1958/9-Kelly's men make it at last

The squad at the 1958/9 public trial in August.  

Back: Mick Nagy, Billy Beckett, Tommy Tilston, Colin Gill, Alan Norman, Colin Morhen, Tony Jones, Alan Thompson, Des Quinn, Maurice Robinson. 

Middle:  Jim House (director), Jack Winter, Reg Cornelius (secretary), Ron Newman, Ron Smith, T.C.Eckstein, F.C.Reynolds and Cyril Symes (directors), Len Garwood, H.L.Miles (director), Gordon Hepple, Phil Frost, Charlie Bicknell (assistant manager), Tim Kelly (manager). 

Front: Jimmy Clugston, Harry Cosford (vice-chairman), Andy Easton, Ted Ashdown (chairman), Bob Craig, J.A.England (director), Micky Bull, Terry Murray. 

 On the second Saturday of the 1958/59 season, 30 August, Bedford defeated Hastings by a solitary goal at The Eyrie, watched by 5,484 on a very hot day. It was a lacklustre performance and the goal came from this move, with Jimmy Clugston (8) challenging visiting keeper Farnfield, who was unable to gather cleanly and in attempting to clear, right back Anderton (right) sliced the ball into his own net.  

Photograph by kind permission of the Lynn News 

Bedford’s first visit to King’s Lynn’s Walks ground on 13 September 1958 produced their first league defeat of the season, by 1-2. Here centre-forward Jack Winter unsuccessfully challenges home goalkeeper Bernard Streten, formerly of Luton and England, watched by home defenders Jack Selkirk (2), Tom Docherty (centre) and Reg Foulkes (far right), while Bedford’s Andy Easton is in the distance. Winter was a much travelled player who had been recruited as a striker to replace the departed Harry Yates, but after the FA Cup defeat by Wisbech in October he lost his place and was soon doomed to reserve football by the signing of Len Duquemin, moving on to Cambridge United early in the new year. This was to be the team’s only league defeat until they went down at Yeovil on 21 February. Lynn were one of the newcomers to the competition in the summer of 1958, joining from the Midland League along with Boston, Corby and Wisbech (who were allocated to the north western section rather than Bedford’s south eastern one); their local scribe expressed disappointment that “only” 3,721 had seen a good match, although that would be riches compared to their later gates.

 Colin Morhen attempts to foil an attack by the South African Touring XI on 20 September 1958, flanked by Gordon Hepple. The visitors won this friendly 3-2. Morhen was a tall and capable goalkeeper who displaced the long-serving Terry Pope in 1957/8, only to lose his own place to the even longer-serving Tony Hawksworth just before Christmas 1958.

In the League, Bedford got off to an excellent start with a thumping 5-2 win at Gravesend against the reigning champions-who would finish runners-up this time and win every one of their remaining home league matches-but their early league efforts after that were patchy and the attack struggled to dominate inferior teams such as Yiewsley, who held Bedford to a draw in the first home match, and Hastings, who were only beaten by a flukey own goal. Goals, by contrast, abounded in the league cup in which ten were put past Corby in two matches, and after a draw at Boston in the next round an extraordinary replay finished with a 5-6 defeat, Boston’s winner coming from a penalty in the last seconds of extra time. The first Cambridge derby, against United at Newmarket Road on 27 September, attracted 4,500 people to a 1-1 draw, and the only convincing league win after the opening day was a 3-1 home defeat of Yeovil, hitherto unbeaten, on the first Saturday of October, which was also the first time that more than two goals had been scored since that day. The team had been reasonably settled, with Morhen starting the season in goal and the three new men, Winter, Clugston and Robinson all doing reasonably well in attack, but something seemed to be missing. 

