Durham City and Ashington - Two more forgotten Football League sides from the North East

I've written previously about the two forgotten Football League clubs on Tyneside, Gateshead and South Shields, and for a period in the 1920s when Shields played in the league there where as many as eight teams from the North East of England playing league football. Alongside Shields' and the obvious big three of, Newcastle, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough, there where at that time four other teams from the region in the league, all playing in Division Three North. Two of those sides Hartlepools United, and Darlington spent many years in the league and are well known throughout the region and beyond. But the final two North Eastern sides did not last so long in the league, and their exploits are today very much forgotten. Ashington and Durham City both joined a newly formed Division Three North in 1921. Durham, where voted out of the league in 1928 whilst Ashington, lasted only one season longer.

A third division of the Football League was formed in 1920 consisting of teams formerly of the Southern League, and it was soon decided the top Northern clubs outside the league should follow suit and join up to form a Northern section of Division Three. Ashington had been playing in the North Eastern league since before the great war whilst Durham City were only formed in 1918 when local businessmen saw an opportunity for a Durham club to join the hastily organised Northern Victory league that took place for half a season after the war ended. Durham then joined the North Eastern League for the first full football season after the war and after only two seasons they successfully applied to join the Football League for the 1921/22 season along with fellow North Eastern sides, Hartlepools, Darlington and of course Ashington.

Ashington spent £8,000 refurbishing their Portland Park ground in preparation for their new football league adventure, it had a capacity of 25,000, boasted some of the best facilities in the league at that time, and over 8,000 spectators were in attendance for the opening league match at home to Grimsby Town. That opening game saw the hosts win 1-0 thanks to a goal from Joe Dickinson on his debut. Dickinson lobbed the ball into the net after the Grimsby keeper fisted the ball away and it landed at Dickinson's feet. Dickinson only played three times in total for Ashington and those three games were the only Football League appearances in his career. 

Durham City started their league campaign with a 1-1 draw away at Southport. Durham's goal came from Ernest Young and one report described his goal as 'a beautiful shot that gave the goalkeeper no chance'. In that first season Young, who had previously played 10 Second Division games for South Shields, scored 13 goals in 29 games, only bettered by Harry Cousins who scored 17 in 37 for the club. In 1924 Young transferred to Spennymoor United. 

Later that first season a record crowd of 7,886 saw Durham lose 2-0 at home to league rivals Darlington in the FA Cup, but overall gate receipts were low and the club suffered heavy financial losses in a season that saw then finish 11th. Ashington meanwhile finished the season in 10th place and won three FA Cup ties before eventually losing away at Millwall. As with Durham, Ashington suffered financial losses causing several experienced players to be moved on in the close season.

In their second season, Durham continued to suffer financially and some were worried that the club wouldn't last the season. A 7-1 trouncing of Lincoln City in the February was a rare moment of relief as the club finished bottom and were lucky to be re-elected. For Ashington, a promising start faded away and the club finished second bottom and they themselves also had to re-apply to stay in the league. Like Durham, they were also successful.

There was massive upheaval in the playing squad for Ashington in preparation for the 1923/24 season. The club ended up finishing that season in 8th and even made a small profit. This was largely down to an FA Cup run that ended with a plum home tie with Aston Villa where a record crowd of 11837 saw a 5-1 victory for the visitors. Durham finished the 1923/24 season in 15th place but despite improved attendances, after moving to a new stadium in the centre of town they still couldn't quite make a profit. Durham finished 13th the following season, a season notable for a January debut from a 22-year-old player called George Camsell. 

George Camsell scored almost a goal a game for Durham before moving to Middlesbrough in October 1925. Camsell scored a hat-trick against Hartlepools United in the penultimate match of the 1924/25 season and scored 12 goals in 10 games for the club at the beginning of the 1925/26 campaign. At Middlesbrough, Camsell scored 345 goals in 453 games. Camsell played only four games in his first season at Boro but in the following season famously scored 59 league goals in 37 appearances, this including 9 hat-tricks. This was surpassed the following season however when Dixie Dean scored 60 goals for Everton. Although Camsell was capped only 9 times by England he scored in every single game, totalling 18 goals including 4 in one match against Belgium and a hat-trick against Wales.

There were mid tables finishes of 10th and 9th for Ashington in 1924/25 and 1925/26, whilst for Durham, there were two 13th placed finishes over the same period. Durham were still struggling financially, but outgoing players were helping them make a small profit. Ashington began to drop down the table over the next few seasons whilst over at Durham things were even worse. In 1926/27 a late rally at the end of the season saw the club manage to avoid having to apply for re-election by the skin of their teeth.

Whereas Durham's George Camsell went on to make a name for himself in the First Division, no one from Ashington's football league years really made an impact in the higher echelons of the game at any point before or after playing for the club. Ted Ferguson, for example, left the club before they joined the Football League but returned in 1924 after a rather unsuccessful spell at Chelsea where he made very few first-team appearances. An Irishman named Patrick O'Connell, however, was one exception to the rule. O'Connell joined Ashington in 1920 having previously played in the First Division with Sheffield Wednesday and Manchester United before the war. He has also won five international caps with Ireland. In 1921 he became player-manager at Ashington and later went on manage various clubs in Spain, winning the La Liga title with Real Betis in 1935 before spending three years as manager of FC Barcelona. Quite a career indeed!

Durham City had somehow managed to avoid the re-election process in 1927 but weren't so lucky the following year. Despite finishing second bottom above Nelson and only a point worse off than the previous season, Durham were booted out of the league. Their low home crowds had evidently been noticed by other clubs, and geographically being stuck out of the way in the North East probably did not help matters either. There was also a crackdown on supposed amateur players being paid handsome match fees, and this being a scandal that Durham were themselves caught up in was another issue that would not have helped matters. Besides all that however, even though the league table told us Nelson were a worse team than Durham City, Durham had suffered four 4-0 defeats that season and three times conceded five in game, so they could hardly claim to have had anywhere near a successful season on the pitch, plus the club was now heavily in debt.

1927/28 whilst Durham had fallen on their sword, Ashington had finished three places higher and kept their heads just above water. Financial problems had had an effect on squad numbers and a depleted Ashington side had conceded 25 goals in their first six games, but form had then improved slightly, particularly in the second half of the season, and a 6-0 win over Rotherham United in their penultimate match certainly helped things! The 1928/29 season was, however, a different story...

