After Southern League
Peterborough & Fletton United disbanded during the 1932/3 season due to
financial problems the city was left without a senior side within its
boundaries. That had to change and on Thursday May 17th 1934 a crowded
meeting at the Fitzwilliam Rooms at the Angel Hotel decided to form a new
club - Peterborough United. Officers were elected and it was decided to
apply to join the Midland League. On June 9th 1934 they were duly elected
to the Midland League with Grantham lending money to the new club to cover
the entry fee, subscription and deposit. On July 31st 1934 the first
shareholders meeting was held, directors were elected and then followed
the signing of new players. And so started Peterborough United!
********* First
competitive match........
The first competitive fixture played
by Posh was on Saturday 1st September 1934 when Gainsborough Trinity
visited London Road for a Midland League fixture. A crowd of 4035 saw Posh
win 4-0 with goals from Hargreaves, Rigby, Thompson and Roberts. The Posh
team -
Posh
made their first of what was to prove an annual unsuccessful attempt to
join the Football League in 1947. The voting system was a closed-shop in
favour of the League clubs seeking re-election and it wasn't until 1950
that Posh gained the first vote in their favour. But things started to
change and in 1956 the first of five Midland League titles they won on the
trot plus many giantkilling acts in the FA Cup saw them become the best
supported non-league club seeking election in the southern part of the
vote. In 1957 Posh gained 7 votes but the worst supported League side,
Swindon Town, had 42. In 1958 Posh had 15 votes compared with Crewe's 35
and in 1959 it was 26 for Posh with Aldershot having 31. But on May 28th
1960 Posh finally won a place in the Football League. The fours clubs
seeking re-election were Oldham (who won 39 votes), Hartlepools (34),
Southport (29) and Gateshead (18) - Posh gained 35 votes so they were in
and Gateshead were out.
*********
First
Football League match........
The first Football League match
finally arrived on Saturday 20th August 1960. A crowd of 17,294 were at
London Road for the Fourth Division fixture against Wrexham. Denis Emery,
Peter McNamee and Terry Bly scored the goals in a 3-0 victory. It was the
start of a great adventure - Posh finished as Fourth Division champions,
scored a record 134 League goals (which still stands) with Terry Bly
scoring 52 of them, a post-war record. The attendances were 10,000 plus
for every home match, the best being 22,959 against Northampton. They
reached the 4th Round of the FA Cup before losing 2-1 at Villa Park in
front of a crowd of 64,531. So it was really downhill from then on!
The
Highest - Posh
have had their home at London Road since day one and it wasn't unusual to
have 10,000 plus crowds at the ground for Midland League games. In the
early League days crowds of over 20,000 were not unusual but 30,000 was
topped for the first time with the visit of Arsenal in the FA Cup on
Saturday January 30th 1965 when 30,056 witnessed a memorable victory.
Three weeks later, on Saturday February 20th, when Swansea Town
visited London Road for the 5th Round tie 30,096 squeezed in for what was
- and probably for ever will be - the record crowd at London Road. Where
did they all fit? At the time you could stand on all four sides of the
ground. London Road and Moy's End were all-standing as was the Glebe
Road side. In front of the main stand was a standing enclosure (now
replaced by seating) where stood those who were better off than the
supporters in the general terracing but not as affluent as those who could
afford a seat. But I was there and it was a crush which would never be
repeated with the modern health and safety culture. Posh drew that match
but won the replay to earn a quarter final tie at Chelsea. Match details
for the Swansea match at London Road -
Saturday February 20th
1965. FA Cup 5th Round. Attendance 30,096 Posh 0 Swansea Town 0 Team - Duff, Cooper, Birks,
Crowe, Rankmore, Orr, Barnes, Conmy, Dougan, Deakin, McNamee.
The
Lowest - Well that's an easy one. It was zero - well no paying
spectators only club officials, the press and presumably a few more
ball-boys than normal to patrol the otherwise empty ground. The reason?