Bedford's third goal in a 3-1 victory against the then league leaders, Yeovil, at The Eyrie on 4 October 1958. Jimmy Clugston, far left, has just headed a corner from Maurice Robinson (just visible to the left of the referee) past Yeovil goalkeeper David Jones and his full backs Robshaw (right) and Earl (3), with Andy Easton, ready to pounce on a loose ball, left, and Yeovil player-manager Jimmy Baldwin (centre). Attendances were already on the decline from the start of the season with only just over 4,000 turning up. I’m somewhere up in the main stand, attending my first unaccompanied match-a great landmark.  

 For all matches in the club’s Golden Jubilee season in 1958/9 a special programme cover was produced, but it brought no luck on this occasion-a 3-4 defeat at the first hurdle in the FA Cup by Wisbech, newcomers to the Southern League from the Midland League. 

 Wisbech keeper Gerry Lowery here saves from Jimmy Clugston (right) in the early stages of the FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie on 1 November 1958, which attracted 8,041 spectators. Bedford never recovered from being three goals down after 37 minutes, and although they pulled back two goals early in the second half, a breakaway goal created by the former Wolves and England star, Jesse Pye, did for them, despite a late rare goal by Bob Craig. Wisbech effectively had only ten men for 70 minutes, with another of their former internationals, Bobby Langton, a passenger on the wing. Clugston had arrived the previous summer from Portsmouth and proved a useful signing with 55 goals in his 102 appearances. This early Cup exit for the second successive year set off weeks of angry letters in the local press, which must have looked bizarre when the League title was secured five months later.

For the second year running there was no run in the FA Cup; again the team fell at the first hurdle, this time to Wisbech, led by their charismatic former England centre forward, Jesse Pye. This match was a major embarrassment because it was a home tie, 8,041 people had turned up and the opposition was effectively reduced to ten men mid way through the first half when Langton was injured. Despite this Wisbech romped into a three goal lead by half-time and although Bedford pulled back two goals early in the second half, a fourth breakaway goal engineered by Pye settled their fate. This defeat released a deluge of criticism in the local press, much of it suggesting that Kelly had signed “too many old men” and was unwilling to give local youngsters a chance. For the first time in his four year tenure, Kelly had seriously lost the goodwill of the club’s supporters. The strength of these attacks emphasised the paramount importance of the FA Cup in contemporary non-league thinking. Nobody mentioned the fact that the team had been beaten only once in the league (at King’s Lynn in September)-or that Wisbech's team had an average age of 32. 

 The first of many-Len Duquemin, on the ground, signed from Spurs two days earlier, beats Weymouth keeper Len Beal to put Bedford ahead at the Eyrie on 22 November 1958. Many supporters were unaware of his signing, along with wing-half Colin Brittan, until the players ran out. He added another goal later in a 5-2 win; they were the first of a remarkable 74 in 84 appearances over the next two seasons, the most successful striker in the club’s history and, by common consent of all who met him, a gentleman of the game. Weymouth may have had some excuse for this heavy defeat-their train into London was delayed, then they lost their kit while crossing the city and had to play in Bedford’s red and white change strip.   Coincidentally, exactly the same problem beset their trip to Bedford the following season, causing the kick-off to be delayed, but this time Weymouth won 2-1 (thanks to Mike Crisp for the recollection). 

Over the next few weeks, however, the manager made several crucial decisions that would silence his critics. The Wisbech defeat effectively marked the end for Winter and also Phil Frost, a wing-half who had arrived the previous year from Weymouth, but the players who were to replace them for most of the rest of the season were launched on an unsuspecting public at very short notice in the home match against Weymouth on 22 November. They were both signed from Tottenham-Colin Brittan, a wing-half who had been on the fringe of their first team until Danny Blanchflower ended his chances, and the biggest name to join the club since Ronnie Rooke- Len Duquemin, the Channel Islander centre-forward whose goals had spearheaded Spurs’ achievements in the early 50s but who had been out of the first team for several seasons. The clubs didn't disclose whether a fee changed hands for these players but according to national press reports, they cost Bedford £2,000 for the pair; it was also claimed that Duquemin had been on the point of joining Millwall when Kelly secured him. The fact that he was 34 and Brittan 31 was soon forgotten by those who had attacked Kelly for not giving youth its chance.

