Looking Back At: 1974/75 (Part Two)

November

While the 4-1 win at Darlington was an excellent result, to go and win 4-0 at Shrewsbury the following week was an outstanding one (and certainly helped again with my state of mind). The Shrews, following relegation from the Third Division at the end of the previous season were looking well-set to bounce straight back, and following a run of nine wins and only one defeat in 13 games were just two points behind league leaders Mansfield. They were the second highest scorers in the division and had the best defence with only 12 goals conceded in 16 games.

I made what must have been a complicated bus journey from Nottingham for my first ever visit to Shrewsbury’s old Gay Meadow ground to see City field an unchanged team in front of an attendance of 4,349, Shrewsbury’s highest of season so far for a league game. Dick Krzywicki and Peter Graham gave the Imps a 2-0 lead before the winger was stretchered off just before half time to be replaced by Colin Symm. Good defending by City was capped by Peter Grotier, looking worth every penny of his record transfer fee, saving a penalty midway through the second half and then saving it again when it had to be re-taken. Goals in the last ten minutes from Dave Smith and John Ward produced contrasting verdicts on the result from the two managers. Graham Taylor described it as “magnificent”, while Shrewsbury’s Alan Durban, the former Derby County and Welsh International midfielder maintained that “it was a completely false result” and that his side would have won 4-1 if they had taken all their chances.

The maximum points from the two away games put City up to fifth place, just one point off the top four with games in hand, but could the so far excellent home record be maintained to build on this placing? The answer was found the following Friday night as City began to experiment with a change from Saturday afternoon games in a bid to attract more supporters. This paid off – helped of course by recent results – as over 6,000 turned up at Sincil Bank, almost double the previous best of the season. With Dick Krzywicki fit to play, he scored for the third game in a row as did Peter Graham in an unchanged line-up with Alan Harding contributing the third goal in a 3-1 win over a mid-table Torquay United.

It perhaps reflected the popularity of a Friday night game compared to a Wednesday, but the attendance for the visit of Doncaster Rovers the following midweek dipped below 6,000 again. The goalscoring however continued, and a header from Sam Ellis for his fifth goal of the season was followed by efforts from Dennis Booth, Alan Harding and Ian Branfoot as the 4-0 win over a poor Rovers side consolidated City in fourth place. I was doing well in getting to away games this season, and a new ground for me then was Oakwell at Barnsley the following week. There were not as many goals this time, but importantly a clean sheet was kept with another outstanding performance from Peter Grotier. With John Ward injured Colin Symm came into the side and Dick Krzywycki was moved into the middle alongside Peter Graham, scoring his fourth goal in five games after Sam Ellis had headed the Imps into an early lead. The two points kept City in fourth place, two points ahead of Chester in fifth and with two games in hand.

With things going so well in the league the start of the FA Cup campaign was arguably something of a distraction. The First Round draw sent City to Burslem to face a Port Vale side mid-table in the Third Division and unbeaten at home. Vale Park was yet another new ground for me, and despite Sam Ellis having broken his nose at Barnsley and not trained all week he took the field in an unchanged City side. City were a goal down by half time when Colin Symm had to be replaced by Gordon Byron and aggressive play by the young midfielder caused something of a flashpoint which was later repeated, this time involving Dennis Leigh, resulting in the left back being sent off for the second time in two months. Soon afterwards City were level through an own goal then took the lead through Krzywicki but the ten men were unable to prevent a Vale equaliser meaning a replay the following Wednesday night.

With Symm joining John Ward on the injured list City were now down to the bare bones with their small squad, and with Gordon Byron starting the match the name Phil Neale appeared on the team sheet for the first time. The 20-year-old amateur who had been turning out for City’s reserve side in midweek and Lincoln United on Saturdays was preferred to youth team right back Colin Anthony because, as Graham Taylor said, “He can play in a variety of positions”. However, the Leeds University student was not called upon as over 6,000 turned up to see City cruise through to the next round thanks to Peter Graham’s tenth goal of the season and Alan Harding’s fifth. As with the first game there was a sending-off, this time Gary Dulson of Port Vale.

