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Post by senojbor on Jan 16, 2024 23:53:03 GMT
Remember the Sunday Cup game well.
I got up late and missed the bus but hitched a lift from Keele services.
We were in the open end and ran across the pitch to the home end before KO. Got thrown out but got back in.
Loads of shit fans with the home fans as I was getting in the second time. Proper scary, got chucked out for the second time.
Saw the end of the game when they opened the gates near the end of the game.
Eventful
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Post by smallthorner on Jan 17, 2024 0:14:00 GMT
Gliding across the Victoria Ground mud like an ice skater ...
What a player.
I was in the Butler Street stand for some reason I cannot remember and it was the perfect view of this guy conducting his orchestra..
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Jan 17, 2024 2:03:52 GMT
I remember Hudson's debut against Liverpool as though it was yesterday. Me and my mates and all other Stokies were really excited and couldn't wait to see our new star and he was even better than we could have ever imagined. Brilliant performance and he ran the game so seemingly effortlessly. Great memories ! Me too I actually felt quite emotional reading that the day of the news breaking was 50 years ago , it was the only ever true rock the city signing and Hudson was the finest player by some way I’ve ever seen in a Stoke shirt , and without doubt amongst the finest I’ve seen in any shirt . Funny until that day I dint think any of us realised just how brilliant he was . |
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Post by spitthedog on Jan 17, 2024 22:58:40 GMT
I remember Hudson's debut against Liverpool as though it was yesterday. Me and my mates and all other Stokies were really excited and couldn't wait to see our new star and he was even better than we could have ever imagined. Brilliant performance and he ran the game so seemingly effortlessly. Great memories ! Me too I actually felt quite emotional reading that the day of the news breaking was 50 years ago , it was the only ever true rock the city signing and Hudson was the finest player by some way I’ve ever seen in a Stoke shirt , and without doubt amongst the finest I’ve seen in any shirt . Funny until that day I dint think any of us realised just how brilliant he was . That's true, I had barely heard of him, so I didn't know what to expect, but I had to pinch myself watching him. It was like a footballing revolution seeing him play for Stoke. He was just way beyond anything else I'd seen. Like you say, he just could control a game in a way I didn't think possible. Incredible vision and he seemed to have so much time on the ball. True Artist. |
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Post by maine on Jan 18, 2024 0:45:46 GMT
Hudson had little pace, didn't have a powerful shot and couldn't head a ball.
The people above are right though-no opponent could seem to get near him and he was the best player I've ever seen in a Stoke shirt and level with literally just a handful of others. He really was that good.
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Post by Mr_DaftBurger on Jan 18, 2024 2:45:16 GMT
His lifestyle proves how good he was, it all just seemed so easy for him, similar to George Best.
Would be so interesting to see him play on today's pitches, although it said on the sentnel website he struggled on hard pitches with his joints,we watered the pitch for the Liverpool 2-0 game.
Of course having the Fire Brigade handy was something we did before for Stan! 😅
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Post by AlliG on Jan 18, 2024 16:05:16 GMT
Hudson had little pace, didn't have a powerful shot and couldn't head a ball. The people above are right though-no opponent could seem to get near him and he was the best player I've ever seen in a Stoke shirt and level with literally just a handful of others. He really was that good. You have also missed off that his left leg was used purely to stop him falling over. (His left foot was used about as often as Imbula used his right). Imagine how good a player you would have if you could combine the two. Being Stoke he would have the left foot of Hudson, the right foot and application of Imbula (rather than the opposite).  |
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Post by apb1 on Jan 18, 2024 16:08:56 GMT
He was a known quantity surely? I was only a kid when he signed and knew who he was at least, as an avid reader of football comics. Interesting others say they barely knew him. He was only 22 (that surprised me thought he was older) so I guess that's why? Although he'd played well over 100 games for Chelsea...
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Post by march4 on Jan 18, 2024 16:19:14 GMT
I mentioned in my latest instalment that Peter Osgood had been given a few days holiday by Chelsea to clear his head.
Any guesses for where he spent that holiday?
