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(Don't) Blame it on the weather
s.d. akhir pekan lalu, match United "terpaksa" ditangguhkan dua kali, pertama saat hendak melawat ke Blackpool serta hari minggu kemaren saat akan bertandang ke Stamford Bridge, markas the Blues, Chelsea
jika sebelumnya hanya satu match yg dipostponed, maka weekend kmrn tidak tanggung-tanggung, 7 matches yang gagal dihelat karena cuaca extrem sekilas ada selentingan panpel di SB yg sengaja minta match ditunda karena performa sang tuan rumah sedang labil, but tudingan seperti itu rasanya terlalu berlebihan, karena memang telah dinyatakan di semua media jika cuaca yang ada sangat-sangat-sangat tidak bersahabat, sehingga meskipun lapangan yang akan digunakan masih bisa dipakai karena sistem pemanas yang ok, but tetap saja kasihan mereka yang akan bermain serta penonton yang akan hadir di stadion ada juga yg komplin kenapa kok keputusan postponednya keluar sehari sebelum pertandingan, kok nggak sesaat sebelum match ... hmm ..., ini di Inggris yaa ..., bukan di Indonesia .., hehehe di sono yang namanya perkiraan cuaca udah sangat2x ciamik, sehingga prediksi yg dikeluarkan "BMKG" sono jarang mbleset, jadi yaa jika memang udah diperkirakan cuaca gk bersahabat, kenapa juga harus nungguin sampai D-Day or H-Hour kick off ... (jadi inget laga divisi 1 di Indonesia, yg terus dipaksakan maen, meski lapangan gak memenuhi syarat serta kondisi masih ujan deres, ya walhasil match cuman 5 s.d. 10 menit sebelum akhirnya dihentikan oleh wasit, klo kayak gini khan kasihan supporternya juga yg udah berbasah-basah hadir di stadion) jadi udah deh ..., gak perlu kita memunculkan berbagai teori konspirasi berkaitan dengan postponed match lawan Chelsea kmrn, meski Rio Ferdinand sendiri sempet ngompor-ngompori lewat tweeternya ... :hammer::hammer: untuk United sendiri, 2 laga postponed kmrn bukan lah yang terburuk yang pernah dialami, cuaca lebih extrem pernah melanda kawasan Inggris sono sampe menghentikan jalannya kompetisi sekitar 2 bulan ... :( saat itu temperatur mencapai NOL derajat di seputaran britania ... _____________________________________________ Andy Mitten column Paddy Crerand remembers when the Reds really were frozen out MEN - December 21, 2010 Two Manchester United league games postponed in a month is a freak occurrence, but it’s nothing on the savage winter of 1963, the coldest on record with an average temperature of zero degrees across Britain. United didn’t play a league game between Boxing Day and 23 February and the FA Cup third round wasn’t staged until 4 March. “All you ever saw on the news were stories about the big freeze, cattle being stranded and pictures of snow being piled up against front doors,” recalls the former United legend Paddy Crerand. He should know. Crerand signed for United from Celtic at the start of ‘63, but he couldn’t make his competitive debut because of the weather. “I walked into a club where confidence was low and the team hadn’t been playing well,” he recalls. “And because of the weather, United didn’t have a chance to find form.” Five years after Munich, gates had fallen away and crowds of 25,000 were not uncommon at Old Trafford. In the meantime, Crerand settled into living in Manchester and had time to leaf through the little red book given to all players containing training rules and instructions. Rule 11 would raise a few eyebrows today. ‘Smoking is strictly prohibited during training hours, and players are earnestly requested to reduce smoking to the absolute minimum on match day.’ Crerand didn’t smoke, but fellow Scot Denis Law, one of the few lads he knew at United when he arrived, had a sly fag now and then. When United seek warm weather training to escape the winter these days, they tend to escape to Qatar or Saudi Arabia. In 1963 the team did take a flight out of Ringway. To Cork. “My first game in a United shirt was a friendly in Cork against Bolton Wanderers on 13 February,” recalls Crerand. “The weather wasn’t as harsh in Ireland, we beat Bolton 4-2 and I scored a hilarious goal. I took a shot which deflected off a stone past the keeper! “There was a big crowd, despite the terrible rain and an afternoon kick-off because there were no floodlights. Roy Keane’s father Mossy was at the game as a supporter - he took the afternoon off and got the sack for his troubles. Some have said that he’s never worked since!” There have been a few notable postponements in recent decades. Last season’s Manchester derby at Eastlands in the League Cup semi-final was postponed because of a heavy snowfall, while the last league game to be postponed at Old Trafford was against Aston Villa in December 1991 because of snow and strong winds. A game at Leeds was called off a few weeks later and with United drawing the Yorkshire side away in both the FA and League Cup, the Reds played three games at Elland Road in three different competitions in just 16 days. United won both cup games, but could only manage a draw against the eventual league champions inspired by their talismanic French striker Eric Cantona. And a freak Mancunian hailstorm meant that a 2004 friendly game against Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds was called off at the last minute. Older readers may be forgiven for thinking that society has gone soft. Despite 1946-47 being the coldest winter in memory, football was largely kept going by the efforts of fans desperate to see the first proper competition since the war. Pitches were cleared by miners, players and German POWs. Men walked the lines with brooms during games to keep them clear, but 211 league matches were still cancelled and the season was extended to June 14. Liverpool won the league, with United a point behind. Whatever the weather, there’s unlikely to be a repeat of that this season. |
Re: (Don't) Blame it on the waether
meskipun 2 kali ditunda tapi masih nangkring di puncak klasemen
semoga bisa dipertahankan hingga akhir musim dan jadi JAWARA lagi :muscarf: :devil1: :muscarf: http://img.kaskus.us/images/kaskusmobile_hp.gif |
Re: (Don't) Blame it on the weather
Bukan cuma bola yg menderita karena cuaca, dunia transportasi inggris pun ikut kesulitan, bandara ditutup karena tebalnya salju yg tebal,,,,yaaah marilah kita berprasangka baik saja,,,tooh juga akhirnya tetep kita yg dipuncak,,,walau kmrn tetangga sebelah punya peluang nyalip tapi mereka terpeleset salju tebal dan kalah oleh DM hehehehehhe :D don't Blame it to wheather,,,Blame it To Chelsea,,,,hahahahah
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Ah opa gak asik..... Kalau gini kan gak ada yang disalahin....
Keep blame on chelsea... Wkwkwkwkwkwk :ngacir http://img.kaskus.us/images/kaskusmobile_hp.gif |
Re: (Don't) Blame it on the weather
wahahaaha cuaca alesannya tapi tetep aja pada neting ke chelsea
ayo terus salahin chelsea, cuaca gak salah emang tiap taun begitu kok diinggris *kompor |
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Is it the right time to launch "Mid-Winter Break" issue again , Lads ? :D
Ada untungnya juga United udah tersingkir dr ajang Carling Cup (dulu kayaknya ada juga yg ngomong kayak gini) , coz United bisa menggunakan slot pada waktu laga Semifinal atau Final Carling Cup utk menggelar laga EPL yg tertunda . Arsenal justru mulai berhitung , coz mereka masih berlaga d Carling Cup , ada 1 partai EPL yg tertunda , lolos ke babak Knock Out UCL dan mulai berlaga d F.A Cup pada periode Januari 2011 . Dan kemarin sempat dapat kabar , bahwa kondisi Vidic dan Anderson menjelang laga vs Chelski d Stamford Bitc , eh , Bridge :P tidak 100 % fit . Ambil segi positifnya saja , ketika laga vs Chelski nanti digelar , sudah ada Scholes dan Valencia , serta (mudah2an) kembalinya performa Rooney seperti musim 09/10 lalu :-bd |
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Ngga ada yg perlu disalahin. Kalo uda urusannya alam, yg harus disalahin ya manusianya sendiri :> |
