The Southern League`s Outstanding Teams – Kettering Town 1956/57

The season the Poppies were national news.

Kettering Town were champions in 1956/57 - winning their first Southern League title – losing only four matches on the way.

It was a historic campaign, the roots of which can be traced back seven months before the start of that season in February 1956 when the Poppies created national headlines by acquiring the services of the legendary Tommy Lawton as their player-manager.

Although he was 36 at the time of taking the Poppies helm, he joined directly from First Division giants Arsenal and the signing was seen as being hugely significant - even being big enough to be screened live on BBC`s `Sportsview` programme.

When he arrived at Rockingham Road, the Poppies were sitting fourth-from-bottom of the Southern League table, with 19 points (two points for a win, one for a draw back then).

He made a couple of signings, including a young goalkeeper, Jim Standen - later to make his name at West Ham and as a county cricketer with Worcestershire – on loan from Arsenal, but most of the team he inherited stayed in the side which lost only twice in the remaining 13 games to finish a respectable tenth place on 43 points.

Upon taking the helm at Kettering, Lawton promised to give local youngsters a chance and he introduced soccer schools at the ground – a regular thing nowadays, but uncommon in the 1950s.

He also made a plethora of new signings for his senior teams.

Experienced goalkeeper Jack Wheeler arrived from Huddersfield Town.

The 37-year-old began his career with Birmingham City and joined Huddersfield for £6,000 in 1948 and was virtually an ever-present, helping them into the First Division on 1952/53.

He went on to follow Lawton to Notts County as trainer/physio and remained at Meadow Lane for over 25 years.

Former Aston Villa left half Amos Moss, who was still a regular at Villa Park the previous season, right half Len Geard from Brentford, right back Harry McDonald, formerly with Manchester United and Crystal Palace, his former Selhurst Park team-mate, forward Bob Thomas, and shortly after the start of the new season, centre-half Norman Plummer, who played in the 1949 FA Cup Final for Leicester City, signed in time to play in the second game on Bank Holiday Monday when the Poppies beat a Hereford United side, managed by Lawton`s former Arsenal team-mate, Joe Wade, thanks to goals from the player-manager and Jackie Goodwin.

Two days earlier, Kettering had come back from the long trip to Merthyr Tydfil with a point from a 1-1 draw, courtesy of a Thomas leveller.

Outside left Maurice Robinson and Thomas again were on target the following Saturday as Exeter City reserves were beaten 2-1 at Rockingham Road, although concerns were raised over the `disappointingly small` attendance of 3,312!

The next midweek saw Lawton show all his old mastery by netting a hat-trick to add to goals from youngsters Tommy Savage and David Hall in a 6-2 thrashing of Cheltenham Town in a Southern League Cup first leg tie.

September 1956 opened up with another hat-trick hero, Bob Thomas, as Bath City, containing a promising young right-back called Tony Book, were beaten 3-1 at home.

A first defeat of the season followed though as Cheltenham won the second leg of the League Cup, 2-1.

Lawton was injured in that game and missed the trip to Weymouth on September 8th as the Poppies earned a point from a 3-3 thriller, thanks to Sid Prosser, Robinson and another from Thomas.

A terrific performance at Edgar Street the following Wednesday saw the Poppies beat Hereford 4-1 to complete their first `double` of the season, courtesy of Thomas, Robinson, Prosser and a fit-again Lawton.

Lawton came up against another of his ex-Arsenal team-mates in the next game as former Scottish international Jimmy Logie brought his Gravesend & Northfleet side to Rockingham Road.

The Fleet were without their injured veteran player-boss and were playing their third game in four days. To make matters worse, already trailing 3-0, they had to play the second half with ten-men after one of their players suffered an injury (no subs back then, of course).

Kettering, roared on by a much better crowd of over 4,500, made the most of their extra man and ran out 7-0 winners, with Thomas helping himself to four, Lawton, Robinson and Amos Moss adding the others.

The Southern League leaders then took a break from the bread and butter to take on then-Eastern Counties League side Spalding United away in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.

However, any hopes of a useful cup run ended at the first hurdle as the underdog Tulips triumphed 3-2.

Two days later, Poppies fans were beginning to wonder if the wheels had come off as Cheltenham, who hit for six the last time they visited the Northamptonshire town, held them to a 1-1 draw, with local forward Geoff Toseland (pictured), who returned from Sunderland in 1953 and often slotted in when the `great man` was missing, salvaging a point.

However, September ended with normal service resumed, courtesy of a Lawton goal to beat Yeovil Town 1-0 – again on home soil.