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Post by lordb on Jan 18, 2024 18:40:18 GMT
I mentioned in my latest instalment that Peter Osgood had been given a few days holiday by Chelsea to clear his head. Any guesses for where he spent that holiday? In the pub? |
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Post by march4 on Jan 18, 2024 19:32:37 GMT
I mentioned in my latest instalment that Peter Osgood had been given a few days holiday by Chelsea to clear his head. Any guesses for where he spent that holiday? In the pub? But where was this pub and who was his drinking companion? |
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Post by Gods on Jan 18, 2024 23:39:41 GMT
I remember Hudson's debut against Liverpool as though it was yesterday. Me and my mates and all other Stokies were really excited and couldn't wait to see our new star and he was even better than we could have ever imagined. Brilliant performance and he ran the game so seemingly effortlessly. Great memories ! It was extraordinary. We have had some excellent players since but nothing ever came anywhere near this. Hudson was so good it was ridiculous. |
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Post by lordb on Jan 19, 2024 8:28:44 GMT
But where was this pub and who was his drinking companion? The New Inn Flash with Arthur Berry, Eddie Clamp and Owd Grandad Piggott? |
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Post by spitthedog on Jan 19, 2024 9:24:49 GMT
He was a known quantity surely? I was only a kid when he signed and knew who he was at least, as an avid reader of football comics. Interesting others say they barely knew him. He was only 22 (that surprised me thought he was older) so I guess that's why? Although he'd played well over 100 games for Chelsea... Depends how old you were at the time. Some of us were quite young then. I was a kid and there were less celebrity footballers at that time and it's not like he'd played for England. Everything was more localised in those days as well, so Huddy would have had a reputation around London that didn't really translate up in the North until he came to play for Stoke. I'm sure he might have been well known with older supporters. Out of the two Osgood had by far the bigger reputation being more established and having played for England. Huddy was basically an Under 23 player at that time(until he walked out on it) but there wasn't the level of media and hype then. |
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 9:49:56 GMT
But where was this pub and who was his drinking companion? The New Inn Flash with Arthur Berry, Eddie Clamp and Owd Grandad Piggott? That’s pretty close. |
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Post by apb1 on Jan 19, 2024 10:30:49 GMT
He was a known quantity surely? I was only a kid when he signed and knew who he was at least, as an avid reader of football comics. Interesting others say they barely knew him. He was only 22 (that surprised me thought he was older) so I guess that's why? Although he'd played well over 100 games for Chelsea... Depends how old you were at the time. Some of us were quite young then. I was a kid and he there were less celebrity footballers at that time and it's not like he'd played for England. Everything was more localised in those days as well, so Huddy would have had a reputation around London that didn't really translate up in the North until he came to play for Stoke. I'm sure he might have been well known with older supporters. Out of the two Osgood had by far the bigger reputation being more established and having played for England. Huddy was basically an Under 23 player at that time(until he walked out on it) but there wasn't the level of media and hype then. Yes it's interesting to compare. Hardly any TV coverage then and of course The Big Match was regionalised. Was genuinely surprised at him not being on a fan's radar but it kind of makes sense reading this. |
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 11:00:48 GMT
And so the day of Alan Hudson's debut has arrived against a Liverpool side who were perennial title chasers in the 70s and the current champions. A bumper crowd of nearly 33,000 were there to witness the spectacle including a certain Peter Osgood. Our team was; - Farmer, Marsh, Pejic, Dodd, Smith, Bloor, Robertson, Greenhoff, Hurst, Hudson, Mahoney. Sub; - Haslegrave. No John Ritchie, although he did have a slight thigh strain. Shankly's team included, Clemence, Tommy Smith, Alec Lindsay, Thompson, Hughes and Keegan. And what a game it was. Huddy controlling the midfield with his calm authority. For younger readers, he would often take the ball from the keeper on the edge of our penalty area and casually move it up to the opposition area through