September 12, 1974: The End of Brian Clough's 44 Days at Leeds

Brian Clough (left) and Don Revie

September 12, 1974: Brian Clough is fired after 44 days and 6 league matches in charge of Yorkshire team Leeds United. The defending Football League Champions have won just once in the league in this new season, and stand 19th of 22 clubs in the First Division.

Clough’s tenure ends 18 days before the conclusion of Captain Billy Bremner’s suspension – in other words, he never got a chance to manage Leeds at full strength. He receives a payoff of £98,000 -- in today's money, about £900,000, or around $1.2 million.

That night, he sits for an interview on Yorkshire Television, but is not told beforehand that it will be a dual interview – or, perhaps, “duel” would be more fitting – with England manager Don Revie, his predecessor at Leeds, and a man he despises for his dirty tactics in leading them to 2 League titles, among other trophies.

Even this humiliation, in front of the entire country, is not the end of it: With Jimmy Bloomfield in charge, Leeds, while only finishing 12th in the League, will (as defending Champions) reach the Final of the European Cup, losing to Bayern Munich.

Clough will have the last laugh, though: Revie will be a flop as England manager, while Clough will be hired next year to manage Nottingham Forest -- ironically, the arch-rivals of Derby County, whom he'd managed to the 1972 League title. He takes Forest to the 1978 League title, and in 1979 and '80 wins the European Cup (forerunner of today's Champions League) -- which neither Leeds nor Revie had ever won.

*

September 12, 1974 was a Thursday. This was also the day that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was deposed in a Communist military coup, and the day the Boston Busing Crisis began. I have separate entries for those events.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Mike Wallace -- no relation to the CBS journalist of the same name -- makes his only start of the season, and goes 7 2/3rds innings. allowing just 3 hits, outpitching Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer. Dick Tidrow completes the 4-hit shutout, and Wallace advances to 7-0 on the season. Other than this one season, he was little more than a journeyman pitcher.

Bobby Murcer, Lou Piniella and Elliott Maddox each got 2 hits for the Yankees. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-5 at Shea Stadium. The night before, the Cardinals had beaten the Mets in 25 innings. There may have been some carryover, as Bob Gibson outpitched Jon Matlack, who nonetheless had 2 hits and 2 RBIs in his own cause.

John Milner hit a home run for the Mets, but Reggie Smith went 3-for-5 with a home run and 4 RBIs for the Cards. Ted Simmons also went 3-for-5, albeit with no RBIs. As for 2 future Mets, Joe Torre went 0-for-5, and Keith Hernandez did not reach base as a pinch-hitter.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Mike Schmidt and Del Unser hit home runs for the Phils. Willie Stargell went 2-for-2 with 3 walks.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Bill Lee outpitched Jim Perry. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5. This game, and the Yanks' win over the O's, meant that the day ended with the Yankees leading the American League Eastern Division by 2 1/2 games over the Sox, and 3 over the O's. The Sox had led for most of the season, but went into one of their occasional late-season tailspins. Ultimately, the Orioles would win the Division, by 2 games over the Yankees and 7 over the Red Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Braves, 9-6 and 6-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Over the 2 games, Pete Rose went 3-for-8 with a walk, and Johnny Bench went 2-for-7 with 2 home runs, a walk and 6 RBIs. Hank Aaron, having already become baseball's all-time home run leader, went 0-for-5 in the opener, and did not play in the nightcap. Darrell Evans homered for the Braves in both games.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-7 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Tom Veryzer won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It was the 1st home run of his career. He would hit 14. Al Kaline, in his last month as an active player, went 1-for-4. Rookie Robin Yount did not get into the game for the Brewers.

* The Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox were tied 2-2 after 6 innings at Comiskey Park in Chicago, when it was called due to rain. It was never made up.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Ken Holtzman outpitched Bert Blyleven. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4. Rod Carew did not play.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield entered the game as a defensive replacement, and did not get to bat.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 11-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Al Downing pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Dodgers got no home runs, but Bill Russell went 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs, and Ron Cey went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* And the California Angels and the Kansas City Royals were not scheduled.

May 5, 1956: Bert Trautmann Breaks His Neck to Win the FA Cup

May 5, 1956: Many sports fans have said they would die for their team. Most don't mean it. And most don't expect their players to die for their teams. Well, one man broke his neck to win his team a trophy, and lived to tell about it.

Bernhard Carl Trautmann was born on October 22, 1923 in Bremen, Germany. He excelled in multiple sports, including soccer, where he was an expert goalkeeper. Like nearly every German male of his generation, he joined the Army, fighting for the Nazis whether they liked it or not. He became a paratrooper, so he was certainly brave. He would eventually be captured by, and escape from, the Americans, the Soviet Red Army, and the French Resistance. The 4th time, he was captured by the British. This time, he accepted his fate, and was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp near Liverpool.

