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A CONVERSATION WITH JOHNNY SPUHLER PART 2 12-9-06
by Eric Goldby
January 2007: All at ComeOnBoro.com were saddened to hear that Johnny died on 7 Jan 2007 aged 89. We extend our sincere condolences to Nancy and all his family and are privileged to have had the honour of spending some time with a true Boro legend. He will always be remembered with great respect, admiration and affection.
PREAMBLE
Visiting Johnny and his wife was a special moment for me. I saw my first Boro match at Ayresome Park when I was only eight years old. They played Wolves who had in their team England stars like Billy Wright and Bert Williams and were then one of the best in Division One. It was an exciting game with Wolves quickly going 2-0 up but just before half time Wilf Mannion scored a wonderful goal. By full time the score was 4-4. From then on I was hooked and my love affair with the Boro continues until this day.
I went as often as I could after that and in the late 1940's until 1954 Johnny was a stalwart of a team full of good and exciting players. All eleven were my heroes so to actually meet up with Johnny was an experience I relished.
In those days, with no TV, football was one of the great entertainment experiences with regular large crowds all hungry for Saturday thrills. Then, it did not cost a fortune to attend. In old money admission prices were 1/3 for the "Bob End", 2/6 for the West End and Paddock, 3/6 for the wing stands and only 4/6 for the Centre Stands, which is less than 25p in today's currency.
To actually speak to one of our best players then and gain an insight into what it was like to play for the Boro after World War Two was a quite unique and moving experience. Historically it makes an important contribution towards Boro's past and adds to the folklore which surrounds the club.
In Part 1 I outlined Johnny's life story. Now we shall look specifically at his time with the Boro, briefly talk about the other players then in the team, look at the differences between football then and now and finally outline Johnny's views about the current Boro prospects.
BASIC STATISTICS ABOUT JOHNNY WITH THE BORO
Signed for Boro from Sunderland on 18.09.45.
Left in June 1954.
Originally he was a winger but later played at Centre Forward.
Height 5 feet 9.5 inches.
Weight 11stone 2lb
Debut on 31/8/46 v Aston Villa. Won 1-0 (Mannion Scored)
First Goal v Sheffield United (away) 28/9/46. Lost 2-1
First Ayersome Goal v Brentford. Won 2-0 and Johnny scored both of them. Leeds United haters will be delighted to know that later in the season he also scored two more in a 3-3 draw at Elland Road.
Johnny was never sent off in his whole career.
In Division 1 he made 216 appearances for the Boro and scored sxity-nine goals.
In the FA Cup he appeared twenty-five times and scored twelve goals.
Overall he therefore made 241 appearances for the Boro and scored a total of eighty-one goals.
He is the joint twelfth top scorer in Boro's history (with Jackie Carr) and probably 45th in the list of most appearances for the team since its creation. If only goals in the top flight are counted Johnny is our fifth all time best scorer.
He was never the leading goal scorer in a season, but was second top scorer twice. In 1946/7 he scored fourteen, but Mannion and Fenton had twenty-three each. In 1948/9 he scored seven with Fenton on twelve.
JOHNNY's OWN DESCRIPTIPION OF HIS YEARS WITH THE BORO
Johnny loved playing for the Boro and was equally happy living in the town. I remember him as a very speedy right-winger who possessed a great shot. He was equally accomplished at heading the ball, which in those days was much heavier, made of leather and laced up. That prompted strikers to ask wingers to centre the ball with the lace facing the goal and not the forehead.
What he may have lacked in height he more than made up for with speed. He could run 100 yards in ten seconds. He ran intelligently off the ball. He told me that at centre forward he always seemed to be marked by a six-foot plus uncompromising centre half who invariably gave him a rough time, but Johnny effectively counteracted this by using his speed and positional play.
Johnny played in some memorable matches including what everyone calls Mannion's match when Blackpool was soundly defeated. For him however, the best performance of all was a 5-0 defeat of Manchester United who then, as now, were one of the best teams around.
Everything Johnny told me about the team then suggests that they were a happy bunch of players. Any differences they may have had were firmly left in the dressing room on match days and once on the field they played as a unit. They had many laughs together and often played practical jokes on each other. It seems that in those days football was perhaps more fun than it is now.