a series of one twos and little shuffles. It was something we had never seen at Stoke and the crowd loved it, cheering every time he got the ball. And did he ever give the ball away? Not to my recollection. With the menacing eyes of Osgood on his back, Hurst missed two first half chances. How did Hurst know Osgood was there? Because Huddy was staying in one of Hurst's houses and Osgood was spending his little holiday from Chelsea with Huddy. Liverpool's best player on the day was Callaghan who drove forward most of their attacks but Smithy had Keegan in his pocket all game meaning our opponents barely had a shot at goal. At last the breakthrough came after 70 minutes and inevitably, Hudson was in the midst of it. A Robertson cross was half blocked to Hudson who hit the ball with power towards the goal. This shot was blocked but Hurst was in the right place to put away the rebound. And so the game fizzled out with Stoke's defence very much on top. 90 minutes arrived and no final whistle. Then 91, 92, 93 minutes and the crowd started to get restless as these were the days when 30 seconds injury time was the norm. In the 94th minute a speculative lob into our area by Boersma was misjudged by Farmer and fell to the waiting Tommy Smith who scored. Ironically, had Waddo been successful a couple of months earlier, Smith would have been playing for Stoke. So a 1-1 draw that the Sunday papers admitted had been day light robbery on Liverpool's part. Perhaps it was Farmer's trendy goalkeeping top that led to his mistake (two stripes on the underneath of his arm, reaching from his cuff up to his arm pit and then down to his waist band). What an exotic look. Footballers will have tattoos next if something isn't done to stop this flamboyance. Shankly described Hudson's debut as the best he'd ever seen. The papers were full of praise for our debutant, highlighting the telepathic relationship he had already developed with Greenhoff. They did note that some of our other players were sometimes a little slow to react to the clever play of these two. One paper said Hudson dominated play to the extent that he might even try to play in goal as well as in midfield at the same time! And even better news - after the game, Osgood announced that he would like to join Stoke. The Monday Evening Sentinel was particularly excited to hear this. What a time to be a Stoke fan! Relegation worries were melting away. We were on a long unbeaten run in the league after big tests against Ipswich and Liverpool and were dominating the back pages of the newspapers and the TV and radio sports bulletins.  |
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Post by ihaveadream on Jan 19, 2024 13:09:45 GMT
I mentioned in my latest instalment that Peter Osgood had been given a few days holiday by Chelsea to clear his head. Any guesses for where he spent that holiday? Up Hanley duck |
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Post by ihaveadream on Jan 19, 2024 13:10:22 GMT
But where was this pub and who was his drinking companion? Probably Huddy |
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Post by ihaveadream on Jan 19, 2024 13:20:57 GMT
And so the day of Alan Hudson's debut has arrived against a Liverpool side who were perennial title chasers in the 70s and the current champions. A bumper crowd of nearly 33,000 were there to witness the spectacle including a certain Peter Osgood. Our team was; - Farmer, Marsh, Pejic, Dodd, Smith, Bloor, Robertson, Greenhoff, Hurst, Hudson, Mahoney. Sub; - Haslegrave. No John Ritchie, although he did have a slight thigh strain. Shankly's team included, Clemence, Tommy Smith, Alec Lindsay, Thompson, Hughes and Keegan. And what a game it was. Huddy controlling the midfield with his calm authority. For younger readers, he would often take the ball from the keeper on the edge of our penalty area and casually move it up to the opposition area through a series of one twos and little shuffles. It was something we had never seen at Stoke and the crowd loved it, cheering every time he got the ball. And did he ever give the ball away? Not to my recollection. With the menacing eyes of Osgood on his back, Hurst missed two first half chances. How did Hurst know Osgood was there? Because Huddy was staying in one of Hurst's houses and Osgood was spending his little holiday from Chelsea with Huddy. Liverpool's best player on the day was Callaghan who drove forward most of their attacks but Smithy had Keegan in his pocket all game meaning our opponents barely had a shot at goal. At last the breakthrough came after 70 minutes and inevitably, Hudson was in the midst of it. A Robertson cross was half blocked to Hudson who hit the ball with power towards the goal. This shot was blocked but Hurst was in the right place