I remember being at Old Trafford for a League Cup match against United. Malcom Smith scored in the 3rd minute for 0-1 win to the Boro.
Particularly memorable due to the fact we broke down on the way there and had to hitchhike our way to the match. After the game we cadged a lift back on one of the supporters buses.
I attended St Edwards catholic primary school at the top of Eastbourne Road. In the light of Brexit, half a dozen friends from my class - all born 1970-71 - have applied for an Eire passport using the Jack Charlton rulebook i.e. an Irish grandparent. There were also people in my class with Irish parents and junior school a newcomer from Ireland.
And judging my the surnames on the register I suspect I may be in the minority of my primary school cohort who doesn’t qualify for an Irish passport.
Our headmaster was Bill O’Hanlon, father of Irish international Boro ‘keeper, Kelham, and there was a teacher called O’Connor, and our music teacher whose name I forget, also had an Irish name.
All this is true though as evidence it would be considered anecdotal. And I suspect this pattern is repeated across Teesside.
Right up to today with Saville and McNair
@redcarred i used to play keyboards in a sixties band part time to supplement my meagre apprentice wages
we loved playing at the south bank sporting club and also the Normanby pub upstairs which had the first blue disco lighting which made white shirts glow in the dark
my first date with my girlfriend now wife was when I met her at Normanby Top after she got off the Trolley Bus
@chris-hunneysett I went to Ayresome junior school when Mr O Hanlon was my teacher. He taught me to swim at Thornaby Baths and also How to ride a bike.
we moved so I never went to their senior school.
i have been in touch with Kelham who lives and works in the USA and we talked about his dad who was a really great guy.
OFB
I remember watching Paper Lace ( Billy don’t be a hero) at SBSC. They had been booked before their winning appearance on Opportunity Knocks.
They tried unsuccessfully to get out of the gig as they could suddenly command a much higher fee. The club hierarchy insisted on them performing at the original pre fame fee.
They duly appeared and played “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” 5 times in order to fulfil playing a set and then left!
@OFB I went to school with Kelham’s sister Karen. Also Chris Rea’s sister Paula and Paul Rodgers’ ( Free) sister Stella.
Right about now @werders OCD is probably starting to kick in and wondering the best way to divide this thread up 😂
( or in his case CDO, keeping it in alphabetical order 😉)
Middlesbrough showed no signs of sectarianism or segregation within the various communities that lived alongside each other, there were no "Irish quarters"
While this may have been true of Middlesbrough in itself I would doubt if it was the case as the Mine workers and Iron Workers were definitely split.
https://grangetownintimespast.weebly.com/victorian-times.html
Its all a very interesting read but scroll down to
1884, 21 April Faction Fight with Eston Miners - Grangetown Hotel
As a descendant of Irish Catholic immigrants, I can confirm that the Mining Community in Eston were a hostile bunch.
South Bank, therefore, became the centre of the Irish Catholic and Lithuanian community and Grangetown a little later.
Eston would not allow a Catholic Church or School to be built in the community, although things changed from the 1960s onward with Churches built in Teesville and then Whale Hill on the outskirts of Eston.
i attended St Mary’s College in the building on the site which is now St Edwards. I remember Mr. O’Connor as the Music Teacher.
Although it was a Catholic School, us folk from the Eston area were regarded as the lowest of the low but I’m not bitter!
Just saw a random picture from the Shoot! Magazine. There were the Charton Champions in a team picture.
All the other players are so familiar, but Malcolm Smith is not as well known as the others. Can you help, Ken? How many matces he played in the famous promotion season and where he came from? And where did he go to after Boro?
Up the Boro!
Malcolm Smith made 6 full appearances, another 11 as substitute, and a further 7 as unused substitute in League matches that season scoring 4 goals. He also made a substitute appearance in the side surprisingly beaten 0-1 at home in the FA Cup to Wrexham plus 2 more in the League Cup, and scored the only goal of the game in the 2nd minute as Boro knocked out Manchester United at Old Trafford. All these in Jack Charlton’s promotion season. He made his debut for Boro two seasons before as a substitute in the final game of the season in a 3-0 home win over Hull City. In Stan Anderson’s last season he made 26 appearances in all matches 5 of which were as a substitute, scoring 6 goals. His final statistics were 39 appearances, another 29 as a substitute, and scored a total of 13 goals for Boro after which he was sent out on loan to Bury, Blackpool and Portland in the USA before ending his career at Burnley (85 appearances) and York City (35 appearances).
@ken thanks, mate.
A kind of Super Sub for big Jack?(As well as the red-headed Fairclough at Liverpool).
Up the Boro!
