Old Baggies

STREET FIGHTING MEN

Photo from WBA archive

Rarely have two years had such separate characters as 1967 and 1968. 1967 was characterised by the summer of love, by flower power, by turning on, tuning in and dropping out, by “All You Need Is Love” and wearing flowers in your hair. Zonked out kids were preaching “Peace and love maaan”, and The Beatles were able to get that surreal, psychedelic masterpiece “Magical Mystery Tour” on Boxing Day television at peak time. Like, just, wow.

And then events got ugly. The world was in turmoil. The Vietnam war raged ever more grotesque and out of control, the Civil Rights movement in the United States was met with angry and bloody opposition. Marin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Students rioted in the streets in the States, while in France in May, a student uprising hinted that another revolution might be in the offing.

Enoch Powell made his infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech, Richard Nixon won the US Presidential election and Basil d’Oliveira was refused entry into apartheid South Africa as part of the MCC touring party. Dayglo psychedelia no longer matched the mood. It was the year of “Sympathy For The Devil”, of “Street Fighting Man”, of “Revolution”, a year of graphic simplicity as evidenced by the sleeves of The Beatles’ “White Album” and the Stones’ “Beggar’s Banquet”. No wonder a team wearing all white went on to lift the FA Cup…

Photo from WBA archive

As ever, the turning of the year was a time for resolutions, for dreaming, for looking to the future. As is still the case, it fell to the club captain to articulate those ambitions on behalf of himself and his side. “I want to win a European honour with Albion, and so it’s our aim to qualify for the competitions next season. We have two chances, by winning the FA Cup or finishing in the top four in the league. We probably have left it a little too late to win the league title this season, but that will not stop us going all out to finish right among the leaders. We have had one taste of Europe and we liked it. We want to try again.

“With each result, we grow more confident and this in turn makes us that shade more relaxed and allows us to play better. We obviously couldn’t win much by giving away so many goals as we did and we have tried to tighten up. It looks as if our planning has been partly successful at least. This could be thought to be playing up to the boss but I must say he has done wonders in a short time.”

With the improved form went a higher profile for the Albion players. Yet we still couldn’t get anybody in the England squad, a situation bemoaned by Ray Matts in his “Inside Albion” column. “When the England manager announced his 35 strong training party to spend three days at Lilleshall in January, there were no Throstles on the list. I don’t believe invitations to an England get-together should be handed out ad lib – but at the same time, I feel there are a couple of Albion players who would not be out of place in such an august gathering.

“Let me make it clear I would nominate centre-forward Jeff Astle and wing-half Tony Brown from Albion’s ranks. Consider the facts. Astle has finished the last couple of seasons with 20-plus goal tallies. Already this term he has scored 14 league goals, so the records show he is no flash in the pan goal getter. And at 25, Jeff is just the right age for international consideration. Experienced, yet still with plenty of soccer in him, he cannot go on being overlooked.”

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Astle had played his full part in a fine run of results that had put Albion 5^th in the table with 27 points. With nine points taken out of the previous ten, and with Manchester City twice beaten over Christmas, Albion were flying, in the best form of the season by a long stretch. But the First Division didn’t get any easier. Anfield awaited for the first game of 1968, a bit like being chucked in front of the lions at the Colosseum.

With Liverpool five points clear of the Baggies in second place in the table, Shankly’s Red Army needed the points to keep up the pressure on Manchester United at the top of the league and to ensure that the Throstles weren’t going to suddenly muscle in on the title chasing act. Always one to keep the opposition guessing, Shankly omitted Jeff Astle’s erstwhile Notts County team mate, Tony Hateley, from the starting line up, playing Geoff Strong.

Shankly’s masterly understanding of the game came up trumps once again, because it was Strong who was the early difference between the two teams, giving the Scousers a fourth minute lead, banging in a header from an accurate Peter Thompson cross. Roger Hunt very nearly made it 2-0 within a couple of minutes, shooting narrowly wide. Had that gone in, the game would have been up, but instead Albion weathered the storm and, after 15 minutes, Tommy Smith conceded a penalty after a foul on Astle.

