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Football in the 70s
Anyone who lived through the 70s, will tell you the decade had a strange duality, it was a decade of contrasts, of opposites a strange yin and yang.
At the beginning of the decade we were full of peace, love and understanding, by the end, British society was being torn apart by civil unrest, disturbances and strikes in 'The Winter Of Discontent'. Some of us were listening to Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, while others were listening to Boney M and Leo Sayer. Some of us were glam, hip and 'down with Huggy', there were others who wanted no part of these new fangled trends and craved the more traditional, no nonsense, British values like Yorkshire Pudding, mining, the 3 day week and 'The Black And White Minstrel Show'.
In the 70s, English football was enjoying unimaginable success, in stark contrast to the performances of the national side. At the start of the decade, English club sides were dominating the European Cup Winners Cup (Manchester City 69/70, Chelsea 70/71) and the Inter-City Fairs Cup(UEFA Cup)(Arsenal 69/70, Leeds Utd 70/71, Spurs 71/72, Liverpool, 72/73 & 75/76), by the end of the decade Liverpool and Nottingham Forest had begun a sequence of wins that would see English sides bring home the coveted pinnacle of European football, the European Cup in 7 of the next 8 seasons (Liverpool 76/77 & 77/78, Nottingham Forest 78/79 & 79/80).
The 70s was the era of the flamboyant showmen and the men given the job of stopping them, Beauty and the Beasts.
The decade was typified by maverick, enigmatic cavaliers who took football artistry to new levels. Men like Rodney Marsh, Frank Worthington, Stan Bowles and Tony Currie, picked up where George Best left off.
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Rodney Marsh, Frank Worthington, Colin Bell, Ray Kennedy
In this era, there was no such thing as attacking or defensive midfielders, players were expected to fulfil all roles, men like Colin Bell, Charlie George, Gerry Francis, John McGovern and Ray Kennedy were all goal scorers, tacklers, passers and box to box players.
Most teams had 'midfield enforcers', men who were fearless, tigerish in the tackle, would battle and fight for every ball, men like Billy Bremner, Graeme Souness, Kenny Burns and Bryan Robson, were feared throughout the land.
Graeme Souness, Kenny Burns, Laurie Cunningham, Steve Coppell
It was a time for mercurial wing wizards like Steve Coppell, Liam Brady, Laurie Cunningham, Dennis Tueart, Ian Callaghan, Archie Gemmill and Steve Heighway, all 'willo the wisp' characters, who were gone in the blink of an eye.
Teams were built on solid reliable defences, often around experienced pros, players who showed passionate devotion and gave long term service to their clubs, players like Billy Bonds, Jack Charlton, Emlyn Hughes, Ron "Chopper" Harris and Norman Hunter. Players who regularly gave 15-20 years service to single clubs and made 500, 600 sometimes 700+ appearances, for their team.
Billy Bonds, Ron Harris, Bob Latchford, Joe Royle
Strikers in the 70s were not afforded the protection they are in the 21st Century. They faced players with names like "Chopper", "Bite Yer Legs" and "Big Jim Holton", they needed to be strong, pitches were heavy, challenges were heavier and they needed to be resilient. They would be the battering rams that broke down the doors for the midfield artisans. Players like Malcolm MacDonald, Andy Gray, Bob Latchford, Joe Jordan, John Toshack and Joe Royle, typified the fearless goal getters, prepared to go in where it hurt, for the good of the team, many didn't finish their career, with the same number of teeth as when they started, but all were warriors.
Keepers too, didn't have the full protection of the law in those days, often without gloves, they would be called upon to take the ball with rampaging bulls charging at them. If they didn't stand their ground, they would find themselves in the back of the net, with their opponents jogging back to the halfway line celebrating. Pat Jennings, Stuart Rimmer, Joe Corrigan, Ray Clemence and the remarkable Peter Shilton all rose to the fore in this era.
Pat Jennings, Peter Shilton, Bob Paisley, Brian Clough
Do great teams make great managers, or vice versa? Well the 70s saw some of the greatest team managers in English footballing history. Bertie Mee steered Arsenal to their first Double at the start of the decade, Don Revie assumed the mantle, as his Leeds side bulldozed their way to the title, Bob Paisley picked up the reins from the great Bill Shankly at Liverpool and took them to even greater heights. Spanning the decade, the controversial and arguably the best, Brian Clough built two teams in the East Midlands who would win the Championship and he would then go on and dominate Europe, with the wholly unfashionable Nottingham Forest.
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