The new month began with a good 2-1 success at The Eyrie against Bedford Town, with Robinson and Thomas on the mark, in front of a marvellous crowd of 8,728.

And then came a remarkable afternoon at Rockingham Road against Chelmsford City when Lawton netted four times – three were typical powerful headers – with Arthur Dixon and Maurice Robinson also finding the target in a 6-4 win in which the Clarets were always in a game when, apparently, the Poppies were not at their best!

Seven days later saw six more goals as Kettering won 4-2 at Dartford in which Lawton, Thomas, Robinson and Brian Reynolds, who also spent many years as a successful county cricketer with Northants, scoring the visitors` goals.

October ended with a home game against Tonbridge where Kettering wore black armbands as a mark of respect for the recently deceased Tom Whittaker, Lawton`s former manager at Arsenal.

Former Leicester City full-back Ron Jackson was recalled to the team for the injured Ray Parker, while the visitors` line-up included centre-forward Duggie Reid, a member of Portsmouth`s league championship-winning side of 1950.

The match proved to be Jackson`s last in a first-team shirt for Kettering.

Dropped after the cup defeat at Spalding following an unbroken run of 55 games, Jackson, who made over 250 League appearances for Wrexham and Leicester, saw the rest of the season out in the reserves after a poor performance which saw the Poppies scrape through 1-0, thanks to a Thomas goal from a Lawton head-on.

November 1st saw Lawton`s charges suffered another defeat in the Southern League Cup when a somewhat experimental side lost 3-2 at Bedford.

Two days later, hosts Gloucester City were beaten 3-1 with Toseland, Thomas and Goodwin on target, and the following weekend, Worcester City were seen off 3-1 at Rockingham Road, thanks to Thomas, Robinson and Toseland.

Lawton was out of the side when Kettering travelled to Newport to take on Lovells Athletic on November 17th and just 750 saw the Welsh side become the first team to beat the Poppies in the league, coming back from a Toseland goal behind to win 2-1.

Some thought that the defeat could actually be a good thing as it took some pressure off the side, although Lawton didn`t agree with that scenario!

However, November went out with a 2-1 home win over Kidderminster Harriers – Thomas and Toseland once again on the mark.

December started with four successive home matches - a 4-2 win against Gloucester with Thomas and Toseland both bagging braces, a Toseland goal separating Kettering and Llanelly, two more for Toseland plus Lawton and Goodwin goals saw off another Welsh side Merthyr Tydfil and then Toseland`s magic run was maintained when he scored two more as Guildford City were beaten 3-1 with Thomas adding the other on Christmas Eve.

Boxing Day saw the `double` achieved over Guildford, thanks to a Sid Prosser effort at Joseph`s Road, while December 29th saw Bath City firmly put aside at Twerton Park 4-1 with Toseland taking his December tally to 9 goals with another brace, with Thomas and Robinson adding the others.

The New Year of 1957 arrived with a bit of unrest at Kettering as Lawton was refusing to sign a new contract.

When Lawton was lured from Highbury to take over in February 1956, the Board agreed to pay a salary of £1,500 per annum (around £32,000 in today`s money), plus a commission of 10 per cent on gate receipts over 3,000 spectators at each game as well as usual win bonuses. In addition, he was allowed to select his own house which the club purchased and were willing to give him the option to buy at a later date.

Subsequently, in October, the Board agreed to increase Lawton`s salary by a further £250 a year.

However, these details were published in the local press, which angered Lawton.

Whether the doubts as to the former England star`s future had an effect on the team`s performances isn`t known, but it surely can`t be a coincidence that a January, which the weather restricted to three matches, failed to see a win for the Poppies as 3-3 draws at Kidderminster, with Robinson bagging a brace, and 1-1 at home to Weymouth, thanks to a Toseland equaliser, but Gravesend gained revenge for their earlier defeat with a 3-2 success at Stonebridge Road for the Poppies` second loss in the league.

Rumours now circulated that one of Lawton`s former clubs, Notts County, wanted the man who scored 90 goals in 150 for them between 1947 and 1952, to take over from the sacked George Poyser.

The ill-feeling between its player-manager and the Poppies Board meant communication between the interested parties was strained but it appeared a move was imminent.

There was, however, a crucial sticking point as Lawton could only move back into the Football League as a manager, having drawn his League Provident Fund money on January 1st, so forgoing the right to return as a player.

Eventually, Kettering`s Board agreed on a sum of £2,000 as the price they would want for the loss of Lawton the player, together with 50% of gate money generated from a friendly match between the two clubs.