Their style of play was also very different. As Johnny said, "In those days it was all man-to-man marking. The full backs marked the opposing winger and the centre half looked after the centre forward and so on. The game was therefore more about individual contests. It was up to me to outplay my direct opponent. The week before each match I therefore learned as much as I could about my opposing full back and how to get the better of him. If I found his weaknesses or knew I was a better player, I always had a good game. If he was better than me I had an ineffective match.
"Like today, we played in triangles but they were always the same three players who went directly towards the other goal. Jimmy Gordon got the ball to Wilf Mannion who passed it to me and set me up to run down the wing to centre the ball. Also, every forward was regarded as a striker and all five of us were expected to score goals." In short, the game then was more simple and direct, but it was generally extremely exciting. Also, overall, more goals seemed to be scored.
Johnny says categorically that now there is much more movement with every player in every position expected to show more all round footballing skills than applied in his time. Although fitness was always important, he feels that today super fitness is required and any player who does not meet that criterion will not succeed.
"I would love to play today in the new style. I don't know how I would have done, but I would have enjoyed it."
Johnny, with your speed and goal scoring abilities you would have been a star and almost certainly a real answer to the Boro's current problems on the right side. Just imagine Downing on the left wing and Johnny on the right! Oh well, we can always dream!
I found it fascinating to hear Johnny say that in his time the game was very hard, with no quarter asked for or given. However, it was not full of the cynical fouling we see today. Players then seemed always to go for the ball and not the man. Deliberate fouling was a rarity and all players had a code that you would not wreck an opponent's career by unfair play. If an opponent hurt you, you just got up and went on with the game.
That is not to say that on occasion deliberate dirty pay did not happen, but there were ways of dealing with it. Johnny recalls a game against Arsenal who played an England Amateur International at centre forward. He was really dirty and caused Rolando Ugolini to be carried off on a stretcher after he deliberately kicked him on the head in a 50/50 challenge on the ground. The referee did not send him off, probably because in those days goalkeepers were not protected as they are today.
This was much to Johnny's distress, because in those days substitutes were not allowed, George Hardwick ordered him to play in goal with instructions to "sort out that dirty bugger!" It did not take long to achieve this. As Johnny went up for a corner he punched the forward as hard as he could and laid him out. "Nobody saw the punch except me, but the forward never came near me again nor fouled another of our players! After the match the Arsenal players told me he deserved what he got!"
Everybody knows that the wage structure in those days was low and fixed throughout the game, with no extra money for the star players. When Johnny started the standard wage was £8 per week in season and a £4 per week retainer out of season. Bonuses of £2 for a win and £1 for a draw were also paid. Johnny tells me how last season he met Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the stadium before a game and much to his surprise Jimmy introduced himself and made it clear that he knew about Johnny's achievements for the Boro. When Jimmy asked him about the pay then he could not believe it and told Johnny he was on £42,000 per week! Despite this, Johnny showed no sign of jealousy and pointed out that even though his wages were low, they were better than average for working men of the time and he earned more than his father.
Johnny clearly rated the then Boro manager David Jack very highly indeed describing him as a "real gentleman who knew his football and how to get the very best out of his players." When Mickey Fenton retired the Boro could not afford to enter the transfer market so the manager sent for Johnny and told him he wanted him to play at centre forward. Johnny said he was not sure about this and pointed out that David Jack had never seen him play in that position. The response was, "Listen Johnny, let me worry about that. You just get out there and do the job. I know you and my football and I know you will do well." How right he was!
JOHNNY'S TEAM MATES
Rolando Ugolini (goalkeeper): A very good keeper, signed from Celtic in 1948 for £7,000. Left in 1956 after making 335 appearances for the Boro. Rolando was a very popular figure in the dressing room, always full of fun and the team's foremost practical joker. He stood no nonsense from opponents who unfairly tried to hassle him and speaks proudly about "sorting out Don Revie when he tried it on."
