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Our Lowest Ebb? c1973-76


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Me and my dad were at the famous last game of the season against Southend. Believe me, we were awful that season. I can't remember what year it was. 

We sat in the Cantilever that night. That ground was very full for the first time that season and for the first time that season we played brilliantly. Southend were destroyed 

We were regulars at Hillsborough throughout the really bad years and saw so many matches of horrendous quality. We got worse and worse until Jack Charlton transformed us. Without him we'd probably have gone down. 

He should have got us all the way to the top but he bottled it. He should have got us to Wembley but bottled it against Brighton. Yes I was there. 

But he saved us. 

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1 hour ago, Mrmason69 said:

Me and my dad were at the famous last game of the season against Southend. Believe me, we were awful that season. I can't remember what year it was. 

We sat in the Cantilever that night. That ground was very full for the first time that season and for the first time that season we played brilliantly. Southend were destroyed 

We were regulars at Hillsborough throughout the really bad years and saw so many matches of horrendous quality. We got worse and worse until Jack Charlton transformed us. Without him we'd probably have gone down. 

He should have got us all the way to the top but he bottled it. He should have got us to Wembley but bottled it against Brighton. Yes I was there. 

But he saved us. 

big jack serial bottler …...I don't think so .

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21 hours ago, Mrmason69 said:

Me and my dad were at the famous last game of the season against Southend. Believe me, we were awful that season. I can't remember what year it was. 

We sat in the Cantilever that night. That ground was very full for the first time that season and for the first time that season we played brilliantly. Southend were destroyed 

We were regulars at Hillsborough throughout the really bad years and saw so many matches of horrendous quality. We got worse and worse until Jack Charlton transformed us. Without him we'd probably have gone down. 

He should have got us all the way to the top but he bottled it. He should have got us to Wembley but bottled it against Brighton. Yes I was there. 

But he saved us. 

It certainly took dedication to stick with the team in that period.  Hope fully the book reflects that.

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The fans didn't get behind the club until Big Jack arrived. Attendances were down to less than 10000. They could have closed three sides of the ground and still couldn't have filled the Cantelever. 

If people think we are bad now then they havent had the dubious privelige of watching them as they almost slipped into the forth division. 

We were at the famous Southend match. Suddenly there were three times more people there than usual. 

We did play well that night. 

I went to match after match that were awful beyond belief. Frozen solid, wet on the Kop. Awful 

So why do it 

Because wednesday are my club and its what you do. Speaking the truth about the club doesn't make you less of a fan. It makes you honest. I've worn glasses for all my adult life but they've never been tinted with rose. 

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On 13/03/2020 at 10:20, Mrmason69 said:

The fans didn't get behind the club until Big Jack arrived. Attendances were down to less than 10000. They could have closed three sides of the ground and still couldn't have filled the Cantelever. 

If people think we are bad now then they havent had the dubious privelige of watching them as they almost slipped into the forth division. 

We were at the famous Southend match. Suddenly there were three times more people there than usual. 

We did play well that night. 

I went to match after match that were awful beyond belief. Frozen solid, wet on the Kop. Awful 

So why do it 

Because wednesday are my club and its what you do. Speaking the truth about the club doesn't make you less of a fan. It makes you honest. I've worn glasses for all my adult life but they've never been tinted with rose. 

The fans that went certainly got behind the team ....the support they gave to a side that was truly awful was phenomenal. 

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The book is now available to pre-order :)

 

https://ourlowestebb.bigcartel.com/product/our-lowest-ebb-a-new-history-of-sheffield-wednesday-s-darkest-times-1973-76

 

Plan is to release at Owls in the Park in June. We'll see what Corona virus has to say about that I guess. 

 

Thanks for all the support on here. Hopefully the book will be interesting/nostalgic/informative depending on your point of view. 

 

UTO

 

John

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22 hours ago, torryowl said:

The fans that went certainly got behind the team ....the support they gave to a side that was truly awful was phenomenal. 

 

It's worth remembering that Big Jack didn't turn it round immediately. He said, after his first game in charge at Exeter (we lost, of course) that things would get worse before they got better and, boy, was he right. The defeats at Cambridge, Wigan and on Boxing Day at Tranmere are easily amongst the worst five or six defeats I've ever seen. It did give you the feeling that if Big Jack can't sort us then no one can; the despair after that Tranmere game I can still feel now.

 

After that game we had two successive games at home to fellow strugglers Rotherham and Hereford which were absolutely vital. We simply couldn't lose them. He brought in Bob Bolder in goal instead of Chris Turner; now I know Bolder had his detractors and he was calamity prone but I've always felt he was the better keeper. We won both 1-0; both truly desperate games but the results were all that mattered. We then had the Ian Porterfield clanger which saw us lose at Carlisle but after that we began to turn it around bit by bit. In fact, we lost only three more games the whole season.

 

The good fortune that Big Jack had was not just the fan support, which at away games in particular was truly incredible, but the total support of those at the top. They understood that turning the club round was not going to be a five minute job but possibly a five year one and so Jack was given the opportunity to do that. Change and improvement came gradually and when we had the Arsenal cup games a year later we could all see where we were going.

 

Oh for a Big Jack now.

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On 16/03/2020 at 08:59, fredmciverslovechild said:

 

It's worth remembering that Big Jack didn't turn it round immediately. He said, after his first game in charge at Exeter (we lost, of course) that things would get worse before they got better and, boy, was he right. The defeats at Cambridge, Wigan and on Boxing Day at Tranmere are easily amongst the worst five or six defeats I've ever seen. It did give you the feeling that if Big Jack can't sort us then no one can; the despair after that Tranmere game I can still feel now.

 

After that game we had two successive games at home to fellow strugglers Rotherham and Hereford which were absolutely vital. We simply couldn't lose them. He brought in Bob Bolder in goal instead of Chris Turner; now I know Bolder had his detractors and he was calamity prone but I've always felt he was the better keeper. We won both 1-0; both truly desperate games but the results were all that mattered. We then had the Ian Porterfield clanger which saw us lose at Carlisle but after that we began to turn it around bit by bit. In fact, we lost only three more games the whole season.

 

The good fortune that Big Jack had was not just the fan support, which at away games in particular was truly incredible, but the total support of those at the top. They understood that turning the club round was not going to be a five minute job but possibly a five year one and so Jack was given the opportunity to do that. Change and improvement came gradually and when we had the Arsenal cup games a year later we could all see where we were going.

 

Oh for a Big Jack now.

Quite liked Bolder personally,we played swindon one night and he must have made 15 saves,some of them were real quality stops,we won 2-1,we should have been 4 down by halftime they were allover us,his reflex saves were stunning

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