Duquemin scored twice in the 5-2 defeat of Weymouth, twice more in the first visit to Cambridge City the following week (where his presence swelled the crowd to 5,530) and by the end of the season he had scored 31 times in only 30 appearances. His eye for a half-chance and ability to create moves by wide-ranging passes revitalised the attack, and allowed Easton to settle into the inside-right berth, where he formed a most effective strike partnership, collecting 34 goals himself. This in turn allowed Murray to move from inside-left to left-half where he was now more effective. Brittan slotted into right-half where his rangy figure and cool composure gave the defence a sounder look-and also, eventually, spelled the end of Len Garwood’s years of loyal service.

At the start of December 1958, Tim Kelly made the final change to produce what would become a championship-winning side by signing Tony Hawksworth, a 20-year old goalkeeper from Manchester United. Hawksworth had already won England schoolboy and youth caps as well as a FA Youth Cup winner’s medal in this 1955 side, where he is pictured third from the left at the back, alongside the likes of Duncan Edwards (extreme right, back row) and Bobby Charlton (extreme left, front row). 

The following week, for the visit of Trowbridge, Kelly made another vital change when Morhen, faulted for at least one of the goals against Wisbech, was dropped in favour of Tony Hawksworth, a newly signed goalkeeper from Manchester United who was thought by some to be on the small side but whose handling and courage against some of the burly strikers of the period (with much less protection from referees than would be available today) soon made the spot his own. Then, after a bizarre defensive performance against Dunstable (who played in the Metropolitan League with Bedford’s reserves) in the Beds Professional Cup had ended in a 4-5 defeat, Kelly axed his two long-serving full-backs, Hepple and Quinn, and promoted Ron Smith and Alan Thompson, who had both been in the shadows since their arrival at the start of the previous season (though Smith had missed a chunk of it with a broken leg). So by Christmas, he had more or less settled on the team that was to secure the title at last. 

Andy Easton (8) in an aerial duel with Kettering Town’s player-manager, Jackie Froggatt, in the return Southern League Inter-Zone match at the Eyrie on 24 January 1959. Watching are Jimmy Clugston (left) and Len Duquemin. The Kettering player on the extreme left is Brian Reynolds, who was better known as a very long serving batsman for Northamptonshire. The Inter-Zone competition must have been one of the most pointless ever devised; intended to provide fixtures for otherwise blank Saturdays when the league was divided into two regional sections in order to generate a Premier and First Division for the following season, it got behind due to bad weather and it was eventually decided that there was no time for the zonal leaders to play off, leaving a competition with no winner.

 Jimmy Clugston slides this shot past Cambridge United’s Andy Smith for an 88th minute breakaway goal in United’s first league visit to The Eyrie on 14 February 1959, and clinches an eleventh successive league win (2-1) as Bedford consolidated their position in the south-eastern section of the regionalized Southern League. This result left them second by a point to Gravesend, but they had a whole five games in hand. Len Duquemin is backing up. Despite the success on the field, however, attendances were starting to decline; “only” just over 4,000 saw this match and the local press report was accompanied by a letter from the chairman of the Supporters’ Club calling for more frankness from the directors on the financial position. The Supporters had given £4,500 already that season, he claimed, and were committed to another £2,000 to help with the summer wage bill. 