Despite winning two of their opening three games in 28/29, defeats began to follow and a low point was an 8-2 home defeat to Bradford City in October. Bradford then went and signed Ashington's outside left James Randall for a fee of £400. Ashington spent most of the season marooned at the bottom of the table and there were further heavy defeats, whilst one game of note was a high scoring 7-4 loss at home to Doncaster Rovers. Star forward Tom Keetley netted a double hat-trick for the visitors that day! Aside from terrible performances on the pitch, there were also dismal attendances to contend with. One home game had only seen 729 in attendance, clearly not high enough for the club if they expected to hang about in the Football League much longer! As with Durham, depression in the coal trade left many locals struggling financially and some out of work. The club won only one of their last 8 matches, finishing rock bottom, and all things considered, their application for re-election was probably made more in hope than expectation. In the end, Ashington received only 14 votes and were replaced by York City.

After demotion from the league, Ashington continued their existence playing in various different divisions within non league football, and are still around today plying their trade in the Northern League. Durham only lasted 10 seasons after their league exit before folding, but Durham City, however, do live on today, with a team by the same name forming in 1950, and like their one time Football League rivals Ashington they also currently play in the Northern League.

South Shields and Gateshead, the Football League Years - PART TWO

On the 28th day of May in 1960, Gateshead Football Club was kicked out of the Football League, they had failed to secure re-election meaning for the first time in just over 40 years there would no longer be league football taking place on the southern banks of the River Tyne. A compelling story that had begun four decades earlier further down the river in the town of South Shields had now come to an abrupt and rather sad end.

Whilst on the northern side of the River Tyne Newcastle United have been a massive institution in the world of football for well over 100 years, and regularly draw crowds of 50,000+ to watch them play. However, across the river, for their one-time football league rivals, things did not fare so well. The story of South Shields FC and the Gateshead side they became when after 11 years they moved upstream is largely forgotten. But this is a fascinating tale nonetheless, and in a two-part piece, we look back at these fascinating years and in the second part we look at the story of Gateshead Football Club, ups and downs on the pitch, a historic cup run, and a sad end to thirty years of league football. (You can read Part One here)

Although there were fairly big crowds on occasion, in general, South Sheilds' move to Gateshead did not see a massive upturn in support, in fact, Newcastle Reserves often drew bigger crowds in the North Eastern League than Gateshead did in Division Three North, just as Sunderland's reserve side had drawn bigger crowds than Shields did in their later years. This was the case for most of the 1930s and Newcastle's first team were actually relegated to Division Two in 1934. But nonetheless, there would be no more moves. The club stayed in Gateshead with a wealthy businessman named Willaim Tulip at times keeping them afloat financially.

On the pitch, Gateshead finished 9th in their first season and managed two wins in the cup. Their first league game in Gateshead had attracted an impressive 15,545 with the local town mayor and the President of the Football League both in attendance. With nine players from the old Shields team in the lineup, they beat Doncaster Rovers 2-1.

Gateshead's second season as a Football League team proved to be one of their best, and they did for a short while manage to draw large crowds of locals to watch them play. The club won all five of their opening matches whilst an excellent unbeaten run towards the end of the season saw them finish as high as second in the final table behind champions Lincoln City. Sadly for Gateshead, the second of only two promotion spots went to the Champions of Division Three South, so there would be no promotion party on Tyneside. 

In that second season, a player called Bill McNaughton scored four times in two successive games for Gateshead against Barrow and York City. He was transferred to Hull City the following season and ended up scoring 41 goals as they cruised to the Third Division North title. Another high scorer in those days was Jack Westley who scored 26 goals for Tynesiders in the 1933/34 including four against Hartlepools United in one match. The following year he moved to Bradford (Park Avenue).

After finishing second in 1931-32 Gateshead didn't finish so high the following season, ending the campaign in 7th place, whilst an impressive 1-1 draw at home to First Division Manchester City in the cup was followed by a 9-0 defeat in the replay. Two 19th placed finishes (out of 22) followed, and the club continued to struggle financially with the usual issue cropping up once again - poor attendances. Two seasons later the club finished second bottom and had to reapply to stay in the league. They were successful on this occasion, but it was hardly something to shout about with the club struggling near the bottom year after year.

In the summer of 1937, it was announced that Redheugh Park would be transformed by installing a greyhound track. The greyhound racing company who would use it outside football matchdays would pay the rates and ground rents, and this was something that was bound to help the club at least a little financially. 

On the pitch, things did begin to improve. An excellent start to the 1937/38 season saw Gateshead top of the league in October, and the locals clearly took note with over 20,000 in attendance for one game. Sadly this excellent form did not last all season and the club ultimately finished 5th. 1938/39 saw Gateshead finish 10th whilst following season only managed to last three games before world war two brought proceedings to a halt.

From 1941 onwards Gateshead played in the wartime leagues, and in 1945 they actually claimed a piece of silverware winning what was called the Tyne-Wear-Tees Cup, beating Sunderland 6-3 in the final.

Several Gateshead players went on to play First Division football over the years but few made much of an impact in the top division, one who did though was Billy Cairns. Cairns moved to Grimsby where in the first two post-war seasons he scored 34 goals in 59 top flight games before Grimsby dropped back down the divisions and soon ended up in Division Three North. Another Gateshead player to make it to the First Division was Cecil McCormack who scored 100 goals for the Tynesiders during and after the war. His First Division stint was brief but he did manage to score a hat-trick for Middlesbrough in a 7-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers.

In the seasons after the war, Gateshead had several mid table finishes, but also managed to finish as high as fourth and fifth in two campaigns. Matches of note over this period included a 7-0 Christmas Day victory over Hartlepools United and a 3-1 fourth round FA Cup defeat against a West Brom side who would finish that season runners up in Division Two.

1949/50 was a season of note for the Gateshead boys as for the second time in their Football League history so far they came rather close to promotion. An excellent start to the season saw the hope of promotion seem to fade away as they headed towards Christmas, but then things began to then turn around. A win and a draw against North East rivals Darlington over the festive period was followed by four straight victories as Gateshead began to climb back up the table. A couple of draws and a defeat in February and March were surrounded by victories, and then seven straight wins at the tail end of the season saw Gateshead in second place, but earlier losses proved fatal and Doncaster won the league with two games to spare. Promotion sadly denied for Gateshead.

The 1952/53 season was another one worth remembering, but more so for Gateshead's FA Cup fortunes rather than their league form. Rounds One and Two of the 1952/53 FA Cup saw Gateshead defeat Crewe Alexandra and Bradford (Park Avenue), and this set up a mouthwatering Third Round home tie with First Division Liverpool. Liverpool visited Tyneside on an afternoon covered in fog and this saw the abandonment of the game between Newcastle United and Swansea Town across the river at St Jame's Park, but over at Gateshead's Redheugh Park ground the full 90 minutes took place. An excellent performance from Gateshead culminated in an 84th minute winner for the home side thanks to an Ian Winters header, a goal which because of the heavy fog many in the 15,000+ crowd did not see. 

