A Programme from This Day in May

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Wednesday 1st May 1957

Division III South

Crystal Palace 1 (Pierce) Torquay United 1

Gate: 22,627







And so the league season drew to a close and in doing so we reached a truly "sliding doors" moment in English football history. One glance at the table shows Torquay a point above Ipswich with this last game to go. In addition by this stage Colchester had played their last game on Monday 29th April, winning 2-0 - but had lost their 3 previous games - so they were top above the Gulls on goal average. So if both Torquay & Ipswich lost, Colchester would be promoted. But a win for the Gulls at Palace (who were "fighting" for 19th or 20th spot) would give them promotion to Division 2 for the first (and only) time in their history. On the same evening, Ipswich were away to Southampton, a decent side in 4th place - not an easy one, for sure. 10946 were at the Dell, compare that to the 22627 at Selhurst - a vast number up from Devon, I'd have thought. So tonight the best the Gulls could do was a point - and thus Ipswich had to win - and win, they did, by 2-0, and up they went on goal average from Torquay, a point ahead of Colchester. Well done to them and as we all know, 5 years later, they were League champions, and The Gulls never got near this exalted position again.

I finish with some action from the Palace/Torquay game. Home keeper Vic Rouse saves as Gulls' winger Tony Collins closes in with defender Jack Edwards providing cover. Collins was to sign for Palace during the following season. Read all about him in the superb book "Football's Black Pioneers" (Bill Hern & David Gleave) 2020 Conker Editions.

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, league & non-league:

League:

Saturday 1st May 1999
Nationwide League Division Two
Luton Town 1
Macclesfield Town 2
Gary Doherty for Luton, Neil Sorvel & Simon Davies for Macclesfield
#LTFC #MTFC

Non-League:

Monday 1st May 2017
Buckingham Charity Cup Final
Olney Town 5
Winslow United 2
Nick Bines, two for Jordan Appleton, Rob MacDonald & a Sam Parrish penalty for Town, Ben Baines & a Nick Farrow spot kick for United
#OTFC #WUFC




_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/

[derby1884]

May 1st, 1939

Newport County 1 (Duggan) Derby County 3 (??)

att: 3,916

Having won the 3rd Div South, narrowly shading Palace to the title (sorry, Pete!), this match was billed as a "celebration friendly" as well as being a visit to Somerton Park which Derby had agreed to as part of the deal which took Jack Brinton to the East Midlands.

The programme includes a list of all supporters who had subscribed to the club's issue of 5/- shares (both Preferential and Ordinary).

The attendance seems on the low side given the occasion - perhaps everyone had other things on their minds at this point in time.


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Saturday 2nd May 1953

FA Cup Final

Blackpool 4 (Mortensen 3, Perry), Bolton Wanderers 3 (Lofthouse, Moir, Bell)

Gate: 100,000





Thought the time was right to showcase the most famous FA Cup Final of them all - I won't go through all the details as you all know them and they are all online everywhere. But here's a nice photo of the occasion, with the late Duke of Edinburgh shaking the hand of someone who was even more famous than him at the time - Stanley Matthews. It was to become, after all, the "Matthews Final".

[Flaming Pie]

Pete, Could well be wrong, but l think the player next to Matthews is Eddie Shimwell. Apparently Shimwell became the first full-back to score in a FA Cup Final in 1948. Carrying on my policy of buying random football items on eBay( if they are not too expensive ) , l obtained this letter recently for £1 , which relates (l think ) to the shoulder injury that Eddie sustained in 1955. It looks like it more or less finished his career. Looks like Chesterfield FC were helping out with his rehab.

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, league & non-league:

League:

Saturday 2nd May 1987
Today League Division One
Charlton Athletic 0
Luton Town 1
Mick Harford with the winner at Selhurst Park
#CAFC #LTFC

Non-League:

Monday 2nd May 2016
South Midlands League Division One
Winslow United 1
Southall 1
Joey Acheampong for the hosts, Ryan Debattista for the visitors
#WUFC #SFC







_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/

[derby1884]

2nd May, 1936

Brentford 6 Derby County 0

att: 20,521

Strange game, football can be. A week after hammering league champions-elect Sunderland 4-0, Derby, lying in second place, headed to Griffin Park in body but obviously not in spirit.
This hammering allowed Brentford to finish 5th in the table - I think the highest they've achieved to date.



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http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/

[ndg1860]

Harry Newman Brentford Hospital Cup
Monday, 3 May 1948

Brentford 0 v QPR 1 (Cyril Hatton)





This match was played following QPR's best season for some time. They easily won the League Division 3, thus promoting to Division 2 for the 1948-49 season. Brentford were in League Division 2 at that time.

Cyril Hatton was a prolific goal scorer. He transferred from Notts County in 1946 and following 206 games and 93 goals for QPR, was transferred to Chesterfield in 1953. Although he played centre-forward in this match, he was better known as an inside-left.

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, league & non-league:

League:

Saturday 3rd May 2003
Nationwide League Division Two
Swindon Town 2
Luton Town 1
Stefani Miglioranzi & Sam Parkin for the hosts, Tony Thorpe with the reply
#STFC #LTFC

Non-League:

Thursday 3rd May 2012
Blue Square Premier Play-Off Semi-Final 2nd Leg
Luton Town 2
Wrexham 0
Andre Gray & Stuart Fleetwood on target
#LTFC #WFC
[img]




[/img]
_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Friday 3rd May 1974

Testimonial (Ron Hunt)

Queens Park Rangers 2 Crystal Palace 1

Gate: ?