MFC website contains details regarding streaming of this Friday's cup game against Shrewsbury. £10 for video stream for U.K. subscribers but only audio available for overseas subscribers at £3. 😎☹️
Are Boro playing Newcastle today?
@grovehillwallah. Yes in a behind closed doors game at Rockcliffe. 😎
Right about now @werders OCD is probably starting to kick in and wondering the best way to divide this thread up 😂
( or in his case CDO, keeping it in alphabetical order 😉)
I think I know when I'm fighting a losing battle 🙂
I know a few have tried to embrace the non-linear discussion forum format (notably Ken, who's set a fine example) but it seems most bloggers seem to just want to post on the 'current' thread and maybe don't wander off the path to explore other topics.
OK, there's very little Boro news given the seasons starts again in a matter of days but I guess it will be simpler once everything is framed by the fixtures.
I may need to rethink how best to use the forum format so that it works better - though I wasn't planning to have it down to me to control when and what new threads appear.
I'm looking at providing the platform so that bloggers can independently create content and not be reliant on me to format the copy - in theory the tools are now there to allow people to post what would normally have seen me getting involved in the publishing of an article. This can now be done and formatted in the forum environment and posted as a new thread in which others can add their feedback and comments.
Hopefully it will as most things evolve with time.
Boro ran out 5-1 winners against Newcastle this afternoon. Lewis Wing sent off for Boro.
https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/report-and-gallery-boro-5-newcastle-united-1
What will it mean for Wing, a 3 match ban ?
Come on BORO.
During post match interview NW stated he can’t see any new signings coming in this week.
Come on BORO.
Just a little bit of tongue in cheek teasing. I’m sure most posters have grasped the new format and will adhere to it once the footy gets going again.
Right about now @werders OCD is probably starting to kick in and wondering the best way to divide this thread up 😂
( or in his case CDO, keeping it in alphabetical order 😉)
I think I know when I'm fighting a losing battle 🙂
I know a few have tried to embrace the non-linear discussion forum format (notably Ken, who's set a fine example) but it seems most bloggers seem to just want to post on the 'current' thread and maybe don't wander off the path to explore other topics.
OK, there's very little Boro news given the seasons starts again in a matter of days but I guess it will be simpler once everything is framed by the fixtures.
I may need to rethink how best to use the forum format so that it works better - though I wasn't planning to have it down to me to control when and what new threads appear.
I'm looking at providing the platform so that bloggers can independently create content and not be reliant on me to format the copy - in theory the tools are now there to allow people to post what would normally have seen me getting involved in the publishing of an article. This can now be done and formatted in the forum environment and posted as a new thread in which others can add their feedback and comments.
Hopefully it will as most things evolve with time.
I quite like the format as it is, but maybe I’ve got more time on my hands to scan all the subjects. Perhaps a Statistics item on the Middlesbrough FC section might alleviate some traffic on the current thread as I’m frequently being asked questions on that subject which I’m quite happy to do when I’m able.
What will it mean for Wing, a 3 match ban ?
Come on BORO.
I don't think red cards in friendlies count towards bans but maybe OFB with his refereeing experience can clarify?
@andy-r I was thinking that myself especially as it was played at Rockliffe but I would thought I would ask those with the experience.
Come on BORO.
@andy-r it just depends who was refereeing !
I know when I did Boro friendlies we tried not to book or send people off.
one match south Bank v Billingham synths I booked a south bank player.
“but it’s only a friendly” he said
my response was
“I know it’s only a friendly booking!”
I’m afraid I fear the worst and it could be a three match ban depends as I say who was refereeing and what circumstances the game was played under.....
OFB
Free scoring Boro! There’s a headline I wouldn’t mind seeing repeating this season!
Free scoring Boro! There’s a headline I wouldn’t mind seeing repeating this season!
We do seem to have found what that net thing is for at the opposite end of the pitch during these Friendlies. Is it too much to hope that it now becomes the "new normal" for Boro?
I would advise to have a copious amount of absorbent material to hand before watching this as Boro are well and truly in nose bleed territory!
as the headmaster we generally only encountered Mr O’Hanlon when we were sent to his office on our birthday for a sweet, or to receive the cane (a wooden metre rule actually) as punishment. Whatever I’d done I never did it a second time.
once in a blu moon he’d stand in as a substitute teacher and as a teacher he was of the old school, chalk stick throwing variety.
Despite or possibly because of this, I’ve only fond memories of a kindly disciplinarian with whom everyone knew where they stood.
its possible your Mr O’Connor was the husband of my Mrs O’Connor. He was a big Boro by her account.
My music teacher was Mrs Keeley, and her daughter Miss Keeley tried to teach me music at St George’s, known as St David’s when I left.