Matchday Memories: Mercer & Milne’s Men Make A Point At Magpies on This Day in 1973
The Sky Blues’ management team, led by Joe Mercer and Gordon Milne, who is currently a member of the CCFPA, took their team to play Newcastle United in League Division One on this day in 1973, February 10, in the northeast. Midway through September, the Geordies shocked the City with a convincing 3-0 victory at Highfield Road, led by a hat-trick from “SuperMac” Malcolm Macdonald.
Despite the absence of Wilf Smith, a CCFPA member who played defence for City after receiving a two-game ban, there was optimism that the Geordies could salvage at least one point as they had recently suffered a defeat to Luton Town in the FA Cup, and the Toon Army was prepared to take advantage of any error. As he had in the opening game, the home team’s sturdy Macdonald was partnered up front by former Sky Blue (and CCFPA member) John Tudor.
The game was pretty bad, with lots of errors made in the windy conditions. Irving Nattrass of United made a mistake that led to our Scottish international Colin Stein’s goal in the 24th minute for the Sky Blues.
But it only took a minute for the Magpies to draw even, as Stewart Barrowclough of the northeast quickly took advantage of City’s shot-keeper Bill Glazier’s mistake in palming a cross into the air. With the spoils and points shared, the 22,940 spectators who had come to support their teams were largely satisfied. That concluded the scoring.
That day, the M-Men’s Sky Blues ended up looking like this:-
Brian Alderson*, Colin Stein, Chris Cattlin, Tommy Hutchison, Bill Glazier, Mick Coop, Alan Dugdale, Mick McGuire, Roy Barry, Bobby Parker, Dennis Mortimer, and Roy Barry
(*Everyone on the team later joined CCFPA, including Newcastle’s John Tudor, with the regrettable exception of the late Brian Alderson.
Newcastle United’s starting lineup for Joe Harvey was as follows:
Dave Craig, Pat Howard, Bobby Moncur, Stewart Barraclough, Jimmy Smith, Malcolm MacDonald, John Tudor, Alex Reid, Frank Clark, Irving Nattrass, and Iam McFaul. H. Hackney is the referee.
In the end, the Sky Blues managed to stay in the top division in 1972–73, finishing fifth with five points but just a few spots above trouble in nineteenth place. During that season, West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace were relegated.
Newcastle United had a respectable season, finishing ninth, while Liverpool defeated Arsenal by a margin of three points to win the championship.
