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Champions Of England 08:34 - Apr 28 with 8323 viewsPJH

Back in '62

BUMP-THIS IS A THREAD THAT APPEARED ONE YEAR AGO TODAY WITH THE BULK OF THIS OPENING POST HAVING APPEARED ON 28TH APRIL 2016 SO MANY OF YOU WILL HAVE SEEN IT BEFORE BUT HERE IT IS AGAIN.
MY MEMORIES REMAIN THE SAME.


On 28th April 1962 Ipswich Town became Champions of England and an eleven year old me was there to see it.
What follows is mostly a re-typing of a post of mine from three years ago today, that post is somewhere in the TWTD Time Capsule, although I will correct a factual error that I discovered in the earlier post and add a few observations on football as it was at the time.

On this day in 1962 my team,Ipswich Town, became Champions Of England.
We should have won it again in 1981 and probably a couple of other times in Sir Bobby's reign but in 1962 under Sir Alf we DID.
I know that there are a few of us on here that were about at the time but obviously and regrettably the vast majority of TWTDers have not been able to say that "My team is Ipswich Town and we are Champions of England".
I would just like to try to give you an idea of what it was like, as I remember it.
In 1961/62 I was in my last year at Primary school and I attended 20 of the 21 home League games only missing the Boxing Day game against Leicester because we were at my grandparents in Worcestershire for Christmas, I also attended one away game.
Looking at the fixtures now I do not actually have specific memories of some of the games although I was there but I would like to list a few vivid memories of games and incidents that I do have.
1)Losing our first ever home game in the top division 4-2 to Man C.
2)Beating Burnley 6-2 the following Tuesday night with all 5 forwards scoring.
3)Winning 3-1 at WBA in my first ever away game.
4)Beating Spurs 3-2, the previous season they had been the first team in the 20th
Century to do the League and F.A. Cup double.
5)John Elsworthy scoring with a chipped freekick in a 4-1 win over Man U.
6)Ray Crawford shoulder charging the Bolton goalkeeper with ball in his arms over the
line to score, perfectly legal back then.
7)Roy Stephenson scoring late under the lights to beat Sheff W 2-1.
8)Dougie Moran with a late winner to beat Wolves 3-2.
9)Over 30000 in the ground for the 2-2 Easter raw with Arsenal.
10)Two Ray Crawford second half goals to beat Villa 2-0 in our last game.


We then had to wait for the Burnley result because if they won and then won the other game that they still had to play they would have finished above us on goal average(not GD).
After what seemed like ages but probably wasn't the news came through that Burnley had drawn 1-1 with already relegated Chelsea and we,Ipswich Town, had won the League.
The pitch seemed to fill with men and boys and presumably women and girls and the players were hoisted onto shoulders-I have tears in my eyes whilst typing this.

The team was Bailey, Carberry,Compton, Baxter, Nelson, Elsworthy, Stephenson, Moran, Crawford, Phillips and Leadbetter and they all played at least 37 of the 42 games.
We were lucky with injuries although the original first choice Left Back Kenny Malcolm got injured in the third game and reserve Wing Half John Compton replaced him.
Back then (before substitutes) all clubs basically had a first team and reserves, no squads as such, and for a first team player to lose his place through loss of form was rare-they just played until they regained form.Players were not at anything like the fitness levels of these days and injuries then were far more likely to be to joints rather than muscular although fora player to actually leave the pitch to injury they seemed to have to need a broken leg of ankle or something.If a player took a serious knock during a game they were usually stuck out on the wing "for nuisance value" rather than go off and players would play games carrying knocks or well short of their peak fitness.
Of that team that won the League Bailey, Carberry,Elsworthy, Phillips and Leadbetter had been in the team that won the Third Division (South) in 1956/57 and they plus Nelson, Stephenson and Crawford plus for a large part of the season Baxter made up the Second Division winning team of 1960/61.
The only addition for 1961/62 apart from Compton replacing the injured Malcolm was Dougie Moran signed from Falkirk for £12000.
Crawford and Phillips between them scored 61 of the 93 League goals in 1961/62 having scored 70 of the 100 in the previous season.
Phillips had a thunderous shot from anywhere up to about 30 yards and Crawford was a great taker of chances with a lot of his goals being from rebounds off the keeper or woodwork of Phillips' shots,they were both very good in the air.
Back then teams traditionally lined up as a goalkeeper,two fullbacks,centre half,two halfbacks and five forwards two of whom were wingers.
Normally a winger would take on the opposition fullback and beat him with skill and pace before crossing or passing to the centre forward or inside forwards but Alf RAmsey devised a plan that confused opponents.
Both of our wingers, Stephenson and Leadbetter, were converted Inside forwards and although Stephenson had some pace and could play as a traditional winger Leadbetter did not.Alf played both of them deeper than conventional wingers which gave the opposition fullbacks a problem as to whether wait in their normal position for a winger who might never arrive or to push up to where our wingers were playing from and leave spaces behind for Stephenson and particularly Leadbetter to exploit with telling passes to Crawford and Phillips.
With Elsworthy and Moran being close to what would now be called midfield players and the wingers playing from deep Alf was using a sort of flexible 442 system before such a thing "existed".

