1962/3-bright start frozen solid

Reg Smith added to his late-season signings in the summer, at a period when several Southern League clubs captured tabloid headlines by signing players who were on the transfer lists of Football League clubs at hefty fees. This had been going on for years-Ronnie Rooke had indulged heavily back in 1952-but with the Professional Footballers’ Association now attacking the Football League’s "retain and transfer" system in the courts, these arguably “illegal” signings attracted more attention[1]. Smith’s highest-profile recruit was Jock Wallace, a Scottish goalkeeper “listed” at £5,000 by West Bromwich Albion, and they were joined by Ken Hawkes, Roy Banham and Jimmy Dunne, two defenders and an Irish League inside-forward from Peterborough, followed by Ken’s brother Barry, an inside-forward. Wallace claimed in a quote in the Birmingham Sports Argus (28 July 1962) that he would be earning more at Bedford than his wages at the Hawthorns.

The photographer tries something different for the squad photograph in August 1962; instead of the conventional “big ones at the back” he has gone for “little ones at the ends”. At least the directors have been kept out of things for once, although the players at the right hand end seem rather distant. The most newsworthy summer signing, the six foot plus goalkeeper Jock Wallace from West Bromwich Albion, is given pride of place in an interesting piece of public relations.

Left to right: Ronnie Southgate, Jimmy Dunne, Bobby Tebbutt, David Sturrock, Alex Stenhouse, Bill Morrison, Roy Banham, Bill Goundry, Ken Hawkes, David Coney, Jock Wallace, Tony Hawksworth, Bobby Anderson, David Price*, Tommy Kay*, Vernon Avis, Jackie Walker, Brian Whitby, Arthur Hukin, Brian Wright, John Fahy.

*Players who never made a first team appearance.

Chelmsford City had signed more high-profile former Football League players than any other Southern League club in the summer of 1962 (although Bedford had done their bit with Jock Wallace), and they were the visitors for the opening match on a sunny afternoon of 18 August 1962. The weather, and feelings of expectation after several disappointing seasons, had swelled the crowd to 4,373, the largest for over two years, and they were treated to an impressive 2-0 win by the Eagles. Here Chelmsford’s Denis Hatsell is about to pass back (allowed in those days) to his keeper, Alan Collier, who would join Bedford three years later, with Brian Wright about to pounce. In the background is Ronnie Southgate, who scored an excellent opening goal, only for his promising career to be curtailed by a serious injury in the next match against Poole, from which he never really recovered. The new Bedford kit on view here featured numbers on the shorts rather than the backs of the shirts, prompting Reg Smith’s comment that the opposition wouldn’t be able to tell whether his players were coming or going….

In the summer England had gone down again to Brazil in the World Cup in Chile, and there was much talk of the need to make our game more vibrant and entertaining to win back the steadily vanishing crowds (although Bedford’s average gate had slightly increased in 1961/2)[2] . Smith led the way, parading his team in a whizzy-looking strip of white shirts with a blue hoop and blue shorts instead of the tired old plain blue shirts and white shorts. So when the season started in brilliant weather with an encouraging 2-0 home win against Chelmsford, a team who had spent more on new players than anyone else, hopes rose high, especially at the turnstiles when 4,373 turned up; this was better than any attendance the previous season. When the team went on to win its first five fixtures, with the next two home matches also attracting crowds of well over 4,000, talk turned to championships. But the problem was goals; apart from a 4-2 success at Cambridge United in the league cup, the four league matches had produced only five goals.

In another view of the opening match, Vernon Avis (left) and Roy Banham attempt to thwart Chelmsford’s Alec Moyse. Banham, who was one of the new signings from Peterborough with Ken Hawkes and Jimmy Dunne, was a steady centre-half who was first choice for this season but lost his place early in the following season to the long-serving Mick Collins-who was at left-half for Chelmsford in this match.

