Looking Back at….Season 1964/65

A season to savour.

Back in 1964/65, the Southern League possessed a Premier and First Division and there were several clubs amongst its members then who have long since disappeared.

The season started with Hereford United, Kettering Town, Hinckley Athletic and Merthyr Tydfil all in the First Division having suffered relegation the previous campaign, whilst there was to be a new club to visit as Wimbledon were transferred over from the Isthmian League.

Another `new` name to supporters in the 22-team First Division was Hillingdon Borough, who had changed their name from Yiewsley.

The 22 clubs that started the Premier Division included Cheltenham Town, King`s Lynn, Tonbridge and Folkestone Town who had all been promoted – the latter as champions.

Weymouth were celebrating their 75th anniversary and had finished seventh the previous season under Frank O`Farrell.

However, the man who went on to manage Manchester United, assembled a strong squad at the Recreation Ground which included a formidable forward line of Johnny Hannigan, Tommy Spratt, Alex Jackson, Barry Hutchinson and local favourite Dave Camp.

Hutchinson was signed from Derby County, for whom he had scored 51 goals in 107 games, while Spratt and Hannigan came from Bradford Park Avenue – the former having scored 45 goals in 118 matches and the latter notched 26 from 96 games having previously played for Sunderland and Derby, while Jackson joined from Plymouth Argyle.

Between them, Hutchinson and Spratt shared 80 goals and the club just failed to notch the coveted 100 goal-mark in the league, ending up frustratingly on 99!

As the season went on, Irishman O`Farrell was being constantly linked with League club vacancies and he made no secret of the fact that he would like to experience managing a full-time club.

And after steering the Terras to the title by a two-point margin from Guildford City, O`Farrell left the club to take over at Torquay United.

But not only did Weymouth lose their boss, but they were also to lose Spratt, Hannigan and Hutchinson too.

Spratt followed O`Farrell to Torquay for £1,500 and Hannigan surprisingly transferred to a Bath City side who finished bottom of the table and suffered relegation and Hutchinson moved to Lincoln City.

Ahead of O`Farrell and the players` departure, they had the opportunity to achieve the `double` when they defended the Southern League Cup they had won by beating Burton Albion the year before.

But they lost to Cambridge United.

Guildford, managed by former Chelsea man Albert Tennant, gave the Terras a battle for the title and lost once less game.

Worcester City finished third in 64/65 and top-scored with 100 goals.

They were a formidable force at their St George`s Lane ground but were poor away from home – the reason, in the end, the title didn`t come City`s way.

Managed by former Cardiff City player Bill Jones, who had an offer of the managerial vacancy at Swansea Town offered to him was turned down by the Board, City possessed a quality squad that included wingers Peter McParland and Norman Deeley.

Irish international McParland made over 300 appearances for Aston Villa and scored more than 100 goals.

Deeley, capped twice by England at full international level, spent the majority of his professional career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, making over 200 appearances and scoring 66 times.

McParland and Deeley scored 48 goals between them in 64/65 but they also provided much of the ammunition for centre-forward John Fairbrother to notch 54 goals – a record at the time.

Fairbrother, lured to City from Watford a season earlier, had scored 40 goals in 63/64, so it came as no surprise that bigger clubs took an interest in him and at the end of the season, Peterborough United paid £5,000 to take him to London Road.

In fourth place came Yeovil Town, level on 50 points with Worcester and fifth-placed Chelmsford City.

Yeovil lost player-manager Glyn Davis to Swansea at the end of the season, but for Chelmsford boss Billy Frith, twice a former Coventry City manager, fifth spot wasn`t deemed good enough for the Board and he was at first suspended and then sacked along with ten of his players.

Wisbech Town, Bexley United, Hastings United and Bath City were all relegated at the end of the 64/65 season.

Bath were bottom of the table throughout the campaign under former Welsh international Ivor Powell and in the 60s and 70s became something of a yo-yo club and were three times relegated into and again promoted from the First Division.