From Hawksworth's arrival,  there was no further serious stumbling. Smith and Thompson’s first match together saw an 8-2 thrashing of Gravesend, one of a string of eleven league wins on the trot. The team remained undefeated at home in the league and failed to score only twice, at Poole and at home to Clacton. A fast, direct style allowed the ball to reach the forwards quickly and chances were taken when offered. By the eleventh of these wins, at home to Cambridge United on 14 February, Gravesend were still ahead of Bedford in the table, despite conceding 13 goals in their two games against the Eagles, but only by a single point, and Bedford had five games in hand-the reverse of the position at the end of the previous season. When the run ended at Yeovil the following week, an injury kept Duquemin out of the team for the first time and a slight stutter followed, with a surprising failure to beat Clacton at home, a familiar defeat at the bogey ground, Guildford, and a 3-4 defeat at Trowbridge. There was a feeling that the South Eastern division was the weaker of the two and that Bedford hadn’t been seriously tested, reinforced for some by Peterborough’s decisive 4-0 win at The Eyrie in the East Anglian Cup in mid-April-which attracted a gate of some 5,200, larger than all but four of the season’s league gates. 

Tony Hawksworth tips a Peterborough corner over the bar in the East Anglian Cup semi-final at The Eyrie on 15 April 1959, under challenge from Posh's Ray Smith (part concealed to the left of Hawksworth), and watched by Colin Brittan, Bob Craig, Alan Thompson (3)  and Ron Smith. A 4-0 defeat by a team who had won the Midland League for four years running and would be elected to the Football League a year later made some doubt Bedford's title credentials, although they gained revenge by a 3-2 win in the Hunts Cup final a couple of weeks later at London Road.

 Len Duquemin hurls himself at a cross from Micky Bull to head the first of his six goals in a 9-0 demolition of Poole Town at The Eyrie on 18 April 1959. This feat remained a record (the previous best was five, by Ted Duggan against Cheltenham in 1953/4) until the end of the old club’s existence in 1982, and the winning margin was also never bettered. The second of Duquemin’s two hat-tricks came inside 15 minutes at the start of the second half, and none of them were penalties. In my mind’s eye, this was Duquemin’s “signature” goal, sometimes resembling a human torpedo as he flew at the ball, but the contemporary report highlighted his positional sense as he eluded his marker to meet Bull’s centre. This result clinched the championship of the south-eastern division and set up the play-off with Hereford, who won the north-western section. The attendance, however, was only 4,169, many supporters being put off by a poor display earlier in the week when Peterborough had won 4-0 at The Eyrie in the East Anglian Cup (see previous image). 

 Desperate defending in the Bedford goalmouth keeps Hereford’s Frank Fidler (centre) at bay in the latter stages of the Southern League Championship play-off match at Edgar Street on 9 May 1959. Goalkeeper Tony Hawksworth punches clear, with Terry Murray (left), Bob Craig (5) and Colin Brittan on hand. Hereford’s Gerald Griffiths had equalized Andy Easton’s 65th minute goal in the 85th minute but with a minute left, Micky Bull capitalized on a misjudgment by Hereford player-manager Joe Wade, and from his centre Len Duquemin crowned his excellent season by cutting in from the left of the box to slide home the winner. It was Hereford’s only home defeat of the season. Maurice Robinson had missed the chance to give supporters a slightly less fraught afternoon when he had missed a penalty shortly before Easton’s opening goal. Bedford had protested about the decision to make this match a one-off, arguing that it should be played over two legs, but the League committee conducted a secret “draw” in which Hereford’s name came out first. Bedford retaliated by refusing to play extra time in the event of a draw-the title would have been shared in that event. As winners of the League Cup, Hereford had some consolation when they won 3-0 at The Eyrie the following August in a “Champions v Cup Winners of 1958/9” match; until quite recently their website claimed that this was the Championship play-off and that Hereford therefore won the title, though this has now (November 2009) been corrected. Sadly, this is the only photograph that appeared in either the Bedford or Hereford papers of this crucial match.

Bob Craig poses with the huge Southern League Championship trophy just after receiving it at Edgar Street after the Hereford play-off. Numerous coachloads of Eagles supporters kept the pubs of Herefordshire and Worcestershire busy on the way home, but neither they nor, presumably, the players knew that this would be Tim Kelly’s last match as manager; later in the summer he accepted a better offer from Hastings United and left the club.

