History revisited: 1971-72

[Villa Lew]

My favourite ever season. Privileged enough to see every game bar Palace away in the LC and Plymouth away.
I think Andy Lochhead being unwell was just a story. Vic Crowe excused him as he just didn't fancy the long trip for an evening playing in Torquay.

Can't see any Palace fixture.Am I missing it?

5th October 1971 League Cup game.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/matches/season/1972/

Looks like we played 3 games in 4 days at the beginning of April. Imagine Klopp and Pep accepting that now!

We also played 4 away games on the bounce in April.

[DeKuip]

From Mar 31st to Apr 29th we played 10 league games, winning 8 and drawing 1. And the one we drew sealed promotion.

[TonyD]

Great read.   I bet most of those attendances were somewhat adjusted for tax purposes. 

[Villatillidie1982]

Of all the people I've ever interviewed, Jim Cumbes is the only one who was a danger to my helth. In two interviews with him I laughed so much I walked out of his office with my ribs hurting.

He was a DJ on the radio too for a while, Radio Birmingham (WM).

[bill]

Santos wanted a second fixture because they had opted for a straight fee of £10,000 to play in preference to a cut of the gate. The huge crowd that turned up blew them away, fans came from all over the country in order to say they had seen Pele. I had to squeeze into the Witton End to see this one, just about every British accent going could be heard. Quite a night.

[Holte132]

My favourite ever season. Privileged enough to see every game bar Palace away in the LC and Plymouth away.
I think Andy Lochhead being unwell was just a story. Vic Crowe excused him as he just didn't fancy the long trip for an evening playing in Torquay.

Can't see any Palace fixture.Am I missing it?

5th October 1971 League Cup game.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/aston-villa/tab/matches/season/1972/

Looks like we played 3 games in 4 days at the beginning of April. Imagine Klopp and Pep accepting that now!

Teams used to play on Good Friday, the next day and Easter Monday too.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Santos wanted a second fixture because they had opted for a straight fee of £10,000 to play in preference to a cut of the gate. The huge crowd that turned up blew them away, fans came from all over the country in order to say they had seen Pele. I had to squeeze into the Witton End to see this one, just about every British accent going could be heard. Quite a night.

Slightly different story when they played at Plymouth....

....they had been promised a flat fee of £2,500, but when they saw the crowd of around 40,000 crammed into Home Park they realised they could be missing out.
“I was with our directors 15 minutes before kick-off when we were called down and they said, ‘We are not going to play unless you give us another £2,500,’” Graham Little, the Plymouth club secretary at the time, told the Daily Mail. “Well, we had no choice — there would have been a riot if we cancelled … [After the game] I had the money, £50 notes in cellophane packets and the chairman started telling the man from Santos: ‘This is crooked, we will report you. You will never play in this country again.’ He shrugged his shoulders and said: ‘Plenty more countries.’”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jul/14/the-forgotten-story-of-pele-and-the-santos-touring-circus

[Monty]

I love these articles.