After The War, he was released, but declined an offer of repatriation, and stayed in England. He played for St. Helens Town, a club near Liverpool. He was allowed to marry Margaret Friar, the daughter of the club secretary. He got the club promoted, and in 1949, he was signed by Manchester City Football Club. This made him the 1st soccer player in England to wear Adidas shoes, since he was a friend of the company's founder, Adolf Dassler. (His nickname was Adi, hence, "Adi Das." His brother Rudolf Dassler founded Puma.)

Man City fans were not happy about the signing. A, Trautmann wasn't just German, he had actually fought for the enemy. B, He was replacing Frank Swift, the greatest goalie in Man City's history to that point. (Swift then became a journalist, and died in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, covering Manchester United's European Cup run.)

A January 1950 match away to West London club Fulham changed things. He made several great saves, and, although Fulham won 1-0, their fans stopped hurling insults at him, and gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

Man City were relegated to the Football League Division Two at the end of the season, but bounced back up to Division One at the end of the next season. Led by Trautmann and forward Don Revie (later the manager of the great Leeds United team of the late 1960s and early 1970s), they reached the 1955 FA Cup Final, losing to Newcastle United FC.

In 1956, they got back to the Final, and faced Birmingham City FC. The game was 1-1 at the hour, but Bobby Johnstone and Jack Dyson scored in quick succession to make it 3-1 to Man City. In the 73rd minute, Peter Murphy attempted a shot for the Brummies, but Trautmann dove at his feet to win the ball. In the process, Murphy's knee struck Trautmann in the neck.

Trautmann was knocked unconscious. Substitutes were not allowed in English football until the 1965-66 season, so if he could not continue, an outfield player would have to put on the green shirt, and City would be down to 10 men. Trautmann came to, and, with the situation explained to him, he insisted on staying in the game.

The Man City players did what they could to keep the ball away from him, but he had to make 2 more saves, the 2nd of which was another collision with Murphy, resulting in his needing treatment.

The game ended 3-1, and the Man City players climbed the famed Wembley Stadium steps to the royal box, where Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of Queen Elizabeth II, handed out the Cup to winning Captain Roy Paul, and the winner's medals to all the players. On the film, Trautmann can be seen rubbing his neck. Prince Philip expressed concern for Trautmann's condition.

After 3 days, the pain didn't go away, so Trautmann went to the doctor. He was told he had dislocated 5 vertebrae, 1 of which was cracked. The 3rd vertebra had lodged against the cracked 2nd, possibly saving his life. He had, quite literally, broken his neck to win the FA Cup.

He missed much of the 1956-57 season, and in 1958, because he had not fully recovered, Man City became the only team in the history of England's Football League (including the post-1992 Premier League) to score 100 goals and allow 100 goals in a single League season. But he continued to play until 1964, and his final match was a testimonial at Maine Road, City's ground from 1923 to 2003. He captained a combined City and United team, with Bobby Charlton and Denis Law guesting from United, against an International XI that had England stars Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and Jimmy Armfield.

He was not allowed to play for the West Germany national team, under their rules of the time, because he was playing outside the country, and so he was not on the team that won the 1954 World Cup. He later coached in England, Germany and Spain, and managed the national teams of Burma, Tanzania, Liberia and Pakistan.

He settled in the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, Spain. He married 3 times, and had 4 children, 1 of whom died in a car crash as a boy, which led to the breakup of his 1st marriage. Queen Elizabeth II awarded him an OBE for his efforts at diplomacy through sport, and, on the occasion, asked him if his neck felt better.

He was honored with a statue outside the City of Manchester Stadium, to which Man City moved in 2003, and is now named the Etihad Stadium.

He died on July 19, 2013, in Valencia, from the effects of a pair of heart attacks earlier in the year, up to which point he was still thought to be in good health. He was 89 years old.

Bert Trautmann was a symbol of courage, perseverance, understanding and sportsmanship. He could have been embittered by either the war he was in or his new country's reaction to his service in it. Instead, he made both his old country and his new country better places to be. That's testimonial enough for anyone.

*

May 5, 1956 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey McDermott was the winning pitcher. Mickey Mantle hit 2 home runs, one of them his 1st of at least 3 that he would hit off the façade atop the right-field roof. There were also home runs from Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1 at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Tom Poholsky limited the Dodgers to 3 hits, including a home run by Duke Snider. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-3. Stan Musial went 1-for-3. Ken Boyer hit a grand slam.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 16-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with a walk. Ted Williams got a hit as a pinch-hitter.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Cincinnati Redlegs (as the Reds were known from 1954 to 1958) beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Gus Bell singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. The Reds got home runs by Frank Robinson, Wally Post and Ted Kluszewski.