Gravesend were now the pursuers rather than the target, and doubts were erased when Bedford overwhelmed Poole 9-0 at home on the Saturday after the Peterborough defeat, a result that effectively clinched the divisional title barring a highly unlikely combination of results. This was Duquemin’s biggest triumph, his six goals beating Ted Duggan’s 1953/4 record. The last three of the six were scored in a 15 minute spell in the second half; there were no penalties or injured defenders to take the gloss off the achievement, although one of the goals was a rather fortunate deflection off the Poole goalkeeper's body. And to rub the point in, the Eagles visited Peterborough a fortnight later and obtained revenge by winning the Hunts Cup 3-2.

Now the final task was to win the title play-off against Hereford, winners of the North Western section. After much harrumphing, Bedford accepted the League’s decision that this should only be a one-legged match and that Hereford had won a secret “draw” for home advantage. So on 9 May 1959 several coachloads of supporters made the long journey west to Edgar Street. On a hard ground the game never reached great heights but Bedford always had enough in hand; they could have made the game safe before they did, but Robinson missed a penalty in the 62nd minute before they took the lead when the goalkeeper fumbled Easton’s shot three minutes later. Griffiths equalised with five minutes left after Hawksworth appeared unsighted, but in the final minute Bull dispossessed his full-back and crossed for Duquemin, the man who had transformed the season, to slide the winner home. At last Tim Kelly had achieved his ambition.

 Unfortunately the quality of this photograph, reproduced from a nostalgic article published in the mid-80s,  is poor but I’ve had to use it because the British Newspaper Library’s paper copy of the Bedfordshire Times for 1959 is damaged and cannot be copied. However, I couldn’t let the only Bedford team to win the Southern League go unrecorded. This is the line-up that won the play-off at Hereford, although the picture was taken at the friendly against Aston Villa the previous week. Hence the only trophy on view at that stage was the runners-up shield that was still held from the previous season. 

Back row: Tim Kelly (manager), Andy Easton, Terry Murray, Ron Smith, Tony Hawksworth, Colin Brittan, Alan Thompson, Dougie Gardiner (trainer-coach) 

Front row: Micky Bull, Ted Ashdown (chairman), Len Duquemin, Bob Craig, Harry Cosford (vice-chairman), Jimmy Clugston, Maurice Robinson. 

All these players can also be seen in the better photograph of the staff at the start of the 1959/60 season (see 1959/60 in photos)  

This may not have been Bedford’s best ever team in terms of quality; at their respective best, Pope was probably a better goalkeeper than Hawksworth, and Staroscik a better left-winger than Robinson, but it was certainly very much better than anything that came after it for the next few years. Craig was a rock in the middle of the defence, Brittan and Murray controlled the midfield, and Bull’s pace and trickery kept the forwards well supplied. Duquemin’s power and ability to convert chances were far too good, even in his mid-thirties, for most opponents. The team averaged nearly three goals a game in the league, and the inside trio of Easton, Duquemin and Clugston, another goal-poacher, hit 93 between them in all competitions, with Robinson adding another 22. The average age of the team that clinched the title at Hereford was still fairly high (just over 28), but this was still a couple of years less than Rooke's most succesful side in 1952/3 and Kelly's own team for the Arsenal matches three years earlier.

The only disappointments at the end were that the title had not been won at home, and the further sharp decline in gates; the average attendance was 4,086, down more than 20% on the year before. With TV and private car ownership increasing, gates were slumping nationally and the shortage of meaningful fixtures in the reduced competition was also a factor, but the club needed more to justify its investment in the new stand and bolster further applications for Football League membership.

As the local newspaper group proudly displayed the large Southern League Championship shield in its office windows during the summer, Tim Kelly decided to release two of his old stalwarts, Quinn and Garwood (who had played under three managers), as well as Morhen and Frost who had started the season in the first team; Winter had moved to Cambridge United soon after Duquemin’s arrival. Kelly had been no keener than Rooke or Stansfield to play local players from the amateur ranks and had been content to keep some very experienced players permanently in the reserves; two centre-halves, for instance, Phil Nolan (1955-7) and Mick Nagy (1958/9) had both failed to dislodge Bob Craig, and the manager was always looking to refresh what would now be called his squad. Perhaps he was just a little luckier than Rooke had been with his choices, or perhaps the cup successes of his first two years had given the directors more confidence and spare cash with which to back his judgements.

