Eric Taylor - Time to recognise his contribution

[torryowl]

9 minutes ago, Bearwood Owl1 said:

My book on the Owls darkest times ofor 1973-76 will be out in the spring. Eric Taylor is mentioned in there - generally positively though with mention that there were 'Taylor Out' chants and protests. The stadium remained a world class one into the 70s - with plenty of FA Cup semi-finals and even a Northern Ireland international held there. 

 

I can understand the frustration of fans who remember the early/mid 70s as they witnessed a decline from the fantastic 60/61 team to near relegation to D4.

 

I do think that Eric Taylor was/is the wrong target for that frustration though. 

of course he  was …..the chairman has the final say on ground improvement and the manager on team matters .taylor in the 60s70s was neither , he was just a great administrator who because he was the spokesman for the club got the blame when things went badly but strangely didn't get the praise when things went well .

[OWLERTON GHOST]

7 minutes ago, Costello 77 said:

My book- Owlstalk (the wilderness years) will be out in time for Christmas..big guns gets a mention..

 

How many volumes?

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by OWLERTON GHOST

[Bearwood Owl1]

11 minutes ago, OWLERTON GHOST said:

 

How many volumes?

 

Hahaha - it's currently a succint 90,000 words. Funnily enough there are plenty of fans who remember the time with some fondness :)

[Bearwood Owl1]

20 minutes ago, torryowl said:

of course he  was …..the chairman has the final say on ground improvement and the manager on team matters .taylor in the 60s70s was neither , he was just a great administrator who because he was the spokesman for the club got the blame when things went badly but strangely didn't get the praise when things went well .

Which is pretty much what I conclude :) 

[OWLERTON GHOST]

3 minutes ago, Bearwood Owl1 said:

Hahaha - it's currently a succint 90,000 words. Funnily enough there are plenty of fans who remember the time with some fondness :)

Yes I do remember Bearwood .....

[TommyCraig6]

Referring to Barnwood Owl1s comment, I remember those dark days of the 70s all too well.  I didn't see as many matches then as I do now as I was still playing but there were many games that stand out.  Halifax away Tuesday evening March 2nd 1976, 0-0.  Our supporters outnumbered Halifax in 5,000 plus crowd.  Halifax manager, Alan Ball senior, full of praise for our support next day in the press.

 

Comments earlier blame Eric for the decline in fortunes but it wasn't Eric who sacked Derek Dooley and appointed Steve Burtenshaw.    

 

Looking forward to the release of that book.

[dorian gray]

On 12/10/2019 at 09:28, TommyCraig6 said:

Referring to Barnwood Owl1s comment, I remember those dark days of the 70s all too well.  I didn't see as many matches then as I do now as I was still playing but there were many games that stand out.  Halifax away Tuesday evening March 2nd 1976, 0-0.  Our supporters outnumbered Halifax in 5,000 plus crowd.  Halifax manager, Alan Ball senior, full of praise for our support next day in the press.

 

Comments earlier blame Eric for the decline in fortunes but it wasn't Eric who sacked Derek Dooley and appointed Steve Burtenshaw.    

 

Looking forward to the release of that book.

it was wrong quite some time before dooley was appointed, let alone 'put out of his misery' as the Christmas sacking was too late, and attracted the wrong attention.

I think it's hindsight to say taylor was and is the equivalent of 'marmite' to wednesday supporters, some like him, some appear to worship him, but I can fully remember the days of the late sixties, and (by far) the largest, most vocal chants of the day, were at the end of (yet another titsup) game, and it was 'TAYLOR OUT'.

nowadays people can 'recall' history as they wish, but I will never forget those early visits to hillsborough, and the chant going out from the cantilever stand.

[Bearwood Owl1]

Not the clearest picture - but here's something I found showing Hillsborough in its early 70s finery.  And EWT on the phone :)

[upperwinngardensowl]

On 23/10/2012 at 08:39, Freshfish said:

...sadly, towards the end of his career and when we were at out lowest ebb, he became the person to 'blame' for the mess we were in. Too much money spent on the ground and not enough attention paid to playing staff and managers.