A remarkable victory over a top First Division side saw Gateshead drawn away at Hull City in the next round and more than 4,000 supporters travelled down from Tyneside to cheer on the lads. The visitors took the lead after just four minutes when John Ingham slotted home after Johnny Campbell corner. 1-0 become 2-0 on 29 minutes a Winters shot deflected into the net of a Hull City defender, and whilst the home side pulled one back three minutes later, resolute defending saw Gateshead hold out for another impressive win.

The next round saw Gateshead drawn away against Plymouth Argyle and in the 53rd minute Winters headed home from 10yds to seal another famous victory and set up a delicious quarter final home tie with First Division Bolton Wanderers. Plymouth, on the other hand, became the only team to be knocked out of the FA Cup by not only Gateshead in their then current guise but also by them in their previous incarnation as South Shields.

17,692 were in attendance at Redheugh Park for the Quarter Final tie and for over half the game Gateshead managed to keep Wanderers at bay, but on 55 minutes Nat Lofthouse put Bolton ahead and Gateshead lost the game 1-0. Bolton, on the other hand, ended up making it to the final where they faced Blackpool in what many consider one of the greatest cup finals.

In 1955 the FA Cup once again saw First Division opposition return to Gateshead as the club faced Tottenham Hotspur in round three. Unfortunately, however, the 18840 spectators in attendance saw the visitors win 2-0. 

A 7th placed finish that season marked the end of what had been a moderately successful period for the club, though on too many occasions early season promise had faded away and attendances had dropped. One Wednesday afternoon home game towards the end of the 1951/52 season had even sen the humiliation of a three figure crowd. With Gateshead's season going nowhere only 622 people bothered to take an afternoon off work for what was basically a meaningless end of season match. By the 1956/57 however, the introduction of floodlights helped stop further embarrassing afternoon crowds.

6 and 7-0 defeats against Chesterfield and Darlington in the 1956-57 season saw Gateshead end the campaign in a miserable 17th place with attendances getting lower and lower. Although a slight improvement on the previous season, an average home attendance of 3,875 for Gateshead in 1956/57 was still the lowest in the entire Football League. Interestingly the following season Gateshead were one of the few teams to see their attendances significantly increase as the club finished 14th.

The 14th placed finish in 1957/58 saw Gateshead effectively relegated to a new Fourth Division. Regionalised football was disbanded in the Football League with top half of the Division Three North and South leagues merged into a nationwide Third Division for the following season and the bottom half, including Gateshead, dropping down to a new Division Four.

1958 saw the arrival of Scottish centre forward Hughie Gallagher to the club. Gallagher was already a hero on Tyneside thanks to five hugely successful years at First Division neighbours Newcastle United between 1925-30 where he scored 133 goals in 160 games. He only played 34 times for Gateshead however, scoring 18 goals in the process, 5 of which came in one single game against Rotherham United.

Gallagher's retirement from football in 1939 came the year before 30 years of league football at Redheugh Park came to a very sad end. Having finished as low as 20th (out of 24) in 1958-59, the following season was even worse. Completely disastrous in fact. Gateshead did not win a single game away from home finishing second bottom and for only the second time in 30 years, suffering the humiliation of having to apply for re-election. Unlike in 1937, Gateshead were this time unsuccessful. On May 28 at the Football League's Annual General Meeting their application was rejected. Gateshead gained only 18 votes in their bid for re-election whilst Oldham reapplying for the second successive season gained as many as 39, behind them Midland League side Peterborough United, Hartlepools United, and Southport all gained more votes than the Tynesiders. After 30 years Gateshead Football Club was no longer a Football League club.

Gateshead have not played in the Football League since, the closest they've come was reaching Conference Premier play-off final in 2014, where a 2-1 defeat to Cambridge United saw them miss out on promotion back to the Football League.

South Shields and Gateshead, the Football League Years - PART ONE

On the 28th day of May in 1960, Gateshead Football Club was kicked out of the Football League, they had failed to secure re-election meaning for the first time in just over 40 years there would no longer be league football taking place on the southern banks of the River Tyne. A compelling story that had begun four decades earlier further down the river in the town of South Shields had now come to an abrupt and rather sad end.

Whilst on the northern side of the River Tyne Newcastle United have been a massive institution in the world of football for well over 100 years, and regularly draw crowds of 50,000+ to watch them play. However, across the river, for their one-time football league rivals, things did not fare so well. The story of South Shields FC and the Gateshead side they became when after 11 years they moved upstream is largely forgotten. But this is a fascinating tale nonetheless, and in a two-part piece, we look back at these fascinating years starting with the story of South Shields Football Club and their time in England's professional divisions.

Like many former football grounds, South Shields' Horsley Hill stadium is now a housing estate, but once upon a time, it was home to Second Division football, or the Championship as it is in today's money. South Shields Football Club joined the Football League in 1919 having had ambitions of joining for several years. In the final three seasons before the great war, they finished second, first, and first in the North Eastern League, comfortably ahead of the reserve sides of the North East 'big three' Newcastle, Sunderland, and Middlesbrough. So when football was set to resume after world war one they felt it was time to progress to a higher level. The Football League was to be increased from 40 teams to 44 in time for the 1919/20 season and there were seven applicants including South Shields for the four places. In the voting Shields came joint third with Rotherham County behind Coventry City and West Ham United. South Shields Football Club had been accepted into the Second Division of the Football League. 

On Friday, August 29th 1919 South Shields Football Club travelled to London by train ready for their first ever Football League match, against Fulham at Craven Cottage the following day. Having travelled to Shields four years earlier and won there in the FA Cup, Fulham also won in this first league meeting between the two beating their visitors 1-0. Shields were certainly not disgraced, however. 

Two days later Birmingham City travelled to Horsley Hill for Shields' first home Football League match and 15,000 thousand spectators went wild when the home side who had been on the back foot for most of the game grabbed a last gasp winner through Archie Roe to secure a 1-0 victory. South Shields were up and running in the Football League. In the return fixture nine days later Birmingham won 4-0. Birmingham finished fourth that season whilst South Shields finished ninth. Highlights for Shields in that first league campaign included back to back wins of 6-0 and 3-0 over Blackpool, who ended the season in fourth, whilst there was also a 5-2 victory over Nottingham Forest and a thumping 7-1 scoreline in a fantastic win over Hull City. "From stem to stem South Shields were splendid" exclaimed the local Sunday Sun newspaper following that Hull match. In the FA Cup Shields fell at the first hurdle when a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool was followed by a 2-0 loss in the replay.