Whatever the truth, however, they received a shock during the summer[2]. Hastings United tempted Kelly with, presumably, a better offer, and having perhaps achieved everything he felt was achievable, he left in the last week of June. And, despite the presence on the board of several of the directors who had sacked him less than six years before, his successor was none other than Ronnie Rooke. It was déjà vu all over again.

To continue the story go to 1959/60-Rooke returns to mediocrity

For full results and teams go to Results and teams, 1950-67

LEAGUE TABLES 1958-1959 

South Eastern zone

  1. Bedford Town                      32  21   6   5   90   41   48

  2. Gravesend & Northfleet      32  21   2   9   79   54   44

  3. Dartford                                 32  20   3   9   77   41   43

  4. Yeovil Town                           32  17   8   7   60   41   42

  5. Weymouth                             32  13  11   8   61   43   37

  6. Chelmsford City                    32  12  12   8   74   53   36

  7. King’s Lynn                            32  14   5  13   70   63   33

  8. Poole Town                           32  12   8  12   60   66   32

  9. Cambridge City                     32  12   7  13   61   54   31

 10. Hastings United                   32  13   5  14   60   59   31

 11. Tonbridge                             32  14   3  15   51   59   31

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 12. Cambridge United                32  11   8  13   55   77   30

 13. Trowbridge Town                 32  12   4  16   53   75   28

 14. Exeter City Reserves            32   7  12  13   47   71   26

 15. Guildford City                       32   7   6  19   45   67   20

 16. Clacton Town                        32   6   7  19   44   81   19

 17. Yiewsley                                 32   3   7  22   36   78   13

North Western zone

  1. Hereford United                   34  22   5   7   80   37   49

  2. Kettering Town                    34  20   7   7   83   63   47

  3. Boston United                      34  18   8   8   73   47   44

  4. Cheltenham Town              34  20   4  10   65   47   44

  5. Worcester City                    34  19   4  11   74   47   42

  6. Bath City                              34  17   5  12   89   62   39

  7. Wellington Town                34  15   9  10   74   58   39

  8. Nuneaton Borough            34  17   5  12   76   66   39

  9. Wisbech Town                     34  16   5  13   77   54   37

 10. Headington United            34  16   3  15   76   61   35

 11. Barry Town                         34  15   5  14   64   67   35

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 12. Merthyr Tydfil                     34  16   3  15   54   59   35

 13. Gloucester City                   34  12   6  16   50   65   30

 14. Corby Town                         34  10   8  16   59   79   28

 15. Lovells Athletic                    34  10   3  21   51   70   23

 16. Rugby Town                         34   7   6  21   45   93   20

 17. Kidderminster Harriers      34   7   3  24   42   94   17

 18. Burton Albion                       34   3   3  28   41  104    9

• Bedford Town were champions by virtue of beating Hereford United 2-1 in the play-off.

• The top eleven clubs in each section formed the Premier Division for 1959/60.

• The remainder formed the First Division, along with the following newly elected clubs: Ashford Town, Bexleyheath and Welling, Dover, Folkestone Town, Margate, Ramsgate Athletic, Sittingbourne and Tunbridge Wells United (all from the Kent League), Hinckley Athletic (Birmingham League) and Romford (who turned professional from the Isthmian League).

• Lovells Athletic resigned at the end of the season and joined the Welsh League.

[1] Thanks to Mike Crisp for this bizarre sequence.

[2] The exact timing and circumstances of Kelly’s departure can’t be followed in the local press because a national printing strike meant that for much of the summer of 1959 only very short typescript editions were produced.