Bedford won their first five league and league cup matches of 1962/3, the fifth being a 1-0 defeat of Dartford at The Eyrie on 1 September. But they were struggling for goals, managing only five in the four league matches, and this was to be a recurring theme for the next three years. The only goal of this match was a late strike from the right wing by Brian Whitby, see here in the distance turning away to celebrate after beating goalkeeper O’Dell on his near post, with Jimmy Dunne following up. The crowd was 4,470, more than at the Chelmsford match, but as the early successes could not be maintained this would prove to be the best league crowd of the season.

Jock Wallace was rapidly becoming a favourite with supporters, performing spectacular heroics behind a defence that was often under pressure in the absence of a dominant forward line. Despite the caption, it looks to me as if he has turned a Hitchin shot over the bar in this incident from the FA Cup second qualifying round tie at Top Field on 22 September 1962. Also in view, left to right, are Brian Whitby (in distance), Bill Goundry, Vernon Avis, David Coney and, on the goal line, Gerry King. Bedford managed to avoid a repeat of the previous season’s embarrassment at the same stage with a 5-3 win, but they were only 3-2 up at half-time and this wasn’t one of Wallace’s better games. Like other spectacular keepers he could on occasions make bizarre mistakes, and two of these, involving misjudgements of the ball in flight, gifted Hitchin their first and third goals. It was just as well that Arthur Hukin obliged with a hat-trick at the other end, the second of the three being his 100th goal for the club.

Surely enough, this good start could not be sustained. After beating Dartford 1-0 at home on 1 September, Bedford did not win another league match until Bath went down 0-4 on 27 October, and things would have become very grim without some overdue FA Cup successes. Wolverton were easily overcome in the first qualifying round and a repeat of the previous season’s embarrassment at Hitchin was avoided with a 5-3 win in the second. Then followed one of the best efforts of the season at the start of October, when Cambridge City, another of the big-spending clubs and eventually champions the following May, were beaten 2-1 in the third qualifying round in front of a 5,400 crowd. Wisbech, beaten 1-0 at home in the next round, looked an easier proposition on paper but in fact proved tougher.

Cambridge City goalkeeper Roy Jones is about to be beaten by this shot from Brian Whitby (out of picture) which put Bedford two goals ahead nine minutes from the end of the third qualifying round FA Cup tie at The Eyrie on 6 October 1962, watched by Arthur Hukin in the background and his colleague Sammy Salt (right). Despite a late Cambridge reply, Bedford hung on to win this local derby 2-1 before 5,417 spectators, including a big visiting contingent. They had faded in the league after their bright start, having not won for over a month, whereas City, with several expensive signings, were going well and would eventually win the title, so this was a pleasant surprise for the supporters.

Jones in action in the first half of the Cambridge City tie, under challenge from David Sturrock, who was now starting to establish himself in the side. Brian Whitby is in the background, with Jeff Suddards (left) and Reg Pearce the nearest City defenders.

The high spot of the season probably came in the first round proper. Some were disappointed with the draw which produced the now-familiar Cambridge United at home on 3 November, but the Cambridge derbies were now acquiring something of the atmosphere which the Kettering encounters had enjoyed a few years earlier, and now the floodlights somehow gave an extra edge to the latter stages of winter Saturday matches. A crowd of 6,700 saw a cracking cup-tie on a grey November afternoon, won by a very late effort by Brian Wright after Hukin’s battling opportunist opener had been equalised late into the final stages. The trip to Gillingham in the second round sadly failed to avenge the defeat of three seasons earlier, but the 0-3 scoreline slightly flattered the home side and an already injury-weakened Bedford side was further handicapped when Sturrock became a passenger for much of the second half.

After defeating Wisbech 1-0 at home in the fourth qualifying round, Bedford found themselves drawn at home to the other Cambridge club, United, in the first round proper on 3 November 1962. Nearly 7,000 saw an enthralling tie which was decided by an injury time winner from Brian Wright after Arthur Hukin had given Bedford the lead after 75 minutes, only for Cambridge to equalise ten minutes later. Here, during the goalless first half, Hukin (right) throws himself at this challenge with centre-half Bill Howell as keeper Rodney Slack looks on. United were to end the season as runners-up to their neighbours, City and it was only towards the end of the decade that they forged ahead of City on their way into the Football League.