He was not the tallest of goalkeepers and in those days he was the nearest thing in the First Division to what was then known as a "Continental Goalkeeper" no doubt because although born in Glasgow, he was of Italian descent. According to Johnny was always a clown making simple saves look difficult and difficult saves look easy. He would often wait until the very last minute to turn the ball round the post thereby causing George Hardwick to have many moments of anxiety. He was quite excellent at throwing the ball out to a teammate to set up attacks which in that era was far less common than it is today.
Rolando was a very close friend of Johnny's and they keep in touch to this day. Indeed, Johnny has a picture of himself, Rolando and Alan Peacock in pride of place on his mantelpiece. He and Nancy clearly love him and speak fondly about how he was their regular baby sitter in the Boro when they went to the cinema. All Rolando asked for in return was that Nancy baked him a "Cow Pie" in the mode of Desperate Dan in the Dandy.
Dicky Robinson (right back): An outstanding full back who, along with George Hardwick, formed arguably the then best full back pairing in the Fist Division. He made 416 appearances for the Boro between 1946 and 1959, staying long enough to have actually played with Clough and Peacock. He represented the Football League on five occasions and was singularly unfortunate not to gain full international honours.
According to Johnny, "He invented the sliding tackle. Nobody did it before him and unlike today his timing was perfect. He always got the ball and not the man, then when he came out with it he passed it to a team mate." He was also an outstanding golfer who according to Johnny was "A budding Tiger Woods." Johnny caddied for him when he won the Professional Footballers Golf Championship at Lytham with "no one else getting close. David Jack was so pleased he actually bought Dicky a new set of clubs!
George Hardwick (left back and captain): All that can be written about this Boro legend has been put on paper. Johnny says he is as good as everyone says and was outstanding at quickly assessing a winger then playing him out of the game. This included mastering the equally great Stanley Matthews. What a contest of giants that turned out to be!
Jimmy Gordon (wing half): Signed from Newcastle at the same time as Johnny, who undoubtedly rates him as amongst the best. "He was a hard man but very fair. He ran his guts out for the side and never let anybody down. He also seemed to look after his teammates on the field. A real "toff" Jimmy was later to join Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest as his team trainer.
Johnny tells me how he met Clough at a football function and told him he was the luckiest manager in football to have Jimmy at his side. He was sure Clough's success was due in no small part to Jimmy's contribution and what he had learned from him. The nice point of the story is that despite Clough's notorious high opinion of himself, Brian fully agreed with this comment.
Bill Whittaker (centre half): a former miner who was signed from Chesterfield. Generally regarded as a tall, strong competent defender. Johnny described him as a "A lovely man with a lovely family."
Harry Bell (wing half): Made over 300 appearances for the Boro between 1944 and 1958. Known as a very hard working player who was totally committed in every game. Highly rated by Johnny as both a player and a person. He was also an outstanding cricketer who opened the batting for Durham County and was the Cricket Professional for Middlesbrough.
Wilf Mannion (inside forward): a true Boro legend widely accepted to be the best Boro player of all time. Johnny says he was as good as everyone says he was, but I was fascinated to hear some criticism.
"Wilf knew he was a star and could get away with murder. For that reason he sometimes played when he wanted to and on other occasions had quiet games. The latter applied especially to away matches. He also had an occasional bad habit of deliberately giving a bad pass to another player. He did it to me once. He knew exactly where I would be but put the ball on the wrong side. If he had not done that I would have scored." Jimmy Gordon was so incensed that he chased Wilf and said, "If you do that to Johnny again I will kick you, never mind what the other side might do."
Don't get me wrong, Johnny says Wilf was one of the all-time greats, but I include these comments because I have never before heard such honest criticism about him.
Mickey Fenton (centre forward): Another Boro legend and one of the all-time greats in a distinguished list of brilliant strikers, which also includes Brian Clough. Stockton born, he played for Boro between 1933 and 1950. He scored 162 goals making him the fifth highest scorer in Boro's history. If he had not lost five years of his career to the war who knows what he might have achieved?
Like Clough he was unjustly ignored by England and gained only one full international cap. He stayed on as a Boro Club Coach until the mid 1960's. Johnny will not hear a wrong word about Fenton. "He taught me a lot. He scored goals for fun and if I got a good cross onto his head the ball usually finished up in the back of the net. I think he retired too early and still had a lot to give the game, but he told me he wanted to go at the top because he knew he was no longer the player he used to be."