* The Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 18. The Phils swept, 6-4 and 6-1. Ernie Banks went 4-for-8 with an RBI.

* And the New York Giants and the Milwaukee Braves were rained out at Milwaukee County Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 21. The Braves swept, 5-3 and 6-2. Hank Aaron went 2-for-6 with 2 walks and an RBI. Willie Mays went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.

April 28, 1965: The Birth of the Manchester United-Leeds Rivalry

April 28, 1965: Despite losing 2–1 to Aston Villa, at Villa Park in Birmingham, on the final day of the League season, Manchester United are crowned Football League First Division champions for the 6th time in their history -- and the first time since 1957, and thus the first time since the Munich Air Disaster -- on goal average, ahead of a Leeds United side who have yet to win the top division title.

On April 26, Leeds had completed their League season with a 3-3 draw with Birmingham City, at St. Andrews Stadium in Birmingham in the West Midlands. In contrast, Man United beat North London team Arsenal, 3-1 at Old Trafford, in Salford, west of Central Manchester. With a much greater goal average, it would have taken a truly massive Villa win, at Villa Park, also in Birmingham, to throw the title to Leeds. But with a 2-1 loss, Man U finished with 61 points and a goal average of 2.282; while Leeds finished with 61 points and a goal average of 1.596.

United had lost to Leeds, 1-0 at Old Trafford on December 5, 1964; but had beaten Leeds, 1-0 at Elland Road on April 17.

Sir Matt Busby's phoenixlike triumph is led by the men who will become known as the Holy Trinity: Fellow Munich survivor Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, and a 19-year-old superstar in the making, George Best. None yet have the hairstyles for which they will be known: Charlton doesn't yet need the combover, while Law and Bestie still have comparatively short hair.

Three days later on May 1, Don Revie's Leeds completed that most frustrating of "achievements": The runner-up "Double," losing the FA Cup Final, to Liverpool, 2-1 in extra time, at the original Wembley Stadium in West London.

Over the course of 10 seasons, starting with this one, they will win 2 League titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup, and 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups (now known as the Europa League) -- but also finish 2nd in the League 5 times, lose 3 FA Cup Finals, a European Cup Final, a Fairs Cup Final and a European Cup Winners' Cup Final, and develop a reputation as the dirtiest team in the modern history of English football.

This season is also the beginning of the Man U-Leeds rivalry, which is one of the nastiest in Britain, with its roots in the Wars of the Roses of 1455 to 1485, with Greater Manchester having historically been part of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Leeds being in Yorkshire, run by the House of York. To this day, Leeds United wear the White Rose of the House of York on their crest. (United wear red shirts, which matches the Red Rose of the House of Lancaster, but this is not an intentional connection.)

*

April 28, 1965 was a Friday. This was also the day that President Lyndon B. Johnson sent U.S. troops as peacemakers to the Dominican Republic. I have a separate entry for that event.

Football was out of season. The NBA Finals ended 3 days earlier, with the Boston Celtics beating the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games. The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 5 and 6, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks in Game 7.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-1 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 12-9 at the Astrodome in Houston. Mets broadcaster Lindsey Nelson broadcast the game from the gondola suspended from the ceiling of the Astrodome, accompanied by a cameraman, 208 feet above 2nd base. "At first, I couldn't see anything except a lot of tiny figures. Everybody looked the same height... You couldn't tell a line drive from a pop fly." The dome had debuted on April 9, and they remained there through the 1999 season. The stadium hosted many other events over those years. And yet, no broadcaster, not even Nelson himself, ever copied the stunt.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Senators, 6-3 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Brooks Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4, but Jimmie Hall hit 2 home runs for the Twins, who knocked Jack Kralick out of the box in the 2nd inning. It was far from enough: The Indians knocked Jim Kaat out of the box in the 3rd, and Sonny Siebert pitched 7 2/3rds innings of strong relief.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4, but drew 2 walks. Pete Rose went 1-for-6. Ernie Banks went 1-for-5.

Ernie Broglio, whom the Cubs infamously traded Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals for the season before, lost the game in the bottom of the 14th inning: Having gotten the 1st 2 outs, he walked Tommy Harper, allowed a single to Vada Pinson, and intentionally walked Robinson to set up the play at any base. But that loaded the bases, and, with Tony Pérez at bat, home plate umpire Doug Harvey called Broglio for a back, forcing Harper home. I wonder if Harper said, "'Preciate it. Thanks." (Ball Four reference.)

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Bob Gibson pitched a 3-hit shutout. Hank Aaron did not get any of those hits. The aforementioned Lou Brock went 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases and 2 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 5-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bob Veale pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Claude Osteen. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays hit a home run.

* And the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox were not scheduled.