Jump to content
IGNORED

1976-77 season 1st Division,


City oz

Recommended Posts

Just day dreaming back when the Robins first match was against Arsenal away and the Big Cheese got us a 1-0 win away in August. The next 3 matches we had a draw against Stoke City at home another draw away at Newcastle the a big home win against Sunderland at home 4-1 with Gillies (sir don) Jimmy Mann, Tom the sticks Ritchie and Trevor Taunton scoring. August was a big memorable month of which I will always remember . Other memorable moments of this season was going to the Spurs match away and we won 1-0 with Keith Fear getting the goal. The last match of the season was away to Coventry and this was the 2-2 draw and we stayed up. I remember going to school the next day at Brislington and the maths teacher said where’s your home work and I said I went to Coventry last night thinking it was the best excuse ever, but I got detention. Later in the year I found out my maths teacher supported the GAS. 

I still remember those days a with the fantastic four across the back. Sweeney at right back, Drysdale at left back, and Collier and Merrick in the middle.

Here is hopping the 2020/21 season will bring back in the future some of these days in the top flight 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgot Peter Cormack. Not sure how many Keith Fear scored but never thought he was 1st division standard. We certainly suffered without big Cheese up front.

I too was at Coventry which if I remember rightly was on a Thursday afternoon because of all the power cuts. Our school was closed or on half day. Me and my mate caught the train to Coventry (was there a football special ?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember going up there by car, yes it was a night match. That season Keith fear was one of the highest scorers for a city along with Chrissy Garland and the Mac. Mac did take the penalties though. This season also sits with me as one of the best as Norman Bite yer legs joined us and he goes down for me as one of the best aggressive players of all time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sir Geoff said:

Me too, right behind the goal. I still believe Shilton took him out deliberately.

The collision was a combination of Shilton and the full back Pejic.

As bitter as we might be at the pure injustice of Cheese's career ending injury there's no real reason to think it was deliberate act by Shilton;  he had a very long career and it was hardly littered with callous incidents of deliberate recklessness to give him a reputation as a dirty player.

Just incredibly bad luck for Cheese he landed so awkwardly imo., and, of course an incalculably massive blow for City.

No doubt at all he'd have led the line for England, and made more appearances, and no doubt to greater effect than the lesser gifted Mariner, who emerged to take the England forward position that in more fortunate circumstances would have rightly been his.

Cheesley had just frightened Arsenal to death, completely dominating a top defence on national TV, and as he stepped out to face Stoke was on the very verge of taking the top division by storm.  His potential really was unlimited.

:chant6ez:SUPERCHEESE :chant6ez:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

The collision was a combination of Shilton and the full back Pejic.

As bitter as we might be at the pure injustice of Cheese's career ending injury there's no real reason to think it was deliberate act by Shilton;  he had a very long career and it was hardly littered with callous incidents of deliberate recklessness to give him a reputation as a dirty player.

Just incredibly bad luck for Cheese he landed so awkwardly imo., and, of course an incalculably massive blow for City.

No doubt at all he'd have led the line for England, and made more appearances, and no doubt to greater effect than the lesser gifted Mariner, who emerged to take the England forward position that in more fortunate circumstances would have rightly been his.

Cheesley had just frightened Arsenal to death, completely dominating a top defence on national TV, and as he stepped out to face Stoke was on the very verge of taking the top division by storm.  His potential really was was unlimited.

:chant6ez:SUPERCHEESE :chant6ez:

you hit the nail on the head. Just imagine what the cheese could have achieved if not for the unfortunate injury. How would you class the cheese injury and impacts on comparison to this season with recent injuries to the existing squad. Look at the posts this week with Afobe and concerns posted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was in the open end on the night Cheese got crocked.  Him and Shilts went for a high ball and Cheese landed awkwardly on his knee. I saw no malice there and Cheese has said so himself on many occasions.

That said, he is still the best striker I have ever seen wearing a City shirt and would surely have gone on to represent his country if it had not been for that injury. He had it all, strength, pace, power and was great both in the air and with his feet.

I could never understand why Norwich let him go for 30k mind.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, City oz said:

you hit the nail on the head. Just imagine what the cheese could have achieved if not for the unfortunate injury. How would you class the cheese injury and impacts on comparison to this season with recent injuries to the existing squad. Look at the posts this week with Afobe and concerns posted.

Although the pitches were much worse, and allowable tackles far heftier and indeed nastier, we generally had far fewer players missing games with injuries in those days.

Very common to get through a season with a squad of 14 or 15, with half a dozen playing all the games, or at least most of them, with 2 or 3 young reserves filling in where necessary.

As for how much Cheese's injury impacted that season I doubt we'd have had the drama of that Coventry game - we'd have been well clear of the relegation places long before imo.

That would probably have been his only season for City in the top flight - the biggest clubs would have been fighting over his signature imo. and he'd have gone to Liverpool/Man.Utd/Arsenal for probably a record fee, and been playing in European competitions the next season.

We'd then likely have signed the likes of Royle anyway, but of course have had more money to play with to strengthen the team elsewhere.

I wouldn't compare him with Afobe, different sorts of players, and the loss of Afobe now, though extremely regrettable is not so great that we cannot overcome it, and of course he was only our player for a very short time and on a temporary basis, so less of a blow to us fans who identified so strongly with Cheese.