Posh were drawn against non-league Kingstonian in the First Round of the
FA Cup in the 1992/93 season. Posh drew 1-1 at Kingstonian with London Road
staging the replay on Wednesday 25th November 1992. All was going well
with Posh 3-0 up in the 55th minute when Kingstonian 'keeper Adrian Blake
was injured when hit on the head by a 50p coin thrown from the crowd. He
had to be substituted and with midfielder Andy Parr taking over between
the posts Posh took full advantage with Tony Philliskirk scoring five in
the 9-1 victory - both club records. However those records only lasted a
few days with the FA declaring the match void and ordering a replay behind
closed doors. That match was staged on Friday December 4th 1992 when Posh
ran out more modest 1-0 winners.
Friday December 4th 1992.
FA Cup 1st Round replay. Attendance 0 Posh 1 (Worrell Sterling) Kingstonian 0 Team - Bennett, Bradshaw,
Robinson, Halsall, Howarth (Luke), Welsh, Sterling, Cooper, Adcock,
Philliskirk, Ebdon.
Well, if the first League season was
arguably the high point in Posh's League history then what was definitely
the low point soon followed. In November 1967 it was announced that the FA
and Football League were to investigate charges of financial
irregularities at London Road. Two charges related to problems with
vouchers detailing payments made to players but a further two charges were
the more serious. In February 1967 Posh offered what was an illegal bonus
of £100 per player to beat Sunderland in an FA Cup Fourth Round tie. The
rules limited the bonus to £6 a man....and what a waste of effort that
was, Sunderland won 7-1. Illegal signing-on bonuses had also been made to
players from funds made available by the Supporters' Club.
To the world at large it was a case
of the new boys not getting to grips with the rules, of ignorance and
stupidity rather than a calculated attempt at rule-breaking. In fact the
club had been so unaware of what they were doing was wrong that some
transgressions had been openly reported in the minutes of meetings and in
the Company Statement of Accounts. But they were found guilty and were
fined for the voucher offences. As far as the punishment for the other two
offences it proved to be the most draconian since Leeds City were expelled
from the Football League in 1929 - Posh were to be demoted to the Fourth
Division at the end of the season. And that announcement was made in
November when hopes of a promotion were still high - a wasted season if
there was ever one.
What made the demotion even harder
to take was the punishment handed down to two clubs at about the same time
whose charges were perhaps a tad more serious. Later in the same season
Port Vale were expelled from the Football League. However they were
already members of the bottom division, they were expelled at the end of
the season and were - as everybody expected - voted straight back into the
League. But then came the turn of a biggish club - Manchester United. What
was the punishment they received in September 1969 - demotion, expulsion?
Don't be silly - they were just fined!
*********
The
Managers........
Jock Porter 1934 -1936 Fred Taylor 1936 - 1937 Vic Poulter 1937 - 1938 Sam Haden 1938 - 1948 Jack Blood 1948 - 1950 Bob Gurney 1950 - 1952 Jack Fairbrother 1952 - 1954 George Swindin 1954 - 1958 Jimmy Hagan August 1958 - October 1962 Jack Fairbrother December 1962 -
February 1964 Gordon Clark April 1964 -
September 1967 Norman Rigby September 1967 -
January 1969 Jim Iley January 1969 - September
1972 Noel Cantwell October 1972 - May 1977 John Barnwell May 1977 - November
1978 Billy Hails November 1978 -
February 1979 Peter Morris February 1979 - May
1982 Martin Wilkinson June 1982 -
February 1983 John Wile May 1983 - November
1986 Noel Cantwell November 1986 -
July 1988 Mick Jones July 1988 - August
1989 Mark Lawrenson September 1989 -
November 1990 David Booth November 1990 - January
1991 Chris Turner January 1991 - December
1992 Lil Fuccillo December 1992 -
December 1993 Chris Turner December 1993 - July
1994 John Still August 1994 - October
1995 Mick Halsall October 1995 - July 1996 Barry Fry July 1996 - May 2005 Mark Wright May 2005 - January
2006 Steve Bleasdale January 2006 - April
2006 Keith Alexander May 2006 -
January 2007 Darren Ferguson January 2007 -
November 2009 Mark Cooper November 2009 -
February 2010 Jim Gannon February 2010 - April
2010 Gary Johnson April 2010 - January
2011 Darren Ferguson January 2011 -
February 2015 Dave Robertson February 2015 -
September 2015 Graham Westley September 2015
- April 2016 Grant McCann May 2016 - February
2018 Steve Evans February 2018 -
January 2019 Darren Ferguson
January 2019 - February 2022 Grant McCann February 2022 -
January 2023 Darren Ferguson January 2023 -
*********
"I've told
the players we need to win so that I can have the cash to buy some
new ones."