Attendances in that first season averaged over 14,000 which was a more than respectable figure, and a home game with Leicester City which happened to coincide with a meeting between Shields' two more established neighbours Newcastle and Sunderland still did not deter 12,000 from turning up at Horsley Hill. Attendance wise things were even better for Shields in their second league campaign with average crowds of almost 16500, and on various occasions 20,000+ in attendance for matches at Horsely Hill.

Player wise, one of the big names in those early days was a full back called Warney Cresswell. Creswell spent three years at the club from 1919 before a then world record £5,500 transfer fee saw him lured away to near neighbours Sunderland to play First Division football, where after 5 years in red and white he went on to gain a FA Cup winners medal with Everton. Another player of note was big name signing Richard Parker who after a £1,000 move to the club from Coventry Cty in October 1920, scored a hat-trick on his debut. His excellent start did not last however and after an unhappy time at the club he ended up playing North Eastern League football with Wallsend. The Stockton born player did eventually, however, return to the Football League and had successful spells with Queen's Park Rangers (for whom he scored twice against Shields in the FA Cup), Millwall, and Watford. For Millwall, he actually scored 62 goals in 88 appearances. Another name of interest was George Maitland who was sold to Middlesbrough for 4,000 in 1923. During his time on South Tyneside, he was deemed good enough to be selected to play for a Football League XI against their Scottish League counterparts. The two highest scores in Shields' second league campaign, Authur Hawes, and Henry Woods were sold to Sunderland and Newcastle respectively the following season. Woods was considered the clubs star striker, and although he struggled at Newcastle, a later move to Arsenal saw him top scorer two seasons running.

Shields' third season in the Football League saw the introduction of a Third Division North below them, with new North East entrants Ashington, Darlington, Durham City, and Hartlepools United, increasing the number of league clubs in the region to eight. On the field Shields finished as high as sixth in the final league table, two places higher then the previous season but a decrease in attendances had seen the club reduce ticket prices in the November. There was unrest from the fans when Hawes and Woods were sold, and this may have contributed to the drop in crowd numbers.

Dropping attendances seemed to become a regular occurrence at Shields over the following few seasons. Shields seemed to hover around the mid table positions during this period but two matches of interest were the FA Cup games with First Division side Blackburn Rovers in 1923 that culminated in victory for South Shields in a replay at Ewood Park. With First Division teams entering as early as round one in those days, this was a second round tie, and the first game saw 18750 in attendance at Horsley Hill for a 0-0 draw. The replay took place on a Thursday afternoon and saw Shields come away with a 1-0 victory after Jack Smith smashed the ball through the hands of Blackburn Keeper Ronald Sewell from a George Keenlyside pass. In the next round, Shields lost 3-0 away at QPR in that aforementioned match where ex Shields man Richard Parker was twice on the scoresheet for the home side.

Things then began to go horribly wrong for the club as the 1926-27 season saw Shields finish fourth from bottom whilst the following season saw relegation. 1927-28 started with manager Jack Tinn leaving for Portsmouth whilst on the field it was October before Shields actually won a match. Defeat after defeat followed in a season that saw Shields concede 111 goals and finish rock bottom. Yes, the dreaded relegation had occurred. Over this period there was a further drop in league attendances. Yes, performances on the pitch played their part in this (two 6-1 defeats and an 8-2 loss spring to mind) but miners strikes also saw many locals struggling financially and spending money on watching football was not always possible. 

Despite finishing fourth bottom in 26-27, the club faired much better in that season's FA Cup. Plymouth Argyle were dispatched of 3-1 at home before a tie with First Divison side 'The Wednesday' as they were called at the time, and a 1-1 away draw. The Wednesday came up to Horsley Hill for the replay and a rare bumper crowd of over 20,000 were in attendance for a 1-0 South Shields win with Jack Smith on the scoresheet, a big upset for a team struggling in the division below. A 2-2 draw at home to Swansea Town in the next round, however, was followed by a defeat for Shields in the replay. 

Jack Smith goalscoring hero against both Balckburn and The Wednesday in those two big FA Cup ties spent seven years at the club and in three of those seasons finished top scorer. He eventually moved to Portsmouth to join ex Shields manager Tinn, and at Pompey, he played in two cup finals and was capped three times by England.

During those difficult years that culminated in relegation, a league defeat at Middlesbrough in that 1926-27 season is also worth mentioning. The game in question became known as the battle of Ayersome Park with three Boro players suffering serious injury, resulting in a full-time dressing room that the Northern Echo described as looking like a 'field ambulance station'. George Camsell who scored a hat-trick for the Boro that day played much of the game with a broken thumb after a collision with Cyril Hunter, whilst a serious foul on Willie Pease saw him suffer a broken collar bone with the culprit again Hunter who was this time ordered off the field. A later tackle on Boro's Joseph Miller saw him also stretchered off, in his case for concussion. Nasty scenes indeed.

Cyril Hunter was banned for 6 months for his part in the Middlesbrough antics. Having been signed from Brentford in 1924 the Pelaw born player spent four years at the club making 105 appearances before moving to America and playing for a club called Fall River Marksmen in Massachusetts. He then returned to England and played for Lincoln City, whilst later playing for Gateshead's reserve team where more dangerous play saw him banned from football for over a year. Not the most well behaved of players.

Relegation was not the only problem affecting Shields as the club found themselves in financial trouble. Although come the end of the 1927-28 season they had made a small profit, this was effectively down to outgoing transfers, without which the club may have ceased to exist. Players continued to leave throughout the summer, but two wins and draw in their opening three games raised hope of an immediate return to Division Two. Three defeats on the bounce followed however and what turned out to be a mixed season eventually saw the club finish in 10th place.

With attendances down even further, 1927/28 onwards had seen Shields' home fixtures now usually coincide with Sunderland's instead of Newcastle's, and despite Shields being based in South Tyneside, Sunderland's Roker Park ground was actually less than three miles away. This hardly helped matters and crowds began to hit an all time low. Some matches saw crowds lower than what Sunderland's reserve team were getting, never mind their first eleven. Because of these low crowds, the club's chairman warned: "If we don't get better support there won't be any club after next season". On the pitch, the club finished 7th but for much of the season, there were rumours that the club was to leave town. Talk that the club was going to up sticks and move to Newcastle turned out not to be true as a new ground called Redheugh Park was to be built in the town of Gateshead along the river from Shields, and on 22 March 1930 the club announced that with Football League permission the club were to move to Gateshead for the following season and play in the league as Gateshead Football Club. South Shields would no longer be home to a Football League club. 

There have been several incarnations of a South Shields Football Club since their relocation to Gateshead in 1930, but none have come anywhere near making it back to the Football League.

In part two (coming soon) we look at Gateshead FC's thirty year stay in the Football league and their sad exit from England's professional divisions.