Cheese was a vital Bristolian cog in a very small closely knit squad who had already achieved greatly to get promoted, and his loss would not only have been felt keenly by us fans but by his close friends in the team too. They were continuing on a fantastic journey but forced to watch as a close mate struggled to keep up with them and eventually leave him behind. That wasn't in the plan at all and it would have affected all of them on and off the pitch.

As I said, his injury was was an incalculable blow to both City and for what he might have achieved on the international stage where England stuttered miserably for years, although sadly most outside Bristol would be completely unaware of that and will likely have forgotten all about him.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I, too, was in the Open End that night. Cheese was already causing their defence problems with his aerial presence. Iirc, it was 13 minutes into the game that Cheese and Shilton and Pejic contested the cross near the right corner of the 6 yard box, to the right of goal, as looking at it from the Open End. Cheese could leap like a salmon and he rose impressively high on this occasion. Shilton had to contest the ball, football would lose its essence if a keeper had to refrain from trying to do this for fear of injuring a fellow player, and Cheese landed awkwardly. No blame attached to Shilton whatsoever, and the fact he had placed a bet on Cheese to obtain a career ending injury after 13 minutes at odds of 22,000-1 was purely coincidental.

Jokes aside, I don't blame Shilton at all. But a massive loss for City, England and football.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Although the pitches were much worse, and allowable tackles far heftier and indeed nastier, we generally had far fewer players missing games with injuries in those days.

Very common to get through a season with a squad of 14 or 15, with half a dozen playing all the games, or at least most of them, with 2 or 3 young reserves filling in where necessary.

As for how much Cheese's injury impacted that season I doubt we'd have had the drama of that Coventry game - we'd have been well clear of the relegation places long before imo.

That would probably have been his only season for City in the top flight - the biggest clubs would have been fighting over his signature imo. and he'd have gone to Liverpool/Man.Utd/Arsenal for probably a record fee, and been playing in European competitions the next season.

We'd then likely have signed the likes of Royle anyway, but of course have had more money to play with to strengthen the team elsewhere.

I wouldn't compare him with Afobe, different sorts of players, and the loss of Afobe now, though extremely regrettable is not so great that we cannot overcome it, and of course he was only our player for a very short time and on a temporary basis, so less of a blow to us fans who identified so strongly with Cheese.

Cheese was a vital Bristolian cog in a very small closely knit squad who had already achieved greatly to get promoted, and his loss would not only have been felt keenly by us fans but by his close friends in the team too. They were continuing on a fantastic journey but forced to watch as a close mate struggled to keep up with them and eventually leave him behind. That wasn't in the plan at all and it would have affected all of them on and off the pitch.

As I said, his injury was was an incalculable blow to both City and for what he might have achieved on the international stage where England stuttered miserably for years, although sadly most outside Bristol would be completely unaware of that and will likely have forgotten all about him.

 

Great and constructive comments. So true . The Cheese would of gone down history if he had the opportunity 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had no chance of getting to the famous Coventry game, I was onky 13, lived in West Somerset and none of my family liked football very much. 

So I remember listening to it on radio Bristol which if you lived that far away was a very hit and miss experience. It started off ok but as the evening drew on more and more other radio stations could be heard interfering with the commentary.

It was like this for all evening games and usually I'd give up after half time and either catch the score at the end of the evening news or wait until the morning where as a paper boy I'd read the full report in the WDP. 

That evening was too important so I stuck with it trying to make out the commentary from Highfield rd while being interrupted by other radio stations, some in English, quite a few in Welsh and oddly always a few in French. As it dragged on it became clear it was going to be a draw and another season in the top flight to look forward to.

Nowadays I can be looking at monkey's in a rain forest in Malaysia and my watch will ping telling me Josh Brownhill has knocked in a free kick. Crazy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, ralphindevon said:

I had no chance of getting to the famous Coventry game, I was onky 13, lived in West Somerset and none of my family liked football very much. 

So I remember listening to it on radio Bristol which if you lived that far away was a very hit and miss experience. It started off ok but as the evening drew on more and more other radio stations could be heard interfering with the commentary.

It was like this for all evening games and usually I'd give up after half time and either catch the score at the end of the evening news or wait until the morning where as a paper boy I'd read the full report in the WDP. 

That evening was too important so I stuck with it trying to make out the commentary from Highfield rd while being interrupted by other radio stations, some in English, quite a few in Welsh and oddly always a few in French. As it dragged on it became clear it was going to be a draw and another season in the top flight to look forward to.

Nowadays I can be looking at monkey's in a rain forest in Malaysia and my watch will ping telling me Josh Brownhill has knocked in a free kick. Crazy!

Great story.

Imagine if it were like that now...

Brownhill, passes to         Boris Johnson should apologise and is that a penalty the ref's giving? Corbyn certainly is protesting his innocence..

And that's going to go down as an own goal surely,  Gary (Owers) what d'you think ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, City oz said:

I remember going up there by car, yes it was a night match. That season Keith fear was one of the highest scorers for a city along with Chrissy Garland and the Mac. Mac did take the penalties though. This season also sits with me as one of the best as Norman Bite yer legs joined us and he goes down for me as one of the best aggressive players of all time.

Mac??? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...