Perhaps not the greatest of
motivational speeches by Posh manager Chris Turner before their
Rumbelows League Cup Quarter Final against Middlesbrough in the 1991/92
season. But it almost worked. After a 0-0 draw at London Road on January
8th 1992 Posh lost by the only goal in the weather-delayed replay at
Ayresome Park a month later. With the draw for the two-legged semis having
been Manchester United v Posh or Middlesbrough a win would certainly have
given them a boost in the finance department. But as it was, they just had
to make do with what they had!
*********
To us he was plain Noel but his full
name was Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell.
*********
A 'fly-on-the-wall' documentary
at a football club - it had to happen one day I suppose. Sadly it happened
at London Road and it happened to Steve Bleasdale. The idea was
that Posh would receive a £100,000 fee and Ron Atkinson would give the
wisdom of his experience to rookie manager Bleasdale. The problem was it
was going to be shown on Sky TV - as Big Ron Manager. Warning signscould have beenpicked up from Swindon Town who had
originally agreed to host the show but ended the agreement after a month
of filming because of the intrusive nature of the cameras. Of course it
was going to be intrusive and controversial otherwise no-one would watch
it - but did I mention the £100,000 fee? Controversial it was with the
cameras arriving in January 2006 and recording the brawling, arguing,
chaos and confusion before the manager finally called it a day and
resigned just a hour before a League match against Macclesfield at London
Road on April 22nd - a resignation captured on camera of course.
Posh were made to look ridiculous, a chance of a play-off place was blown
and Bleasdale had his say in the Daily Mirror under the headline 'Big
Ron Put Me On The Dole'. But then every cloud has a silver lining. An
interested viewer was Darragh MacAnthony who later in 2006 turned his
interest into a takeover of the club, the Irishman replacing Barry Fry as
chairman.
*********
"It's
a bit like your wife saying that she's interested in another man and wants
to go on a date. The the date doesn't go to plan and she wants to come
home again. Well, that wouldn't happen in my house simple as that."
Peterborough
United chairman Darragh MacAnthony on why he refused Reading permission to
interview his wife, sorry manager (Darren Ferguson), for the vacant
Reading managerial position in May 2009. In November 2009
there was a divorce with Ferguson moving to Preston. However, they
remarried with Darren Ferguson returning to London Road in January 2011.
*********
Some of the Players........
Derek Dougan was one of the
finest signings ever made by Posh.
When he signed for the club in the summer of 1963 what were his first
impressions of the City of Peterborough? His thoughts, taken from his
autobiography 'The Sash He Never Wore' -
'At first sight
Peterborough reminded me a bit of Portsmouth, although not as large. The
population is about seventy or eighty thousand. There is a magnificent
cathedral in the city which, like Portsmouth, is a very clean place. It
was a busy place with most of the jobs concentrated in three companies,
Perkins' diesel engine factory, the British Sugar Corporation, and the
London Brick Company. This last employs a good deal of Italian labour and
it is amazing how cosmopolitan Peterborough seemed when I lived there. It
was also close to an American base which was at Huntingdon and I spent
many an enjoyable evening with my Peterborough colleagues in the company
of the American forces.'
*********
'I am absolutely over the moon
and my Gran will be the proudest Gran in the world'
So said Watford-born Craig
Mackail-Smith when selected for the
Scotland squad for the first time - he was eligible for Scotland because
his Granny, Margaret, was born in Edinburgh. So on March 27th 2011, two
days after playing for Posh at Bristol Rovers, Craig made his senior
international debut for Scotland as an 87th minute substitute. And the
opposition? No, we are not talking about San Marino away but mighty Brazil
at the South Americans' adopted home at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. A proud Gran was there to witness the appearance
which was followed by an exchange of shirts with World Cup and Champions
League winner Lucio. So how does any Posh player follow that experience. Well,
with a League 2 match against Bournemouth at London Road, what else!
*********
And Some of the Matches........
It's interesting looking back at
some of the old Posh friendly programmes from the non-league days and read
the pen-pictures of the visiting players. What became of those players?
