The Dark Ages

John Snellgrove's back with another nostalgic series

Feb 07, 2025

Friday 7 February 2025

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Friday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.

We’re kicking off this weekend with the return of Mr Snellgrove for another trip down memory lane (I am allowed to call him John but that still takes some getting used to after he taught me at Norris Bank back in the 90s!). ~~Mr Snellgrove~~ John wrote a seven-part series for The Scarf My Father Wore last year, reminiscing about his County memories from the 1960s, and I’m delighted he’s offered to continue his work with the following decade - even though County were pretty crap for most of it. If you’ve not enjoyed John’s 60s collection yet, be sure to click on the links below, and then have a gander at his first instalment from the 70s.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7

Today’s edition is sponsored by SDS Aerials and SW Appliances. A big thank you to Dylan and Steve.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 192.73 miles

Total steps so far: 311,804

Total raised so far: £2,270

Total completed streets so far: 474 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

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When Des asked me if I would like to write a follow-up to my series on watching County in the 1960s, I was to say the least rather hesitant. What on earth did I remember about the 1970s? Simply not a lot compared to the previous decade. Having given the matter some thought I did have some ideas, and apologies to Dosser Jacket and others of a similar age to me for any factual errors as I suspect they have clearer and more accurate memories.

Looking back to the 70s, County seemed to be an era of gloom, doom and despondency, and most of that was true, but there were some highlights and games that have lived in the memory.

Living in Coventry for the 1970-71 season, games watched were somewhat limited, though I do remember seeing on the news, film of a sparse crowd attending the Northampton home game after the admission price had doubled to 50p. I did watch games during school holidays when I came home but a couple of defeats and a draw didn’t inspire. However, an 11th place finish was as good as it got for a long time. An FA Cup defeat at Grantham was more of an indicator of what the future had in store.

It’s hard to compare the mood of the fans back then to the recent lean non-league years. There seemed less anger and frustration and more of an acceptance that this was our lot. Initially I was not too concerned about not being re-elected but as one bad season followed another we began to worry that this might be our last chance - and very few clubs came back in those days.

The ground looked and was neglected. Nothing had really changed in the last 10 years. The club was pleading poverty and seemed to be only surviving due to the chairman Dragan Lukic and Alan Kirk. The general apathy was summarised in an article in one of the last programmes of the 70-71 season when only a third of season ticket holders said they would be renewing their tickets for the following campaign.

No money to buy better quality players. The downward spiral continued. The next two team photos are courtesy of the Football League Review. A magazine insert within the matchday programme, which at that time was a good read and a valuable addition to a programme which was somewhat limited in its scope.

Hopefully younger readers may now be able to put a face to the name and we oldies can refresh our memories. But who were these players who turned out for County in the 71-72 season? Alan Ogley (what a goalkeeper!) was bought as part of the deal that took Ken Mulhearn to Manchester City, who’s probably up there as one of our best ever goalkeepers. Sammy McMillan and Phil Chisnall both had good pedigree from Manchester United. Ian Lawther was a quality centre-forward, as was John Griffiths, who was only at County a few weeks back. Looking back now I feel they were a better team than the 23rd place they finished that season.

I suspect there were no real expectations for the following 72-73 season, though starting with three wins and a draw was more than promising if unexpected. It didn’t last long as 9 failures to score in the next 13 games reflected our proper position.

However, there was light on the horizon. Two draws against Bradford City in the League Cup saw us driving up to Bolton’s Burnden Park for a midweek play-off. A crowd of over 2,600 saw County through to a second round tie at Crystal Palace and a happy trip back in the car. End of our cup run… or was it?

I didn’t go to Palace. A midweek game in London with work the next day was not to be considered. Besides a defeat was inevitable. Except it wasn’t. A Hughie Ryden goal saw County triumph 1-0. Not only that but it was the lead story on the sports bulletin on Radio 4’s Today programme the next day. The prize for that victory was a home tie against the mighty West Ham. (Funnily enough I met Hughie a few years later as I bought a car from him at Gordon Ford in Adswood!)