Bexley went down, despite conceding fewer goals than fifth-placed Chelmsford (74), and were never to regain their Premier Division status, remaining in the First Division in its various guises until folding in April 1976.

Hastings, who had a player/secretary in former Leyton Orient and Southampton full back Ted Ballard, had fallen fast after finishing sixth the previous season, while Wisbech came just a win short of staying up under former England forward Jesse Pye, who scored 100 goals in under 200 games for Wolves and 138 for the Fenmen.

Pye had to re-build in the First Division as well after losing 35-goal strike Colin Flatt to Leyton Orient at the end of the 64/65 season.

Promoted from the First Division were Hereford United, who finished 11 points clear as champions, Wimbledon, Poole Town and Corby Town.

Relegated the season before, Hereford bounced back in style at the first attempt and were unbeaten for ten games to set up a then new record.

They dropped only 12 points all season and hit 124 goals and conceded only 39 in 42 games.

It was a good start to life as a Southern League club for Wimbledon after being switched from the Isthmian League in the close season of 1964.

Particularly benefitting from the club`s first season out of amateur football – the Dons had won the Isthmian League the previous three seasons – was forward Eddie Reynolds.

In what was to be his last full season for the Dons, he scored 57 goals in just 49 appearances and was the league`s leading marksman.

John Cartwright, who went on to become a well-known and respected coach with England and Crystal Palace, was bought by Wimbledon from Bath City for £1,000, thus becoming the first player they paid a fee for after the club turned professional.

He went on to make 120 appearances for the Dons, scoring 19 goals.

Just think of this! In the 1960s, Poole possessed the largest supporters organisation in the country, with over 30,000 members!

Their stadium back then was shared with the greyhound people but was reckoned to be one of the best in the league.

They were managed by former Ipswich Town boss Doug Millward, who left at the end of the 64/65 season to take over at St Mirren and had ex-Scottish international forward Jackie Henderson in their ranks.

Henderson having made over 300 appearances for Portsmouth and Arsenal, scoring more than 100 goals.

Corby were one of three `new towns` in the league along with Stevenage Town, who finished just behind the Steelmen in fifth, and Crawley Town, who ended in seventh spot.

Captained by former Peterborough United and Republic of Ireland full-back Dick Whittaker and managed by Tommy Hadden, Corby`s top marksman was Tommy Crawley with 37 goals.

His son Ian went on to become a fans` favourite with the likes of VS Rugby, Telford United and Kettering Town before his untimely death in 2006 after being diagnosed with Motor neurone disease and then pancreatic cancer.

Apart from the former stars of First Division and international football mentioned already, there were many others who graces the Southern League in 1964/65 either as players or managers.

Starting out on a managerial and especially assistant managerial path to glory was Peter Taylor at Burton Albion.

The man who was to become a legendary figure alongside Brian Clough led the Brewers to a mid-table finish in the First Division that season – his last before joining Clough at Hartlepool United.

There were lots more ex-internationals about, including Bedford`s manager Ron Burgess, who made over 300 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur and won 32 caps for Wales, many as captain.

Burgess` former Spurs team-mate, Tony Marchi, who later returned to White Hart Lane to become part of their `double` winning squad, was player-manager at Premier Division Cambridge City.

Starring on the pitch for Stevenage in the First Division was another former team-mate of Burgess and Marchi at Tottenham, Johnny Brooks, who played 166 times for Spurs and scored 46 goals from inside forward and also won 3 caps for England.

Also capped three times by England at full international level was full-back Peter Sillett during 260 appearances for Chelsea.

He managed Ashford Town in the First Division and went on to have two spells in charge of the Nuts & Bolts as well as two at Hastings United right up until 1992.

Former Sunderland and Scottish international centre forward, Charlie Fleming, nicknamed `Cannonball` for his powerful shot, was player-manager at Bath City before being sacked following relegation, whilst there was another personality who was to earn notoriety later on managing in the Premier Division in Harry Haslam.

He managed Tonbridge on a record 552 occasions before becoming manager of Luton Town in 1972, famously leading them to promotion to the First Division in 1974.