The Cambridge United tie was a personal triumph for Brian Wright, a feisty little red-haired inside-forward who had come from Leicester via Lincoln in Ronnie Rooke’s final close season. Above, he tangles in the air with Cambridge’s Welsh (6) and Boggis in the first half. Later Wright moved on to join Arthur Hukin and Alex Stenhouse at Corby Town.

In the second round of the FA Cup the Eagles visited Gillingham at Priestfield Stadium on 24 November 1962, but were unable to avenge their home defeat by the same team three years earlier. But the 0-3 result might have been different had they not lost David Sturrock for much of the match after injuring an ankle in the first half, and Brian Wright for part of the second half. The nine fit men could not hold out although Gillingham’s third goal did not come until the final minute. Here (top) Wright has been floored by a defender early on, and (bottom) Gillingham’s Gordon Pulley shoots wide past the diving Wallace.

In another scene from the Gillingham match, home keeper John Simpson advances to intercept from the onrushing David Skinn, who had just broken into the first team to claim a place that he would hold for almost another 16 years. Two thousand Eagles supporters traveled to swell the crowd to 12,097, but they would have to wait another year for a Cup run to emulate the “Arsenal” episode of 1955/6.

So by the end of November Reg Smith could claim some successes, and the league form had picked up somewhat as the cup run went on, with four successive wins in late October and November. Wallace, who had displaced the loyal Hawksworth, was often brilliant in goal though prone to bizarre errors at times; Coney and Avis now had a good understanding as the regular full-back pairing-so much so that the experienced Ken Hawkes could not get into the side- Banham was a steady centre-half, Goundry was an excellent and tireless ball-winner and Wright was a courageous inside-forward. Smith’s real failure was not to have been able to sign a proven goalscorer; he never seemed entirely happy with Hukin at the front, yet was not yet sure he could trust the less experienced Fahy. The problem was perhaps that both were rather similar, tall and good in the air yet both rather willowy and apt to be bundled off the ball by some of the robust centre-halves who flourished under the tolerant eyes of too many referees. Whitby, Stenhouse, Dunne and Sturrock all had their moments as goal-providers yet none had nailed down a consistent place, and the promising Southgate had not played since being carried off against Poole in the second home match back in August; it was effectively the end of his career.

The really new feature of Smith’s thinking was that he was not afraid to give younger local players their chance. He soon gave Fahy opportunities, and at Wellington in September Bedford’s equaliser had come from a fair haired 18-year old midfield player called David Skinn. Most supporters on reading this will have said “who?”, because Skinn had hardly as yet appeared even in the reserves; soon he had displaced the experienced Morrison at left-half to begin a career that would last until 1978. And in the FA Cup tie against Wisbech, the biggest match of the season so far, Smith introduced another teenager, David Lovell, for his first team debut-certainly not something Rooke or Kelly would have contemplated. Those who had regularly criticised those managers for “signing too many expensive old men” at last had their moment. Smith would regularly extol the virtues of his youngsters in interviews and programme notes, while urging supporters to be patient as they progressed.

Bedford’s league fixture against Cambridge United at The Eyrie on 26 January 1963 made history of a sort, because it was the first non-league match to feature in Anglia TV’s Sunday afternoon highlights programme, Match of the Week. It was very nearly the only match in the Anglia area of that particular week, which came in the middle of the Great Freeze of early 1963. Bedford’s previous match before this had been a whole month earlier, when they drew 1-1 at Yeovil on Boxing Day and had to struggle home through the ice and snow that were to envelop the country until early March; and they only managed to complete three matches in February. It’s debatable whether conditions for this match were much better than for the many that were postponed but with the clubs and the TV producers equally desperate for some revenue-producing action, the referee was persuaded to give it a go. Here we see a Bedford attack building up from the viewpoint of the main stand spectators, with the TV cameras on a temporary gantry somewhere near the directors’ box.

Three more scenes from the Big Freeze. In the Cambridge United match, (top), Jimmy Dunne, a talented Irish ball-player who struggled with injuries, scores Bedford’s goal past Rodney Slack’s outstretched leg, and (centre) Barry Hawkes trying a possibly unwise sliding tackle. The huge mounds of cleared snow, shifted earlier by volunteers, can be seen around the touchlines. The match ended 1-1 and marked the debut of Ron Heckman, signed from Crystal Palace just after the weather closed in, who can be seen in the background of the upper picture. Only 1,828 people braved the elements and the takings were some £250.

