1957 and all that

[Hillbilly]

I was poking around on some ManU sites to see their reaction to the match (honest). I noticed that any mention of the Villa is often accompanied by reference to the "brutal, vicious assault" by Newry's finest on Ray Wood, depriving the Babes of their rightful double blah blah blah. Leaving aside how wrong they are, I recall reading that Wood had a bit of "previous". He'd had a reputation for teasing forwards with the ball, challenging them to get it off him before disposing of it. McParland's barge was actually a bit of cosmic comeuppance. Have I imagined this or has anyone else heard a similar story?

[ADVILLAFAN]

The shoulder charge on goalkeepers was common at the time, so I gather. It was considered to be part of the game and goalie's were supposed to get out of the way of strikers. Man City's goalie Bert Trautman, broke his neck in the final the year before against Blues, but they still won the game.

[darren woolley]

I love seeing that good old fashioned challenge on Wood by Peter McParland.

[willywombat]

Yep, has to be seen in the context of the time. Woods should have got out of the way

[Pete3206]

The ref called it correctly. I love his after match interview on the 'History Of' video.

[willywombat]

The ref called it correctly. I love his after match interview on the 'History Of' video.

You could tell he didnt set out to bash the fella to pieces, no-one would do that in cup final surely...no....

or words to that effect, he had an accent that should have been accompanied by the Brighouse & rastrick brass band

[Chico Hamilton III]

I remember a mate of mine had a copy of the Manchester Evening News ( or whatever it was called in 1957) from the Monday following our cup final against Man United.

It quoted some Villa players talking about the "pills" they were given prior to the match.

Performance enhancing?

Does anyone know more about this?

And i'm not confusing this with Wolves players taking monkey-gland pills

[The Left Side]

The ref called it correctly. I love his after match interview on the 'History Of' video.

You could tell he didnt set out to bash the fella to pieces, no-one would do that in cup final surely...no...

or words to that effect, he had an accent that should have been accompanied by the Brighouse & rastrick brass band

I love the ref from the '57 cup final video, "he (McParland) would never knock the meller to pieces, surely?"

[castlefields_villan]

The shoulder charge on goalkeepers was common at the time, so I gather. It was considered to be part of the game and goalie's were supposed to get out of the way of strikers. Man City's goalie Bert Trautman, broke his neck in the final the year before against Blues, but they still won the game.

It was an accepted part of the game in the 1950s - I hear Man Utd fans whingeing about it even now.  No-body ever seems to mention how Nat Lofthouse bundled their keeper into the net in the following year's Cup Final.