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Tonight's game could pretty well seal England's qualification for the finals next year. But on this day, 50 years ago, things were a bit less rosy.
England played Poland at Wembley in what was, effectively, a qualification decider for the 1974 World Cup finals. England needed to win; Poland needed only to draw. Brian Clough was invited to be a pundit for ITV's coverage and, prior to the game, described Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski, as a clown.
But Tomaszewski had the night of his life pulling off several excellent saves and conceding only from a penalty. The match ended 1-1 and Poland qualified. Clough didn't row back on his description of Tomaszewski and his phrase "The man's a clown" entered English football folklore.
Failure to qualify spelt the end of Alf Ramsey's career as England manager.
(I was on a boat on the Norfolk Broads, listening to the match on radio with my then gf and it was freezing!)
It seems to me from the clips there he made a lot saves, but most were either straight at him or within easy reach. Also, we completely dominated a team that finished 3rd in the World Cup Finals, but just had one of those days where the ball wouldn't go in (from open play).
That's my sober analysis over with, on the day though, I imagine it must have emotionally felt like a complete failure.
50 Years Ago Today... "The Man's A Clown" on 20:04 - Oct 17 by Trequartista
It seems to me from the clips there he made a lot saves, but most were either straight at him or within easy reach. Also, we completely dominated a team that finished 3rd in the World Cup Finals, but just had one of those days where the ball wouldn't go in (from open play).
That's my sober analysis over with, on the day though, I imagine it must have emotionally felt like a complete failure.
It was one of the earliest games I can fully remember along with Leeds v Sunderland
For some reason I seem to remember the Charlie George FA Cup final before that but it may be some kind of phenomenon of non existent recall.
“Hello, I'm your MP. Actually I'm not. I'm your candidate. Gosh.”
Boris Johnson canvassing in Henley, 2005.
I was there. When you look back the football was brilliant. Alf brought on Kevin Hector for a very disappointing Martin Chivers and he had a header which looked a certain goal, we were right behind the goal, somehow the full back headed it out from under the bar. Ramsey was not popular amongst the FA elite and this was their opportunity to settle some scores.
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50 Years Ago Today... "The Man's A Clown" on 08:39 - Oct 18 with 1615 views
50 Years Ago Today... "The Man's A Clown" on 08:25 - Oct 18 by NthQldITFC
Are you absolutely sure that it was Cloughie's voice on your radio when you heard "The man's a clown", and not your girlfriend's?
As you say, it was freezing cold, and it can be difficult for the best of us in those situations.
We'd bought two big bottles of Coke (glass in those days). Next morning the one in the fridge had been protected from the weather, the one on the table was frozen solid.
Odd to remember back when you had to actually qualify for a World Cup. The real damage was done in Poland when Ramey’s defensive team got beaten 2-0 after a rare mistake by Bobby Moore.
Nobody rated Poland, even if they had Lubanski, one of the best players in the world, who was injured for the World Cup
Now the qualifiers are such a farce almost anyone qualifies. Even Scotland and Wales
50 Years Ago Today... "The Man's A Clown" on 10:10 - Oct 18 by ElephantintheRoom
Odd to remember back when you had to actually qualify for a World Cup. The real damage was done in Poland when Ramey’s defensive team got beaten 2-0 after a rare mistake by Bobby Moore.
Nobody rated Poland, even if they had Lubanski, one of the best players in the world, who was injured for the World Cup
Now the qualifiers are such a farce almost anyone qualifies. Even Scotland and Wales
Bobby Moore effectively ended Lubanski's career. The latter was never the same player after a long recovery process.
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50 Years Ago Today... "The Man's A Clown" on 10:38 - Oct 18 with 1481 views
I do remember the game and the gloom at school the following day. It was ‘one of those games’ where we did everything but score. The keeper did play well. Got in the way of everything.
However, England were in decline and it felt that Ramsey’s magic had gone. The year before we’d played West Germany at Wembley in the Nations Cup and they ripped us to bits - Gunter Netzer and his gang.
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