Today I'm going back 44 years to 1979 and Leeds United's First Division fixture against Bolton Wanderers, played on a Wednesday evening at Elland Road in front of 20,218. Leeds comfortably disposed of the Trotters 5-1 with goals from Trevor Cherry, Frank Gray (penalty), Paul Hart, Carl Harris and substitute John Hawley. Bolton's sole reply came from Neil McNab.
The Bolton Line up that night contained a future Leeds player in Frank Worthington who lit up many a dull Saturday afternoon with his flamboyant skills on the football field. Worthington switched clubs frequently during his playing career and also made eight appearances for the full England side (scoring two goals) with manager Joe Mercer claiming that Worthington was one of the best centre forwards of all time! Many would tell you that Worthington was just as flamboyant off the pitch too having had a reputation for something of a playboy lifestyle.
The programme shown is, in fact, an insert to the originally published programme (which carried the February date of the original fixture and was postponed because of the weather). Sensibly, the club preferred not to scrap over 5,000 programmes and simply slipped an additional sheet of paper inside the original issue carrying a few additional up to date details. My only grievance with inserts is that, when it comes to filing programmes in date order, the date on the cover is incorrect and I'd prefer a new wrap around carrying the correct date that would serve as a new cover instead. That said, I've attended many a match where the original programme is issued without any kind of insert or update. On the other hand, I also have a few examples of programmes from postponed matches which were never sold because the game concerned was postponed and a brand new programme was produced for the subsequently rearranged game. This latter approach is clearly the most costly for clubs and can be a nightmare for the serious collector since the original issues are often pulped and become extremely sought after due to their rarity.
Leeds ended the season in fifth place in the First Division and thereby qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup. Bolton finished in 17th position (of 22) but were ten points clear of the bottom three relegation positions (remember these were the days of two points for a win). Champions in 1978/79 were Liverpool who finished eight points clear of runners-up Nottingham Forest (both clubs qualified for the following season's European Cup (Champions League) following Forest's first ever European Cup Final win over Malmo in Munich). Relegated from the top flight that season were Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City and wooden spoonists Chelsea.
CRB Match No. 43
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