to put away the rebound. And so the game fizzled out with Stoke's defence very much on top. 90 minutes arrived and no final whistle. Then 91, 92, 93 minutes and the crowd started to get restless as these were the days when 30 seconds injury time was the norm. In the 94th minute a speculative lob into our area by Boersma was misjudged by Farmer and fell to the waiting Tommy Smith who scored. Ironically, had Waddo been successful a couple of months earlier, Smith would have been playing for Stoke. So a 1-1 draw that the Sunday papers admitted had been day light robbery on Liverpool's part. Perhaps it was Farmer's trendy goalkeeping top that led to his mistake (two stripes on the underneath of his arm, reaching from his cuff up to his arm pit and then down to his waist band). What an exotic look. Footballers will have tattoos next if something isn't done to stop this flamboyance. Shankly described Hudson's debut as the best he'd ever seen. The papers were full of praise for our debutant, highlighting the telepathic relationship he had already developed with Greenhoff. They did note that some of our other players were sometimes a little slow to react to the clever play of these two. One paper said Hudson dominated play to the extent that he might even try to play in goal as well as in midfield at the same time! And even better news - after the game, Osgood announced that he would like to join Stoke. The Monday Evening Sentinel was particularly excited to hear this. What a time to be a Stoke fan! Relegation worries were melting away. We were on a long unbeaten run in the league after big tests against Ipswich and Liverpool and were dominating the back pages of the newspapers and the TV and radio sports bulletins. View AttachmentShankly time was a forerunner of Fergie time |
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 13:43:28 GMT
But where was this pub and who was his drinking companion? Probably Huddy Correct. He stayed with Huddy in a house Huddy was renting from Geoff Hurst. |
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 13:44:50 GMT
I’m sure the eagle eyed among you noticed the 2.30pm kick off time due to the ban on floodlights.
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Post by spitthedog on Jan 19, 2024 13:46:44 GMT
What a wonderful report march  Nice one! Do you remember the Hurst goal though? I cant for the life of me, but Tommy Smith's equaliser will be etched in my memory forever I think. The equaliser was a blow, but you know I think its the only time in my life where Ive gone home from a game where we have conceded a late equaliser and actually been elated. I was so excited after that game. One thing you mention, and perhaps people might find it hard to believe, but did Huddy ever give the ball away? Well obviously he did at some points, but there were so many games where he just didn't seem to lose possession throughout the 90 minutes despite having most of the ball and the few times he did he used to quite often win it back, he could be quite tenacious as well. The Liverpool game and the Chelsea one (soon after?) were just 2 examples. It was like magic at times. I don't want to give anything away but I just looked at Huddy's first 4 home games. There were all iconic games that I will never, ever forget and I look forward to your reports. |
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Post by kerouac on Jan 19, 2024 15:56:07 GMT
Crikey, was this really 50 years ago? I would have been eight and vividly remember being in the car with my old man and him fist pumping the air when he heard it on the radio,in quite possibly one of the Simcas he was obsessed with….. makes me feel old,nostalgic,and a bit sad thinking about my dad
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Post by castokie on Jan 19, 2024 16:48:24 GMT
By now the London branch was running trips to the home games. There were about 20 that made the trip getting to Stoke station about noon. Huddie was on the station and we could not resist having a natter and wishing him luck. He mentioned he was staying at Hursts place but nothing about Osgood. We wandered off to the social club by the Boothen End. Why because back then they would make wonderful beef sandwiches using dripping instead of marge spread across the bread. my mouth was salivating from about Stafford onwards thinking about them they were soooo good. The game itself is still etched in my mind along with just about everyone else there that day and will be for ever. It was just so special as was the transformation for the remainder of that season. From meeting Huddie we got some new members in the London branch Mr and Mrs Hudson senior who signed up and travelled up to see their lad play each game no doubt very proud of is achievements.