Thanks to a record of five wins and a draw from the six games played in November Graham Taylor followed David Herd as the second Lincoln City manager to receive a Manager of the Month award. Presented with a gallon bottle of Bell’s whisky he shared it out with supporters in the social club

December

City’s reward for progress in the FA Cup was to be drawn away to Hartlepool, coincidentally scheduled to be the venue for their next league game. However, this fixture had to be postponed due to something that will strike a chord in 2020 – the outbreak of a virus among players and staff at Sincil Bank. The next game, therefore was against Reading in another Friday home game. While preferring Saturday games myself, Friday night was at least better than the other evening kick-off night of Wednesday as the fish and chip shop on Northgate at Newark was ‘frying tonight’ on Fridays and I could get my supper while making my way across Newark for the last bus home to Nottingham. When City were playing one of their Sunday games the previous season, I would always go to another match elsewhere on the Saturday, and similarly after a Friday night game I would be at another game the following day. I’d been to a First Division match at Derby the day after the Friday night Torquay game to see the likes of Archie Gemmill, Francis Lee, and Queens Park Rangers’ Gerry Francis and Stan Bowles in action. This weekend it was a quick trip to the City Ground to see former England stars Alan Mullery and Bobby Moore turning out for Fulham against Nottingham Forest in Division Two.

There were problems for City against Reading, with Dick Krzywicki now on the injured list having fractured his toe against Port Vale, and Sam Ellis starting a two-match suspension. To cover for Ellis, 21-year-old Ken Hill was loaned from Gillingham who he had helped to win promotion the previous season. Gordon Byron kept his place in the side but at least Colin Symm was fit to return while Phil Neale was once again an unused substitute. But with only one recognised striker in the side it was no surprise the goals dried up and the best crowd of the season of just over 7,000 were glad to see Symm get an equaliser eight minutes from the end in a game which saw an outstanding display from Reading’s ex-Imp favourite Percy Freeman.

It was at the Reading game that the committee for the Peter Grotier transfer fee appeal fund were able to hand over a cheque for the bulk of the amount raised which came to £5,000 with a few hundred pounds still to come in.

The FA Cup visit to Hartlepool saw an unchanged team earn a goalless draw with the defence well marshalled by Terry Cooper. The replay was on what was later to become the regular night for midweek games, a switch to Tuesday instead of Wednesday being necessary due to there being another Friday night league fixture that week. Sam Ellis was back in the side again and Dick Krzywicki was able to return to the subs’ bench although not called on to play as a rare goal from Cooper was enough to see the Imps into the next round.

The cup replay had seen the attendance dip below 5,000, perhaps with some people faced with two games in four days opting for the Friday league match instead. However, there were still only just over five and a half thousand present for the visit of Stockport County. Meanwhile, with the news that John Ward’s knee injury necessitated a cartilage operation and Dick Krzywicki still only fit for a place on the bench Taylor had acted to bring in the third loan player of the season. This was Ade Coker, a 20-year-old West Ham United striker who had made around ten first team appearances for the East London club. He replaced Byron in the squad, allowing Alan Harding to revert to the left after filling in as striker for the last few games. The two goals, however, which put City up to third place in the league table both came from Sam Ellis, the second from the penalty spot after Coker had been brought down, to make the centre half second highest scorer with a total of eight.

Once again, I was at a higher division match the day after the Stockport game, this time at Birmingham to see a home side featuring players such as Howard Kendall and present-day PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor take on a typically star-studded Liverpool side including the likes of Ray Clemence, Emlyn Hughes and John Toshack.

City’s 16-match unbeaten run then came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Northampton on Boxing Day. Due to an appeal having been made against Dennis Leigh’s suspension for his sending off at Port Vale an unchanged team was able to be fielded but put on a slightly below-par performance. However, two days later things were back on track as 7,883 turned out for the local derby with Scunthorpe. Sam Ellis’s headed goal from a corner was his ninth of the season and was enough to see City well set in fourth place with games in hand on the teams around them. Team changes, however, had been necessary, with Alan Harding unfit and having to be replaced by Gordon Byron, although Dick Krzywicki was able to start the game in place of Colin Symm who himself not fully fit was on the bench.

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