I try to keep up to date with my records not only on Boro but also on the records of ALL our local clubs, Hartlepool’s, Darlington, Whitby Town, Marske United, both Redcar Clubs,etc but with so many different competitions at the moment in England and in Europe I’m really struggling as what I used to regard as a hobby has turned into a chore after only sleeping for 4 to 5 hours each night since I resumed taking Dexamethasone steroid tablets last week which means I need to catch up on my sleep during the afternoon.
Once again I was unable to listen to a radio commentary of a Boro match last Saturday. My consultant informs me that there is no alternative to further treatment of my prostate cancer other than more daily treatment from steroids. Whether they will work I don’t know, but my Prostate-specific Antigen level (PSA level) will continue to rise without these steroids, but the effects of taking them means further sleep deprivation.
I’ve been very lucky in the last 14 years to have survived as long as I have, and like many people of my age as death approaches, it would be preferable to die in my sleep, or euthanasia could be the alternative. But at the moment euthanasia is not available in the UK. Nearer my God to thee, but death where is thy sting, where is thy victory?
Very best wishes to you Ken and so sorry to hear of your health struggles. Thinking of you. 
@ken All the best and take care. We can manage without some Boro records. What I know is that Chuba has scored 12 goals in 14 games that Carrick has been in charge.
Life is more imprtant. Up the Boro match!
I have just seen that the coach to Leeds Utd has been sacked .
That potentially could be good news to Boro.
Let me explain - Corboran worked at Leeds with Bielsa and was very much respected and so could be a favourite for the job . He is , of course, Coach at WBA and so if he was appointed then it could be good news for the Boro.
I will take any happenings if it benefits the Boro !!
Philip of Huddersfield
I have to say that I’m a little surprised that Boro have extended the contract of H.Coulson. I remember him starting his first team career and he was a breath of fresh air with his pace and attacking play.
It was good while it lasted but then possibly a combination of things such as loss of confidence, teams sussing him out and losing form which new young players often do ( eg young Jones is an example) made him far less effective and so he went out on loan.
I have seen nothing to say that he’s a standout player in Scotland which is a lower standard than the Championship and so I’m surprised at his contract extension.
Perhaps it’s all about being able to sell him for a fee if he doesn’t make the grade when he returns to Boro.
Who knows?
Philip of Huddersfield
Philip, talking about Jones, certain press saying he will be sold by Carrick in the summer. I know it's only rumours etc but I would certainly like him to stay and not be played as a wing back but as an out and out winger. Any other contributors have views on Jones?
@ken - Lack of sleep can be very wearing and demoralising but hopefully your body will become more acccustomed to the steroids and the situation will settle down. Thus, hopefully, allowing YOU to settle down, too.
I am sure you'd want to be around to see how things turn out with the Boro now that Michael Carrick's magic seems to be taking effect. It would have been better if his appointment had come about sooner because quite a lot of time, and games, had passed by before he took over. That being the case it would be asking a LOT to get automatic promotion from our current position, though a place in the Play-Offs might now seem probable rather than possible. And if the team is in the Play-Offs, at present they may well be favourites to come out on top, if current form is maintained. BUT even if that isn't going to happen, I'm sure everyone connected with the club will hope to go one better next season. Promotion is never easy but people are now starting to believe...
It would be great to have you along for the ride with us, Ken. I don't suppose you'll be dancing around the room if the team is successful this season or next, but you'll be dancing in your heart! I'll be dancing with you in spirit and I'm certainly thinking of you at present.
@malcolm. Jones, like Coulson and Spence before him, was a breath of fresh air in his first season and our star player but also like Coulson and Spence he seemed to lose his way and failed to kick on during this season.
In part, teams had begun to work him out and often doubled up on him making life much more difficult. He also seemed to stop trying to get past fullbacks and rather than receiving the ball on the move, would receive it standing still and then found it even harder to beat his man.
I agree that he is better employed as a winger rather than as a wing back but for me he is going to struggle to get back into this team unless he ups his game considerably and perhaps a sale in the summer would be in everyone’s interest. 😎
Malcolm, I’ve always thought that Jones has been unfairly criticised. He came on the scene as a newcomer as an out and out winger and was often our best player. He was unfairly criticised for his crossing the ball after beating his full back but often there was no teammate in the penalty area.
He always puts a lot of effort into his game - sometimes too much resulting in unnecessary bookings.