Remembering The Royal League (Expanded piece)

A few months ago I wrote short a piece on the Royal and have since decided to expand on it further and give a more detailed account of the short lived competition. I hope you enjoy this more in depth look at Scandinavia's Royal League, of which a version was featured on the These Football Times website. You can read the original piece here.

"If we don't find a way forward and negotiate a new TV deal it doesn't look good for the Royal League”. Those were the words of then Brøndby chairman Per Bjerregaard after his club won the third and final instalment of Scandinavia's short lived regional Champions League style club tournament, a Nordic festival of football called the Royal League.

Described by some as a failed experiment the Royal League ran for three seasons starting in 2004/05 with the four best teams from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all taking part and qualification based on the previous season’s domestic league positions. Split into three groups, the first tournament saw the top two teams from each of those progress to a second group phase before those two group winners met in the tournament final. For the second and third seasons, the second group phase was replaced by a knockout format with the two best third placed sides also joining the first and second placed teams for this.

Aside from the main UEFA competitions, there has been over the years many weird and wonderful club competitions involving teams from more than one country, albeit usually short lived and often undervalued. These included such delights as the Texaco Cup, involving teams from England, Scotland, and Ireland, the self explanatory Anglo Scottish and Anglo Italian Cups, and the Setanta Cup, involving teams from both sides of the Irish border. There have also been many more ideas for potential competitions that never came to fruition such as an Atlantic League involving teams from places such as Scotland, the Low Countries, and Scandinavia, a combined English-Scottish League Cup, and a European Super League, which, as yet has never progressed into anything serious and hopefully never will.

Even the mere idea of such competitions, however, has always fascinated me - even if I haven't on every occasion been in favour - and when the Royal League was created I remember reading about it with absolute intrigue. The competition did not get much media attention in Britain and it became something I mostly read about briefly in football magazines. Flicking through old magazines recently (I am Grade A hoarder when it comes to these things) I found myself reading various articles about the competition, how it proceeded over the three seasons, and a short piece on its initial demise. Searching online gave me more information and I felt compelled to write its story, which, barring the odd magazine article in publications such as World Soccer, has mostly gone untold on these shores.

Some might argue that the Royal League did well to last three years. I may have slightly sentimental memories of following from afar, but in reality, right from the beginning it struggled to gain credibility, not everyone was convinced by the competition. "I would never give priority to the Royal League. The domestic league and any UEFA Cup matches are the most important,” said Hans Backe the Swedish coach of Denmark's FC Copenhagen. Staying in Denmark and AaB coach Søren Kusk was, however, more worried about the extra game's participation would involve, referring to keeping his players fit and free from injury he said: "There is no doubt that more matches will result in more damage". 

The tournament also struggled to gain enough sponsorship, with eight sponsors sought after, and there were also problems trying to secure suitable TV deals in each of the three markets. This meant that in the months leading up to it, there were genuine suggestions that the competition would never take place. The idea of playing matches over the winter also worried some, with Norway and Sweden both running their domestic leagues over the summer, this is to avoid the harsh conditions of Nordic winters, that are not often suited to playing football. "I shake my head at the impossible Royal League. No club wants a Scandinavian football league in the middle of winter," wrote Mats Olsson a sports correspondent for Sweden's Expressen newspaper.

It was not all doom and gloom for the Royal League however, as some were enthusiastic about the prospect of a new Nordic tournament, with Frank Grønlund, sporting director at Lillestrøm SK in Norway for example envious that his team had not qualified for the first edition, "The Royal League looks very exciting" he declared.

How the Royal League actually came about has been difficult for me to determine, but reading old Norwegian newspaper articles online, it seems that Rosenborg and their then Sporting Director Rune Bratseth were both rather keen on a Nordic club competition, and heavily involved in initial talks regarding its creation. Various other businessmen, club directors, league executives, and ex-players also got involved, and eventually, the idea actually came to fruition.

With the initial problems regarding sponsorship and television rights all eventually resolved in time, the first edition of the Royal League kicked off on 11 November 2004, with all twelve teams involved on that opening day. Brann's first game came just days after winning the Norwegian Cup, whilst the Swedish teams, including Brann's first opponents Halmstads, started the competition just weeks after their domestic league had finished. Unlike the other two countries, Denmark's domestic league was not a summer one, meaning they were not even halfway through their season yet and were represented by teams selected based on last season's league positions. Highlights from those opening fixtures included Brøndby's 3–2 home win over Tromsø, and Rosenborg's 4–4 home draw with Djurgårdens of Sweden.

In Group A it was the Norwegians who came out on top, with a Vålerenga -Rosenborg one-two after all the fixtures were completed. The pair met on November 20, and then again in February, with Vålerenga coming out on top both times. Despite those two defeats though, Rosenborg still finished three points ahead of third placed Esbjerg from Denmark. 

After having to forfeit their final two games as punishment for earlier fielding an ineligible player, fellow Norwegians Tromsø comfortably finished bottom of a Group B table that saw FC Copenhagen, and IFK Göteborg of Sweden qualify for phase two. The other Norwegian side in the competition, SK Brann, finished second behind Sweden's Malmö in Group C. 

Group B had seen arch city rivals FC Copenhagen and Brøndby drawn against each other, and both games - a 1-1 draw and 0-2 Copenhagen victory - were undoubtedly two of the main highlights in this inaugural Group Stage.

'Norwegians in charge' reported World Soccer magazine, reflecting the dominance of the country's sides in the opening stages, but in the second phase of the tournament, it was Sweden and Denmark who came out on top.

FC Copenhagen finished top of Group One ahead of Malmö and Rosenborg, whilst in Group Two, IFK Göteborg didn't lose a single match and finished comfortably ahead of their two Norwegian opponents, Vålerenga, and Brann, who finished second and third respectively.

There was to be a £400,000 prize fund for the winners of the inaugural final, that took place in Gothenburg's Ullevi Stadium on May 26th 2005. FC Copenhagen defeated local side IFK on penalties, after a 1-1 draw in front of 10,216 spectators. Both goals had come in the first half, with rest of the match being a complete stalemate. Hjalte Bo Nørregaard gave the visitors the lead after 18 minutes, whilst 13 minutes later the hosts were level through George Mourad. No extra time was played, so they went straight to the shoot out, and it was a mammoth one at that! One which FC Copenhagen eventually won 12-11, with Nørregaard twice on target.

This first edition of the tournament was sadly plagued by poor attendances, and although the tournament's highest match attendance was a more than respectable 21,763 for one of the two Copenhagen derbies, only 272 turned up to watch Brann v Denmark's Odense BK, and Odense v Halmstads fared even worse, with only 86 people present. These were well below usual domestic league crowds.

