HISTORY

A KNIGHT’S TALE

ALAN KNIGHT MADE 801 APPEARANCES FOR POMPEY AND IS NOW CLUB AMBASSADOR

Let’s face it, if football were that had not even existed the like most other industries, previous day. then it would have been temporarily shut down after two Naturally – and correctly – our or three teams from League One next couple of league fixtures called off their games following against Swindon and Bristol positive Covid-19 tests. The Rovers were both suspended. You fact that these clubs then had then have to justify and explain to justify the postponements why this has happened. When is, quite frankly, a disgrace and seven games fall by the wayside suggested that these affected on one single day late in 2020, sides had ulterior motives. It surely it is obvious. Perhaps the appears that common sense and EFL could be a bit clearer on empathy is at an all-time low at the issues, as a depleted AFC a time when these qualities are Wimbledon went ahead with needed most. their match against Lincoln, while Take Pompey as a prime example. notice. They went top of the league others were called off at short following a splendid victory at It would be good to have more today’s opponents Hull on a Friday consistency in proceedings, evening just before Christmas. By rather than have clubs fearing the time the weekend was over, reprisals if they are unable to play. Jack Whatmough and a couple Particularly now that the whole of other players has all tested country is in another lockdown, positive for this terrible virus. we should be taking people at Meanwhile, the government face value, rather than demanding plunged the whole city into a tier documentation and accusing them of some nefarious scheme.

At the time when League One fixtures were getting postponed left, right and centre, there did not seem to be many cancellations in the fourth tier, despite coronavirus cases rising all over the country. Were these sides perhaps fearful of being deducted points or suffering other punishments and deciding to play on, despite any risk to health?

When the Manchester City squad were affected, suddenly games being suspended warranted column inches and airtime in the national media. Little did I realise that the pandemic is apparently just as elitist as the football world. At a time when football requires strong leaders and a sense of compassion, we should be asking for our governing bodies to come up with stronger answers and not throw it back to the clubs to deal with.

ON THIS DAY

JANUARY 23

1971 A last-gasp leveller from Mike Trebilcock (above) earned the Blues a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in an FA Cup fourth round contest that was watched by 36,659 at Fratton Park. 1990 Frank Burrows replaced John Gregory to begin his second spell as Pompey boss, having guided the club to Division Four promotion in his previous stint. 1999 Leeds gained revenge for their shock FA Cup defeat to the Blues two years earlier by cruising to a 5-1 victory on the south coast, with Luke Nightingale scoring a consolation for the hosts. 2010 Pompey continued on the road to Wembley with a 2-1 fourth round home victory over Sunderland, as a John Utaka (above) brace saw them recover from Darren Bent’s early opener. 2016 The Blues’ League Two promotion hopes suffered a setback, with Jordan Bowery’s debut goal ensuring Oxford left Fratton Park with all three points.

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MOORE’S MEMORIES FRIDAY NIGHT – AND PART OF THE FOLLOWING MORNING – WAS AN EXCLUSIVE DRINKING SLOT FOR YOUNG MEN, WHILE SATURDAY AFTERNOONS WERE RESERVED FOR THE FOOTBALL

Ican remember it well. At 5.30pm on Friday, us youngsters had already long since embarked on a boozy session that involved visiting several social clubs in New Lane, Havant.

Industry was booming at the time and the road in question housed a line of big factories, all with drinking establishments for their workforce. If one knew the right people, you could be signed in as a guest.

The attraction was the heavily subsidised beer prices and the fact that as private clubs, they could bypass antiquated licensing laws that prevented pubs from opening their doors until 6pm.

Back then, I couldn’t have imagined that Pompey would one day be involved in a televised top-ofthe-table clash at Hull – inside an empty stadium – at around the time we would be entering the Rapid Data Social Club.

Indeed, it was unthinkable – both live lower division football on the television and the fact it was kicking-off on a Friday when most workers would have barely clocked off. The result of the game last month meant that the Blues reached the League One summit by the time we would have arrived in Havant Town Centre.