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*klo diliat dari rentetan kejadian beberapa musim terakhir (klo ditengah musim urutan 2nd, akhir musim pasti JUARA) saya rasa mungkin jalan cerita United akan seperti ini (lagi)... klo pun tidak demikian, ya intinya berada dijalur yg tepat untuk Juara yg ke 19... thats all.. Tuhan YME punya rencana khusus, Dewi fortuna sepertinya sedang berpihak... wlo sedikit menyakitkan, tapi alasan (yg saya bold dibawah) cukup logis mengingat banyaknya jadwal pertandingan pasti akan melelahkan... baik EPL, dan Liga Champions... Quote:
tapi mari kita jaga peluang untuk Juara... demi 19 lho:malu: (menurut keinginan mayoritas dari saya dan saudara saudariku disini) hehehehehe... tabungan 2 pertandingan rasanya cukup ^#(^ (halah :nohope: bosen denger kata cukup:nohope:) maksudnya peluang yg bagus mengatur strategi untuk mencari poin di kedua laga tertunda tersebut... :ui1:18elieve to 19nore Liverpool this season:ui1:... |
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hahahahaha sudahlah bro:)>-... its Chelsea strategy... wajarlah klo mereka minta ditunda... kita kan away dulu... hormati saja keputusan di pihak Home... klo diusut ga bakal tuntas neh penyebabnya... dari gambar diatas, kita mau menyalahkan Chelsea??? jangan deh... Arsenal aja sudah menyebut OT itu hutan liar... cuma gara gara rumput basah bikin Arsenal susah kompak dan ada tikus numpang lewat... setelah kalah 1-0??? Nasri marah mencak mencak mpe sumpah klo United akan kalah klo laga (Che vs Man Utd) tersebut tidak di tunda... se murka itukah karena gagal dapet point di OT??? hehehehehe nyalahin kok nyalahin Old Trafford yg rumputnya basah... padahal Sepatu dah ok... cuma mati kutu ma Rafael n Evra... hehehehehe sesuai judulnya : (Don't) Blame it on the weather... suatu saat nanti ada karma nya kok... semoga United dapet kemudahan demi gelar ke-19... amiin... |
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Tp memang orang bilang, terkadang kita butuh lebih dr sekedar mental dan hal teknis lain yg disebut, keberuntungan :) :thumbup:, bertemunya persiapan dgn peluang ;) Tp melihat postingan sebelum bro indra, kok saya sangsi nih, Stamford Brdige's match harus ditunda ;)) |
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jiaahhh ..., masih lanjut aja nih ... :crazy::crazy:
tuh di gambar tsb ada keterangan suhunya gak yaa .... suhu 0 derajat emang tidak seharusnya or selalu identik dengan salju terlepas dari (misalnya) 'BMKG' sono yg salah memprediksi cuaca (yg katanya pada hari 'H' akan extrem), keputusan udah diambil sebelumnya khan ... bahkan di media sono pun dinyatakan bahwa bbrp lapangan masih sangat layak dibuat bertanding (termasuk SB), BUT ..., maen bola pada suhu 0 derajat ... ??? please deh ..., klo gw sih prefer gak usah maen lah ..., kita enak yg tinggal nonton TV or big screen, lha mereka yg ada di lapangan ..., apa itu bukan suatu bentuk laen perbudakan .... :-?? mulai lebay deh gw ..., wkwkwkwk ... :peace: c'mon Lads ..., just open ur mind ... jangan selalu bernegative thinking akan sesuatu ... |
Re: (Don't) Blame it on the waether
Sekarang game Chelsea away diselipin di tengah2 pertandingan Wigan dan Liverpool, yg dua-duanya away. Kalau mau ngitung vs Marseille juga, jadwal kita jadinya: Marseille, Wigan, Chelsea, Liverpool - Tandang semua
Mantep bener dah :D Edit: @rondwisan: Bukan masalah negatif thinkingnya bro. Tapi agak aneh aja, katanya alasan ditundanya bukan karena lapangan gak layak buat main (Lapangannya bisa buat main karena ada undersoil-heatingnya), tapi karena keselamatan fans-nya yg menuju & pulang dari SB. Mengenai perbudakan karena main bola di Suhu 0 derajat, hehehe, gw kayaknya mau juga jadi budak kalo digaji 1 milyar per minggu bro... :D |
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emang parah cuacanya berarti wajar lah ditundaaa:devil3: |
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Jangan sampe ntar partai away vs Birmingham postpone juga, secara masih di kota London kan ?
