Rummaging through my mother’s garage, I found a mildewed relic: a copy of Shoot! “incorporating Goal”‘s summer special from 1974.
It was not a happy time for English football. The Alf Ramsey era had just fizzled to a close with a goalless draw in Portugal. With the World Cup that England had failed to qualify for about to take place in West Germany, the first article was an assessment of Ramsey’s long reign. The verdict: “OK, before their recent East European tour it was fair game to knock England…but the long-term [their italics] picture is more favourable.” A not exactly over-generous verdict on England’s only World Cup-winning manager.
Flicking through the 80 pages, it is the visual details, of course, that first strike you: the rococo hairstyles; the classic, honest-to-goodness strips, predating sponsorship; and a headline claiming, ‘Despite relegation, United are still first-class’. Yes, 1973-74 was the season when Manchester United, six years after winning the European Cup, were relegated in 21st place. Among their replacements, Carlisle United.
It is shocking, in retrospect, to see how white, white, white British football still was. This was four years before Nottingham Forest’s Viv Anderson became the first black player to be called up for England. There is a picture on page 35 of Pelé brandishing (would you believe it?) an African spear and shield. Apart from that and a shot of Eusebio slotting his penalty against North Korea in the 1966 World Cup, there is scarcely another non-white face.
Once you start reading, any mention of a transfer fee – the “mammoth” £350,000 Everton paid Birmingham for a centre-forward called Bob Latchford, for example – rams home the extent to which incessant inflation has been a feature of the modern game.
I was reminded too that Norman Hunter, the proverbially hard-tackling Leeds United defender, had that year become the inaugural recipient of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Players’ Player of the Year award. Another defender, Colin Todd, won the second year. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the modern-day cult of the striker asserted its grip.
Disappointingly little space is devoted to tactics, the exception being a short piece on champions Leeds United’s “Ten Commandments of soccer”. If I tell you that the fourth commandment is, “Never chicken out of shooting in the box”, you will understand there is a limit to the amount of illumination these provide.
Four decades on, much the most interesting piece is a spread on Queens Park Rangers, the unfashionable West London club which, under manager Gordon Jago’s guidance, had finished 1973-74 as the highest-placed club from the capital in English football’s top tier.
Jago’s previous managerial experience had been in the United States and this appeared to be reflected in the freshness of his thinking. “I didn’t learn much new about soccer in the States,” he told Shoot!’s reporter, “but they certainly taught me a lot about public relations”.
The article sets out how Jago, who arrived at Loftus Road in 1971, had overseen exactly the sort of restructuring of the first team that Spurs attempted after the sale of Gareth Bale and that Liverpool now face following the departure of Luis Suárez.
The trigger in QPR’s case was the £200,000 disposal of playmaker-cum-striker Rodney Marsh in March 1972. This set the stage for an influx of new talent, in the shape, notably, of Stan Bowles and Dave Thomas, as well as Frank McLintock, captain of Arsenal’s double-winning team of 1970-71.
With local players such as Gerry Francis, a future England captain, also bursting to the fore, 1973-74 was to be just the start of the good times for QPR on the field of play. Though Jago soon moved on, they went on to an all-time high runners-up spot behind Liverpool in 1975-76 under Dave Sexton.
It is Jago’s thoughts on off-field matters, however, that come across today as particularly far-sighted, in contrast to the conservatism of much of British football at the time.
The article notes that a “massive near-half-million” has been spent on ground improvements… “and there’s more to come.
“Eventually Jago, mindful of his Transatlantic experience, foresees the day when Rangers will have a compact 30,000 ALL-SEAT [their capitals] arena, with every sort of comfort for all the family.
“We don’t just want Dad and the older kids to come along,” he says; “we want Mum, too, with first-class facilities for leaving the toddlers in expert care while she watches.
“Above all – with such possible innovations as bars, tea and coffee lounges, restaurants and clubs-within-the-club – we want the place used every day – not just match-days.
“We want to ‘sell’ Rangers to folk not just as their friendly local football club – but also as their friendly local meeting-place. We want them to get, and feel, involved with us.”
How many clubs, in Britain and elsewhere, have tried, with varying degrees of success, to instil a similar community spirit in the intervening four decades?
And yet, the article also hints that QPR’s innovative streak did not get a uniformly positive reception. “Some cynics claim they’re merely taking over the mantle ex-manager Jimmy Hill gave Coventry as “gimmick-merchants”, it notes, going on to enumerate a string of PR initiatives, many of which have, again, since been accepted as standard:
“Turkey sweep tickets given to fans at pre-Christmas games; autographing sessions; match-day dressing-room visits by the Press; penalty-kick competitions amongst local schools; player-talks and film shows (starring Rangers of course!) around local clubs and factories; “open days” for eager youngsters to meet and chat with their heroes as equals.”
After a spell with Millwall, Jago, who will celebrate his 82nd birthday on October 22, spent much of his subsequent career back in the USA. Our loss was their gain.
David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938.