He is fundamentally a winger and teams doubled up on him which obviously reduced his effectiveness. Also, he was often given the ball in his own half of the field close to the half way line.
So what could he do faced with 2 or 3 opponents in front of him ? Not a lot.
I also think he was expected to be back defending and also attack as a winger. He had a good rapport with Crooks when in an advanced attacking position.
He is a young player who is very inexperienced at this level of football and so has a lot to learn.
I would keep him and , in the short term, he could be used as a substitute to come on as an out and out winger if the team are chasing the game.
Philip of Huddersfield
@philip-of-huddersfield I agree, I believe that Jones deserves to be persevered with, assuming he is showing the right attitude. He is a winger first and defender second. In his defence, there were times when he was our best defender under CW.
Coulson, if I remember correctly alway seemed to have injury problems. Defensively he was a little like Giles, suspect at times.
I recently wrote an article about Robert Alfred Smith, born in Lingdale in February 1933, but died in Enfield in September 2010. He of course was worshipped by my generation in Redcar as a 15 year old for his exploits with Redcar Boys Club and always known as ‘our Bobby’. It just feels appropriate to write about Bobby on the day following Harry Kane’s breaking of Jimmy Greaves Tottenham record of goals scored by a Hotspur.
Most of what you are about to read are Bobby’s own words in an interview with the Sunday People. It starts with one of his colleagues telling him that what appeared to be a north east Chelsea scout called Tommy Robinson making notes of Bobby’s every move. Bobby ridiculed the thought of why would a scout be “interested in a kid like me, when all my plans are centered around getting a contract with the Boro some time in the future?” But Robinson was persistent and finally persuaded Bobby to sign for the Blues junior side after watching Bobby score 4 times vvvvvv
However like many youngster mat the time he became homesick, and although staying with his auntie in Fulham, he soon returned home to Lingdale. He told his friends that he hated the traffic and noise of London and he was adamant that he wouldn’t return to the big city again as he actually missed the quietness of rural life. Unfortunately his remarks had found the ears of his father who had just finished a shift at the local pig. Stong words were spoken between father and son, and eventually his father accompanied young Bobby back to Fulham. The problem of playing for Chelsea Juniors was that progress seemed too slow and although the Blues won its first a League Championship in 1955, Bobby only made 4 appearances.
I always thought that Chelsea was a bad choice for Bobby, but as far as I’m aware, Boro made no offer to approach him. Things certainly changed though during the summer of 1955 when Tottenham made an offer of approaching £18,000 to sign him . Ted Drake was the Spurs manager at the time, and as a former Arsenal centre forward he acknowledged the frustrations of a young striker wanting to make his headway as soon as possible. As it happened a fellow North Ridinger by the name of Bill Nicholson from Scarborough soon took up the reins, and his method of touch and run football became the future of Spurs successful reign as Hotspur lived up to their name by becoming the first club to win the Impossible Dream of League and Cup Double, in which Bobby Smith played an integral part in Tottenham’s success.
To be continued later this afternoon.
@ken - I hadn't realised Bobby Smith was a "local lad". I look forward to PART II later....
I had to stop my continuation of the Bobby Smith story early this morning as my iPad battery needed recharging through the night. Suffice to say that the real Bobby Smith had at last arrived. Whether Boro could have afforded the reported fee of £18,000 is difficult to say - quite a lot of cash at the time. Nevertheless Boro were still in the First Division and needed a replacement for an aging Micky Fenton. Boro did make an offer to buy ‘Wor’ Jackie Milburn from recently promoted Newcastle but eventually had to settle for his young partner Andy Donaldson who only lasted 21 matches and scored 7 times before finishing up at Midland League club Peterborough via an excursion with Exeter City.
To be fair, Boro had two good seasons in the First Division especially in 1950 when it held a 3 point lead over Newcastle at the head of the First Division after a 1-0 home win against the Magpies at Christmas with converted right winger Johnny Spuhler playing at number 9 and newly recruited Alex McCrae from Charlton Athletic scoring regularly from number 10. The return fixture at St James Park was postponed and Boro then lost 0-1 at fog bound Second Division Leeds which should never have been played as no more than a handful of spectators actually saw the ball enter the net. However even the London press raved about the 3-3 draw by Boro at White Hart Lane in December after Spurs had won their first ever league title. I seem to have recalled that season dozens of times before, though it had nothing to do with Bobby Smith, the Lingdale lad whose main obsession was to play for the Boro. I apologise for boring everyone for repeating that story, when of course this blog is supposed to be about Bobby Smith as I digressed from the main subject of this blog, Bobby Smith whose dream of playing for the Boro never materialised.