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Lama2 kayak gini meriam the gunner bisa masuk angin dan macet.....=))=))
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waaah liat gambarnya mang parah banget ya saljunya disono..
mudah2an laag boxing day nanti saljunya mereda dan semua pertandingan bisa digelar soalnya penting banget tuh laga boxingday buat para fans sayang kalo sampe ga bisa digelar |
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untuk Stadion + Lapangan sih mungkin masih OK ya..
tp emang akses menuju stadion yg mati :crazy: klo Natal tanpa salju jg ga rame di sono :)) |
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semoga nanti tanggal 1 maret 2011 ga ada salju :hammer:
http://www.goal.com/id-ID/news/1108/...dah-ditetapkan:ngacir: http://img.kaskus.us/images/kaskusmobile_hp.gif |
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Kemaren emang sempet liat ada isu kalo emang sengaja untuk ditunda,,,tapi ga diulas kalo suhunya sampe 0,,,:nohope:,,,maen dengan suhu segitu ga ngebayang deh,,,X_X
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om Rossi, om Schumacher, om Mika Hakkinen juga bilang begitu... klo di sepak bola... OPA, om Scholes, om Keano, om Gazza, dan Om Giggs juga pernah bilang begitu... hehehehe... klo masalah takhayul ya percaya ga percaya... tapi dilihat dari bukti tersebut memang benar adanya... motivasi ganda saat tengah musim jadi tinggal finishing touch aja... hehehehehe |
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makanya kata kata fergie yang sering keluar kan kata2 itu. soal soal mitos kadang bener kadang kaga, lebih bagus sih digunain tuh kalo buat pertandingan atau hal hal penting united siapa tau berhasil :muscarf: |
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udah ada match yg di postponed lagi nih ...
moga2x ntar malem cuacanya better ... _______________________________ Quote:
Weather watch Arctic conditions hit Boxing Day action Skysports - 24th December 2010 http://img.skysports.com/10/12/496x2...ce_2542757.jpg The arctic conditions gripping the country are already affecting the Boxing Day sporting calendar. Blackpool will hold a pitch inspection at Noon on Boxing Day, three hours before their scheduled kick-off against Liverpool. The League One meeting between Tranmere and Sheffield Wednesday at Prenton Park was the first football fixture to fall foul of the big freeze, swiftly followed by Bradford's home League Two date with Chesterfield. And the Owls have also been forced to postpone the home game with Yeovil on 28th December and the clash with Peterborough on New Year's Day due to a number of frozen and burst pipes around Hillsborough. Scunthorpe's Championship clash with Preston was called off on Friday morning due to a frozen pitch at Glanford Park. Middlesbrough against Nottingham Forest then became the second Championship fixture to fall due to safety reasons. In League One, Peterborough's match against Colchester has been postponed, as well as Bristol Rovers versus Walsall. The encounter between Yeovil and Brentford will have to be rearranged, along with Oldham's home game against Carlisle and Notts County's match against Rochdale. Macclesfield's clash with Morecambe has also fallen victim to the elements, along with Accrington Stanley's home date against Crewe, Stockport's match with Rotherham and Port Vale versus Lincoln. The League Two contest between Bury and Torquay, scheduled for Tuesday 28th December, has also been scrapped. The Scottish Premier League has confirmed the match between Kilmarnock and Hearts is off due to a combination of frozen pipes in the stands and a fault with the undersoil heating. Other sports The conditions are also causing issues for other sports, with racing in particular hit hard. Both Huntingdon, who called forward an inspection originally set for Christmas Eve, and Wincanton have been forced to call off their Boxing Day meetings. Wetherby's fixture for the same day has also been abandoned due to a frozen track, while Tuesday's meeting at Catterick and Wednesday's action at Kelso have also fallen foul of the weather. Kempton eventually lost their Boxing Day card on Christmas Eve, though the williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle and the King George VI Chase, which will see Kauto Star bidding for an unprecedented fifth triumph, will take place on Monday instead. Chepstow have also pushed back their Coral Welsh National meeting from Monday to Saturday, January 8. The course remains unfit for racing and there is no prospect of conditions improving sufficiently over the next few days. The rugby union Boxing Day fixture list has also been affected, with the contest between Gloucester and Aviva Premiership leaders Northampton at Kingsholm being called off due to a frozen pitch. Newcastle have put back their game against Leeds by 24 hours to Monday afternoon due to current pitch conditions at Kingston Park. The pitch at the Recreation Ground has also fallen victim to the big freeze, leading to the postponement of the contest between Bath and Exeter. In rugby league, Leeds have been forced to postpone a Boxing Day fixture for the first time since 1962. Their friendly against Wakefield has been moved to January 1, with a 3pm kick-off time. |
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Bbrp hari lalu sempet baca juga klo sesuai perkiraan cuaca akan ada badai yg bisa kembali mengganggu boxing day period tahun ini, tapi syukurlah cuaca akhirnya masih bisa bersahabat ....