When West Ham United visited London Road on Monday February 22nd 1960 for
only the third floodlit match played at the ground their team
included John Lyall, John Bond, Ken Brown, Phil Woosnam and
a youngster whose pen-picture gave the impression of great promise. But
did he make the grade?
Bobby Moore. Local Boy, played 18 times for
England Youth. Only 19 years old, already with first team experience. A
bright future is forecast for Bobby.
A visit from the Army representative
side would hardly rate a mention nowadays but
back on Thursday 3rd October 1957 things were a tad different. National
Service meant that everyone, top footballers included, had to serve in the
armed forces and as a result the Army team of the time was good enough to
do what do what no club side came close to doing - they won 7-1 at London
Road. Included in the Army squad was one L/Cpl Charlton R - just 5 months
later Bobby Charlton was at Munich and the rest of his story we all know -
L/Cpl Charlton, R., R.A.O.C. (Manchester United).
The only 'Busby Babe' in the present Army team, Edwards and Foulkes having
completed their Service period. Was a member of the winning Manchester
United combination last season, when they reached the FA Cup Final, the
European Cup quarter-finals, and won the First Division Championship. A
Youth International and a strong candidate for England Under 23 honours.
More than a few famous names also
graced the London Road pitch including one in the Blackpool team who
visited the ground for a friendly on Monday 21st Match 1960 -
Stanley Matthews - The most famous
footballer in the world, he is known everywhere for his superb
footwork, absolute fairness and modesty on and off the field of
play. He won every honour in the game except a League championship
medal. After a great career with Stoke City, whom he joined over 20
years ago as an office boy, he signed for Blackpool in 1947.
A Benefit Match for Norman Rigby,
George Hair, George Stafford and Ken Moody against an All Stars XI on
Monday April 9th 1956 saw included in the visitors squad Sam Bartram, Joe
Mercer, Raich Carter, Stanley Matthews and one player who was obviously
starting the transition from playing to managing. Did he make a success of
the future?
Bill Shankly.
The ex-Preston and Scotland wing-half, is now coach to Huddersfield
Town, where his former colleague Andy Beattie is manager. Bill
recently visited London Road in charge of the Huddersfield Town
team.
********* As in 1957 when Posh played the Army,
friendlies against forces sides during the Second World War often saw
opposition teams field some decent players. But that wasn't the case when
Peterborough entertained a Royal Navy Depot side at London Road on
Saturday 23rd December 1939, less than four months after war was declared.
The visitors were 'all-at-sea' with Posh recording a club record 15-2
victory. The Navy side came from shore-based HMS Royal Arthur which was a
newly set up reception and training centre for recruits housed at the
naval stronghold of....Skegness! In fact the camp they used was Butlins so
perhaps the navy side included one or two redcoats in their line-up!
*********
The
first sponsored competition open to Football League clubs was the Watney
Cup which made its debut in the pre-season of 1970. The top two
goalscoring sides from each division (who were not promoted or qualified
for Europe) took part in the competition held before the start of the
following League season and free-scoring Posh qualified for three of the
four tournaments. That in itself was a record but they could have made it
a complete set had they scored just one more League goal in the 1970/71
season. Sadly, though, Posh only won one match in the competition and
wasn't a straightforward victory. Against Second Division Blackpool at
London Road on Saturday 29th July 1972 the score was 0-0 at end end of 90
minutes. No extra time just straight to penalties which the Watney Cup
introduced to the British game in 1970. Posh won their first-ever penalty
shoot out 7-6 but Blackpool lodged a complaint claiming that a substituted
player - Don Heath - had taken a penalty for Posh. The appeal was
dismissed as the rules allowed the 11 players on the field at the end of
90 minutes plus two nominated substitutes to take penalties.
The Watney
Cup - full results etc.
*********
Posh
for the World Cup? We have a good record against foreign countries. Ok, we
are not talking about Spain or Brazil...or even San Marino - but it's
still a good record. On Saturday 8th September 1956 Posh took a break from
playing the likes of Goole and Bradford City Reserves in the Midland
League to take on more exotic opponents - Uganda. No contest, the
East Africans were beaten 7-2 with six different Posh players scoring the
goals. Two years later - on Saturday 8th November 1958 - South Africa
were the visitors to London Road and they didn't do much better. Posh won
7-4. On Saturday 3rd October 1959 the Caribbean Touring Team took
in London Road on their tour of England - no the other matches weren't at
Highbury or Old Trafford but included Wisbech, Spalding and Ely. Posh were
4-1 victors. And with a record like that we have been invited abroad - the
nation of Jersey taking on Posh in February 2001.