Rangers was Ron Hunt's only club, and he played 219 league games in the 10 years to 1974. Twice-relegated Palace provided the opposition to the club touting itself as "Top London Club" on the cover. Not without some justification, if you look at the league table inside the prog.


So 4 London clubs below them in Div 1, and indeed as were 5 of today's so-called "Big 6" including one of their number in a relegation slot. So that was the position in May 1974, much like the image of today's "Big 6" is merely a snapshot in time.

The fixture was reversed four months later in a testimonial for Palace's John McCormick.

[ndg1860]

Pete’s Picture Palace wrote:

Friday 3rd May 1974 Testimonial (Ron Hunt) Queens Park Rangers 2 (Stan Bowles 2) Crystal Palace 1 Gate: 4383

These were the days of one of the greatest QPR teams. Francis, Parkes, Bowles plus so many more.

[derby1884]

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Friday 4th May 1956

"Special" Friendly Match

Bexleyheath & Welling v Crystal Palace





Some sort of friendly match at reserve/junior level arranged as part of a deal for the Palace winger #7, Ken Morgan, who moved from "The Town" earlier that season, plus right back Gordon McDonald was another former player for B&W. Morgan only played once in the CP first team - an 0-8 defeat at Orient. Off he went to Guildford City not long after this game. Johnny Byrne, aged just 16, was in the #10 shirt. At the opposite end of his career, the Town had Charlie Vaughan at centre forward, then 35 but not long after banging them in for Charlton and Pompey, and now their manager but I'm not sure how often he turned out on the pitch.

If anyone knows the match details, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, non-league only today:

Saturday 4th May 2015
Buckingham Charity Cup Final
@BuckinghamAth 6
@OlneyTownFC 2
Matt Cruse, Phil Martin, Glen Hawkins, Jack Menday, Scott Latham and an Andy Hammond pen for the Ath, Danny Webb & Aaron Murrell for Olney
#BAFC #OTFC


_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/

[derby1884]

May 4th, 1936

Derbyshire Senior Cup

Chesterfield v Derby County.

Don't know the score in this match, sadly, but Derby had just finished runners-up in the First Division and Chesterfield had won the Third Division North so both would be in good spirits.

How times have changed for them....


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Saturday 5th May 1979

Division II

Orient 0 Crystal Palace 1 (Swindlehurst)

Gate: 19,945





One of those away games you simply could not miss - I even skipped a game of cricket for it. Palace had 53 points and were 4th going into it, a win was crucial and to make matters even more poignant, the legendary figure of John Jackson was in the O's goal. Dave Swindlehurst outjumped Alan Whittle for the header (bit of a mis-match!) from Kenny Sansom's teasing cross which gave Palace the vital win but even that meant that Palace were still only 4th when they had one further game to go - the following Friday v Burnley, when they would need both points to win the league or one to go up. It was so close at the top of the table with goal difference sure to play a part. Orient had a decent side, particularly up front, and finished 11th. The picture below is from the Burnley programme and shows Swindle heading home, along with insets of the 2 goals from Palace v Notts Co on the previous Saturday.

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, league & non-league:

League:

Saturday 5th May 1990
Barclays League Division One
Derby County 2
Luton Town 3
Mark Wright & Paul Williams for County, Tim Breaker and a brace for Kingsley Black saw Town complete the great escape
#DCFC #LTFC

Non-League:

Saturday 5th May 2018
United Counties League Premier Division
Peterborough Northern Star 1
Newport Pagnell Town 1
Jake Sansby for the hosts, Greg Ling for the visitors
#PNSFC #NPTFC




_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/

[derby1884]

5th May, 1945

Midland Cup S/F 1st leg

Derby County 3 (Doherty 2, Lyman) Leicester City 1

att: 7,270 (only parts of the BBG were open to the public at this point in time due to bomb damage).




5th May, 1990

Sussex County League Div.1

Peacehaven & Telscombe v Redhill

The home side would finish 5th in the table - Redhill, however, were relegated in last place and some considerable distance behind the rest of the league.

Smart cover. Very impressive.


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http://www.flickr.com/photos/derby1884/sets/

[Pete’s Picture Palace]

Wednesday 6th May 1964

Tooting & Mitcham Police 6-a-side Charity Football Tournament

at Tooting & Mitcham Utd ground, Sandy Lane, Mitcham





I have similar programmes for the same tournament in May 1965 and 1966, with one or two changes to the line-ups. I don't know if it ran before and after these 3 years. I also don't know who won!

[flashhat]

Games I've attended on this date in history, league & non-league:

League:

Sunday 6th May 2007
Coca Cola Championship
Luton Town 0
Sunderland 5
Anthony Stokes, two for Daryl Murphy, Ross Wallace & David Connolly complete the rout
#LTFC #SFC

Non-League:

Saturday 6th May 1995
Diadora League Division Two
Barton Rovers 1
Thame United 0
Graham Golds with the only goal
#BRFC #TUFC




_________________
I was born in Bedfordshire, bred in Bedfordshire, & have been lumbered with Luton Town Thanks dad R.I.P.

My football memorabilia: https://www.flickr.com/photos/192140619@N08/albums

Non-league photographer https://www.flickr.com/photos/143473465@N03/albums

https://www.sportsshots.org.uk/