul).

Goals: Tevez 45, Saha 90 pen.

Strip : Red shirts, white shorts, black stockings.

Chelsea: Cech, Ferreira, Ben-Haim, Terry, Ashley Cole, Makelele, Essien, Obi, Joe Cole (Pizarro 76), Shevchenko (Kalou 59), Malouda (Wright-Phillips 69).

Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Alex.

Sent Off: Obi (32).

Booked: Joe Cole (73), Terry (83).

Attendance : 75,663 Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).

This is when you really miss Mourinho, of course : a harsh sending off, a goal after time, a soft penalty. How much he would have made of all that. Avram Grant sounded like a low-level trade union official remembering a list of grievances. There was no panache, no histrionics; not even the achieved pout of Benitez.

No longer will we be able to see the man whose entire career was founded on a dodgy linesman's decision ranting on about officials and injustice. In truth, it takes away some of the savour of victory. Some of the savour, of course, but not a lot.

Anxious Listeners in Manchester : Episode Fourteen

Stuff of nightmares. For the first time this season, the pub was actually advertising the game a couple of days earlier, which in itself should have set off the alarms.

We weren't entirely surprised the doors were still shut. They do tend to be open until the early hours, so getting out of bed on Saturday is often a problem and I always worry about an early kick-off. The Police have a lot to answer for.

Peering through the window, there are some signs of activity; well, life at least.

I put the radio on and wait for them to stop talking about rugby. She seems to be polishing tables, I am told; couldn't she do that after she opens the door? Gesticulation through glass. Wonder vaguely how this appears from inside, but never mind, the meaning should be quite apparent. She is holding up two fingers, I am told, but in the informative rather than the demonstrative mode.

They are just about to toss the coin. OK, couple of minutes, shouldn't be a problem. Think vaguely about Gorgeous Gus and his lucky gold sovereign and wonder if each referee has a special coin that he takes out or just fiddles amongst his change on the day. Maybe the FA issues them with a special "tossing disc".

It's hard to work out the team news. Rooney doesn't feature, but I had always thought adding him to the squad was largely a gesture, perhaps to confuse or worry Sporting in their tactical preparation. Ronaldo is back of course; Micky is at left back and Evra in front of him. No Saha and can't work out if he's even on the bench. In the absence of our specialist substitutes, O'Shea and the Scottish player, who is in fact on the bench is an interesting question, but not one the BBC shows any inclination to answer.

No Tim Howard again for Everton. His excuse this time is a finger injury.

Two minutes is nearer to ten, not that we seem to have missed anything that could be described as action, but that's not the point. More research into the finer points of communication through glass. Table polisher disappears totally. Some of those waiting have sat on the pavement across the road, by the cemetery gates. Michael decides to take a chance on another pub, which may be showing it (despite lack pf advertisement), but we hang on a little longer.

When Radio 5 change commentators and the bleating tones of Alan Green take over, I start to get seriously concerned. And I'm not the only one. A screech from beside me; apparently two fingers meant, "We've decided not to open until two o'clock". Obvious, really. It always makes sense to advertise two or three matches you aren't going to show.

So follow Michael to the other pub, half listening to a continuing rant about the failings of publicans in one ear and Alan Green in the other. The game still doesn't sound worth watching but, apart from anything else, I am now desperate for a drink, and even prepared to watch Liverpool or the rugby.

So the first half hour has passed as we get there. I have heard Evra has hit the side netting. Arteta has put a free kick from just outside the box over the bar. Little else. Not missed a lot.

Arrive just in time to see Vidic play a corner up onto his face and wide. Then United suffer a blow a few minutes before half-time when Micky collapses with no-one near him and is carried off with what appears to be a bad knee injury. His knee looked to twist under him as he went down. He's replaced by Nani and Paddy drops back vaguely towards where a full-back might usually be.

Scholes is booked for punching the ball back not quite close enough to where it is supposed to be. Well, probably he was booked for "dissent", because he was certainly displaying clear disagreement with a handball decision that had been given against him, and the crowd were going for it. Scholes does tend to use his hands quite a lot, but on this occasion it was pretty much shoulder. And he was then fortunate not to be sent off for a late challenge on Arteta straight afterwards. Another referee might well have been more pompous and I expect Wiley might well have booked him for the challenge, had it not been for the previous card. I think Scholes is getting increasingly grumpy in his old age.

Watch a bit of the Liverpool game in the interval. Not looking much better than our game, to be frank.

One way and another, Scholes was United's most prominent player in this match. Early in the second half, he is on the far post for an Arteta corner and forced to hack Johnson's header off the line when he flicks it on at the near post. Scholes then wastes our best opportunity of the match after 55 minutes or so when he volleys wide from only about 10 yards, after Tevez has lifted the ball delicately over the defence to leave him clear. Tevez has looked fresh enough after his Australian trip, and shown some lovely touches, but is still not providing any cutting edge. Well, no-one is.

Ronaldo has been whacked a few times and failed to get anything out of the referee. Eventually, he is booked for diving, tumbling under a challenge from Leon Osman, as Ronnie runs along on the edge of the area. Replays seem to demonstrate clear contact. He might well have gone down relatively easily, given the ball was running out of his reach and it was a position he would have fancied, but I don't think that is "simulation" (it isn't when the blessed Michael Owen does it for example) and at that speed almost anything can make your balance go.

Louis is eventually brought off the bench after about 60 minutes, the classic SAF substitution time. He doesn't seem likely to have the same impact as against Sunderland.

In fact, it doesn't look as if we'll get anything from the game, when we make the breakthrough with seven minutes left, Vidic hurling himself in front of defenders at the near post, to head home a fine Nani corner.

Almost immediately, we see the other classic SAF substitution: a defender or defensive midfielder brought on with five minutes to go. It's a tactic I hate, seems generally disruptive and we usually seem to hold on despite rather than because of the change. Nice to see Pique, mind, but I'd have preferred a different context. If Mickey is really bad, perhaps he'll become left-back cover.

Everton put on the midweek hero McFadden in the closing minutes and he instantly brought a decent save from EVDS, although he can't hold it and we have to scramble around until Yobo turns it past the post.

So twice in a row we have disproved my old adage that we never score from corners. Perhaps this is just down to the introduction of Nani, I can't imagine we have been spending any more time on it in training. Obviously the general trend is worrying, but at least we are sneaking these ugly little wins. Apart from anything else, it must be incredibly annoying for other teams, this impersonation of Chelsea. Chelsea themselves can't manage it, which is even better, and have what seems to be a perfectly good goal disallowed. I am not entirely clear how we can be ahead of anyone on goal difference, but so we are.

Arsenal's defeat of Spurs is unfortunate, although it's a pretty good game; the result flatters them and Spurs would probably have won if they'd taken their earlier chances. Maybe it really is going to be a more competitive league this year. Of course, Spurs may panic and Berbatov may be agitating for a move at Christmas. And the other teams are really falling into the "difficult to beat" rather than the "be worried about" category. Leading teams will drop points against several of them, but I can't see any of them going on a devestating run just yet.

Everton 0 Manchester United 1

Everton: Wessels, Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Baines, Arteta, Jagielka, Neville (McFadden 85), Osman (Pienaar 73), Johnson, Yakubu (Anichebe 74).

Subs Not Used: Turner, Carsley.

Booked: Neville, Pienaar.

Manchester United: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Silvestre (Nani 41), Ronaldo, Carrick, Scholes, Evra, Giggs (Saha 63), Tevez, Nani (Pique 85).

Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Gibson.

Booked: Scholes, Ronaldo.

Red shirts, black shorts, black stockings.

Goals: Vidic 83.