*********
An amazing series of results was
recorded by Posh reserves in the Football Combination in four consecutive
matches at the start of the 1961/62 season. On Saturday September 14th
they beat Nottingham Forest Reserves 6-0 at London Road, on Saturday 21st
they lost 0-6 at Bristol Rovers Reserves, on Saturday 28th Colchester
Reserves were beaten 6-2 at London Road and on Saturday October 4th
Norwich City were beaten 6-0 away
*********
It's
not often that a club plays competitive matches against the first team and
reserves of another club in consecutive weeks buts that what happened when
Posh were a Midland League side in 1956/57. Posh were drawn against
Lincoln City in the Third Round of the FA Cup - Lincoln then being in the
old Second Division. On Saturday January 5th 1957 it was first team
against first team and the clubs drew 2-2 at London Road but Posh won 5-4
in the replay on the following Wednesday, five of those goals coming in
the 30 minutes extra time that was needed. On Saturday January 12th it was
first team against reserves with Lincoln City Reserves visiting London
Road for a Midland League encounter, Posh winning that one 6-1. By modern
standards the attendances were amazing. The FA Cup match at London Road
attracted over 22,000 which set a new ground attendance record and the
replay at Sincil Bank was watched by 18,216 - not bad for a match that
kicked-off at 2 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon with Lincoln not
installing floodlights until 1962. Even the match against Lincoln City
Reserves was very well attended, the crowd being 9,707.
*********
Odd & Ends.......
Back in 1996 Barry Fry had a vision,
bless him. By 2006 Posh would be at a new ground hosting Manchester United
in a Premier League match in front of a 20,000 capacity crowd. Wouldn't I
love to be able to dream like that! In reality nothing much has changed -
a couple of coats of new paint perhaps. To be fair re-location to a new
ground has cropped up regularly over the years but while new grounds have
spring up throughout the country for clubs of all standards nothing has
happened in Peterborough. Back to Barry's vision, there was speculation
where Posh could move to - the Baker Perkins site in Westfield Road, the
Perkins sports field in Newark Road, British Sugar in Oundle Road, the
Embankment at Potters Way. Others had the cash as well as the vision the
those sites are now filled with houses, flats and a prison!
*********
Footballers and sporty cars seem to
go together naturally. So when Posh won the Fourth Division title in style
in 1960/61 they were in demand to advertise sporty cars ..... well Austins
anyway! Ellis Stafford, Terry Bly, Norman Rigby and Billy Hails
were signed up by Marshalls, then in Bridge Street, to sell their prestige
models! I've got a feeling the FFL 53 one was my first car. I paid
something like £25 for it - what the number plate would be worth now!
*********
Most football grounds seem to have
hosted rugby matches in recent years and Posh is no exception with the
Peterborough Lions Rugby Union Club having made a temporary home at London
Road. Known as Westwood Lions before their move to London Road they played
their first match at the ground on Saturday 1st October 2005 when they beat Oundle 36-8. Over the
next 18 months the Lions regularly played at London Road, usually
attracting 500-700 spectators, before problems with the playing surface
saw the groundsharing agreement come to an end in February 2007.
*********
The first Posh player to be sent off
in the Football League? It happened on the first day of the 1969/70 season
- Saturday August 9th 1969 - amazingly nine years after first playing in
the League. Embarrassingly the person sent off in the match at Port Vale
was player-manager Jim Iley for kicking a Vale player in an off-the-ball
incident. Things changed. Fast forward to Saturday March 2nd 1985 when
Port Vale were the opponents again. Ray Hankin was sent off in the 0-0
draw at London Road, the fifth time he had been sent off in his 18 months
as a Posh player. Posh manager John Wile sacked him.