Bobby Hope stepped up to take it and crashed his shot off the bar and out, but with goalkeeper Tommy Lawrence – the famous “Flying Pig” – yards off his line, the kick was retaken. This time Tony Brown stepped up and slotted it into the bottom corner. Albion were now looking comfortable and after 26 minutes, they might have had another penalty when the giant Ron Yeats appeared to pull Clive Clark down in the box. But you didn’t get two penalties at Anfield, a fact that was proven once again after 34 minutes when Dick Krzywicki was bundled over by Gerry Byrne. Ian St John then got a lecture for a late whack at Clive Clark, all evidence that Liverpool were rattled by the quality of Albion’s football. John Kaye had headed narrowly over, Hope had had a curling shot scrape the upright and an Astle header had only just been off target.

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Liverpool ended the half on a high, John Osborne making a great save to keep out a long range effort from Emlyn Hughes, but as they trooped back into the dressing rooms, Shankly had work to do. The great man worked his magic and it was a different Liverpool that poured forward after the break and after 57 minutes, they were 2-1 up, Hunt feeding off a left wing cross, poking the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble. The game was up 11 minutes later when that wonderful full-back Chris Lawler produced a defence splitting pass to release Hunt once again, the striker advancing into the box and driving in his shot.

Hunt completed a personal victory in the second half, finishing off Albion and completing his hat-trick nine minutes from time. Collecting the ball midway into the Albion half, he swerved past a couple of challenges and then slashed a 20 yard shot in off the post. The goal took Hunt’s Liverpool tally to 216, just one behind their all-time record holder Billy Liddell.

A disappointing day for the Baggies, faint hopes of the title surely gone for good, but Graham Williams was bullish after the game, insisting, “Don’t write us off. We have built too much confidence and team spirit to be thrown out of our stride by this defeat.”

Albion were hoping to prove a point the following Saturday by getting back to winning ways against Stoke at The Hawthorns but heavy falls of snow put paid to that fixture and it was a fortnight before the Throstles could get back on the field for a game at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground. Mid-table Forest had had no such lay off having drawn 0-0 at Newcastle and perhaps had more rhythm about them going into the game.

It turned out to be a terrific game of football, both sides powering forwards as the game ebbed and flowed from end to end, but the watching journalists saw in that the seeds of Albion’s downfall. The Birmingham Post reported that, “The heady wine of gay attacking football went somewhat to Albion’s heads and affected their defensive concentration. They seemed to have gone back on to bottles of sparkling Chateau Hagan after settling down to the sober wines from the Ashman vineyard.”

Photo from WBA archive

Ray Matts was of similar mind, saying, “I was surprised at Albion’s dramatic change about in style. Their pre-Christmas success away from home was based on rapier like raids from a sound defence. But on this occasion they overplayed their attacking hand with too many players anxious to go dashing off upfield at the expense of solid defensive cover.”

Having lost at Liverpool, Albion were clearly desperate to make up lost ground with a victory, perhaps too desperate, though had Winfield not hooked an early Astle header off the line, Albion might have gone on to dominate the game in more controlled fashion. As it was, they slipped behind after 10 minutes and were chasing the game ever after. John Osborne couldn’t handle a shot from Hilley which bounced up over him, onto the bar and into the path of Lyons who knocked in the opener from close range.

Albion were swiftly back in the game though, Bobby Hope’s perfect pass finding Astle, the number nine rolling the ball back across goal to find Clive Clark who slammed his shot past Grummitt in the Forest goal. The Throstles were playing like the home team by now, penning Forest in their own half, yet looking vulnerable to a counter attack, the source of Forest’s second goal after 28 minutes. Hilley was involved again, crossing into the path of Joe Baker whose powerful finish was too much for Osborne to deal with.

After a half-time announcement from the referee, threatening to abandon the game if a “phantom whistler” in the crowd didn’t stop, Albion resumed their pounding of Grummitt’s goal and were back on terms on the hour mark, a move that went from back to front, Williams playing a pass to Dougie Fraser who then released John Kaye down the left. Yorky’s cross reached Astle who, for the second time in the afternoon, played Clark in to finish the move and equalise.

Photo from WBA archive

Parity lasted no more than eight minutes though as Forest again seized on another defensive mistake, Baker standing free in the box to convert another Hilley centre and complete the scoring. A 3-2 defeat for the Baggies meant their push for a European place via a good league position had gone off the rails.

But there was always the FA Cup, starting with a tricky trip to Colchester United the following week.