The lower image is from the Metropolitan League match against Guildford Reserves the following week, 2 February, where both clubs, having had their Southern League matches called off, played many first team players. Guildford won 2-0 and here Jimmy Dunne is seen sliding through the snow to no avail, watched by Ron Heckman on the left.

Patience was certainly needed once the FA Cup run was over, because the team now went for the next eight matches without a win and were also knocked out of the league cup by Cambridge City. The 1-2 home defeat by Clacton just before Christmas, in a fog so deep that the referee placed both linesmen on the same touchline in the second half and patrolled the other line himself, was a particularly low point-Clacton were bottom of the table without a win at that stage. But after drawing at Yeovil on Boxing Day, the team was able to get on to the field only three times more in the next two months; the worst winter of the century now obliterated football almost completely for weeks (there was snow on the ground until early March) and the finances inevitably suffered. In this hiatus Smith was able to sign Ron Heckman, one of his former Millwall players, from Crystal Palace, who played in a snow-enwrapped, televised match against Cambridge United at The Eyrie that was the team’s solitary action in January. Supporters did not immediately appreciate his ball skills and many would have preferred an out-and-out goal getter.

(Right) By the end of February conditions had started to improve and the Eagles were able to play at Weymouth on 23 February, going down 4-3 after being in the lead three times. Here Jock Wallace is about to save from Weymouth's Ron Fogg, who was to join the Eagles three years later. The defenders are (left to right) Jackie Walker, Roy Banham and Vernon Avis.

Barry Hawkes scores one of his two goals in the 3-0 defeat of Gravesend at the Eyrie on 23 March 1962, with John Fahy partly visible behind him. Hawkes was less well known than his brother Ken, once a regular in Luton's First Division side, but made more senior appearances while at the club before returning to his native north east via a spell at St Neots. Only just over 2,000 saw this match as many people lost the football watching habit during the big freeze up.

The long gap meant many people did not get back into the football watching habit once pitches became playable again. A lot of matches had to be played in a short time to catch up; some of these were decent efforts, such as a 2-1 win against the almost-crowned champions, Cambridge City, at Milton Road, holding their main rivals Cambridge United to a goalless draw at Newmarket Road before a record crowd of 6,200, and putting seven goals past Wellington and Worcester in three days early in April, but there were also some grim affairs, notably two dire Easter matches against Kettering that brought only a point; the home match on Good Friday was the first morning kick-off at The Eyrie for ages and boosted the gate up to 3,600, the best since the FA Cup run, but few of the absentees will have been tempted to come back.

There were late consolations as the reserves, captained by Ken Hawkes, won the Metropolitan League Challenge Cup over two legs against Guildford, and the first team beat an admittedly weakened Luton side 3-0 at Kenilworth Road to win the Bedfordshire Professional Cup outright for the first time since 1953/4. But the final league finish of ninth place was probably a fair reflection on the team’s merits, and many noted that only 61 goals had been scored (Gravesend, second from bottom, scored 62)-the team’s lowest tally since 1948/9. In that context it seemed a strange decision by the management to allow Hukin, who had hit 108 goals for the club, to join Corby in the summer ( he joined Stenhouse, who had moved there the previous January). Whitby and Tebbutt were also released and it was clear that the manager would be looking for forwards over the break.

To continue the story go to 1963/4 -three managers, one sensation

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

An end-of-season group pose with the Beds Professional Cup (left), and the Metropolitan League Challenge Cup, won by the reserves,

Back row (left to right): Roy Banham, Vernon Avis, Jock Wallace, Tony Hawksworth, Norman Cooley, Bobby Anderson.

