Page 15 - 368603 LP250721 AWY AWY AWY Book (238pp A5)

2-1. Graham hadn't bothered to inform me about such a trifle as a goal by the opposition and there'd been no celebrations for it in our end at least. On Boxing Day that year Cloughie would sustain his career-ending injury and his great future as a player was suddenly lost but he certainly made his mark as a manager. By chance Bob Stokoe was playing for the opposition team Bury and apparently he berated Clough as he lay injured.
The next game I remember attending was against Gravesend in an F.A. Cup 3rd Round replay on 18th February 1963, which we won 5-2. Because of the extremely bad weather we hadn’t played for a month until the previous Saturday when we’d drawn at Gravesend 1-1. The main thing I can remember about that night was queuing up to get in at the Fulwell End because there was a great crowd and it was surging around and squashing me horribly against a wall. I thought I was going to be asphyxiated at one point but I managed to make it inside in one piece. One of their players was sent off and that’s the only other item that sticks in my mind. I do remember the cartoon in the following Saturday’s Football Echo making fun of this.
That season we were at last making a serious push for promotion and on 12th April 1963 I was at the game against close rivals Stoke City when there was a huge crowd of just over 62,000. We only managed a draw and three days later they beat us 2-1 away. I remember listening to that game on the radio at my uncle Alf’s house in Blyth and Stanley
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