There was no way I was going to miss the West Ham game. This was no under-21 or reserve line-up from the visitors but their full team, including the likes of Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking and Billy Bonds. Standing on the Pop Side, myself and 13,000 others witnessed what we wouldn’t have believed possible: County defeating a top flight team. A fantastic atmosphere, and certainly hanging on in the second half, but a superb save by Alan Ogley in the dying moments protected our lead. So many memories. I can still picture Clyde Best striding through and being so difficult to stop, and the disbelief as Tommy Spratt’s penalty put us back in front.

Norwich, newly promoted to the First Division, were up next. But there our run was to end. Managed by Ron Saunders they were a different kettle of fish. Like many of his teams at that time they were hard working and we barely got into the game. A 5-1 defeat brought the excitement to an end. Some consolation as Norwich made the final only to lose 1-0 to Spurs.

Still there was the FA Cup. Victory over Workington and then a surprise win at Rotherham gave us a home tie with Hull City, then in the old Second Division. Managed by Terry Neill they had some quality players, including a top goalscorer in Ken Wagstaff and a future centre-forward for Manchester United in Stuart Pearson. Though goals were not the main talking point of the day. There weren’t any. But my were they physical. Not wishing to be accused of looking through rose-coloured glasses but they seemed to kick lumps out of any County player who moved - and more than that the referee allowed them to get away with it. The final straw was when County’s centre-forward Ian Lawther got sent off. Unbelievable compared with what had gone unpunished. Some sort of justice happened when a vicar who had gone to watch the match sent a letter to the FA saying he felt the decision had been unfair and looking at the fact that he didn’t miss any games the FA must have agreed.

The season ended with us in 11th place which would have to see us through the barren years that were to follow.

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Photo of the day

Oakwell, Barnsley

County fans enjoying the atmosphere (and the pies) in the away end at Barnsley back in September.

The SW Appliances sale is still on

I don’t want to be accused of slander by a man with significantly more money than me, but I reckon Jeff Bezos has never set foot inside Edgeley Park. On that basis alone, don’t buy your kitchen appliances on Amazon. Get them from SW Appliances instead, a business owned by County fan Steve Gibbons.

Whether you visit Steve’s showroom on Castle Street, or purchase online, SW Appliances have hundreds of products in stock. You won’t get a personal service from Bezos if you buy a kettle off him, but you will if you do business with Steve. He’s the appliance version of a train spotter and what he doesn’t know about appliances simply isn’t worth knowing. (That’s not an insult by the way, it’s on his website.)

And now’s the time to order that new appliance you need, as Steve’s offering some great discounts in his winter sale.

1) Electrolux KGS6424W 60cm Gas Hob White – £119.99 £94.99

2) Zanussi ZWF91483WR 9KG 1400 RPM Freestanding Washing Machine – £349.99 £299.99

3) Beko CFG1552W Frost Free 55cm Fridge Freezer Frost Free – £329.99 £299.99

4) Zanussi ZBB28441SV 70/30 Integrated Fridge Freezer – £499.99 £399.99

5) Zanussi ZCI66050BA 60cm Electric Cooker with Double Oven Induction Black – £649.99 £549.99

The showroom is open from 9am till 5pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am till 4pm on a Saturday (closing at 2pm if the Hatters are at home).

➡️ Visit swappliances.co.uk for further details.

Today in SK

🍺 Food and drink

Bitter £2.30 a pint all night at The Cross Keys (SK8).

A number of venues are featured on The Scarf My Father Wore such as The Nelson Tavern (SK1), The Crown (SK2), The Dog & Partridge (SK2), The Steelworks (SK6), The Three Tunnes (SK7), Flute & Firkin (SK12) and The Ram’s Head (SK12). Support them this month by popping in for a few drinks or a bite to eat.