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 16:51:00 GMT
By now the London branch was running trips to the home games. There were about 20 that made the trip getting to Stoke station about noon. Huddie was on the station and we could not resist having a natter and wishing him luck. He mentioned he was staying at Hursts place but nothing about Osgood. We wandered off to the social club by the Boothen End. Why because back then they would make wonderful beef sandwiches using dripping instead of marge spread across the bread. my mouth was salivating from about Stafford onwards thinking about them they were soooo good. The game itself is still etched in my mind along with just about everyone else there that day and will be for ever. It was just so special as was the transformation for the remainder of that season. From meeting Huddie we got some new members in the London branch Mr and Mrs Hudson senior who signed up and travelled up to see their lad play each game no doubt very proud of is achievements. Great memories of a wonderful time. |
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Post by deeside2 on Jan 19, 2024 16:53:07 GMT
Crikey, was this really 50 years ago? I would have been eight and vividly remember being in the car with my old man and him fist pumping the air when he heard it on the radio,in quite possibly one of the Simcas he was obsessed with….. makes me feel old,nostalgic,and a bit sad thinking about my dad Yes it's hard to believe it's 50 years ago isn't it. I was in my teens when Hudson signed - what a player. My dad had a Simca around that time as well, it was a weird shape as I recall, it looked typically French. |
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Post by march4 on Jan 19, 2024 17:29:16 GMT
What a wonderful report march Nice one! Do you remember the Hurst goal though? I cant for the life of me, but Tommy Smith's equaliser will be etched in my memory forever I think. The equaliser was a blow, but you know I think its the only time in my life where Ive gone home from a game where we have conceded a late equaliser and actually been elated. I was so excited after that game. One thing you mention, and perhaps people might find it hard to believe, but did Huddy ever give the ball away? Well obviously he did at some points, but there were so many games where he just didn't seem to lose possession throughout the 90 minutes despite having most of the ball and the few times he did he used to quite often win it back, he could be quite tenacious as well. The Liverpool game and the Chelsea one (soon after?) were just 2 examples. It was like magic at times. I don't want to give anything away but I just looked at Huddy's first 4 home games. There were all iconic games that I will never, ever forget and I look forward to your reports. The goal was at the Boothen End. The penalty area was packed following either a corner or a free kick and the loose ball fell just in front of Hurst and behind Smith. Thankfully, Denis was quick enough to get out of the way of a 'Puffer' special. |
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Post by tosh on Jan 19, 2024 17:55:44 GMT
What a wonderful report march Nice one! Do you remember the Hurst goal though? I cant for the life of me, but Tommy Smith's equaliser will be etched in my memory forever I think. The equaliser was a blow, but you know I think its the only time in my life where Ive gone home from a game where we have conceded a late equaliser and actually been elated. I was so excited after that game. One thing you mention, and perhaps people might find it hard to believe, but did Huddy ever give the ball away? Well obviously he did at some points, but there were so many games where he just didn't seem to lose possession throughout the 90 minutes despite having most of the ball and the few times he did he used to quite often win it back, he could be quite tenacious as well. The Liverpool game and the Chelsea one (soon after?) were just 2 examples. It was like magic at times. I don't want to give anything away but I just looked at Huddy's first 4 home games. There were all iconic games that I will never, ever forget and I look forward to your reports. Just out of interest, does anyone remember a game where at one point Hudson was cruising around the mud patch of a centre circle with the ball seemingly tied to his shoe laces, and several opposition players trying in vain to get near him? I remember it because at some point he started taking the pee by flapping his arms as though he was flying and I recall looking up at the players and wives box to my left on the Boothen End and seeing I think it was John Mahoney and many others splitting their sides with laughter. It remains one of the funniest things I have seen on a football pitch, maybe ranking with Wenger’s reaction to Stoke fans doing “the Wenger”. Strange how things like that stay in the memory. I cannot remember any other details of the game. |
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Post by kerouac on Jan 19, 2024 18:17:12 GMT
Crikey, was this really 50 years ago? I would have been eight and vividly remember being in the car with my old man and him fist pumping the air when he heard it on the radio,in quite possibly one of the Simcas he was obsessed with….. makes me feel old,nostalgic,and a bit sad thinking about my dad Yes it's hard to believe it's 50 years ago isn't it. I was in my teens when Hudson signed - what a player. My dad had a Simca around that time as well, it was a weird shape as I recall, it looked typically French. We had a red and a blue one, yeah tres French indeed.....only just took the reg plates off me and my brothers bedroom wall (stuck up there for some bizarre reason as they must have had them for the caravan they towed)when we cleared the family home last year. |
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Nice one!