Attendances did not fare any better for the second edition of the competition, with a low of 63 for one game. With the new format, two of the three third placed teams in the opening groups would qualify for a second stage knockout format. Danish side Midtjylland opened Group One with a thumping 4-0 of Vålerenga and finished top of the group with three wins and three draws. Hammarby finished second whilst Vålerenga in third, also qualified for the next round as one of the two best third placed teams, winning their final match against Hammarby, and finishing behind them only on goal difference. 

In Group Two Brøndby only managed a draw in their final match knowing they'd have qualified instead of Vålerenga with a win. Instead, they were going home having finished behind Lillestrøm - who'd actually qualified for the tournament this year - and city rivals FC Copenhagen, who for the second year had had the better of them by again taking four points from the two derby matches. The other third placed team to qualify were IFK Göteborg in Group Three, who secured their place by drawing with Danes Aalborg, who finished fourth but could have potentially qualified with a win. Djurgårdens and Norway's Lyn finished first and second in the group.

The two legs of the four quarter finals took place on 23rd February and 9th March respectively. Midtjylland beat Lyn 4-1 over two legs whilst Djurgårdens progressed with a 5-2 aggregate victory over Vålerenga, and after a 0-0 draw in the first leg, Lillestrøm beat IFK Göteborg 2-0 at home in the second. The fourth and final tie saw FC Copenhagen face Hammarby, and the first leg at Copenhagen's Parken Stadion saw the hosts win 2-0, but a dramatic finale to the second leg saw two goals in the last three minutes give Hammarby a 2-0 win, and see the tie end with a penalty shoot-out, which unfortunately for them, FC Copenhagen won 3-0.

The semi final first legs took place the following week, with second legs a week later, FC Copenhagen easily progressed to a second final with a 7-1 aggregate win over Midtjylland, whilst their opposition in the final would be Lillestrøm, who defeated Djurgårdens 5-1 over the two legs.

Copenhagen's Parken Stadion was the venue for the 2005/06 Royal League final . Could FC Copenhagen retain the trophy they won in the inaugural season a year earlier? Well, in the end, FC Copenhagen did win again and sealed that second successive trophy, but those in attendance had to wait until the 89th minute for what was the only goal of the game scored by FC Copenhagen's Razk Pimpong. Pimpong however, was sent off with a second yellow card for celebrating his goal by taking off his shirt. How dare he!

The 2005/06 finale wasn't the most thrilling of matches though, and the attendance figure of 13,617, was well below domestic averages at the ground. This was yet further proof that the competition was struggling to gain interest from fans in the region, something that rather low crowds for earlier matches had already suggested. 

When the Royal League entered into its final season, no one yet knew that this would be the last ever tournament, but before long the first signs were beginning to show. Attendance-wise there was only limited improvement for the third year of the competition, and as the tournament progressed, it became apparent that finding an all important new TV deal to bring in much needed revenue, was proving rather difficult.

The Group stages in 2006/07, saw the three of the four Danish teams progress to the knockout rounds. Odense BK topped Group One, followed by SK Brann, whilst third placed Helsingborgs of Sweden lost their final game, knowing they had already qualified. 

Group Two saw city rivals FC Copenhagen, and Brøndby, drawn together once more. The first meeting between the two saw a 1-0 Brøndby away win, whilst the reverse fixture saw FC Copenhagen come out on top with a 3-1 victory. That win saw them qualify for the next round, with a third placed finish behind Lillestrøm, and those city rivals Brøndby.

In Group Three third placed AIK of Sweden, and Denmark's Viborg FF in fourth faced off against each other in what was both teams final fixture, knowing neither could qualify for the knockout rounds. Vålerenga topped the Group whilst Sweden's IF Elfsborg finished second, having lost to Vålerenga both home and away.

For this third season, all knockout games were played over one leg only. In the quarter finals Brøndby were drawn at home to Brann and won 3-0 whilst Odense beat Lillestrøm on penalties after a 2-2 draw that saw extra time played for the first time having just been introduced for that season. FC Copenhagen won 2-1 away at Elfsborg to see all three remaining Danish clubs reach the semi finals where they were joined by Helsinborgs who won 2-1 away at Vålerenga.

In the semis, Brøndby came from behind to beat Odense 2-1 after extra time and this set up an all-Danish final with city rivals FC Copenhagen who had beaten Helsingborgs 3-1 at home earlier on the same day.

The 2006/07 final took place at the Brøndby Stadion on March 15 and was a heated Copenhagen derby that had a fairly healthy crowd of 17,914 watching in the stands. The only goal of the match came from the penalty spot on 38 minutes. Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebø pointed to the spot when FC Copenhagen's Jesper Grønkjær pulled down Brøndby's English centre back Mark Howard. Swede Martin Ericsson took the penalty and found the net to send the home support into raptures. FC Copenhagen were according to one paper more 'aggressive' in the second half, but the second period saw no goals meaning Brøndby had gotten the better of their fierce rivals and stopped them from claiming a treble of Royal League titles.

In the run up to the final in 2007 there were rumours that next year’s tournament could be postponed or that the competition might even be scrapped for good, and although the former initially happened it was the latter is that ended up being the final result. Attendances were a little better for the Brøndby won third season, but it was financial issues and in particular, problems securing a new TV deal that proved to be the competition's downfall.

In the end, Per Bjerregaard's prediction of a potentially bleak future sadly became reality. Several teams were unwilling to participate until a TV was secured and that was the main reason for following seasons competition being cancelled. It was suggested that all problems could eventually be resolved and many were confident of a tournament taking place in the 2008/09 season with one headline in Danish newspaper BT exclaiming 'Royal League Not Dead Yet'. There was even talk of accepting reduced TV exposure and a scaled down tournament if that was what it would take to keep the competition continuing long term.

During 2008, it was again suggested that the Royal League would resume later that year, however, it was now claimed it would return under a new name, the Royal Cup, and would also include clubs from Iceland and Finland. This, in the end, did not happen and although talk of resurrecting the tournament continued for the next couple of years by 2011 all talk of the idea seems to have disappeared. 

In terms of exactly when the Royal League or the Royal Cup as it was supposed to be renamed was finally considered dead for good, it seems unclear with information online about its revival drying up and the whole idea of resurrecting the competition seemingly quickly forgotten. Maybe many were glad to see the back of it and happy to sweep it under the carpet, or maybe they realised it was never going to get the support needed to make it a successful yearly competition, either way, the sad thing is that it disappeared almost without a trace and was never really spoken of again. From what I can see, Scandinavia has almost completely forgotten about this short lived competition for clubs from the region, whilst many outside that part of the world don't realise it had even existed in the first place. 