Middle row: Reg Game (first team trainer), Joe Campbell (assistant trainer), David Skinn, Alex Bain, Brian Wright, Harry Collins , George Senior and Charles Gallie (directors), Ron Heckman, Barry Hawkes, Mick Collins, Reg Cornelius (secretary), Reg Smith (manager)

Front row: Jim House (director), David Sturrock, Gordon Bruce (vice-chairman), David Coney, Ted Ashdown (chairman), Bill Goundry, Bill Manning (director), David Lovell.

Bain and Collins both appeared as triallists in the end of season friendly against Arbroath, and then signed for the following season. Their careers with the club were very different, however; Collins became a key figure at centre-half for the next four seasons as well as club captain from 64/5, whereas Bain was suspended for some time for missing training and played only a handful of times before being released a year later.

(The full headline on the left read "All in all it was not so bad", a summing up of the season !)

LEAGUE TABLES 1962-1963

Premier Division

1. Cambridge City 40 25 6 9 99 64 56

2. Cambridge United 40 23 7 10 74 50 53

3. Weymouth 40 20 11 9 82 43 51

4. Guildford City 40 20 11 9 70 50 51

5. Kettering Town 40 22 7 11 66 49 51

6. Wellington Town 40 19 9 12 71 49 47

7. Dartford 40 19 9 12 61 54 47

8. Chelmsford City 40 18 10 12 63 50 46

9. Bedford Town 40 18 8 14 61 45 44

10. Bath City 40 18 6 16 58 56 42

11. Yeovil Town 40 15 10 15 64 54 40

12. Romford 40 14 11 15 73 68 39

13. Bexleyheath & Welling 40 13 11 16 55 63 37

14. Hereford United 40 14 7 19 56 66 35

15. Merthyr Tydfil 40 15 4 21 54 71 34

16. Rugby Town 40 14 5 21 65 76 33

17. Wisbech Town 40 15 3 22 64 84 33

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18. Worcester City 40 12 9 19 47 65 33

19. Poole Town 40 10 12 18 54 66 32

20. Gravesend & Northfleet 40 10 3 27 62 91 23

21. Clacton Town 40 3 7 30 50 135 13

First Division

1. Margate 38 21 13 4 86 47 55

2. Hinckley Athletic 38 22 9 7 66 38 53

3. Hastings United 38 22 8 8 86 36 52

4. Nuneaton Borough 38 21 10 7 82 41 52

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5. Tonbridge 38 22 8 8 81 51 52

6. Dover 38 22 7 9 78 56 51

7. Corby Town 38 19 8 11 79 50 46

8. King’s Lynn 38 19 7 12 76 66 45

9. Cheltenham Town 38 18 7 13 83 52 43

10. Folkestone Town 38 15 10 13 79 57 40

11. Canterbury City 38 14 8 16 42 56 36

12. Yiewsley 38 11 10 17 63 71 32

13. Ramsgate Athletic 38 12 7 19 58 82 31

14. Trowbridge Town 38 11 9 18 50 81 31

15. Burton Albion 38 10 10 18 48 76 30

16. Gloucester City 38 9 11 18 42 78 29

17. Sittingbourne 38 12 3 23 56 75 27

18. Ashford Town 38 9 6 23 58 76 24

19. Barry Town 38 6 5 27 35 75 17

20. Tunbridge Wells Unite 38 6 2 30 34 118 14

To bring the Premier Division back to 22 clubs Worcester City were not relegated despite finishing fourth from bottom
Crawley Town and Stevenage Town (from the Metropolitan League) and Deal Town (Kent League) were elected to the First Division for 1963/4 to bring that division up to 22 clubs
Name changes for 1963/4: Bexleyheath and Welling to Bexley United, Tunbridge Wells United to Tunbridge Wells Rangers

[1] By mid-season the Football League persuaded the FA to threaten non-league clubs with expulsion from the FA Cup if they signed any more players who were not free agents without paying the listed fee, although this came to nothing. The League refused to allow such clubs to apply for membership at the summer election meeting, but for most of them this was meaningless because they had no chance of election anyway. WBA eventually reduced Wallace’s fee to £2,500, but it is unlikely that Bedford ever paid this. The "retain and transfer" system was ruled an unfair restraint of trade by the High Court in the George Eastham case in 1963.

[2] Up from 2,499 to 2,532.