Attendance: 39,364. Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).


Learn that Mickey's knee is wholly buggered and he's done for the season. Dopey though he can be, I have a soft spot for him, if only for refusing to play with Joey Barton, and it would be sad to see his career end like this. Knee injuries are increasingly prevalent (I heard someone blame hard pitches, which may have some truth to it) and older players find them harder to deal with, witness Ole. I wouldn't be altogether surprised if that is effectively the end of Mickey.

My Story : Matt Busby

I picked this up the other day. It's no more than the usual Souvenir Press ghosted autobiography of a manager or a player. The journalist involved in pulling this one together, David R Jack, presumably adopted the use of the middle initial to distinguish himself from his namesake, the famous Arsenal player. He worked for a now defunct title called Empire News (a Manchester based Sunday, which was bought by Thomson in 1959 and sold and merged with the northern edition of the News of the World the following year). His other ghosted works included "Finney on Football" and "Mr Cricket", the latter apparently the life story of an earlier Fergie, W H Ferguson, a famous Australian scorer.

What makes this book so different is that it was put together in 1957, just after United had won their second championship in succession, failed in their first bid for the European Cup and been robbed of the first double of the twentieth century by Peter McParland's dreadful clattering of Ray Wood. It is Busby's thoughts without the distortion of hindsight that affected all that came later. The copy I have was given to someone called Robert by his parents as a present for Christmas 1957. Just six weeks later, of course, the author was in intensive care, a majority of his team were dead and nothing he said about football could ever again be free of that shadow.

There was a second edition of the book published in 1958, with a chapter about Munich added. I don't imagine the publishers could resist the opportunity, but as I read the book the whole relevance and weight of it seemed to be given by the absence of the knowledge of what was to come.

It is interesting, for example, how little space is given to Duncan Edwards. In later years, the size of Edwards has seemed to overshadow that team, but from 1957 he seems to be just a component part.

There is a photograph in the book of Busby walking through Nice with four journalists. Three of them died at Munich and the other, Frank Taylor, survived and wrote a book about the crash. But whoever chose that photograph didn't know that would happen.

And the book ends, "I am convinced that the future will prove even brighter.... There is no reason why Manchester United should not remain in the forefront of English - and European - soccer for at least another ten years. I hope to be at Old Trafford to see it, because as I believe I mentioned before, this is the finest club in the world."

Well, so it is, of course, so it is.

Matt Busby, My Story, As told to David R Jack, Souvenir Press, London, 1957; Second edition, with additional chapter, Souvenir Press, 1958; Sportsman's Book Club edition (of 1958 edition) 1959.

Friends of Mr Watkins : Number Four

Leslie S Dalgarno



Les Dalgarno, 56, is a friend of SAF from Aberdeen days and has known him since 1976. He is essentially a commercial property lawyer, although he acted for SAF in his £11 million contract renewal talks back in 2002.

Dalgarno spent 35 years at Paull & Williamsons, Aberdeen, a partner from 1977 and eventually Head of the Commercial Property department. He is described as "one of Scotland’s most highly respected commercial property lawyers". The firm claimed to be "particularly noted for the strength in depth of its corporate, commercial property and dispute services teams and (....) highly regarded for its experience and understanding of the energy sector".

In October 2006 Dalgarno was appointed a non-executive Director of aAIM, a commercial property investment company based in London's Mayfair, and stepped down as a partner, although he remained with Paull & Williamsons as a Business Development Consultant.

This was not a new relationship with aAIM. Commenting on his appointment, Mr Dalgarno said: "I have advised aAIM during its rapid growth in the last three years and I am very keen to add value to the continuing growth of the company in the future."

In January 2003, Robert Whitton, Mark Tagliaferri and Stuart Le Gassick founded aAIM (Active Asset Investment Management) "to promote a more sophisticated and innovative approach to real estate financing recognising the rapid integration of the property market and other capital markets".

But the company's main launch came in July 2003, at a swanky champagne reception in the heart of the City of London. And as a centrepiece of the occasion, Andrew Vicari, the multimillionaire court painter to the Saudi Royal family, presented an oil portrait of Sir Alex Ferguson to none other than the Manchester United manager himself.

From the start, aAIM has used its celebrity investors as a marketing tool, and SAF has been most prominent amongst them. Other football people have also invested, including Alan Smith (even before he signed for United), Gareth Barry and John Terry. Simon Cowell is also said to be involved, and Sir David Frost chairs their advisory panel. Essentially it is a tool for creating "tax-efficient" syndicates of rich people to invest in commercial property. Many of the investors are no doubt anonymous city figures, but the footballers make it all sound sexier.

At the launch party SAF said, "The syndicate fits in well with the balance of my investments. I was impressed by the balance of the company and I liked the team. I like people who are go-ahead, young, energetic and work hard." Presumably he liked the team even more when his friend Dalgarno was included.

At the same time as Dalgarno joined, aAIM set up a joint venture with the Bank of Scotland called the Symmetry Fund, with the intention of spending £2 billion on European property. In December it picked up a string of four-star hotels, including the George in Edinburgh ("Sir Alex Ferguson backer of new owners of top Edinburgh hotel" as The Scotsman put it), the Russell in London, the Royal York in York, the Met in Leeds, the Palace in Manchester and Selsdon Park in Croydon. Since aAIM was launched in January 2003, it claims to have generated an average return of more than 80 per cent.

Another recent report also noted that "aAIM is also advised by James Chapman & Co, which counts Manchester United FC and Sir Alex Ferguson among its clients", so the friends of Mr Watkins know how to keep in touch.

Dalgarno is also a keen golfer (he visited the Masters in Augusta with a select group from the Deeside Golf Club) and is involved in charity work in Scotland. He recently organised a charity lunch on behalf of Voluntary Service Aberdeen, which ten firms each paid £10,000 to attend. Old and new employers were amongst the ten contributors. And the lunch was hosted by SAF himself.

Sources : Faisal Islam, The Observer, July 20, 2003; The Scotsman, 19 November 2006

The Famous Five go to White Hart Lane

“I am an ambitious chairman, we are an ambitious club and we want Champions League football at White Hart Lane. " Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, August 21, 2007

"I was in the hotel because a friend came who had nothing to do with football." Sevilla coach Juande Ramos, August 20, 2007

"You know quite well that if you ever go against the orders of the chief—that's me, my girl, in case you didn't know it—you won't come out with us again. You may look like a boy and behave like a boy, but you're a girl all the same. And like it or not, girls have got to be taken care of." Julian, Five on a Hike Together, 1951

The fiasco of the Martin Jol \ Ramos affair has drawn some unwelcome attention to those in control at Tottenham, a splendid example of the best that English capitalism can offer in opposition to the multifarious international consortia that are hoovering up the Premiership.

There were four men meeting Ramos in that hotel room in Seville (apparently two left by the front door and two by the back) and one more playing golf in the Bahamas. This is a quick guide to the five of them.

Joe Lewis ("Julian")

Lewis is ultimately the money behind Spurs, although he seems to have little or no interest in the day to day business.

He is said to be the 16th richest person in Britain, worth something over £2,000 million. How exactly he counts as being in Britain when he spends all his time in the Bahamas is something The Sunday Times doubtless explains in detail when it does its list. Perhaps it is "British person" rather than person in Britain; as yet, he hasn't renounced his citizenship. He has homes all over the globe; Forbes counts him as the 486th richest person in the world.

Joe Lewis had no higher education. He was born above a pub in "the East End of London" about 70 years ago and made his initial wealth expanding the family's catering business (he started as a waiter and it eventually became the Beefeater pub chain), then selling luxury goods to tourists, before finally moving into currency trading and tax exile in the 1970s.