My dad was one of those blaming him, unfairly I reckon. 

I went to his testimonial. Not many others did. 

[robertowl]

On 01/10/2019 at 12:33, Buxtongent said:

70+ years, and I agree. What many people fail to recognise is that the Old Stand, prior to the Cantilever being built, was not simply a covered terrace, but only partial standing with the choice to sit at the back.- all the same price. This was replaced by a new cantilever stand with seating for our so called 'working class fan base'

When it was built,the Stand up fans had the choice of two covered areas on the Leppings Lare end. Don't forget that the 'wedge' on the Lepp was covered standing  as well as under the scoreboard, There was also standing available on both sides of the South Stand  - yes-terraces - which were only to become seating for the World Cup in 66.

And what a clamour was made when the Kop was covered . This was very unpopular with the fans initially.

Then , what followed with regards to stadiums, was largely determined by the behaviour of fans themselves. 

For the first twenty years of my watching football, there was no such thing as segregation.IT WASN'T NECESSARY. Fans mixed with, took the p**s out and outshouted each other, then went for a pint afterwards. Yes, there was rivalry, but one always respected the other chap's point of view. The odd scuffle may break out at times, but it was usually 'handbags at 10 paces'. People were far too enthralled by how their own players were playing, not what the opposing fans were up to.

This, and the whole of public attitude changed, until we arrived at 'segregation'. The whole attitude of football changed and became more radical.  This in its turn led to Hysel, and eventually Hillsborough, .This brought on the Taylor report and the requirement for all-seater stadiums, which I am sure would have been anathema to EWT,who, if you met him personally, as I once had the honour, was a very ordinary some may say humble man of the people..

A statue of Eric Taylor should be erected in the centre of Sheffield , let alone a stand named after  him

And remember, it is the younger end of Football fanatics who brought on all-seater stadiums, and with their behaviour, drove many of the true fans from football, not the Eric Taylor's of this world..

Whilst I would agree in general with you, it wasn't all sweetness and light in the 50s and 60s. I saw some nasty behaviour at a number of grounds then, including Highbury,Goodison and Old Trafford. I recall a cup tie at OT when we won 1-0 (Fantham penalty) I saw a number of Wednesday supporters being attacked and was scared for myself. A  large number of tough looking plain clothes police intervened and one might ask why they were there at all if violence wasn't anticipated.

The other issue,of course, is the under reporting then compared with today. If there had been a punch up at, say, a Portsmouth v Southampton game in 1959 how many kids at my Sheffield school would have ever  known of it?

 Now with TV cameras there and everyone filming on their  mobiles and uploading to Facebook anyof us might have heard of it.

[TommyCraig6]

I think you will find it was Tommy McAnearney who scored penalty at Old Trafford in 1-0 victory.

 

The following year we beat Man Utd again in a cup replay at Old Trafford 7-2 !!!!

 

[adelphi1867]

He was  man who was years in front of his time.

We certainly could do with some one of his vision and admin skills today.

[TommyCraig6]

Dorian Gray may be surprised to learn that Eric Taylor was not in favour of Derek Dooley being appointed as team manager.

Why?  Because he knew it would end in heartache at some time.  Another decision he got right and led to a club legend turning his back on his beloved club.  It took approx. 30 years for Derek to visit Hillsborough again.  I think if Eric knew that Derek had become chairman of Sheffield United he would have turned in his grave.

[robertowl]

55 minutes ago, TommyCraig6 said:

I think you will find it was Tommy McAnearney who scored penalty at Old Trafford in 1-0 victory.

 

The following year we beat Man Utd again in a cup replay at Old Trafford 7-2 !!!!

 

Thanks for setting record state.Certainly remember the 7-2 tho' I wasn't there. The other thing I remember from the 1-0 is us getting a corner right at the end. With no Fergie time then,  Alan Finney pushed the ball over the line for a goal kick. He obviously thought retrieving the ball and taking a goal kick would take precious seconds compared with the threat of United clearing the corner and breaking up field. Alan wasn't the most popular man inside Old Trafford at that moment.