Search: ' Martin Edwards'
Stories
Mark E Smith, frontman of The Fall, has died aged 60. He was a long-term reader of WSC and left a legacy which included some contributions to the magazine over the years. In WSC 157, March 2000, Mark discussed his football experiences, which included encounters with a goalkeeping plumber and a controversial match against the Icicle Works
Dear WSC
In his article on football in film (WSC 278) Rob Hughes quite rightly says that the most convincing football scene ever takes place in Ken Loach’s classic 1969 film Kes. I attended the school that Barry Hines, author of a Kestrel For A Knave, worked in as a teacher. Mr Sugden, while probably never acknowledged by Hines, is clearly based on our old games teacher, Ron “Rocket Ronnie” Hallam. Ron was driven by a will to win at all costs and a classic Ronnie-ism was said to me when I tried out for the school team as an 11-year-old, “goalkeeping’s an art son”. I can still hear him say those words. In fairness to Ronnie he was right. I was never much of a footballer but was occasionally prone to bouts of brilliance. One such example came against Rocket Ron. He was playing a sweeper role when a ball was played forward for me to run on to. I pushed the ball past Ronnie and advanced on goal, easily rounded the full-back and slotted the ball under the advancing goalie. As I wheeled away, delighted with my goal, Ronnie was whistling furiously. He was yelling “offside, offside”. When I said that was rubbish he sent me off for arguing with the ref. Ronnie Hallam may well have been too keen to win at times but he was fantastically knowledgeable about football and cricket, and we didn’t waste much time on cross-country running. Some of Ronnie’s protégés went on to play professionally – the Shirtliff brothers turned out for Sheffield Wednesday among others and Steve Shutt played for Barnsley. Ian Swallow passed up football for a pretty successful cricketing career with Yorkshire. I guess one big disappointment was that Ronnie’s son, Matthew, never reached those heights. Rocket Ronnie though. A living legend.
John Hague, Leicester
Manchester United 1972-1977
by Sean Egan
Cherry Red Books, £17.99
Reviewed by Joyce Woolridge
From WSC 290 April 2011
"We wanted a gentleman as well as a good football manager," pronounced Manchester United chairman Louis Edwards on appointing Dave Sexton, simultaneously delivering a hefty backhanded swipe at the previous incumbent, Tommy Docherty. In this heavyweight volume (literally – it runs to 578 closely packed pages with appendices of player biographies and statistical tables), Sean Egan provides more than ample evidence for the case for and against Edwards's verdict on the United manager who has probably divided opinions most sharply, both during his time at the helm and since.