That was really some team. I'm no Boro fan but I could probably name
it too. I'm a Leeds fan and follow Big Jack's team really closely
once he left us,

I look forward to the book!

Bob70-71

--- In sixtiesandseventiessoccer@yahoogroups.com, Alister Baldwin
<balders1864@...> wrote:
>
> I've recently been writing about my first experience of watching
Boro play in 1974.
> See below for an extract from my book.
> February 23rd 1974 was a significant day in the life of Alister
James Baldwin; it was the day I went to my first Boro game.  Simon
Berry’s dad took me and Simon to Ayresome Park to see Middlesbrough
play Swindon Town.  We arrived in good time for kick off, purchased
a programme outside the ground and made our way to the Turnstile. 
We entered the ground and climbed the steps that led to the section
of the ground affectionately known as ‘The Boys End’.  There was
nothing classy about this place, if you looked down while climbing
the steps you could see blokes taking a pee against a wall with a
trough at the bottom, this was the Gents Toilet.  ‘The Boys End’
was in one corner of the ground and was just a mass of concrete
terracing, with concrete barriers.  I realised that for future games
I was going to have to take something to stand on, as I couldn’t
see a thing, but the atmosphere was electric.  From this moment
onwards I would eat,
> sleep and drink football. The sad thing is I can still remember
that Team line up as if it was only yesterday
> 1  Jim Platt                           
> 2 John Craggs                     
> 3 Frank Spraggon    
> 4 Graeme Souness
> 5 Stuart Boam
> 6 Willie Maddren
> 7 Bobby Murdoch
> 8 David Mills
> 9 John Hickton
> 10 Alan Foggon
> 11 David Armstrong        
>  
>  
> The attendance was 23,194 and I was one of them.  Boro won the
game 2 â€" 1 with goals from John Hickton and Alan Foggon.  This was
the 2nd victory in a winning streak that was to last 9 games, which
saw Boro run away with the 2nd Division title by 15 points and that
was when it was only 2 points for a win.  They even thrashed
Sheffield Wednesday 8 â€" 0 (Souness Hat-trick) for good measure, at
the end of the season.
> The mastermind behind this team was manager, Jack Charlton.  He
had only been appointed in 1973 and it was his first managerial post.
Apart from his success on the park, one significant change he made
was to introduce the White Band across the Red shirt.  To fans like
me, that is the only true Boro shirt.
>  
>  
>  
> Back in the Seventies Football was simple:-
> -          There were 4 Divisions. - Division 1, Division
2, Division 3 and (go on, I’ll let you guess the last one)? None of
this Coca Cola Championship, League 1, and League 2 rubbish.  Surely
if you win the Championship, you’re the best team in the country. 
If you play in League 1, you’re playing in the top Division. 
> -          None of this squad rotation malarkey.  If you
weren’t in the 1st XI you didn’t get a game.
> -           There was only one substitute allowed.
> -          Players shirts were numbered from 1 â€" 11 and
no. 12 for the sub. No shirt sponsor, no name on the shirt.
> -          Players were allowed to tackle from behind;
punch-ups were common place, no bookings for taking your shirt off
(not that you could get those long sleeved cotton shirts off,
especially in the rain).
> -          No Foreign Players on ridiculous wages.  The
most foreign Boro got were, Jim Platt (Ballymena, Northern Ireland),
Graeme Souness (Edinburgh, Scotland), and Bobby Murdoch (Glasgow,
Scotland).
>
>
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