Lewis is the main investor in the Tavistock Group, which he founded 30 years ago. Tavistock Group is a global, private investment company. The company has grown to encompass "a broad portfolio of interests" in over 170 companies in 15 countries in areas including property, financial services, life sciences, energy, industry and consumer goods. "The company employs a simple investment philosophy looking for value opportunities where its capital, flexibility, management support and strategic hand can build value." Tavistock Group has offices in Argentina, the Bahamas, China, the European Union, Mexico and the United States. Among Lewis's property holdings are 3,600 acres in the Bahamas and 8,000 acres in Florida. He is currently investing heavily in health-care and bio-technology in Florida, which may be a consciousness of his own mortality.

Joe Lewis spends most of his time and much of his money on celebrity golf (he once paid over £1 million to charity for a day's golf with Tiger Woods - his other well-funded celebrity partner is Ernie Els). He owns two golf clubs, which play each other for charity once a year (perhaps this is the model envisaged for football in due course).

Lewis has two children. His son, Charles, left the Enic board along with the finance director in 2001 after "a string of financial misfortunes". His daughter fronts a lot of Tavistock's charitable work.

At one stage Lewis, through Irish connections, was linked with Desmond, JP McManus et al in the plan to bring Celtic and Rangers into the English Premiership.

Sources : Forbes.com; The Sunday Times; Tavistock Group website; Sunday Business Post, November 04, 2001

Daniel Levy ("Dick")

Daniel Levy is chairman of Tottenham Hotspur and Lewis's man at Enic - the English National Investment Company - which owns the controlling interest in Spurs. Levy was reportedly the one who first encouraged Lewis to invest in football clubs.

Levy was born on 8 February 1962, in Essex. His family, through their holding company A. Levy and Sons Ltd, owned the Mr Bywrite "straight talking, no-nonsense" male fashion-retailing group. (Incidentally, this group later changed its name to Blue Inc and was sold in its entirety to Marlow in February 2006).

He has a first class degree in economics and land economy from Cambridge, graduating in 1985. He is married with four children and said to be a Spurs fan of long-standing.

From university, Levy went into retailing, but at some stage he struck up a relationship with Lewis. Levy joined the board of Enic in 1995 and is now chairman.

Enic's ultimate owner is a company, Crailes Holdings, registered in the Bahamas, where little information is provided about companies. Enic , however, have been happy to confirm that Lewis is behind Enic, with Levy, via family trusts, owning 29%.

"It is very much a joint effort between Joe and Daniel," a spokesman said. "Daniel himself takes responsibility for the decisions at Tottenham."

The first grand plan was to build an international sporting group with a strong bias toward media income. This brought them to Glasgow Rangers for their first investment, followed by a £2.4 million stake in Vicenza.

Levy pushed Enic from being a finance operation into a leisure concern. In May 2000 the firm spent £500,000 buying gambling website UKbetting.com, and took a stake in the Streets Online e-tail chain. Enic also took on the Warner Brothers Studio Stores chain in the UK and other bits and pieces, including a restaurant in Las Vegas.

Enic first tried to buy Spurs off Sugar in 1998, when they valued the club at £80 million. At first, Sugar held out for a higher price but eventually in 2000 Enic agreed to pay £22 million for a 27% stake (a valuation of the whole club at about £81 million).

In 2000, Enic was also in negotiations to buy Wembley (at a time when JP McManus and Desmond were pushing the National Stadium concept in Ireland). Levy and Lewis withdrew from the £222 bid for Wembley because it was "too complex", which probably translates as "no clear profit" .

In the mid-to-late 1990s Enic embarked on a wider plan to buy a major football club in every European country. The intention was to pool resources and even players, to cash in on football's revival and television windfalls across the continent. By the time Enic finalised the purchase of 27% of Spurs from Alan Sugar in 2001, the company also owned large stakes in FC Basle in Switzerland, AEK Athens and Slavia Prague as well as the original chunks of Rangers in Scotland and Vicenza in Italy.

This portfolio turned out to be fraught with difficulties. In May 1998, after Slavia and AEK qualified for the Uefa Cup, Uefa had ruled that two clubs in "common ownership" could not play in the same competition. Enic spent £1.3m appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, which allowed AEK and Slavia to compete pending its decision but ultimately upheld Uefa's ruling because Enic owned more than 50% of both clubs.

Levy described the decision at that time as "a retrograde step for football in Europe", but with its multi-ownership plan in tatters, Enic began to sell all the clubs except Spurs. After AEK and Basle were offloaded, Enic sold its 20.2% stake in Rangers in August 2004, then Vicenza three months later.

According to Enic's most recently published accounts in 2006, that left only a 31.5% stake in Tottenham and its 96.7% ownership of Slavia Prague. Enic still appeared to own Slavia up to July last year, but the company says that in fact it had reduced its holding in Slavia to a minority interest. This came to light when Spurs were drawn against Slavia in last season's UEFA Cup. In any event, the tie would have been fine because they owned less than 50% of Spurs at the timr, even though everyone was clear they controlled the club.

With the purchase of Sugar's remaining stake this year, of course, the share in Spurs is now up to about 66%.

Apart from Spurs, Enic's main interest is now said to be "property investment."

In contrast to, say, Kemsley, Levy is not demonstrative with his wealth. He even declines to spend money on shareholders, Enic issuing no dividends but aiming to build capital value, or indeed on himself. In 2000, he was reported to take home just £10,000 a year from his work at Enic (although he does take fair chunks from Spurs and other companies - see below).

Sources : BBC News, 20 December, 2000; David Conn, The Guardian September 27, 2006

Paul Kemsley ("George")

Kemsley (or PK as he apparently likes to be known) is Tottenham's vice-chairman. A long-term Spurs fan, the carpet in his office is navy blue and white stripes and the walls adorned with signed shirts and memorabilia.

He was one of the early public faces of the new ownership, attending Q & A sessions with supporters when Levy was much more reticent. At a session in 2002, he "introduced himself to the members as an Executive Director of the Football Club whose primary responsibility is property". It's noted that several supporters present knew him and had travelled with him to away matches in the past. At that point Kemsley stated clearly that the club was not for sale and that he along with ENIC and other major investors hoped to see a return on their equity as a result of success on the pitch. However, the reference was to a "5 year plan", and those five years are now up.

It was through Kemsley that the meeting with Ramos was set up. He made contact with London based property developer Tony Jimenez, a man with interests in Seville, who has been acting as UK agent for Ramos.

Levy, Lewis and Kemsley, are involved in a property development company, Rock Investment Holdings, which has acquired a spread of commercial and residential sites around England. Lewis holds his 50% stake in Rock via a holding company, Rapallo, of which Levy is the sole director. In the year to December 2004, Levy was paid £240,000 by Rapallo; in the year to June 2005, he was also paid £525,000 by Enic for his work as Tottenham's chairman. Rapallo, like Enic, is ultimately owned by Lewis via a company incorporated in the Bahamas.

Kemsley set up Rock in the 1990s, but the business shot to prominence in 2005 when it became involved in a takeover battle for Countryside Properties. In the end the takeover didn't go ahead, but Kemsley sold the shares at a profit anyway. He said at the time, "It was great profile-wise and we made a few quid along the way. There was no question of the money not being there. The support we had from Lewis was unparalleled. He sent me £300m in cash to buy the equity. Telling him I didn’t want the money was not an easy phone call to have to make.”

