One of the biggest attendances of the post war years, officially given as 10,000 although that is probably an estimate, saw a charity match at The Eyrie on Sunday 24 April 1960 between the Showbiz XI and a team picked by Ronnie Rooke. Here (left to right) are former England skipper Billy Wright, former Arsenal and Wales defender Wally Barnes (by then a BBC commentator), comedian Dave King, Ronnie Rooke, former Luton captain Syd Owen (who had just resigned as their manager), disc jockey Jimmy Henney and singer Ronnie Carroll. There were a number of such matches around this period, played in the teeth of quite vocal opposition from the Lord's Day Observance Society, who were reported to have sent an "observer" to this match, and several times tried to get matches banned by the Courts. It was illegal to charge for admission on a Sunday, but spectators were "invited" to make a donation for a programme in order to get in.
Rooke’s return had not been an entirely happy one, although for those who remembered him as a player he probably retained an aura. His relationship with the board must at this point have been very good, because although when appointed he had only been given a one-year contract, this had been extended to four years as early as January 1960 . But a remarkable picture of his relationships with his players soon after his arrival comes over in a piece by the non-league football expert Tony Williams, who played a few games for the club at this period[3] as an amateur while on National Service at RAF Cardington:
“Under a strange but brilliant Irish manager Tim Kelly, who apparently believed in Leprechauns, Bedford had won the Southern League championship in style. But for some reason the manager had been replaced by famous Arsenal striker Ronnie Rooke. The senior players were not happy with this change, especially as the new boss was bringing in his own players and breaking up the championship winning squad. Rooke had been a good old-style, bustling centre forward, who had scored 68 goals for Arsenal in 88 games, but he had lost his pace. I found myself playing alongside him for a Bedford XI against Letchworth in an East Anglian Cup tie [this was in September 1959, the first of Rooke’s two appearances in the first team that season]. The match went well from an attacking point of view and the manager scored one in a 5-3 victory, with first team striker Jimmy Clugston looking very impressive. I felt pleased with my involvement and was thrilled when Rooke told me to report the next day for a first team Culey Cup tie against King’s Lynn away.
I was to play alongside Clugston, an ex-Portsmouth player and the famous Len Duquemin...
Being a humble new boy and an amateur, I sat near the front of the bus on my own. A huge striker called Andy Easton who wasn’t pleased to have been rested because I was playing, came and sat down beside me and explained they knew it wasn’t my fault I had been picked. Apparently I had been the only one passing the ball to the new manager in the Letchworth game!
We came in at half time one down and the most memorable part of a special day was Rooke’s team talk: ‘Murray you’re f....ing useless’. ‘I’m useless boss?’ ‘Yes you’re f.... ing useless son.’ ‘I’m useless boss, I can’t accept that’. Murray you are f.... useless! The rest of the lads were pleased the manager was concentrating his criticism on midfielder [Terry] Murray, an ex Irish international, but it was an eye-opener for me as nothing constructive was said and ‘the Duke’ whispered that this was one of the manager’s more inspirational half-time talks!”[4]
This is perhaps a misleading snapshot by someone who passed through the club only briefly, but it does cast some light on what was starting to become a period of struggle and disappointment.
To continue the story go to 1960/1-goals galore, at both ends
To see results and teams go to Results and teams, 1950-67
LEAGUE TABLES 1959-1960
Premier Division
1. Bath City 42 32 3 7 116 50 67
2. Headington United 42 23 8 11 78 61 54
3. Weymouth 42 22 9 11 93 69 53
4. Cheltenham Town 42 21 6 15 82 68 48
5. Cambridge City 42 18 11 13 81 72 47
6. Chelmsford City 42 19 7 16 90 70 45
7. Bedford Town 42 21 3 18 97 85 45
8. King’s Lynn 42 17 11 14 89 78 45
9. Boston United 42 17 10 15 83 80 44
10. Wisbech Town 42 17 10 15 81 84 44
11. Yeovil Town 42 17 8 17 81 73 42
12. Hereford United 42 15 12 15 70 74 42
13. Tonbridge 42 16 8 18 79 73 40
14. Hastings United 42 16 8 18 63 77 40
15. Wellington Town 42 13 11 18 63 78 37
16. Dartford 42 15 7 20 64 82 37
17. Gravesend & Northfleet 42 14 8 20 69 84 36
18. Worcester City 42 13 10 19 72 89 36
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19. Nuneaton Borough 42 11 11 20 64 78 33
20. Barry Town 42 14 5 23 78 103 33
21. Poole Town 42 10 8 24 69 96 28
22. Kettering Town 42 9 10 23 60 98 28
First Division
1. Clacton Town 42 27 5 10 106 69 59
2. Romford 42 21 10 11 65 40 52
3. Folkestone Town 42 23 5 14 93 71 51
4. Exeter City Reserves 42 23 3 16 85 62 49
5. Guildford City 42 19 9 14 79 56 47
6. Sittingbourne 42 20 7 15 66 55 47
7. Margate 42 20 6 16 88 77 46
8. Trowbridge Town 42 18 9 15 90 78 45
9. Cambridge United 42 18 9 15 71 72 45
10. Yiewsley 42 17 10 15 83 69 44
11. Bexleyheath & Welling 42 16 11 15 85 77 43
12. Merthyr Tydfil 42 16 10 16 63 65 42
13. Ramsgate Athletic 42 16 8 18 83 84 40
14. Ashford Town 42 14 12 16 61 70 40
15. Tunbridge Wells United 42 17 5 20 77 78 39
16. Hinckley Athletic 42 14 8 20 62 75 36
17. Gloucester City 42 13 9 20 56 84 35
18. Dover 42 14 6 22 59 85 34
19. Kidderminster Harriers 42 14 6 22 59 97 34
20. Corby Town 42 15 3 24 75 91 33
21. Burton Albion 42 11 10 21 52 79 32
22. Rugby Town 42 10 11 21 67 91 31
From now onwards the bottom four clubs in the Premier Division were relegated and the top four in the First Division promoted.
However, on this occasion Exeter City Reserves resigned at the end of the season (joining the Exeter and District League) and Guildford City were promoted in their place.
Kidderminster Harriers also resigned and joined the Birmingham League.
Canterbury City (Metropolitan League) were elected for 1960/1.
Headington United changed their name to Oxford United for 1960/1.
[1] Where their dominance, helped by the departure of most of their stronger rivals, was such that in the last five seasons before they were admitted to the Football League in 1960 they not only won the title every year but suffered only one home defeat.
[2] Several sources for years claimed that this was the match that made Hereford league champions of 1958/9!
[3] Williams was on Reading’s books at the time and had played a few reserve matches under Tim Kelly the previous season. Mixed elevens were put out for these two local cup-ties played on successive days.
[4] From the Non League Paper, 4 May 2008, reproduced by kind permission of Greenways Media Ltd