I for one however will always remember the Royal League though. There may not be a place for it in today's football calendar, but there will always be a place for it in my memory, a memory of a time when I avidly read about these Nordic football exploits as an enthusiastic follower of European football in my late teens. At a time when life seemed to become complicated, as it often does at such an age, there were always football tales from Scandinavia to captivate the mind, with the short lived yearly battle to be the regions number one club momentarily finding a little place in my world.

One Summer In Germany: 1974

When 1. FC Magdeburg strolled onto the De Kuip pitch in early May 1974 they had already been crowned DDR (East German) Oberliga champions, but now they had another title in their sights, the European Cup Winners' Cup. That May evening in Rotterdam was the beginning of a glorious summer of football for those living on both sides of the Berlin wall, a Magdeburg win would be followed by further European club success in the western half of Germany, whist once the club season had finished both East and West Germany would participate in a World Cup that saw a thrilling group match between the two, and culminate in hosts West Germany winning the World Cup for the second time. Here is the story of that glorious summer of football where a Germany divided into two separate states, east and west, would be for at least a few months united by the beautiful game.

This was an era before wall to wall television, where outside of the World Cup, stories from abroad were rarely told unless they involved British teams. So those two European finals involving German teams in 1974 are not remembered by many in the UK. But if you delve into the 1970s, football on the continent it has some fascinating stories to tell, especially with club football, and particularly when it comes to those tales from Germany in the summer of 1974.

The 1974 World Cup appeared all over British TV screens and by many of a certain generation it is well remembered, but our wonderful summer starts with the barely acknowledged tale of East Germany's only triumph in European club finals.

We start with Magdeburg but their Cup Winners' Cup campaign actually started some eight months prior to that evening in Rotterdam. When Magdeburg beat Dutch side NAC Breda in their Cup Winners' Cup first round tie it's doubtful it had occurred to anyone across Europe that they might actually win the whole competition, and when they lost to 2-0 away at Baník Ostrava of Czechoslovakia in the first leg of their second round tie no one would have given them a cat in hells chance of reaching the next round let alone reaching the final and winning the whole thing. Magdeburg, however, won the second leg against Banik 3-0 and Beroe Stara Zagora of Bulgaria were defeated before an enticing semi final against Sporting CP from Lisbon. A credible 1-1 draw away from home was followed by an even better 2-1 home win and 1. FC Magdeburg were in the Cup Winners' Cup final - the first ever European final for an East German side - where their opposition would be Italian side AC Milan.

Milan were overwhelming favourites for the final and so convinced were their supporters that the match would see nothing less than a routine victory for the Rossoneri that very few of them actually bothered to make the trip to Rotterdam for the match. As for Magdeburg the communist East German authorities allowed only a few hundred of their klaxon blowing supporters to travel to the game meaning a very low turnout in the stands. In fact the official attendance of just 4641 was the lowest ever recorded for a European final.

Magdeburg had a team completely composed of home grown players including Jürgen Sparwasser who would go to score a famous World Cup goal later on that summer, whilst the only foreigner in the Milan squad was former West German international Karl-Heinz Schnellinger. As the game got underway it soon became apparent that the East Germans were no pushovers and would be a difficult proposition for their much fancied opposition, so no one should have really been surprised when Magdeburg took the lead on 43 minutes.

Magdeburg broke forward through 19 year old midfielder Detlef Raugust and when he eventually fired a low cross into the box Milan's Enrico Lanzi accidentally hit the ball into his own net. If anyone  thought Milan would come roaring back they would be mistaken, Magdeburg looked the better side in the second half and in the 74th minute managed to find themselves 2-0 up. The ball fell to Wolfgang Seguin in the left hand side of the box and he was able to slot the ball home from a rather acute angle. 

Milan were in shock and couldn't recover, the game ended 2-0 and the underdogs had won. On 8th May for the first time in the history of European club competitions an East German side had won a final, with the 1974 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners being 1. FC Magdeburg. 

"Dear sports fans, I would like to congratulate you on this outstanding performance and I wish you continued success." Those were the words of future East German leader Erich Honecker, then already a leading politician in the country, in his telegram to the victorious Magdeburg team. Yes, in the year that shops allowing East Germans to buy western products were opened for the very first time, it was team of Eastern goods that had actually dominated in what was one of Europe's three major finals.

Whilst in East Germany fans in and around Magdeburg were celebrating their teams Cup Winners' Cup success, some 300 or so miles away over in the west FC Bayern Munich were preparing for a big European final of their own. Some things don't change, and even in the 1970's FC Bayern were damn good. Having just been crowned Bundesliga champions for the third season in a row they now had their sights set on winning the European Cup.

Bayern traveled to the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, to face Atlético Madrid in the showpiece event of the European club season having defeated amongst others to reach the final, the previous years East German Oberliga champions Dynamo Dresden 7-6 on aggregate.

The final was hardly a memorable affair, at least not during the first ninety minutes as the game ended in a goalless draw. But extra time was to follow...

The breakthrough in the match did not come until minute 116, Bayern's Johnny Hansen brought down substitute Heraldo Bezerra and that was followed by a Luis Aragonés free-kick where he curled the ball over the wall and past goalkeeper Sepp Maier. 

If Atlético though they had the game won they were however sadly mistaken. A long range effort from Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck in the final seconds found the back of the net and the sides were level. These were the days before penalty shoot outs and replay would have to take place.

The replay took place at the same venue two days later and the day after Helmut Schmidt was elected new chancellor of West Germany replacing Willy Brandt. Brandt had been forced to resign earlier in the month after one of of his assistants was found to be an East German spy. The West German public had been stunned.

The first game may have ended in a draw, but the second certainly didn't. Maybe Bayern's last gasp equaliser gave them a psychological advantage, maybe the fact that most of the Atlético side were over thirty meant they struggled to keep up the pace for another ninety minutes (certainly it looked so), but the fact is the boys from Madrid were outclassed as two goals each from Uli Hoeneß and Gerd Müller saw Bayern win the game 4-0. 

Party time in Munich and although they wouldn't have imagined it yet but this was the first of three straight European Cup final victories for Bayern, with the German champions defeating newly crowned DDR Oberliga champions and Cup Winner's Cup winners Magdeburg 5-3 on aggregate en route to their 1975 victory.

"[after winning the 1974 replay] We partied all night long," said midfielder Franz Roth who would score important goals in the next two finals. "The next day, we had to play in Gladbach [in the Bundesliga]. We arrived fairly drunk and lost 5-0. Luckily, we were already champions and the game did not matter."

The German football season had ended with European final victories on both sides of the border, and with club exploits over for the rest of the summer all eyes turned towards the 1974 World Cup being held in West Germany.

With West Germany not only hosting the tournament but also being the reigning European champions, some people considered them favourites for the competition. For the first time in their history East Germany had also qualified for a World Cup finals tournament and fascinatingly had been drawn in the some group as the West German's for the first group stage. The pair would meet in the final round of group fixtures and with the recent scandal of the East German spy in the West German chancellors inner circle it was sure to be a tasty affair.