*********
When Posh drew 0-0 with Ipswich in
the Championship on March 9th 2013 it ended a sequence of 171 League and
cup matches without a goalless draw, dating back to Tuesday December 8th
2009 in a match at Ipswich. The previous 0-0 draw at London Road was a
fair bit further back than even that - January 20th 2009 against Milton
Keynes Dons. Details of the
171 matches.
*********
Sadly
Posh have not been a stranger to scandal - the demotion, the
Kingstonian cup tie. But in December 1993 the worst of them all hit the
Posh....the Mr Blobby incident. On Sunday December 19th 1993 Posh
entertained Leicester City in a First Division match which was to be shown
life on TV. For some inexplicable reason the television company brought Mr
Blobby along with them. Better known as a sidekick to Noel Edmonds in TV's
Noel's House Party rather than a football hooligan he disgraced himself by
wrestling referee Brian Coddington to the ground just before kick off. Now
any self-respecting ref is born to take the verbal abuse from the likes of
Ray Hankin without a second thought but to be embarrassed by a pink TV
character with yellow spots did not go down well with the official. He
reported the incident saying that he could have been seriously injured.
Posh got away with that one - after all Mr Blobby was about as ineffective
as some Posh players but he was never one of them!
*********
Well, if things get dire at London
Road just remember times have been worse. Back in 1940 the following
announcement was printed in the programmes for war-time Midland League
matches -
*********
A
Posh programme in September 1956 included the following notice -
After recent
matches at London Road, cigarette ends have been found that have
not been extinguished before being thrown away, we refer
particularly to the main stand and would ask you in the Club's
interests, and your own, to make sure that no match or cigarette
end in burning when discarded.
Perhaps football as a whole should
have learned the lessons of that particular problem at the time - that
didn't happen and nearly 30 years later occurred the Bradford City fire
disaster.
"At
6 foot 7 Peter Crouch isn't as tall as he looks." Gabby Logan
For
dozens more hilarious 'foot-in-mouth' quotes click on
Posh
made their first of what was to prove an annual unsuccessful attempt to
join the Football League in 1947. The voting system was a closed-shop in
favour of the League clubs seeking re-election and it wasn't until 1950
that Posh gained the first vote in their favour. But things started to
change and in 1956 the first of five Midland League titles they won on the
trot plus many giantkilling acts in the FA Cup saw them become the best
supported non-league club seeking election in the southern part of the
vote. In 1957 Posh gained 7 votes but the worst supported League side,
Swindon Town, had 42. In 1958 Posh had 15 votes compared with Crewe's 35
and in 1959 it was 26 for Posh with Aldershot having 31. But on May 28th
1960 Posh finally won a place in the Football League. The fours clubs
seeking re-election were Oldham (who won 39 votes), Hartlepools (34),
Southport (29) and Gateshead (18) - Posh gained 35 votes so they were in
and Gateshead were out.
A crowd of 17,294 were at
London Road for the Fourth Division fixture against Wrexham. Denis Emery,
Peter McNamee and Terry Bly scored the goals in a 3-0 victory. It was the
start of a great adventure - Posh finished as Fourth Division champions,
scored a record 134 League goals (which still stands) with Terry Bly
scoring 52 of them, a post-war record. The attendances were 10,000 plus
for every home match, the best being 22,959 against Northampton. They
reached the 4th Round of the FA Cup before losing 2-1 at Villa Park in
front of a crowd of 64,531. So it was really downhill from then on!
The
Highest - Posh
have had their home at London Road since day one and it wasn't unusual to
have 10,000 plus crowds at the ground for Midland League games. In the
early League days crowds of over 20,000 were not unusual but 30,000 was
topped for the first time with the visit of Arsenal in the FA Cup on
Saturday January 30th 1965 when 30,056 witnessed a memorable victory.