More recently, starting late last year, Kemsley appeared to be building up for a takeover of Quintain Property and Development, which has large regeneration projects close to Wembley football stadium and the former Millennium Dome in London. However, in July 2007 he sold his 11.9 per cent holding at a profit. He and HSBC also recently made a profit of more than £30 million in just five months when Rock bought and then sold the Grade I-listed former headquarters of Midland Bank. A hankering towards shorter-term profit taking may not be what Spurs fans really hope to see.

Kemsley is also involved in a profit-sharing deal with the club itself, partly relating to Spurs' long search for a bigger ground. Tottenham have agreed to pay Kemsley 15% of any profits the club makes from its property investments, a deal some fans have raised objections to, but which Levy defends as a fair return for the work Kemsley will do. Piecemeal, land around White Hart Lane has been bought to create a larger footprint for the stadium, but the club insists it will not expand its current ground unless the project forms part of wider regeneration, involving public money, of the rundown area of Haringey around it.

Online gambling is another area that has got Kemsley excited on occasion. He took stakes in a number of quoted businesses, although not all his investments have been successful. Gaming VC is one he prefers not to dwell on. He has had more success with stakes in Party Gaming, the poker operator, Betex, which has a licence to run a lottery in China, and Gaming Corporation, a gambling portal. Arguably his biggest success was with Fun Technologies, an AIM-quoted company that specialises in so-called “skill games”, which allow customers to play solitaire, chess and other games for money. Unlike casino games or sports betting, it is legal in America.

Kemsley also fancies himself as a poker player and was spotted in a big money game with professionals on youtube. "Looks like some novice with lots of money to burn", was one on-line observer's comment.

He certainly has a wide social circle. Alan Sugar and Philip Green are friends. (He has appeared on The Apprentice with Sugar). In July, when Kemsley celebrated his 40th birthday with a grand party in Granada, Spain, entertainers over the weekend included Jackie Mason, the Gypsy Kings, Duran Duran, Billy Joel and Craig David. There were almost enough footballers for a team, including Robbie Keane and Jamie Redknapp. Robert Earl, founder of the Hard Rock cafe, flew in, too.

Another guest was 'Magpie' Mike Ashley, billionaire founder of Sports Direct and the new owner of Newcastle United. One anecdote Kemsley has told is quite instructive about both of them, "When I was 15, I was a Saturday boy at this place called John Paul Menswear. Mike (Ashley)'s first sports shop was opposite, and I'd always be in there playing darts. He would beat me every week and I'd usually go home with no money".

Although the rumours that Ashley had funded the party were denied, he is widely said to be one possible buyer for Spurs if, as also rumoured, the whole plan is to add value to the club before flogging it off.

Sources : Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust Members Meeting, 1 August 2002; Matthew Goodman, The Sunday Times, December 4, 2005; David Conn, The Guardian September 27, 2006 ; The Evening Standard, June 12, 2007; The Financial Times, July 13, 2007 ; The Financial Times, July 18, 2007; Ian Ridley and Daniel King, Daily Mail, 25 August, 2007

Damien Comolli ("Anne")




Comolli was appointed as Director of Football in 2005 after Chelsea "head-hunted" Frank Arnesen. He is now aged 35. Technically, at least, he is Jol's boss, with responsibility for the medical, academy, scouting and club secretarial departments.

Levy does not seem to trust managers and was keen to establish this European model, initially with Arnesen and Santini. Explaining the scouting system in the club magazine this year, Comolli was clear about who governed the process. “Obviously we [the scouting department] come up with all the names and I tell Martin this is the reason why we think this player is No 1, No 2, No 3 and so on. Of course Martin has a vital say in all of this and he might say he prefers one player to another, so we can swap around, but basically we’re always working on a team of players who currently play for other clubs.” In practice, this seems to mean that Jol doesn't necessarily get the players he wants, or even players in the positions he wants.

Comolli started out as a defender in Monaco's youth team but injury and an underlying lack of true quality made him turn to coaching, at the age of 20, with encouragement from Arsene Wenger, then manager at the French club. He started with the under 16s. He spent three years at Monaco, a season in Japan with the Nagasaki Under-18s, and then joined Wenger at Arsenal in 1997.

Comolli also gained a Law degree at the Universite de Nice in 1995.

At Arsenal he was chief European scout. Names such as Kolo Toure, Jeremie Aliadiere and Gael Clichy stand out among the untested players he brought to the club, while he also helped to sign Thierry Henry and Robert Pires.

After leaving Arsenal, he was technical director at Saint-Etienne for a single season, when they finished sixth, but he then fell out with the club hierarchy. "I did not agree with the direction the club was going in terms of management. We had different points of view. I am not in football just to sit behind my desk. I say what I think if I think something is wrong. I am respectful of the people who run the club but I didn't agree and I left."

On his initial appointment at Spurs he portrayed himself as a workaholic. "I have no time for myself,'' admitted Comolli, who is married with two children. "My family is great and very supportive. When you are in professional football and you are passionate you don't even know what time it is. Whatever it takes you do it, because it's a privilege to be working with your passion.

"Football is about details and I think making the right decision in every aspect is important. Otherwise it would be an easy job and it's not an easy job. Football is a very small world but you can still make a difference by working harder. I'm talking about everything. Every detail counts if you want to be successful. "

Levy's take was "He'll be a huge asset to the club with his forward-thinking approach to international networking and partnerships." Whether the discussions with Ramos come under that heading, I really don't know.

Sources : John Ley, Daily Telegraph, Sept 16, 2005; The Evening Standard, Sept 8, 2005; The Sunday Times, August 26, 2007

John Alexander ("Timmy the dog")

Alexander is the club secretary at Spurs and only along at the meeting because he is their contracts man. He is also, presumably, the one who really should have known better.

Born Liverpool 1955, John Alexander signed as a professional for Millwall after graduating from London University with a BA Hons in Geography. He went on to play for Reading, where he was a member of the 4th Division championship winning side in 1979, and later Northampton Town.

On ceasing to be a professional footballer, John worked for the BBC for five years before joining Watford in 1987 where he was Assistant Secretary to Eddie Plumley before becoming Secretary. He joined Tottenham Hotspur as Club Secretary on March 27 2000 from Watford, replacing Peter Barnes, who left White Hart Lane to join West Ham United.

In June 2005 the Football Administrators Association announced that John Alexander was to be their new Chairman. He took over from Alan Jones who served as Chairman for over four years. The Football Administrators Association draws its membership from those concerned with the administrative side of the game, consisting mainly of Club Secretaries and their assistants, but also including several Chief Executives. It is a sister association of the League Managers Association.

Hence, he should have known better than to go behind his manager's back. And to get caught, of course.

As the Daily Mail said "at the very least, (it) shows that the 15th wealthiest club in the world .... are unfamiliar with behaving like a big club". Enid Blyton has nothing on this little adventure.

Sources : FAA website; Ian Ridley and Daniel King, Daily Mail 25 August, 2007

Epilogue

In the meantime, "according to sources at Tottenham and in the City", Enic’s ownership is not intended as a long-term investment. Towards the end of last season talks were held with an American consortium about a potential takeover . Although that approach did not result in a formal offer, ENIC remains eager to profit on its ownership of Tottenham and would sell its holding for an appropriate price. Both club and owners are being advised by Seymour Pierce, City financiers who specialise in Premier League takeovers and who, through Keith Harris, the former chairman of the Football League, brokered the purchase of Manchester City by Thaksin Shinawatra.

After accounting for its complex structure of ordinary and preference shares, Tottenham’s current stock market value is £212m. Last season the word was that ENIC would settle for a 50% mark-up on that figure, but the £470m buyout of Liverpool and the battle for Arsenal have widened their eyes. The asking price for Spurs now stands nearer to £450m.