Issues of money with the West German players demanding more of it meant preparations did not get off to the greatest of starts for the team and when the action on the pitch began West Germany opened the tournament with a mediocre at best 1-0 win over Chile in Berlin. The East Germans also won their opening game by defeating Australia 2-0.

Next it was West Germany's turn to play Australia, they won 3-0 but the performance was unconvincing and the fans were getting restless. Next West Germany would play their compatriots from the east who had just drawn with Chile in their second match and the fans expected a far more convincing display.

It would be an awkward meeting for the East Germans too."Many people [In the east] also supported West Germany. Many expected that we were going to leave the stadium having lost 5-0" recalled East German midfielder Jürgen Sparwasser. He also recalled the team bus driving through parts of the east where people were "waving West German flags".

The West German coach Helmut Schön had lived in the East until 1950, and despite his side having already qualified for the next round their was still plenty of pressure on him for his team to beat their communist foes from the East where he had once resided. As for the East Germans, they still needed a point to qualify.

The game took place at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg and as it progressed the West Germans struggled to breakthrough the East German defence. If the West Germans were finding the game frustrating then it only got worse as on 77 minutes that frustration turned into a nightmare. Sparwasser collected a long ball from substitute Erich Hamman, rounded a defender and lifted the ball over FC Bayern goalkeeper Sepp Maier. 1-0 East Germany, and two thousand East German fans inside the stadium went absolutely wild. These supporters had been specially vetted by the country's communist government and were supporters of the regime that ran the one party state. These supporters were probably far removed from many other football fans in the east of whom as mentioned many were actually supporting their western counterparts instead.

That 1-0 scoreline still stood at full-time and the West German players who had spent the tournament build up demanding extra money now looked like overpaid prima donna's. Coach Schön was devastated, the following days press conference was cancelled but the show had to go on and the West Germans some how managed to pull themselves together for the second group stage.

Many claim that after the defeat against East Germany, captain Franz Beckenbauer took charge and made most of decisions with him now pretty much having control over team, and that coach Schön would have struggled to cope without him. Nevertheless the tournament carried on and next up for West Germany were Yugoslavia.

Whilst West Germany would face Yugoslavia, Sweden, and Poland, beating the West Germans hadn't done East Germany any favours. Topping the group actually ended up giving them harder opponents in the second group phase and they would have to face in reigning world champions Brazil, an in form Dutch side with star of the tournament so far Johan Cryuff, and Argentina.

The West Germans beat Yugoslavia 2-0 whilst their rivals over border lost 1-0 to Brazil. The West Germans then beat Sweden 4-2 but East Germany lost 2-0 the Netherlands and the fairy tale was over for them. Having beaten West Germany on their own patch in what was East Germany's first ever world cup finals appearance they would not progress any further, they drew their final game 1-1 whilst West Germany faced Poland for the right to come up against the Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup final.

West Germany only needed a draw to qualify for the final. The match was delayed due to heavy rain and when it did finally kick-off the players found it difficult to play football considering the state of the pitch after the downpours.

Poland had the better of the chances in the first half but the only goal of the game came on 76 minutes when Gerd Müller found the net to send West Germany into the World Cup final. In the final the Germans would face a rampant Dutch side with Cryuff and co whom during a stunning tournament performance had easily swept everyone in their path aside en route to the grand finale. Naturally the Dutch were expected to do the same again against the West Germans, and even though they'd improved after a slow start to the tournament the West Germans still didn't look in the same league as the Dutch.

7th of July 1974, the final of the 10th FIFA World Cup, West Germany vs Netherlands. 77,833 thousand spectators were in attendance at the Olympiastadion in Munich to see what they thought would be Johan Cryuff and the Dutch stars with their 'total football' win their first ever World Cup. For the Germans however being rank outsiders was nothing new, 20 years earlier in 1954 they had also been given no chance at all but lifted the World Cup trophy after a final in which they beat a much fancied Hungary side including the legendary Ferenc Puskás, a team they had lost 8-3 to earlier in the tournament. It was referred to as the 'miracle of Bern', could there be a miracle in Munich?

A few days before the final a German tabloid paper claimed that the night before their previous match the Dutch stars had been partying in their hotel swimming pool with naked girls, and as the final approached maybe some of the Dutch players were distracted by angry wives and girlfriends. Who knows if that was the case, but most people still had them down as clear favourites, and when they took the lead two minutes in the final the outcome was never in doubt, surely?

FC Bayern's Uli Hoeneß brought down Cryuff in the box, the Dutch were awarded a penalty without the Germans having even touched the ball yet, and Johan Neeskens scored from the spot. 1-0. For the next twenty minutes or so the Dutch completely dominated the match with their possession football, at times toying with the opposition, and facing up to these eleven Dutch men for the rest of the game looked a daunting prospect for the Germans.

If those watching thought the game was going to be all a one sided affair then they were however wrong, 23 minutes after the Dutch goal and the Germans were level. Bernd Hölzenbein was fouled and another penalty was awarded. Out of almost nothing the Germans were back in the game. Many accused Hölzenbein of diving but the penalty was given by English referee Jack Taylor and Paul Breitner converted from the spot to level the score. For many in the Netherlands the penalty is remembered for Dutch TV commentator Herman Kuiphof uttering a now infamous line: “Zijn we er toch nog ingetuind” – “They’ve tricked us again”.

At 1-1 the Dutch were still confident of winning the match, but shockingly two minutes before half-time they found themselves 2-1 down when Gerd Müller slotted home for the Germans, not only that but the Germans had looked the better side after the second penalty. Even so the Dutch were still sure they would turn it around in the second half. Everyone was.

The Dutch came out all guns blazing for the second period and dominated play, but in the words of Dutch defender Ruud Krol "the ball didn’t want to go in". Try as they might they could not find an equaliser and the Germans held out for an improbable victory. West Germany had for a second time won the World Cup. Cue despair across the Netherlands and street parties all over Germany.

It was a brilliant finale to the perfect summer of football for West Germany, a European Cup final victory for Bayern and despite losing to arch rivals East Germany along the way there was a World Cup win for the national side. That win over the West Germans during their first ever World Cup campaign combined with Magdeburg's Cup Winners' Cup victory meant it was also a fairly successful summer for those in the East, albeit without quite reaching the heights of their western neighbours. Although it would be more than fifteen years before Germany was united as one country again, for one long summer they could at least celebrate together their successes on the football pitch, and with many in the East cheering on their West German counterparts to World Cup success, it was a Germany that almost did feel united. It's just a shame that the politicians didn't see it that way.