Three weeks later, on Saturday February 20th, when Swansea Town
visited London Road for the 5th Round tie 30,096 squeezed in for what was
- and probably for ever will be - the record crowd at London Road. Where
did they all fit? At the time you could stand on all four sides of the
ground. London Road and Moy's End were all-standing as was the Glebe
Road side. In front of the main stand was a standing enclosure (now
replaced by seating) where stood those who were better off than the
supporters in the general terracing but not as affluent as those who could
afford a seat. But I was there and it was a crush which would never be
repeated with the modern health and safety culture. Posh drew that match
but won the replay to earn a quarter final tie at Chelsea. Match details
for the Swansea match at London Road -
history then what was definitely
the low point soon followed. In November 1967 it was announced that the FA
and Football League were to investigate charges of financial
irregularities at London Road. Two charges related to problems with
vouchers detailing payments made to players but a further two charges were
the more serious. In February 1967 Posh offered what was an illegal bonus
of £100 per player to beat Sunderland in an FA Cup Fourth Round tie. The
rules limited the bonus to £6 a man....and what a waste of effort that
was, Sunderland won 7-1. Illegal signing-on bonuses had also been made to
players from funds made available by the Supporters' Club.
When he signed for the club in the summer of 1963 what were his first
impressions of the City of Peterborough? His thoughts, taken from his
autobiography 'The Sash He Never Wore' -
Scotland squad for the first time - he was eligible for Scotland because
his Granny, Margaret, was born in Edinburgh. So on March 27th 2011, two
days after playing for Posh at Bristol Rovers, Craig made his senior
international debut for Scotland as an 87th minute substitute. And the
opposition? No, we are not talking about San Marino away but mighty Brazil
at the South Americans' adopted home at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. A proud Gran was there to witness the appearance
which was followed by an exchange of shirts with World Cup and Champions
League winner Lucio. So how does any Posh player follow that experience. Well,
with a League 2 match against Bournemouth at London Road, what else!
a youngster whose pen-picture gave the impression of great promise. But
did he make the grade?
The
first sponsored competition open to Football League clubs was the Watney
Cup which made its debut in the pre-season of 1970. The top two
goalscoring sides from each division (who were not promoted or qualified
for Europe) took part in the competition held before the start of the
following League season and free-scoring Posh qualified for three of the
four tournaments. That in itself was a record but they could have made it
a complete set had they scored just one more League goal in the 1970/71
season. Sadly, though, Posh only won one match in the competition and
wasn't a straightforward victory. Against Second Division Blackpool at
London Road on Saturday 29th July 1972 the score was 0-0 at end end of 90
minutes. No extra time just straight to penalties which the Watney Cup
introduced to the British game in 1970. Posh won their first-ever penalty
shoot out 7-6 but Blackpool lodged a complaint claiming that a substituted
player - Don Heath - had taken a penalty for Posh. The appeal was
dismissed as the rules allowed the 11 players on the field at the end of
90 minutes plus two nominated substitutes to take penalties.
Posh
for the World Cup? We have a good record against foreign countries. Ok, we
are not talking about Spain or Brazil...or even San Marino - but it's
still a good record. On Saturday 8th September 1956 Posh took a break from
playing the likes of Goole and Bradford City Reserves in the Midland
League to take on more exotic opponents - Uganda. No contest, the
East Africans were beaten 7-2 with six different Posh players scoring the
goals. Two years later - on Saturday 8th November 1958 - South Africa
were the visitors to London Road and they didn't do much better. Posh won
7-4. On Saturday 3rd October 1959 the Caribbean Touring Team took
in London Road on their tour of England - no the other matches weren't at
Highbury or Old Trafford but included Wisbech, Spalding and Ely. Posh were
4-1 victors. And with a record like that we have been invited abroad - the
nation of Jersey taking on Posh in February 2001.
It's
not often that a club plays competitive matches against the first team and
reserves of another club in consecutive weeks buts that what happened when
Posh were a Midland League side in 1956/57. Posh were drawn against
Lincoln City in the Third Round of the FA Cup - Lincoln then being in the
old Second Division. On Saturday January 5th 1957 it was first team
against first team and the clubs drew 2-2 at London Road but Posh won 5-4
in the replay on the following Wednesday, five of those goals coming in
the 30 minutes extra time that was needed. On Saturday January 12th it was
first team against reserves with Lincoln City Reserves visiting London
Road for a Midland League encounter, Posh winning that one 6-1. By modern
standards the attendances were amazing. The FA Cup match at London Road
attracted over 22,000 which set a new ground attendance record and the
replay at Sincil Bank was watched by 18,216 - not bad for a match that
kicked-off at 2 o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon with Lincoln not
installing floodlights until 1962. Even the match against Lincoln City
Reserves was very well attended, the crowd being 9,707.
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