Two things are essential to "achieve full market potential" (sell for as much as possible) : Champions League football and the redevelopment of the Lane into a larger stadium of Emirates size. Both aims would be largely embraced by fans, whose main complaint about the current ownership has been the time when a sponsor's logo meant they had a bit of nasty red on their shirts.

If Kemsley and Levy can achieve both aims before cashing in, they may yet retain the "best owners in the world" tag they have been given by some groups of fans.

Heinze : "In the end you just give in" (or not)

In the end, Phil Chisnall's record is preserved - and given the tenacity which United displayed this time around, likely to last a good many years longer. But I don't think he'll be the answer to many quiz questions for quite a while - it's become much too easy a question.

Strange that no-one ever mentions how much longer it is since Liverpool sold anyone to United.

In the end, Liverpool's lawyers have been proved fallible (I hope it was the club paid them, not Gaby, for I doubt it was "no win, no fee"), Benitez makes a fool of himself, United are (apparently) paid more than they had any right to expect and Gaby is given the chance to take over from Roberto Carlos. And I don't imagine his agents will lose by the deal either, more's the pity.

So why does so much bitterness appear to linger? Gaby himself seems to have shrugged his shoulders, so I almost wonder if it was just a fight on principle, because he (or his agents) objected to being told what to do. Keano pointed out to Jaap Stam the unpalatable truth that footballers in the end are slabs of meat, but I fail to see why footballers are expected to like the fact and to fawn over the shopkeeper.

And, personally, I am also not at all clear why fans should expect a foreigner who has been in Manchester (or rather in the rich ghettos of Cheshire) for three years, to share their irrational hatred of a club down the road. Loyalty is a rare quality in the modern era; it can't be expected of many owners, directors or players and, frankly, not of all fans. SAF clearly defines "loyalty" as doing what he tells you to do. It is a personal relationship (rather like The Godfather). Perhaps Gaby grates because, for one season at least, there were fans who had the perception that he was different.

From what SAF has been saying since, that perception was probably largely illusory. If it hadn't been for the injury, it would have been obvious his "people" were wheedling to get him away years ago.

Ferguson told MUTV the player's agent was agitating for a move virtually as soon as he had arrived. "We signed Gaby in July 2004 and he immediately went off to play for the Argentina Olympic team, and then onto some World Cup qualifiers," he said. "We didn't get him until September, so in that first year he probably played about five months. At the start of the following season, a day before he suffered his cruciate injury against Villarreal, his agent came to see me and said he either wanted a transfer or for me to double his wages. That immediately sent out the wrong signal. Throughout his rehabilitation, his agent was asking me to sell him."

And in classic Ferguson-speak "You wonder whether the lad actually wants to play for you and in the end, you just give in."

That reminds me of the passage in The Godfather where Don Vito throws up his hands and says "but who can reason with this man", and the chap goes very pale and turns up in a New Jersey swamp a few weeks later.

The club shows the players little enough loyalty. When their time has gone, we unload them without a qualm. Even players who have been fans since they were children. The stories abound of the ruthlessness of Busby et al. He, in particular, had a fear of those he discarded coming back to haunt him. One player he sold commented that he liked to sell people "outside the Manchester Evening News circulation area".

The thing to do is celebrate the rare instances when loyalty is to be found, when players share in the irrational accumulation of desire that makes up United. The rarity is what gives it the value.

And in the end, to what are we giving the loyalty? Clubs have changed their names, their strips, wound up and re-formed, changed grounds. They have been bought and sold like slabs of meat themselves (sometimes by butchers - both literal and metaphorical butchers).

Norman Mailer in The Siege of Chicago tries to explain why Lyndon Johnson (and other US politixians) could never deal with Ho Chi Minh. "A good politician ... can deal with any kind of property-holder but a fanatic, because the fanatic is disembodied from his property. He conceives of his property - his noble ideal - as existing just as well without him. His magic partakes of the surreal."

Players, managers and owners may all prate about the club being "bigger than anyone",but they don't really mean it, don't feel it the same way, except in occasional instances. Their loyalty is the loyalty of cosa nostra and the shared backscratcher.

It is unfair to expect a player to be a fan. Only fans understand the magic that exists just as well without them.

Record Suspensions : Kevin Lewis

United players figure highly in the longest suspensions of all-time list. Cantona, of course; Frank Barson, not long after leaving us; John Fitzpatrick. There is an unlikely inclusion : one United player who never even turned out for the first team, Kevin Lewis.

Kevin Lewis

Kevin Lewis was born in Hull on 25 September, 1952.

He came to United through the apprentice scheme, and was under contract to the club from 1969-72. In 1970-71, he was a member of the first-team squad but never played in the side.

Kevin Lewis was a full-back. Sadly his main claim to fame whilst at Old Trafford was his disciplinary record.

He was first given a three week ban in 1969, by the same tribunal that banned John Fitzpatrick for eight weeks. On 28 January 1971, there is record of a four week ban and a £25 fine. On 10 December 1971 he was back before a tribunal after a sending off in a Central League game. This time they banned him until the end of the season, presumably almost five months.

That was it with United. At the end of the season Lewis was on his way to Stoke City, where he remained until 1976. He played in front of Peter Shilton and behind Jimmy Greenhoff and Alan Hudson, amongst others, but only managed 15 first team appearances for them.

After Stoke, he moved on to Crewe Alexandra until 1981, when he moved to non-league football.
In his English League career he played 137 games, with 2 goals, so the vast majority of these must have been with Crewe.

In 1983-84, Lewis was a member of the Telford United side that had a storming cup run.

" Telford United, proud representatives of the Alliance Premier League, came agonisingly close to holding Derby County to a draw in last night's FA Cup fourth round tie at the Baseball Ground. "

Lewis made his mark early in that game, and clearly his combative approach did not change over the years. As the match report said, "Derby set off with a bang and were ahead after only six minutes. Even before the goal, Kevin Lewis had been booked for something he said to the referee and, with a caution recorded, was lucky to stay on the field after scything down John Robertson."

After dodgy refereeing decisions on both sides, Telford eventually lost 3-2.

Kevin Lewis was manager of Leek Town from 1985-86 when he resigned to return to Telford United as assistant manager.

These days he runs "The Dyers' Arms", a few minutes walk away from Leek Town's ground. One of the websites even refers to him as "the last of the Busby Babes", although I doubt if Kevin thinks of himself that way.

The Retirement Sweepstake

Sir Alex Ferguson is still cagey about the exact date he might retire. The only clue he seems to have given is that he doesn't intend to be there when he's seventy (31 December 2011, as a matter of interest).

One date that might hover in the reaches of his mind is 2010, the point at which he will have been manager for longer than Sir Matt Busby, who lasted 24 consecutive seasons as United manager, before ushering in that period of gloom and destruction for the club that was the early 70s. (He also spent an additional period as manager after the interlude that was Wilf McGuinness).

Busby is the longest serving football club manager of the modern era (although Dario Gradi came very close to surpassing him).

All of them have a long way to go to come near the longest serving manager of all time. Fred Everiss of West Brom was appointed in August 1902 and apparently spent 46 seasons in charge (I suspect they have cheated, because I don't think they called them managers in those days and, indeed, WBA themselves didn't call anyone "manager" until Everiss had retired).

Anyway, the closer he comes, SAF would hardly be human if he didn't find that bit of history enticing. Well, perhaps he is hardly human, of course.

Source

http://www.leaguemanagers.com/manager/longest-historical.html

A Murder Mystery Interlude : Frank Barson not involved

When Frank Barson left Villa for United in the summer of 1922, his successor in the Villa team was a young man called Tommy Ball.

