Source: Daily_Mail
Premier League goal-fest was spectacular, but nothing on the goalden era!
Those who think it was goals galore as 41 were rifled in during Saturday's Premier League games should reflect on the early 1960s and in particular Boxing Day 1963, when the 10 First Division games produced 66 goals.That was a record. [LNB]The goals peaked at Craven Cottage, where Fulham beat Ipswich 10-1. This was the same Ipswich team that 18 months earlier had been league champions under Alf Ramsey. Those champions of May 1962 were relegated in May 1964 under Jackie Milburn. Ipswich conceded 121 goals that season. [LNB]Alan Mullery played on Boxing Day 1963 and remembers the game. As he said yesterday: 'I scored the ninth.' Mullery added that two days later Fulham went to Ipswich and were beaten 4-2. 'There always used to be strange results at Christmas,' he said. 'It was something you just couldn't get the gist of. You could win heavily and lose heavily.[LNB] Back in the day: Bryan Douglas (second left) leaves Martin Peters(left) and Ken Brown (third left)trailing as he slides in to score pastWest Ham keeper Jim Standen(right) in Blackburn's 8-2 win onBoxing Day 1963[LNB] 'I remember that day was an absolute rout - Graham Leggat scored four. Leggat was a Scottish international, we had Johnny Haynes, captain of England, George Cohen, Bobby Robson. Fulham had a good team.[LNB] 'Ipswich were good too and they played their best side that day. It was just one of those days.'[LNB] Were goalkeepers significantly worse then? 'No, I don't think so,' Mullery replied. 'Roy Bailey, father of Gary Bailey of Manchester United, was the Ipswich keeper that day. He was a decent keeper. There were plenty around. In the early 60s you had Gordon Banks, then Pat Jennings. Bert Trautmann was still around, Bert Williams at Wolves before that. Of course there were probably a few duff ones too.' [LNB]Game changer: Ian St John saysplaying in Europe led to the rise of defensive tactics[LNB]Ian St John scored for Liverpool that Boxing Day in their 6-1 win at home to Stoke. St John pointed out that goalkeepers then rarely left the goal-line. Hence they were called 'linos'. 'They stayed on their lines and that meant forwards had more space in the area,' St John explained. 'In those days there were a lot of classy forwards and forwards were definitely in the ascendancy.'[LNB] It meant that even with Blackburn winning 8-2 at West Ham, there was no sense of the afternoon being outrageous. 'There wasn't the emphasis then on defence that grew under George Graham at Arsenal, for example,' St John added. 'You never heard a phrase like "shutting up shop" when I was starting out.[LNB] 'In effect that's boring football. At Anfield the fans used to chant, "Attack, attack", and when we crossed the halfway line there would be a huge roar. [LNB]'Funnily enough, under Bill Shankly we changed the way goalkeepers played. Under Shanks our defence began pushing up, we began playing a flat back four and that meant our keeper, Tommy Lawrence, left his line and came out of the box. People would ask, "What's Tommy doing?" [LNB]'We won the title that season, 1963-64, and then went into Europe. That was a big influence on how Liverpool played.[LNB] 'For the first time you needed to have a defensive mentality because you didn't want to concede away goals at home. [LNB]'That was 1964 when Liverpool were first in Europe but we were in it for 20 consecutive seasons until Heysel. So you can see how European football changed the way we thought and played. It was about keeping the ball, not just "attack, attack".'[LNB] Piece of the action: Alan Mullery scored Fulham's ninth goal as they romped to a 10-1 win over Ipswich on Boxing Day in 1963[LNB]Being the dominant club, others will have copied Liverpool's increasingly tactical style. Perhaps Saturday ispartly explained by the influence of Blackpool's have-a-go open game this season. St John called Saturday a 'throwback'; he also rubbished a notion that old Boxing Day scorelines were due to Christmas festivities.[LNB]'There was no over-indulgence at all - we had back-to-back games,' he said. 'Shanks used to say, "We have a Christmas in the summer". We also had back-to-back fixtures at Easter. I remember Tottenham were two up one half- time at Anfield and we won 5-2. Three days later at White Hart Lane we lost something like 7-2.' [LNB]Mullery added that he could not call that 1963 Boxing Day the most extraordinary day of his career. 'When I was 17 we once got beat 9-0 at Wolves.[LNB] 'It was midweek so we stayed in a hotel and after the game we were sitting down for a meal. Frank Osborne, Fulham's general manager, said, "Well, we just lost 9-0 lads, but one day Alan Mullery will play for England". I couldn't believe it, but he was a good judge. [LNB]'Frank Osborne - he'd played for Spurs. He smoked 60 a day and drank a bottle of scotch a day. He wore a suit and tie and trilby hat every day, even when he was playing golf. All he changed were his shoes. I had to carry his clubs when I was a ground-staff boy. He was a scratch golfer.[LNB] 'I wouldn't recommend his lifestyle but he died at 91.' [LNB] Go posh, not pricey for scoring sprees! Forget the Emirates, Peterborough's the place to be for exciting football Goalden eras: The Nineties were pretty special too when Le Tissier scored three and still lost...Video: The seven best Premier League games (before Saturday at St James'!)Jamie Redknapp: Newcastle's main man Barton is talk of the Toon[LNB] Explore more:People: Johnny Haynes, Bobby Robson, Ian St John, George Cohen Places: Liverpool, United Kingdom, Europe