You see, everything used to have its time and place. Friday night – and part of the following morning – was an exclusive drinking slot for young men, while Saturday afternoons were reserved for the football. There was something else about those days. I was able to drink into the early hours and still be brighteyed enough to catch the 5am train out of Havant to somewhere up north, with everyone uniformly kicking-off at the same time.

Admittedly, I was only in my early 30s when the combination of a regular Friday night session followed by an early morning departure for Hull came about. Pompey also won 2-0 on this occasion, with Lee Russell and Martin Kuhl getting the goals on an April afternoon in 1991.

This contest took place at the quaint and atmospheric Boothferry Park in an era just before many clubs left for grander abodes that they often struggled to fill.

So, as I watched the latest contest unfold before Christmas, the most striking element was the empty modern stadium – another victim of this terrible virus.

It brought back memories of that earlier trip, when I arrived at the station just before midday and boarded a bus to the ground, disembarking when I spotted floodlights around 10 minutes later.

Finding an appropriately located pub – albeit rather empty for a matchday – I entered, congratulating myself on both my impeccable timing and sense of direction.

It was around 45 minutes before kick-off that my concerns started to rise about the lack of human presence in an age when lockdown was the landlord shutting the doors and you continuing to drink.

After making a discreet enquiry, it became apparent that for the past couple of hours I had been sat outside Hull Kingston Rovers Rugby Club, from where a hastily arranged taxi ride saw me journey to the correct destination with no time to spare.

Still, these were carefree days, soon to be rudely interrupted by the ageing process, mass closures of factories, the advent of the Premier League and a deadly pandemic.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

THE POMPEY HISTORY SOCIETY TAKE A DELVE INTO THE CLUB’S ARCHIVE, PULL OUT A DOCUMENT OR ARTEFACT AND TELL THE STORY BEHIND IT. COMING UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT IN THIS ISSUE IS A PERENNIAL FAVOURITE – CRITICISM OF THE REFEREE, WITH SOME CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN POMPEY AND THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN THE LATE 1960s

Good job VAR has sorted out that issue, eh?

Very droll. Like the poor, criticism of referees has always been with us and on October 11 1969, when Bristol City came to Fratton Park in the old second division, poor old BH Daniels (pictured) of Brentwood found himself on the receiving end.

Difficult game was it? Bookings? Sendings off? Controversy?

That’s the funny thing. When we dredged the report from the Evening News of the game from the archive, it was all so innocuous. Nothing much happened in a tame 0-0 draw in front of a crowd of 14,900. However, on the following Tuesday, the club received a letter from league secretary Alan Hardaker asking for the reasons for the ‘low marking’ of Mr Daniels’ performance. He’d been given one out of 10.

Cripes! I thought you got at least four, provided you were wearing the right kit and everything!

‘One’ does seem a tad harsh for sure. A couple of days later, the club’s general manager George Smith – who would have been in charge of the team that day – replied and we have the carbon copy in the archive.

What did it say?

Smith felt Mr Daniels was ‘prone to do too much whistling’ although, to be fair, that’s an occupational hazard for referees. He also came in for criticism about his ‘interpretations of the laws [of the game]’ which ‘left a lot to be desired’ and ‘failed’ in terms of ‘confidence and efficiency, personality etc’. Smith concluded that it was only the ‘correct attitude’ of the players which ‘saved the situation’.

That ‘etc’ sounds like it’s doing some heavy lifting...

Quite. Tall and thin, Brian, to give him his name, was a regular official of Pompey games from the late 1960s until the 1980s. ‘A married man, with two sons’, according to his pen picture, he also had hobbies of ‘ballroom dancing’ and ‘coarse fishing’ and took an interest in ‘local junior football and organises charity games’. Sounds like an all-round good guy. Given the absence of any other evidence, we’re going to put Smith’s tetchiness down to the fact Pompey had started the season with three Fratton defeats in five games and this goalless draw was their second at home on the trot.

The Pompey History Society is a charitable organisation looking to preserve and conserve the club’s archive. It welcomes donations, including of memorabilia. For more information contact history@pompeyfc.co.uk or follow @PompeyHistory on Twitter.