Born in County Durham in February 1899, Thomas Edgar Ball had been playing for a local colliery team when he attracted Villa's attention and was signed in January 1920 as cover for Barson. After Barson's departure, Ball took his place and quickly became recognised as one of the league’s best centre-halves.

While Ball was never destined for great things on the pitch he does still hold a unique place in footballing history. For as far as can be discovered, on the evening of Armistice Day, 11 November 1923, Thomas Ball became the only professional in the Football League ever to have been murdered. At least, on this occasion, even rumour does not suggest Frank Barson was involved.

The Murder Story

Ball and his wife lived at Somerville Cottages, Brick Kiln Lane, Perry Barr. Their immediate neighbour was a 45 year old former Birmingham policeman called George Stagg.

On the evening of Sunday 11 November, Mr and Mrs Ball returned home by bus at about 10.30, after a few drinks in the Church Tavern, Perry Barr. Ball had played for Villa in Nottingham in a 1-0 victory over Notts County the previous day.

Soon after their return home, close to his house, Ball was shot in the chest. By the time a doctor arrived he was dead, the body lying on a couch, a wound in his chest "about the size of a half a crown".

A Police Sergeant Davenport attended the scene and arrested Stagg, who was waiting in his own house for his former colleagues. Stagg proceeded to make a long statement to the Police.

On the Monday morning, Stagg was accordingly remanded in custody on a charge of wilful murder. He was described as a tall man, with grey hair and moustache, wearing a long mackintosh. The Police evidence suggested that Stagg had fired one shot from a "single barrelled gun", then reloaded and fired a further shot which had hit Ball in the chest and killed him. On 28 November, Perry Barr Magistrates committed George John Alan Stagg for trial on the charge of murder.

Stagg had served in the army for many years, leaving to join the City of Birmingham Police Force for a time but returning to the army when war broke out. Wounded, he was invalided out in 1916 and worked in several local factories. In 1921 he bought the two cottages in Brick Kiln Lane, letting one to the newly married Balls in October 1922.

The case came to trial at Stafford Assizes on 19 February 1924. Stagg pleaded "not guilty".

The prosecuting counsel, C.F. Vachell, suggested a history of bad relations between the neighbours.

Beatrice Ball testified that her husband had left the house on the night of 11 November to look for a dog. She said that almost immediately, before her husband could have got any further than the gate, she heard Stagg shouting, and immediately afterwards the sound of a shot. She went out and saw her husband staggering from the direction of Stagg's gate, holding his hands to his chest. He said to her, "he has has shot me".

Mrs Ball also stated that her husband was a moderate drinker who had been perfectly sober on the night of his murder. They had been happily married, she said, and he had never struck her. Ball's excellent character was further emphasised by the Aston Villa trainer Alfred Miles.

Medical evidence was that Ball had been shot through the heart.

Stagg stuck to the statement he had made to the Police following the murder. His story was that Ball had been drunk and had tried to climb over the bolted gate into his garden. Stagg said that he had fired his gun to scare Ball away. When this didn't work, he prodded him in the chest with the gun. Ball caught hold of the gun and tried to wrench it away from him. He in return tried to wrench it back. Ball fell back and there was an explosion as the gun went off.

In the witness-box, Stagg added to his original statement, saying that his foot had slipped during the struggle and that he was "almost certain" that the gun-trigger caught on the gatepost. His defending Counsel, Sir Reginald Coventry, argued that it was a pure accident and there was no conceivable motive for his client to murder Ball. Coventry was described as a slight, stern man, the son of a Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, notable in later years for his opposition to the abolition of judicial flogging for punishing the "professional garotters of Liverpool and Cardiff".

Stagg also alleged that Ball was a violent man who often attacked his wife, something which she herself had firmly denied.

The Judge summed up quite clearly. He pointed out that there was a conflict of evidence, However, he said the substantial thing was that, if the gun had been fired deliberately, it was murder; if the gun had gone off accidentally in a struggle, it was manslaughter.

The jury retired for an hour and forty minutes, before returning with a verdict of guilty of wilful murder. At the same time, they recommended the prisoner to mercy.

Mercy was not, of course, the prerogative of the Judge, who put on his black cap and sentenced Stagg to death by hanging. Trials were quick in those days; it was all completed in the same day.
On 18 March, the case was considered by the Court of Criminal Appeal. Sir Reginald argued that the Court should substitute a verdict of manslaughter for the one of murder.

However, the Lord Chief Justice indicated there was no ground on which the Court of Appeal could intervene. The summing-up had been unassailable, the verdict was clearly one which a jury could reasonably have reached on the evidence.

The question of mercy had to be left to "those who dealt with such matters", who would no doubt give the jury's recommendation "all the weight which it demanded".

And indeed Stagg was lucky. On 26 March, the Home Secretary announced his advice that the death sentence be commuted.

It seems strange that, even in those days, no-one appears to have been particularly surprised that the inhabitants of Birmingham patrolled their gardens armed.

Ball was described by the Birmingham press as, "a player of considerable achievement and even greater promise".

A stone football marks the grave of Tommy Ball in the graveyard of the church of St John the Evangelist in Perry Barr. It sits on a plinth with the inscription “A Token of Esteem from his Fellow Players of Aston Villa FC.” They say that "items are frequently left as gifts on the grave when Villa are having a good season". Perhaps a misuse of the word frequently, of course.


Sources

The Times
The Best of Heroes and Villains, 1994
I am told that Paul Lester has written a small book on the murder, which I haven't yet read, but which may well have more detail. I do wonder if Stagg ever emerged from prison, for instance.

Frank Barson : the finest football brain of his time

If anyone recalls Frank Barson these days, it is as "the hardest man of all". He features in lists of the top 50 hard men of football (no 35, as it happens, but Stuart Pearce of all people got to number 2), the 50 worst tackles, the 10 longest suspensions. He is most remembered for the likely apocryphal tale that he took a gun, rather than an agent, to his contract negotiations.

There was much more to Barson than that.

Frank Barson was a very talented half-back, although later in his career he was increasingly prone to fits of very bad temper. It was said then that the mere mention of the fact that Barson was playing against them led opposition players to claim they were injured, rather than play against him.

Yet Percy Young says one contemporary who played with Barson saluted him as “the finest football brain of his time”.


Frank Barson



Frank Barson was born in Grimesthorpe, Sheffield, on 10 April 1891.

In his working life, he started as a blacksmith. After starring for Firshill Council and Grimesthorpe schools, he started his football career as an amateur at Albion FC.

In 1909 he signed for local outfit Cammell Laird FC and it was two years later in July 1911 that he began his professional football career with Barnsley.

The Barnsley Battlers

The historian Richard Holt has said, “There was a self-conscious cult of northern aggression, which applauded the violent antics of some players”, and Barson learned his trade with the “Barnsley Battlers”, who were amongst the main practitioners. In Holt’s words, “Clubs like Barnsley, fed by miners from the nearby coalfield, abounded in stories of men working double shifts and walking twenty miles to play a match”.

It was whilst at Oakwell that Barson's notorious temper first became evident; before he could even start his first game for the Tykes he had to serve a two month suspension, following a brawl with a few Birmingham City players in a pre season friendly. On another occasion he had to be smuggled out of Goodison Park after a cup-tie to avoid a waiting crowd, who had been incensed by his behaviour during the game.

Barnsley's 1912 FA Cup semi-final tie with Southern league Swindon was notoriously brutal, as Barnsley set out to “curb the pace” of Swindon’s star player, the amateur international, Harold Fleming. “Barnsley deliberately kicked Fleming … until he had got seriously injured, and the local press jeered at the southerners for making an official complaint”. After a 0-0 draw, which Swindon finished with nine men, Barnsley won 1-0 in the replay (against a team without Fleming, who didn’t play again for nearly a year).