As the news went public, Lawton added fuel to the fire by announcing he was also considering taking a job outside football with sportswear manufacturers, Fred Perry.

February began with a new chairman at the helm at Rockingham Road as John Nash took the position after the resignation of Arthur Bell – Nash becoming the youngest club chairman in the country.

Lawton`s players put all the uncertainty behind them too as they beat Hastings United 4-1 at Rockingham Road with goals from Robinson, Toseland, Robinson and Thomas.

Toseland and Thomas were once again on target as Kettering shared a 2-2 draw at sloping Huish ground against Yeovil, but the following weekend Bedford completed a second win over the Poppies, this time in the league, 2-1 at home.

It was Kettering`s first home league defeat in over a year and a shame that it was also in front of their record crowd for a Southern League encounter, 8,717.

And a few doubts crept in as, on February 23rd, Kettering were beaten 2-1 at New Writtle Street against Chelmsford.

But heading into the home straight, Kettering held a six-point lead over Bedford and Weymouth, who were level on 40 points.

Geoff Toseland, who finished with 32 goals in 29 games) bagged another brace as the Poppies beat Dartford 3-1 at home on March 2nd, although it was two weeks before they played again with Headington United beaten 3-1, again at home, thanks to Robinson, Thomas and Toseland – all scored in the final 10 minutes after being a goal down.

It was now virtually certain that Lawton would be leaving Kettering at the end of the season, so rumours abound as to his successor.

Two other former England centre-forward stars, Jackie Milburn and Nat Lofthouse, were the prime candidates.

Poppycock? Wishful thinking? Well, how many people believed that Kettering would get Tommy Lawton?

Two away games saw a point apiece at Tonbridge (1-1) and at Worcester (2-2) and then came a remarkable game at home on March 30th against a Lovells Athletic side who were sitting fourth in the table at the time.

The Welsh side had to play the entire second half with ten-men following the sending-off of their former Wales international centre-forward George Lowrie with Kettering already 3-0 up, thanks to a Geoff Toseland hat-trick.

Toseland went on to notch two more as the Poppies won 5-0 at a canter, even ending up with ten-men themselves when Maurice Robinson limped off.

April began with a quick `double` over Headington, beaten 1-0 on their own patch by a Thomas goal, and Lawton himself got back on the goal trail as he scored twice in a 3-2 win at Hastings.

There was a little respite from the title race on Monday, April 15th as neighbours Corby Town, then in the Midland League, were beaten 3-1 at Rockingham Road in the Northants Maunsell Cup.

Good Friday though saw the Poppies held to their first 0-0 draw of the season at Barry Town, but the next day they made up for that by winning the second game of their mini Easter tour of Wales, hammering bottom-of-the-table Llanelly 5-0 with goals from Arthur Dixon, Bob Thomas, Geoff Toseland and Tommy Savage.

Barry made the reverse trip up to Kettering two days later and Toseland, Thomas, Dixon and Robinson sealed a 4-2 success to make it a decent holiday period and the title virtually assured.

Newcastle United`s Scottish international wing-half Jimmy Scoular was the latest to be added to the list of twelve `big names` to replace Lawton.

With Bedford unable to catch the Poppies, a second goalless draw came at Cheltenham and the league season closed in rather disappointing circumstances as Kettering won 2-1 at Exeter City reserves, thanks to Toseland and the recalled Steve Squires in front of fewer than 100 spectators.

But just before that, Kettering faced the new Midland League champions Peterborough United in the final of the Maunsell Cup.

A massive crowd of 10,266 saw Tommy Lawton make his last appearance in a Kettering shirt and he scored a spectacular goal from the edge of the area – his final competitive goal – but Posh won the `battle of the champions` 4-2.

So, Kettering won the title by an eight-point margin, scoring 106 goals, conceding 47 and losing only four of their 42 matches.

The massive Southern League championship shield was presented at a gala dinner and Lawton revealed he had accepted the manager`s position at Notts County.

It looked as though former Manchester United and England inside forward Stan Pearson was the man to replace Lawton.

However, at the last-minute Pearson, who was playing for Second Division Bury at the time, had a change of heart and, in the end, despite all the big names being bandied about, the club appointed former Burnley full back Harold Mather as their new boss, having recently been assistant-manager at Hull City.

But Kettering did finally get their `big name` in the end, as Mather lasted just one season and was replaced by a player who was an England team-mate of Lawton, former Leicester City and Portsmouth star Jack Froggatt.