Ini ada artikel mengenai bad weather pada tahun 60-an ... ___________________________ When the FA Cup went into cold storage... How the incredible Big Freeze of 1963 decimated the sporting programme and turned pitches into ice rinks http://i.mol.im/i/pix/2013/01/02/art...32_964x309.jpg The notorious Big Freeze of 1963 so strangled the breath out of the FA Cup that the third round took 66 days to complete and only after a total of 261 postponements. Half of the 32 ties fell victim to the weather 10 times or more. No climatic intervention before or since has had such a dramatic effect on England's pre-eminent cup competition. Dailymail.co.uk, Alan Fraser - 2 January 2013 Fifty years ago on Friday, heavy snow forced a referee to postpone the third round FA Cup tie between Lincoln City and Coventry City scheduled for the following day. The match was called off a record 14 times more before eventually being played on March 6. Third Division Coventry, then managed by the one and only Jimmy Hill, won 5-1 en route to a quarter-final defeat by Manchester United. The notorious Big Freeze of 1963 so strangled the breath out of the FA Cup that the third round took 66 days to complete and only after a total of 261 postponements. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...89_634x578.jpg White Out Lane: The Tottenham pitch is covered in a blanket of snow Half of the 32 ties fell victim to the weather 10 times or more. No climatic intervention before or since has had such a dramatic effect on England’s pre-eminent cup competition. A tar burner was employed at Stamford Bridge, by which time Tommy Docherty had flown his Chelsea side to Malta in search of a playable surface; flame throwers were tried at Blackpool; they pretty much gave up at Halifax where the club turned their pitch at The Shay into a public ice rink and charged admission. Clubs needed income to pay the wages of players who, in turn, earned nothing by way of bonuses. And with no games being played the football pools companies needed to find a way to attract revenue. Their solution was the advent of the Pools Panel which, after three void Saturdays, met first on January 26 and for four weekends thereafter. The resident panel comprised Ted Drake, Tom Finney and Tommy Lawton, from Scotland George Young and former referee Arthur Ellis under various chairmen including, bizarrely, Group Captain Douglas Bader. The Big Freeze had been preceded by what turned out to be London’s last Great Smog in December 1962 and, omen or not, a young Michael Fish joining the Met Office the previous month. The last few days of the year brought 20-foot snowdrifts in the South West and in Wales. The snow was to remain in some areas for more than two months. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...72_634x468.jpg Hot stuff: Chelsea using a tar burner at Stamford Bridge January ended up being the coldest month in the 20th century with the sea freezing for a mile out from shore at Herne Bay in Kent. February produced more snow, gale force winds and, consequently, more 20-foot drifts. All outdoor sport suffered. Rugby union and rugby league cards were wiped out on a weekly basis. There was no horseracing in England between December 23 and March 7 as a staggering 94 National Hunt meetings were cancelled. But football was the highest* profile casualty. Bolton Wanderers did not manage a single competitive match between beating Tottenham 1-0 on December 8 and losing 3-2 at Arsenal on February 16. Current boss Dougie Freedman would have freaked out. ‘It was crazy,’ Ronnie Farmer, an old wing-half in the 1963 Coventry side, recalled. ‘We just trained and trained and trained. We had a Hungarian fitness man. I remember we had to run up and down a snow-covered coal bing at the nearby colliery. The snow almost blinded us and gave us eyeache.’ But in Hill, Coventry boasted a chinned wonder who was building a reputation for innovation and a willingness to adopt modern techniques. Like the most determined snowplough, he was always going to find a way through the drifts. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...96_306x423.jpg Hell-and Road: ref Arthur Luty slides http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...01_306x423.jpg Jack Charlton tries to drill at Leeds ‘Jimmy took us back and forward to Ireland where we played Manchester United in Dublin and then Wolves twice, first in Cork and, if I remember correctly, then in Belfast,’ Bob Wesson, the Coventry goalkeeper that year, told Sportsmail. Hill and Stan* Cullis, the Wolves manager, were so pleased with their first jaunt to an Ireland which had escaped the worst of the blizzards — Wanderers won 3-0 on a muddy bog at Flower Lodge, home of Cork Hibs — that they arranged a return match at the since demolished Celtic Park in Belfast. The star-studded First Division side enjoyed a 6-3 victory. But it was the game against* Manchester United at Glenmalure Park, then the home of Shamrock Rovers, which lingers in the* memory of Farmer and took on a significance for later that season. ‘An amazing crowd of 20,000 turned up,’ Farmer explained. ‘I managed a goal and we led 2-1 into the dying* minutes. But a certain Bobby Charlton slid one home to earn the Reds a 2-2 draw.’ The thaw eventually arrived but it still required a pneumatic drill to penetrate two feet of ice covering Lincoln’s Sincil Bank pitch before the FA Cup tie against Coventry went ahead at the 16th time* of asking. The away team’s superior match fitness, acquired on the other side of the Irish Sea, proved decisive and influential in the subsequent cup run. But in a schedule that makes a mockery of modern complaints about ‘too much football’, match fitness eventually gave way to exhaustion. Rotation existed only as a geometric expression. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...96_634x412.jpg Worth waiting for: Arsenal beat Oxford 5-1 25 days after the scheduled date of January 5 Coventry played five FA Cup ties, including two replays against* Portsmouth, and two league games in 19 days with the last on the Monday immediately prior to the quarter-final with Manchester* United’s stars. ‘We were absolutely* knackered,’ Farmer recalled. ‘Jimmy* summoned us to the south coast for a “special training session” and told us not to forget our golf clubs. ‘We were too tired to train so we just played golf and tried to relax.’ Two goals from that man* Charlton and a third from Albert Quixall gave United a 3-1 victory, which hit goalkeeper Wesson* particularly hard. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...94_634x426.jpg Snow joke: Clearing up at Cheltenham racecourse ‘I sat in the corner of the changing room after the match literally* crying into a glass of champagne,’ Wesson said. ‘Our chairman Derrick Robbins put his arm round my shoulders and told me we had got further than anyone thought* we could.’ United went on to win the Cup for a third time, beating Leicester City 3-1 with two goals from David Herd and one from Denis Law. Fifty years on, Coventry travel to Tottenham this weekend in the hope and expectation that it won’t snow this time. |
Re: (Don't) Blame it on the weather
Bbrp hari lalu sempet baca juga klo sesuai perkiraan cuaca akan ada badai yg bisa kembali mengganggu boxing day period tahun ini, tapi syukurlah cuaca akhirnya masih bisa bersahabat ....
Ini ada artikel mengenai bad weather pada tahun 60-an ... ___________________________ When the FA Cup went into cold storage... How the incredible Big Freeze of 1963 decimated the sporting programme and turned pitches into ice rinks http://i.mol.im/i/pix/2013/01/02/art...32_964x309.jpg The notorious Big Freeze of 1963 so strangled the breath out of the FA Cup that the third round took 66 days to complete and only after a total of 261 postponements. Half of the 32 ties fell victim to the weather 10 times or more. No climatic intervention before or since has had such a dramatic effect on England's pre-eminent cup competition. Dailymail.co.uk, Alan Fraser - 2 January 2013 Fifty years ago on Friday, heavy snow forced a referee to postpone the third round FA Cup tie between Lincoln City and Coventry City scheduled for the following day. The match was called off a record 14 times more before eventually being played on March 6. Third Division Coventry, then managed by the one and only Jimmy Hill, won 5-1 en route to a quarter-final defeat by Manchester United. The notorious Big Freeze of 1963 so strangled the breath out of the FA Cup that the third round took 66 days to complete and only after a total of 261 postponements. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...89_634x578.jpg White Out Lane: The Tottenham pitch is covered in a blanket of snow Half of the 32 ties fell victim to the weather 10 times or more. No climatic intervention before or since has had such a dramatic effect on England’s pre-eminent cup competition. A tar burner was employed at Stamford Bridge, by which time Tommy Docherty had flown his Chelsea side to Malta in search of a playable surface; flame throwers were tried at Blackpool; they pretty much gave up at Halifax where the club turned their pitch at The Shay into a public ice rink and charged admission. Clubs needed income to pay the wages of players who, in turn, earned nothing by way of bonuses. And with no games being played the football pools companies needed to find a way to attract revenue. Their solution was the advent of the Pools Panel which, after three void Saturdays, met first on January 26 and for four weekends thereafter. The resident panel comprised Ted Drake, Tom Finney and Tommy Lawton, from Scotland George Young and former referee Arthur Ellis under various chairmen including, bizarrely, Group Captain Douglas Bader. The Big Freeze had been preceded by what turned out to be London’s last Great Smog in December 1962 and, omen or not, a young Michael Fish joining the Met Office the previous month. The last few days of the year brought 20-foot snowdrifts in the South West and in Wales. The snow was to remain in some areas for more than two months. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...72_634x468.jpg Hot stuff: Chelsea using a tar burner at Stamford Bridge January ended up being the coldest month in the 20th century with the sea freezing for a mile out from shore at Herne Bay in Kent. February produced more snow, gale force winds and, consequently, more 20-foot drifts. All outdoor sport suffered. Rugby union and rugby league cards were wiped out on a weekly basis. There was no horseracing in England between December 23 and March 7 as a staggering 94 National Hunt meetings were cancelled. But football was the highest* profile casualty. Bolton Wanderers did not manage a single competitive match between beating Tottenham 1-0 on December 8 and losing 3-2 at Arsenal on February 16. Current boss Dougie Freedman would have freaked out. ‘It was crazy,’ Ronnie Farmer, an old wing-half in the 1963 Coventry side, recalled. ‘We just trained and trained and trained. We had a Hungarian fitness man. I remember we had to run up and down a snow-covered coal bing at the nearby colliery. The snow almost blinded us and gave us eyeache.’ But in Hill, Coventry boasted a chinned wonder who was building a reputation for innovation and a willingness to adopt modern techniques. Like the most determined snowplough, he was always going to find a way through the drifts. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...96_306x423.jpg Hell-and Road: ref Arthur Luty slides http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...01_306x423.jpg Jack Charlton tries to drill at Leeds ‘Jimmy took us back and forward to Ireland where we played Manchester United in Dublin and then Wolves twice, first in Cork and, if I remember correctly, then in Belfast,’ Bob Wesson, the Coventry goalkeeper that year, told Sportsmail. Hill and Stan* Cullis, the Wolves manager, were so pleased with their first jaunt to an Ireland which had escaped the worst of the blizzards — Wanderers won 3-0 on a muddy bog at Flower Lodge, home of Cork Hibs — that they arranged a return match at the since demolished Celtic Park in Belfast. The star-studded First Division side enjoyed a 6-3 victory. But it was the game against* Manchester United at Glenmalure Park, then the home of Shamrock Rovers, which lingers in the* memory of Farmer and took on a significance for later that season. ‘An amazing crowd of 20,000 turned up,’ Farmer explained. ‘I managed a goal and we led 2-1 into the dying* minutes. But a certain Bobby Charlton slid one home to earn the Reds a 2-2 draw.’ The thaw eventually arrived but it still required a pneumatic drill to penetrate two feet of ice covering Lincoln’s Sincil Bank pitch before the FA Cup tie against Coventry went ahead at the 16th time* of asking. The away team’s superior match fitness, acquired on the other side of the Irish Sea, proved decisive and influential in the subsequent cup run. But in a schedule that makes a mockery of modern complaints about ‘too much football’, match fitness eventually gave way to exhaustion. Rotation existed only as a geometric expression. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...96_634x412.jpg Worth waiting for: Arsenal beat Oxford 5-1 25 days after the scheduled date of January 5 Coventry played five FA Cup ties, including two replays against* Portsmouth, and two league games in 19 days with the last on the Monday immediately prior to the quarter-final with Manchester* United’s stars. ‘We were absolutely* knackered,’ Farmer recalled. ‘Jimmy* summoned us to the south coast for a “special training session” and told us not to forget our golf clubs. ‘We were too tired to train so we just played golf and tried to relax.’ Two goals from that man* Charlton and a third from Albert Quixall gave United a 3-1 victory, which hit goalkeeper Wesson* particularly hard. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...94_634x426.jpg Snow joke: Clearing up at Cheltenham racecourse ‘I sat in the corner of the changing room after the match literally* crying into a glass of champagne,’ Wesson said. ‘Our chairman Derrick Robbins put his arm round my shoulders and told me we had got further than anyone thought* we could.’ United went on to win the Cup for a third time, beating Leicester City 3-1 with two goals from David Herd and one from Denis Law. Fifty years on, Coventry travel to Tottenham this weekend in the hope and expectation that it won’t snow this time. |
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