Barson wasn’t selected in this Barnsley team, which went on to beat West Brom in the Cup final replay at Bramhall Lane (another solitary goal, after another 0-0 draw), but he clearly learned a lot about uncompromising defence. In his own words, "at Barnsley they taught me to be a robust player".

After the war, Barson had a very public falling out with the Barnsley directors over travelling expenses and he joined Aston Villa in October 1919, for a fee of £2850. Barnsley were in financial difficulties, and the money was welcome to them. Despite their differences, Barson was generous enough to refuse to take his own share of the transfer fee from his old club.

Aston Villa (and England) : the glory years

When the league started again in 1919, the decision to extend the first division to twenty-two teams had made it likely that Barnsley would be automatically promoted from the second division. However, a ballot was instead called and Arsenal went up in their place (the Arsenal chairman later admitting to some underhand dealings but, given the circumstances by which United found themselves still in the top division, I won't make too much of that). The wish to play top-flight football may have figured in Barson's decision to leave Barnsley.

On the other hand, it is said that, strangely for such a self-confident man, Barson initially thought himself not good enough for the Villa, and had to be persuaded by their manager, Ramsay. Eventually, Barson moved to Villa in October 1919, making his debut in a 4-1 win at Middlesbrough.

In their book 'Aston Villa: A Complete Record, 1874-1992', David Goodyear and Tony Matthews say: "Despite several brushes with authority, Frank Barson was a truly great centre half, a fierce tackler and dominant in the air. He became a legend in football, probably serving more suspensions than any other English defender. He revitalised a flagging Villa team. His dynamic personality brought the best out of the players."

Whilst undoubtedly being a huge asset to Villa, he once again fell out with the powers that be at the club, this time over his refusal to re locate to Birmingham, due to business commitments in Sheffield.

This caused him particular problems on one occasion, when he and goalkeeper Sam Hardy, who lived in Chesterfield, were forced to walk seven miles to Old Trafford in bad weather after missing a rail connection. Naturally, in the best Barnsley tradition, Barson was the best player on the pitch that afternoon.

Barson's living arrangements caused further controversy on the opening day of the 1920-21 season, when he and Clem Stephenson missed a defeat at Bolton. Both were suspended by the Villa board for fourteen days for “refusing to play” and given a month to arrange to take up residence in Birmingham. (Times 24.09.20) Barson still refused to move house. Nevertheless, he was appointed Villa captain in succession to Andy Ducat, although there are suggestions that he merely decided he wanted the job and nobody dared argue with him.

He celebrated his appointment as captain by scoring with a header from thirty yards out against Sheffield United, for many years renowned as the longest headed goal ever scored.

On 9 February 1920, Barson was selected for an International Trial, ironically enough playing for “The South” against an England XI at West Brom (The Times, 3.2.20).

He clearly impressed the selectors for in due course, in March, he was selected for England alongside his Aston Villa club half-back colleague, Andy Ducat, a talented sportsman who also played county cricket for Surrey.

In fact, 15 March 1920, when he ran out for England against Wales at Highbury, was to be Barson’s one and only international appearance. In difficult conditions, with the ground cutting up badly after heavy rain, the Welsh won 2-1, the 44 year-old Billy Meredith featuring prominently for Wales. According to The Times, “delay in finishing attacks and uncertainty in defence accounted for England’s defeat”. But this was the first time Wales had beaten England since 1882. Although Barson, along with his fellow half-backs, was said to have “supported the forwards admirably and assisted in frequent attacks”, he never played for England again. (Times, 16/3/20)

Barson also featured prominently in Villa’s fine cup run that season. In the semi-final against Chelsea on 27 March 1920, he had to deal with their star player. “Cock was closely watched by Barson and it soon became apparent that the centre-half had the Chelsea player well under control. This was the first indication that Chelsea might be defeated, as the wing forwards appeared at a loss what to do with the pivot of the line ineffective”. Villa scored five minutes before the interval and never looked like losing after that, going on to win 3-1. (Times, 29.03.20)

On 24 April 1920, the first Cup Final since the end of the war took place at Chelsea’s ground at Stamford Bridge. The change of venue was lamented by The Times as eliminating the “beanfeast” atmosphere of Crystal Palace and its accompanying fairground, and making the game “just like any other cup-tie”. Aston Villa took on Huddersfield Town and won by the only goal of the game, scored in the first period of extra time. (Times 23.4.20)

Probably the most famous story about Frank Barson (apart from the gun legend)concerns this 1920 FA Cup Final. Inevitably, it seems, he was warned about his behaviour by the referee J.T. (Jack) Howcroft – but this time it happened in the dressing room before the match started. "The first wrong move you make, Barson, off you go" he was told.

It was a hard game in those days. Don Davies pointed out that, "Referees who had to handle man and crowds in those days were something more than referees; they were social reformers, purifiers of the public morals".

Howcroft of Bolton was the leading referee of the day and highly demonstrative in everything he did. "The complete master of the grand manner", said Davies. "To men like J.T. Howcroft refereeing was life; unceasingly he studied the part, rehearsed the part, acted the part;.... and one feels sure that he took no share in a game without believing that of twenty-five performers involved (including the linesmen) the greatest of these was Howcroft".

Perhaps Howcroft also had an eye to what might make a good story in the years to come, but in truth he was merely carrying to an extreme one of his cardinal principles, "Dive straight in and get a grip at the start". He repeated the pre-match threat to Barson a couple of years later when officiating another Villa game. Despite this, the two men are said to have always retained a healthy respect for each other.

Opposing crowds hated Barson, so much so that he was forced to defend himself publicly on the grounds that he had been "brought up to play hard and saw nothing wrong with an honest to goodness shoulder charge".

The Times pointed out, “A player like Barson …. is not loved by any but members of his own crowd, but ruthlessly and fearlessly he manages to break up attack after attack” (TT 5.3.21)

The beginning of the end to his time at Villa came following a match against Liverpool. Barson had invited a friend of his to wait in the dressing room while he got changed, and this drew a rebuke from a director. The disciplinarian Rinder became involved in the argument and when Barson refused to apologise, his Villa days were numbered. Even Frank Barson couldn't get the better of Fredrick Rinder. A seven day suspension was the result and Barson, his sense of justice offended, responded with an immediate transfer request.

Manchester United

It is more than possible there was also a financial element underlying this dispute with the club. Villa actually did offer Barson good terms to re-sign at the beginning of the following season, but he simply refused to play for the team again. He turned down offers from several clubs but eventually joined Manchester United in late August 1922. Villa had wanted £6,000 for his signature, then £5,500. United offered £4000 and Villa eventually settled for a reduced fee from United of £5,000, which was still a record fee for a defender.

Clearly, despite the maximum wage, there was also considerable discussion about "personal terms". Apart from anything else, Barson was apparently promised his own pub, so long as United gained promotion within three years. He also received permission from the Old Trafford board to live in Sheffield and to train at Rotherham.

At United, Barson expected special treatment. More precisely, he expected extra money, in an envelope, slipped into his pocket or left on a shelf for him to pick up. “Where’s the doin’s?”, he roared at the trainer before one match, when no package was to be seen. “I’m not taking my bloody coat off till I get it”.

The team he joined in the Second Division was not a typical United side. It had a solid defence, but the forwards were disjointed. As one of the team said, “When we were a goal down we knew we had had it”. Barson developed a fine understanding with his goalkeeper, Alf Steward, who took over from the veteran Jack Mew in 1923, exemplified by the way Barson would frequently head an opposing corner safely back to the keeper from close range. Behind him, Moore and Silcock were a fine pair of full-backs and his half-back partners were accomplished players. But the forwards rarely seemed to click.