Match day for me consisted of arriving at the ground with my mum and dad well before the turnstiles opened so that we could get our place on the wall just to the Churchman's(SAR) side of the half way line in the West Stand(Co-op).
There were separate turnstiles for adults and boys(girls?).
I remember Swede Herring going around the pitch before kick off with his chant"1,2,3,4 who are we for? I P S W I C H"
Our team running out to "Entry Of The Gladiator"-teams did not walk out together back then.
The crowd singing "Keep right on to the end of the road".


That was the wonderful season of 1961/62 as I remember it, thank you Sir Alf and the players for the joy that you brought to me, my mum, my dad and thousands of others.

The date is April 28th 1962 and I am 11 years old and my team,Ipswich Town, are Champions Of England.

[Post edited 28 Apr 2020 6:06]
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Champions Of England on 08:42 - Apr 28 with 5774 viewsBluebell

A great read PJH.

If only the youngsters of today could experience times like that at Ipswich. At least I had the experience of seeing Town in the top tier, albeit for only seasons.

I can see we will be losing a whole generation of potential fans. It makes me so sad that, unless something major happens to turn Town's future round, we will never see times like that again.
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Champions Of England on 08:46 - Apr 28 with 5756 viewsBenters2

Champions Of England on 08:42 - Apr 28 by Bluebell

A great read PJH.

If only the youngsters of today could experience times like that at Ipswich. At least I had the experience of seeing Town in the top tier, albeit for only seasons.

I can see we will be losing a whole generation of potential fans. It makes me so sad that, unless something major happens to turn Town's future round, we will never see times like that again.


Nothing will change while we have Evans as owner sadly.
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Champions Of England on 08:48 - Apr 28 with 5753 viewsblueislander

On Sky Sports yesterday they had Jeff Sterling talking to Ray Crawford, Ted Phillips and Larry Carberry . Great stuff. Crawford in particular looked very well.
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Champions Of England on 08:49 - Apr 28 with 5740 viewsMarshalls_Mullet

Champions Of England on 08:46 - Apr 28 by Benters2

Nothing will change while we have Evans as owner sadly.


Sheff Utd just got promoted based on the Evans business model...

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Champions Of England on 08:51 - Apr 28 with 5735 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 08:48 - Apr 28 by blueislander

On Sky Sports yesterday they had Jeff Sterling talking to Ray Crawford, Ted Phillips and Larry Carberry . Great stuff. Crawford in particular looked very well.


Was that a "Time of their lives" from a few years ago?

Only Crawford of those three is still with us.
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Champions Of England on 08:53 - Apr 28 with 5717 viewsBenters2

Champions Of England on 08:49 - Apr 28 by Marshalls_Mullet

Sheff Utd just got promoted based on the Evans business model...


Thats good news that means in 3 years we will be in the Premiership then.
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Champions Of England on 08:54 - Apr 28 with 5712 viewsMarshalls_Mullet

Champions Of England on 08:53 - Apr 28 by Benters2

Thats good news that means in 3 years we will be in the Premiership then.


;-)

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Champions Of England on 08:54 - Apr 28 with 5711 viewsblueislander

Champions Of England on 08:51 - Apr 28 by PJH

Was that a "Time of their lives" from a few years ago?

Only Crawford of those three is still with us.


Yes it was. I knew Ted had died, but was not aware of Larry’s death.
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Champions Of England on 08:56 - Apr 28 with 5703 viewsBluebell

Champions Of England on 08:48 - Apr 28 by blueislander

On Sky Sports yesterday they had Jeff Sterling talking to Ray Crawford, Ted Phillips and Larry Carberry . Great stuff. Crawford in particular looked very well.


We watched that.

I obviously wasn't around when those men played but it was good listening about the old days at Town.
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Champions Of England on 08:57 - Apr 28 with 5692 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 08:54 - Apr 28 by blueislander

Yes it was. I knew Ted had died, but was not aware of Larry’s death.


Yes, 2015.

Only Crawford, Compton, Nelson and Moran left now from that team.
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Champions Of England on 08:58 - Apr 28 with 5687 viewsfooters

The long-awaited return!

Cheers, mister :)

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Champions Of England on 09:00 - Apr 28 with 5666 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 08:58 - Apr 28 by footers

The long-awaited return!

Cheers, mister :)


I only posted the full version because of your request plus the fact that Gav buried the first one.

I might post it again for you on 28th April next year, or bump this one.
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Champions Of England on 09:03 - Apr 28 with 5650 viewsm14_blue

Superb stuff PJH.