Geoff Walker (outside left): An outstanding left-winger signed from Bradford for £8000 in 1946. Remained at Boro until 1954. Generally accepted as one of the best wingers in the game and scored fifty-three Boro goals in 259 appearances. He was a close friend of Johnny's who told me, "What a great winger he was. When I was centre forward, he always managed to find my head when he crossed the ball.
Lindy Delaphena (winger): Signed for Boro from Portsmouth in 1950 and remained until 1958. Scored ninety-three goals in 270 games. Had probably the hardest shot in the game with either foot and in my view was even better at this than Peter Lorimer. His most famous moment was when he broke the net after taking a penalty against Sunderland in a friendly game to open the floodlighting at Ayresome Park. The referee thought he had missed and awarded a goal kick.
He was the first black player ever to represent the Boro and one of the first and very few to grace the First Division in those days. Johnny tells a lovely story that would not be allowed today in this PC World. Boro had a tall black supporter called Aster whose distinctive voice could always be heard above any crowd. When Lindy got the ball Aster usually shouted, "You Black trash!" Everybody laughed, none more so than Lindy himself who always claimed that this made him play better. More importantly, no one took offence because there was no obvious racism involved.
JOHNNY'S OPINION OF THE PRESENT BORO TEAM
Johnny likes the Boro team and is not surprisingly most impressed by Stuart Downing. "I thought he suffered from injury last year and took a long time to come back because he was mentally holding back from tackles. This year he seems to have regained his confidence and if his recent displays for the Boro and England are anything to go by, he has a distinguished career ahead of him and will become one of the best wingers you will ever see."
Mark Viduka earns equal praise but Johnny feels that he needs a player alongside him like Peter Crouch who could knock the ball down to him. He does not feel that Yakubu can do this and describes him as being, "A bit slow. Nevertheless he can score goals and once he gets the ball it takes a lot to get him off it."
At the time of interview Johnny stated that Boro's biggest weakness was the lack of a tall, commanding centre half. "We would not have lost at Reading if we had one." Goodness knows what else Johnny might have said about the Portsmouth game! Hopefully, he and the rest of us will now be delighted that we have since signed Huth and Woodgate, provided of course that they retain their fitness.
He has met Gareth Southgate and rates him highly as a person. Johnny believes that he has the potential to become a good manager and that the supporters should exercise patience by giving him every opportunity to succeed. Interestingly, he also feels that Steve McClaren has the potential to become a good England manager now that he is no longer "Sven's Stooge." He also naturally rates Steve Gibson who "has a hard job which he has done well"
He is optimistic about the Boro's prospects though does not expect them to do especially well this season. "Whilst relegation is unlikely and we have amazing future prospects with Academy players, they have all made it together and we need time to find the right blend of youth and experience in the first team. Older players are needed to groom the youngsters and help them through the games."
He points to last season's 3-0 defeat of Chelsea as one of the best current Boro performances. "We were wonderful that day. We brought the ball down, kept it on the floor and passed well. We also blotted out Lampard. Whoever devised these tactics deserves a medal."
Johnny's main criticism of the modern game is the volume of petty, deliberate and professional fouling which occurs. "It just did not happen in my time." He was especially vindictive about the mayhem that occurs between players when corner kicks are taken with the majority of "off the ball" incidents clearly warranting a penalty. "If this had happened in my time games would have ended about 10-9 on penalties. It must be stamped out!"
CONCLUSION
I said in Part 1 that Johnny is a great person and was a great player. I reinforce that view again. He gave pleasure to thousands as a player and made a significant contribution to the game in a coaching capacity. He owes the Boro nothing and they owe him a great deal for his years of loyal, happy and distinguished service to the Club. You will not find a nicer professional footballer. Nancy, his wife, is equally impressive and a very lovely person.
ComeOnBoro.com thank them both for their time and contribution. Our good wishes and kindest thoughts will remain with them forever.
CLICK HERE FOR PART ONE OF A CONVERSATION WITH JOHNNY SPUHLER
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