Barson’s time at Old Trafford was plagued by injuries, but he was given the captaincy and immediately proved a commanding figure. Within the required three seasons, he led United to promotion back to the First Division. Coming into the last game of the 1924-25 season, United were lying second in Division Two, but could still be overtaken by Derby County. Fittingly for the great defender, it was a 0-0 draw with his old club Barnsley that earned United the necessary point to guarantee promotion. United conceded only 23 goals that season.

Despite the games he missed through injury, Barson was regarded as a hero in Manchester, although he didn't welcome undue flattery. Off the field, he was said to be a mild-mannered, considerate man. The story goes that when Frank opened the door of his new pub he was swamped in the rush and decided then and there that running a pub was not the life for him. In fact, he was so sick of such attention that he immediately gave the business to his head waiter.

The first season back in Division One was successful enough, certainly in terms of attendances. In February 1926, 56,661 saw United beat Sunderland 2-1 (albeit somewhat luckily, since Sunderland had an apparently good goal disallowed). The Manchester Guardian said of Barson, he “was a commanding figure; he held the side together at a critical time, and set the example of bold tackling, well-judged passing and not a little daring that was of incalculable value” (MG 25.02.26). Barson’s form led Arsenal to make enquiries about his availability befoe Christmas.

Sadly, one of his worst games came against City in the FA Cup semi-final, United’s first semi-final since the glorious pre-war days. City won 3-0 and Barson's mistake was responsible for their third goal.

United finished the season 9th. The change in the off-side law cannot have helped a team which had based itself on a resolute defence.

John Chapman, the manager who signed Barson, preceded him out of Old Trafford, "suspended forthwith from all involvement with football" by the FA in October 1926, because of alleged improper conduct whilst acting as the club’s Secretary-Manager. The full details of the charge were never made public, but United had little option but to dispense with their Manager’s services.

Barson’s injury plagued six years at Old Trafford ended after making 140 League appearances and scoring 4 goals for the Red Devils he joined Watford on a free transfer in May 1928

Later Years

Barson's notoriety reached a high in 1928. On September 29 he was sent off for allegedly kicking Temple, the Fulham outside right, while playing for Watford against Fulham. On October 16, the FA issued the statement that “F Barson of Watford is suspended from today from taking part in football until the end of the present season”, a draconian period of some seven months. (Times 17.10.28) Five thousand fans took up his cause by signing a petition, which was delivered to an unsympathetic Football Association by the mayor of Watford. The petition was ceremonially burned in the mayor's presence.

Barson didn't play again for Watford. Exactly a year after leaving Old Trafford he accepted the post of player coach at Hartlepool United. Strangely, within five months (October 1929) he had signed amateur forms for Wigan Borough. He became a professional for the club in July 1930 in what was to be was Borough’s last full season as a Football League club. He was 39 at the time, and at the end of his career, but he appeared 19 times in a Wigan shirt. His last appearance was against Accrington Stanley on Boxing Day 1930, when he got sent off in the 83rd minute for allegedly jumping on an opponent.

Frank was inevitably the club’s highest paid player and in an effort to stabilise the club’s terrible finances he was off loaded to Rhyl Athletic in June 1931. It did Wigan no good. Finances were at rock bottom, and another League ultimatum of pay up or resign couldn't be met. A public appeal seemed to indicate the people of Wigan just didn't want a football team, and on 24 October 1931 Wigan Borough played their last League game at the Racecourse Ground, crashing 5-0 to Wrexham.

And Barson himself never played league football again; one story told in Wigan is that this was because the FA inquiry into his sending off adjourned itself sine die”, stopping him playing until it had reached a decision, which it had no intention of ever doing.

In May 1932 he became the player manager of Rhyl where he remained until his contract was terminated in March 1935. Within three months he re-surfaced as the manager of Stourbridge, but an offer to return to Aston Villa as youth coach in July 1935 meant he gave up the job as soon as a replacement was found. Three months after his appointment as youth coach he became the senior coach and head trainer at Villa Park until the outbreak of the Second World War.

After the war, Barson became the trainer at Swansea Town from June 1947 until February 1954. He finished his career in May 1956 after previously spending almost two seasons as the trainer at Lye Town.

Barson as a Legend

Percy Young, the historian of Manchester United, said of Barton, “To the thoughtless, who do not discriminate between toughness and roughness, he was a rough player. Nor did a dominant personality and an instinct for natural justice endear him to referees. He tackled ruthlessly, but cleanly, and used his weight, but fairly. He had the instinct of a duellist, to whom a contest is a personal issue between two combatants. If Barson was maliciously treated by an opponent he issued due warning of the wrath that was to come. He also frequently advised the referee. Nor was this confined to his own interests, for unfair tactics against a colleague roused him to fury, Thus he inspired admiration for his skill and affection in those who played with him."

In his book Soccer in the Blood, his fellow player Billy Walker (Aston Villa 1919-33) wrote of Barson "Perhaps the greatest of all the great characters in my album - he played with and against me - was the one and only Frank Barson.

"Frank was a Sheffielder, a truly great footballer and personality and a card. He was never ashamed of numbering amongst his friends the notorious Fowler brothers, who were hanged for murder."

The Fowlers were part of the Sheffield gang wars, strong-arm men working on behalf of one of the local bookmakers and other criminals. They were convicted of leading a group who killed a local man, in the culmination of an argument that had started over a barmaid, but then turned into an argument about their reputation.

In fact, the story has it that at the start of the 1925-26 season, when United were at last back in the top division, Frank received a good luck letter from the brothers, who at the time were in the condemned cell at Armley Prison, Leeds. On Wednesday 2 September, Barson scored the opening goal in United’s second game of the season, a 3-0 victory over his old club Villa at Old Trafford. After three years with the club, it was his first goal for United. Over the following two days, on the Thursday and Friday of that same week, first William Fowler and then Lawrence Fowler went to the gallows.

Walker claimed that Barson did more to make him the great footballer he became than did anyone else. However, that didn't stop Frank from behaving in his usual style when they were in opposition. When playing against Manchester United, Walker once laid on a goal and the latest of all late tackles then put him out of action for three weeks. In September 1925, on his first return to Villa Park, Barson unceremoniously dumped his friend Walker onto the cinder track. The United player commiserated with Walker in the dressing-room. “You know I would never hurt a hair on your head, lad,” he said. Certainly, off the field, Barson is always portrayed as a placid sort of man.

It is towards the end of his career that legend suggests Barson attended negotiations for a pay rise at one of his clubs carrying a gun, probably a shotgun, but the story isn’t precise even about which club. Some other sources even suggest this was whilst he was Villa, which would place it much earlier in his career.

There are records of at least 12 suspensions during Barson's career, although these seem to include club-imposed suspensions such as those at Villa.

Frank died in Winson Green, Birmingham on 13th September 1968. There are those who argue that returning to Birmingham to die shows that Barson’s true loyalty always remained with Villa.

In November 2004 Barson’s only tangible trophy, the medal presented to him after he helped Aston Villa win the FA Cup in 1920 was put up for sale at Christie's in London, valued at between £5,000 and £7,000. The 15 carat gold medal FA Cup winners' medal was up for sale again in March 2007, this time was expected to fetch up to £6,000.

Sources :

The Independent, (London), Sep 20, 1997
Wigan website
The Times, various
The Star (South Yorkshire) Mar 10 2007
The Hardest Man in History, Dave Woodhall (website)
Don Davies, An Old International, Jack Cox
Sport and the British, Richard Holt
Manchester United, Percy Young