| MIDDLESBROUGH 5 CITY 4 League Division 1 13th September 1952 Attendance 36,000 City Revie 2, Broadis, Meadows |
No-one could have foreseen just what a fantastic thriller we were to see when a City side which included such names as Bert Trautmann, Don Revie, Ivor Broadis and Roy Paul took the field on September 13th, 1952. Boro’s management jolted the crowd by making no fewer than seven changes from the side beaten at Stoke the previous Saturday. They didn’t mess about in those days.
City looked the more dangerous team for a spell, then Boro surged into lethal action and scored three times in the space of quarter of an hour. And three tremendous goals they were, bringing the crowd to its feet. Geoff Walker centred for Johnny Spuhler to send a header crashing into the net; Lindy Delapenha cracked a fierce free kick into the goalmouth and Wilf Mannion, judging the tremendous speed of the ball superbly, headed another; Spuhler, on his knees, spectacularly headed a third past Trautmann from Arthur Fitzsimons’ cross.
It looked as though Manchester City were on their knees, too, but just before ha|f-time they got back into the game when Broadis rifled a gem past Rolando Ugolini. Not to worry Fitzsimons steered the ball past Tra utmann to make it 4-1 within a minute of the resumption and again it looked won and lost. Meadows pulled another back for City, but Delapenha immediately countered to make it 5-2. Then Revie took a hand. The man who was later to become a successful, if controversial manager, blasted two of the best into the Boro net and suddenly City were trailing only by 5-4 and looked to have a great chance of both points.
Thrill piled on thrill as each side attacked in turn. With Trautmann lying helpless on the ground, a shot by Boro wing-half Harry Bell struck a defender on the line. Then Ugolini made a tremendous save from Clarke and a minute after that Sowden completely beat the Boro goalkeeper, the ball hitting an upright and rolling slowly along the goal-line to be scrambled clear by relieved centre-half Bill Whitaker.
lt wasn’t over. Manchester City, showing great reserves of energy and determination, threw everything into attack. Just on time, it seemed that the equaliser had come when Sowden put in a blistering header. Ugolini twisted in mid-air to make a brilliant save and as the crowd roared its appreciation (and relief) the final whistle blew. Boro had held on to win 5-4, against very worthy opposition.
The score, in a remarkable match of ever-changing fortunes, went like this: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4. And there, thank goodness, it stayed, to send a breathless crowd home singing the praises of an exciting Middlesbrough team and, too, the praises of a gallant and talented Manchester City side that refused to throw in the towel and battled away with the skill and guts to the last whistle.
FROM AN ARTICLE BY CLIFF MITCHELL, PUBLISHED IN THE MIDDLESBROUGH V CITY PROGRAMME 27TH MARCH 1982