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United V Southampton


THYLACINE

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Tried to get an answer from Football Heaven but they couldn't reply to my email because of 'contractual reasons' So here's my question. On the 20th January 1973 I was standing on the deck of a liner at Southampton docks. It was a freezing winters day and sometime during the morning it began to snow. That same day Sheffield United were playing Southampton at The Dell. Previously, the furthest I'd ever been to watch my team was Blackburn and I had this sudden urge to jump ship and go and see the game. But it began to snow heavier and I had visions of me standing on the terraces at an abandoned match and missing the journey of a lifetime. So I stayed on board and before the game was due to kick off we were half way to Rotterdam on the way to Australia. I never did find out if United played that day. Can anyone tell me please? If it had been a sunny autumn afternoon, things might have been so, so different.

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Tried to get an answer from Football Heaven but they couldn't reply to my email because of 'contractual reasons' So here's my question. On the 20th January 1973 I was standing on the deck of a liner at Southampton docks. It was a freezing winters day and sometime during the morning it began to snow. That same day Sheffield United were playing Southampton at The Dell. Previously, the furthest I'd ever been to watch my team was Blackburn and I had this sudden urge to jump ship and go and see the game. But it began to snow heavier and I had visions of me standing on the terraces at an abandoned match and missing the journey of a lifetime. So I stayed on board and before the game was due to kick off we were half way to Rotterdam on the way to Australia. I never did find out if United played that day. Can anyone tell me please? If it had been a sunny autumn afternoon, things might have been so, so different.

The game was played, and finished as a 1-1 draw. I am sure someone will be able to fill in more detail.

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Tried to get an answer from Football Heaven but they couldn't reply to my email because of 'contractual reasons' So here's my question. On the 20th January 1973 I was standing on the deck of a liner at Southampton docks. It was a freezing winters day and sometime during the morning it began to snow. That same day Sheffield United were playing Southampton at The Dell. Previously, the furthest I'd ever been to watch my team was Blackburn and I had this sudden urge to jump ship and go and see the game. But it began to snow heavier and I had visions of me standing on the terraces at an abandoned match and missing the journey of a lifetime. So I stayed on board and before the game was due to kick off we were half way to Rotterdam on the way to Australia. I never did find out if United played that day. Can anyone tell me please? If it had been a sunny autumn afternoon, things might have been so, so different.

Are you saying that watching United play Southampton is worth NOT emigrating to Tasmania for! :blink:

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Hi Thylcaine

Don't ask why but I have the programme from the following home game against Norwich on the 27 Jan 1973

Peter Howard wrote in the programme 'Supporters who went to the Dell last week could see the improvement for themselves, it looked as though the team had started to believe in themselves and each other again and I thought they were disttictly unfortunate not to be well in front by half time and to leave with both points ta the finish'

See that age old dilema - if you you had jumped ship would your attendance have made the difference to the result (or not!)

The team at the Dell was

1. McAllister

2. Badger

3. Helmsley

4. Flynn

5. Colquhoun

6. Eddy

7. Woodward

8. Salmons

9. Dearden

10. Currie

11. Scullion

12. Speight

Deardon scored the United goal and the attendance was 12,125 the result left United in 16th in Division 1.

No tickets could be bought in advance as all seats were sold as Season Tickets!

Will that do?

Tried to get an answer from Football Heaven but they couldn't reply to my email because of 'contractual reasons' So here's my question. On the 20th January 1973 I was standing on the deck of a liner at Southampton docks. It was a freezing winters day and sometime during the morning it began to snow. That same day Sheffield United were playing Southampton at The Dell. Previously, the furthest I'd ever been to watch my team was Blackburn and I had this sudden urge to jump ship and go and see the game. But it began to snow heavier and I had visions of me standing on the terraces at an abandoned match and missing the journey of a lifetime. So I stayed on board and before the game was due to kick off we were half way to Rotterdam on the way to Australia. I never did find out if United played that day. Can anyone tell me please? If it had been a sunny autumn afternoon, things might have been so, so different.

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The attendance was 12,125.

No tickets could be bought in advance as all seats were sold as Season Tickets!

Now that 12,125 COULD have been 12,126 <_<

But perhaps not,

I suspect that if THYLACINE was planning on emigrating he would be unlikely to have got a season ticket :(

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Hi Thylcaine

Don't ask why but I have the programme from the following home game against Norwich on the 27 Jan 1973

Peter Howard wrote in the programme 'Supporters who went to the Dell last week could see the improvement for themselves, it looked as though the team had started to believe in themselves and each other again and I thought they were disttictly unfortunate not to be well in front by half time and to leave with both points ta the finish'

See that age old dilema - if you you had jumped ship would your attendance have made the difference to the result (or not!)

The team at the Dell was

1. McAllister

2. Badger

3. Helmsley

4. Flynn

5. Colquhoun

6. Eddy

7. Woodward

8. Salmons

9. Dearden

10. Currie

11. Scullion

12. Speight

Deardon scored the United goal and the attendance was 12,125 the result left United in 16th in Division 1.

No tickets could be bought in advance as all seats were sold as Season Tickets!

Will that do?

That is brilliant Dunsbyowl, it's like living in a time warp. Reading that team line-up, I'm feeling quite emotional now. I don't think my being there would have made an iota of difference, well, not to the result anyway. Thanks for the information and the memories, the next time I saw United play was 23 years later in 1996.

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Are you saying that watching United play Southampton is worth NOT emigrating to Tasmania for! :blink:

In those days, for any young, healthy, person with average skills or qualifications, migration was a matter of filling out the forms, an interview, a medical, then wait for a sailing date. For us this whole process took less than one month. Not allowing much time to change your mind! But some did - at the last minute. A young couple got off the train en route to Southampton and went back home. And we heard on the boat that even at the dockside, saying goodbye to their loved ones was too much for some who gave up their dream of a new life and went home. The chance to see Billy Dearden, Tony Currie and Alan Woodward did cross my mind but I couldn't do it, I couldn't send my young wife to Australia on her own and besides, they wouldn't have been in their red and white stripes anyway.

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In those days, for any young, healthy, person with average skills or qualifications, migration was a matter of filling out the forms, an interview, a medical, then wait for a sailing date. For us this whole process took less than one month. Not allowing much time to change your mind! But some did - at the last minute. A young couple got off the train en route to Southampton and went back home. And we heard on the boat that even at the dockside, saying goodbye to their loved ones was too much for some who gave up their dream of a new life and went home. The chance to see Billy Dearden, Tony Currie and Alan Woodward did cross my mind but I couldn't do it, I couldn't send my young wife to Australia on her own and besides, they wouldn't have been in their red and white stripes anyway.

There was a time when you could go to Australia for free if you did something like say steal a loaf of bread or try to join a trade union.

Then there was a time more recently when Britain shamelessly sent a group of young people in care that it didn't particularly want the responsibility for.

Also there was a time when anybody could go for as little as £10

But I suppose these days if you want to go to Australia that firstly the Australians won't want you unless you are highly qualified, can offer them something in a good shortage job and, ironically, have a very clean criminal record. Secondly, having passed all the obstacles in step 1, it will cost you an absolute fortune to pay your own transport out there, pay your relocation costs and set yourself up with a new home in a new country.

How times have changed.

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