You're so lucky to have witnessed that incredible moment.
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Champions Of England on 09:14 - Apr 28 with 5621 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 09:03 - Apr 28 by m14_blue

Superb stuff PJH.

You're so lucky to have witnessed that incredible moment.


Thank you.

Yes, I was born at the right time to be an ITFC supporter.

We started that season being expected to go straight back down but Alf made great use of the players that he had and it look the rest of teams a year to work out how to combat it.Plus in Crawford and Phillips we literally had goal machines.

We played Spurs at home in The Charity Shield at the start of 1962/63 and they beat us 5-1 although we played a lot of the game with 10 men because Larry Carberry got injured.
Spurs used their half backs to mark our wingers rather than their full backs so that sort of nullified their effectiveness.
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Champions Of England on 11:42 - Apr 28 with 5487 viewsSporall

This is the best post I have ever read on TWTD. This was all before I was born, but I was fortunate enough (although too young to fully appreciate) the Sir Bobby years.
[Post edited 28 Apr 2019 12:43]
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Champions Of England on 11:47 - Apr 28 with 5470 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 11:42 - Apr 28 by Sporall

This is the best post I have ever read on TWTD. This was all before I was born, but I was fortunate enough (although too young to fully appreciate) the Sir Bobby years.
[Post edited 28 Apr 2019 12:43]


What a nice thing to say.

As I said in the post most of that was on here three years ago today but those events from 57 years ago are all still just as vivid in my head and in my heart.
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Champions Of England on 12:04 - Apr 28 with 5411 viewsWeWereZombies

Great post PJH, I was not yet a Town supporter then although it did influence my seven year self in 1962 to become one. When people say 'those were the days' I hark back to the Robson years and most of all the FA Cup victory at Wembley but it is great to read such a detailed account of what is was like to be there for the 1961/62 season.

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Champions Of England on 12:08 - Apr 28 with 5407 viewsWaterfootblue

Champions Of England on 11:47 - Apr 28 by PJH

What a nice thing to say.

As I said in the post most of that was on here three years ago today but those events from 57 years ago are all still just as vivid in my head and in my heart.


An amazing post, they were indeed the days to be a Town supporter. Thank you for jogging my memory. I echo those sentiments, the best post I have ever read on this forum.
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Champions Of England on 12:46 - Apr 28 with 5357 viewsSporall

Champions Of England on 11:47 - Apr 28 by PJH

What a nice thing to say.

As I said in the post most of that was on here three years ago today but those events from 57 years ago are all still just as vivid in my head and in my heart.


My pleasure PJH - thanks for reminding me why I support this club, and why it used to be so great. No one can take that away.
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Champions Of England on 12:49 - Apr 28 with 5341 viewsPinewoodblue


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Champions Of England on 12:57 - Apr 28 with 5321 viewsPJH

Champions Of England on 12:49 - Apr 28 by Pinewoodblue



Love watching that clip but one interesting thing is that the second Ray Crawford "goal" shown is not actually the second goal.The one shown must have been disallowed although I do not remember it but I have the actual second goal in my head and the one shown is not it.
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Champions Of England on 13:00 - Apr 28 with 5295 viewsBloomBlue

It was a very special season I especially remember that Spurs game. We'll never have another manager like Sir Alf our greatest ever manager, it was Sir Alf who pushed that team over the line.

Although it was a completely different time of football, then it was about building a team now it's all about we need more money to buy more players. I guess that is just a reflection on life, which is all now about how much money you have and instant success.

But we will get back to the top league I'm convinced we will even in my life time and I know I dont have many years left on this earth.
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Champions Of England on 13:12 - Apr 28 with 5273 viewsBoy_Railey

Tremendous, memories, thank you so much for sharing. Despite our current plight, it is a timely reminder of what a special club Ipswich is.
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Champions Of England on 13:53 - Apr 28 with 5234 viewsCageyblue

Thanks PJH a great memory ! I was 7 at the time but remember it well ! I was walking down Fore Street with my older brother when a mechanic came running out of Cox's motorbike shop. Across the road was a boy with a transistor radio. The mechanic shouted out to him if he knew the Burnley score. When he replied that they drew the mechanic jumped up and down and ran back into the shop continuing to jump up and down.

I didn't realise the significance of it at the time but my brother explained it to me !!

Sad to see the state of the club today. We were lucky that we saw them at their best, especially the Bobby Robson era ! Sadly we will never see the likes of that success again.
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Champions Of England on 14:14 - Apr 28 with 5200 viewsmonty_radio

I was also, just as PJH, in my last year at Primary school. Two months after that April triumph our year went away to school camp in North Wales. There, some of us went into a shop and were asked where we were from. When we replied "Ipswich" the shopkeeper rejected the idea and called us glory-hunters. He said he'd never knowingly met anyone from Ipswich, if indeed there was any such place, and that, the name of the town having been catapulted into history, we were just leaping on the bandwagon.

Imagine!

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