Continuing the story of Bobby Smith the move to the Hotspur was the perfect location for him at the time. He certainly put Lingdale and Redcar on the map, but Vic Buckingham was certainly the top coach/manager at the time doing the ‘Impossible Dream’ of a league and Cup double which almost the whole country never would have believed possible at the time. Tottenham just missed out on the double in 1951 but Bobby scored against Leicester in the 1962 final when at last Spurs completed the ‘Impossible Dream’ and again against Burnley in the following season as Spurs celebrated winning two successive cup finals. Bobby finished his career at Brighton in 1965.
He won 15 international caps for England scoring 13 times, and in 2002 decided to write a book entitled ‘Memories of Spurs’ with a foreword by the great Jimmy Greaves. Bobby recalled his first meeting with Ted Drake the former Arsenal top scorer, but then Vic Buckingham’s predecessor at Spurs. Drake couldn’t believe that Bobby helped Chelsea win its first League title, but made him aware that Spurs would treat him better. And that’s how life felt so much better at White Hart Lane than staying with his auntie at Fulham.
But perhaps the final word should come from Bobby himself. “All I ever wanted was to play with my mates for the Boro”. I think he made the right choice at the time playing with some of the greatest players from the UK at that time - not bad for a Lingdale lad who never ever played for Boro. Bobby never forgot his roots though, and reiterated that Redcar had certainly showed some improvement as far as football was concerned. “We did our bit by winning the Stead Cup he added, and Redcar Works won the Cleveland League in 1953, whilst Redcar won the Middlesbrough and District League in the 1954/55 season”.
I know, Bobby because I was there, but I didn’t see you there. Nevertheless after Redcar Albion folded, no Redcar club even reached the Teesside League never mind the Northern League for many a year.
The few successes that Redcar football clubs had were sporadic over a decade and can hardly hold a candle to what Bobby later achieved in his career. And as Bobby Smith finally wrote “It’s been a glorious career, but firmly beyond my expectations. From playing at a field in Redcar Racecourse with no goal nets is such a transition to playing at Wembley Stadium - I can’t believe it really happened to me”.
Addendum
I found several unforced errors, but too late to amend them now. The most blatant error being top of the table at Christmas in 1953 when it was actually 1950.
Yes I had a tangerine car! When it was time to sell it, a woman came to the house to see it, because she had an urgent need of something to drive for family reasons. As she set eyes on it her shoulders slumped, and she said, 'oh no, I knew it was too Good to be true'. No one drives a car that colour. So I told her it had been driven by a one legged Nun out in the sticks, so was a very Good buy. When we had finished laughing she bought it.
@plato A very easy car to find in a big parking hall. I despaired when I borrowed my wife's metallic gray Fiesta a few tuimes.
Tangerine metallic is fabulous colour when clean and in sunshine. I still stop at looking at it after five years.
My next car is waiting at its dealer already 🤐. So good bye time next week. Up the Boro!
Does anyone remember the song “I want to be Bobby’s Girl” famously sung by Susan Maughan in the early 1960s? Strange that it was a hit about the same time as Lingdale’s Bobby Smith was celebrating being a member of the Spurs team that won the League and Cup double in 1961. Surely just one of life’s strange coincidences! Unless anyone knows something differently!
@ Powmill Naemore regarding penalty points deductions. Juventus were deducted 15 points last month effectively barring them from participating in Europe next season.
£18,000 in 1955 is worth a little over £600,000 in 2023, based on inflation averaging 5.3% between then and now (according the the Office for National Statistics).
Put into a little context, the biggest British transfer fee in 1955 was £35,000 received by Charlton Athletic from Sampdoria for the services of Anglo-Italian Eddie Firmani. That would be roughly £1,175,000 at todays rate.
Put into the context of the £106,800,000 paid by Chelsea to Benfica for Enzo Fernandez last month, you can get a real sense of how far football player transfer inflation has outstripped actual inflation.
Crazy money...
@ Powmill Naemore regarding penalty points deductions. Juventus were deducted 15 points last month effectively barring them from participating in Europe next season.
Sadly I don't expect the FA or the Premier League will show the same fortitude.