TOMMY CASSIDY RIP!

 Posted '1:30pm bells' 🔔 Friday 2nd August 2024

Very sad news reaches us that former Toon player and Northern Ireland International Tommy Cassidy haz passed away!

Tommy played 239 times for us for 10 years in the 1970s to 1980 and played in both the FA Cup final in 1974 and the Leegue Cup final in 1976 at Wembley.

He scored 28 goals in total between 1970 and 1980 and played az a forward and then az a midfielder

I used to have a bit 'crack' with him when he drank in 'The Monkey Bar' in The Toon and once showed him my 'Geordie Times' story of him when he scored the winnin goal at Derby Coonty 52 years ago in 1972

TOMMY (ON THE RIGHT), WITH SOME MATES IN THE MONKEY BAR

(Ground number 023 Baseball Ground, Derby) (see story below!)

Sadly Tommy had dementia and haz died at the age of 73

RIP TOMMY!  Lost but never to be forgotten!

023 the baseball ground derby

(GROUND NUMBER 23)

Date of First Visit: 3rd APRIL 1972
THE BASEBALL GROUND, DERBY

DERBY COUNTY 0
NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 (Tommy Cassidy)

(OLD) DIVISION ONE
ATTENDANCE: 38,119 (3,000 (or so) Toon fans)

♫MUD!----MUD!----'GLORIOUS' MUD!♪


LOOK!----Because it waz that lang ago!--- aa cannit remember just who aa travelled doon with on the train for this one to Derby Station!?, but most of them were in 'steel cappers', crombies and wore their 'braces slack'!

But aa can tell yih this!--- I was NOT! impressed with mee forst ever visit tih the capital of Derbyshire and after a few 'Arthur Scargills' near Derby station (and a couple of confrontation's with the local 'dibble'!) we heeded nearer to 'The Basebaall Groond' for some more 'liquid lubrications!
(AYE!---ah CAN! (of course!) remember havin' a few 'gargels' , but who with iz any f*****s guess!???)

Row upon row of Victorian back to back terraced hooses with thick smoke billowin' from their chimney's and blackened soot covered factories, lined the route tih the groond .
(Ne central heatin' in them days!---just coal fires tih keep yih waam!)
("Ahh!---memories!?")


ANYWAY!---wih made for the nearest 'hootch-hostelry' tih the groond, which was appropriately caalled 'The Footballer' and in keepin' with the rest of the place it was a dingy rundoon hovel!, with threadbare carpets, ripped waallpaper and a (very!) smelly 'toolshed'---BUT!---it did sorve---BEER!

The lop-sided pub sign sported a Derby player kickin' a baall and az 'skinheeds' were aall the rage back then, a 'good kickin' was aalso on the cards for the Derby fans on their way tih the match from the notorious 'Leazes Boot Boys' who had wrecked Sheffield just two days orlier on April Fools Day! (see ground 22 archive report)

And predictably that's exactly what happened to some unfortunate Coonty fans who were ambushed in a dead end alley next to a huge foundry beside the groond and they ended up with 'Doc Marten boot' prints as unwelcome 'souvenirs' 'imbedded' in various parts of their anatomies!

The Toon fans were housed behind the goal in front of a double decker stand with the rest of the groond consistin' of a forther two double deckers a single deck main stand to wor reet and the groond was completely hemmed in by the factories and hooses. The double deckers towered ower the pitch blockin' oot any sunlight and this defiantly effected the playin' area

"SPOT THE MUD!"

The kindest thing that can be said aboot the Basebaall
Groonds pitch in the '70s', is tih say that it resembled a 'glorified' ploughed field caked in thick mud!.
(Which doesn't say much for the rest of the place!---does it??)

This was a great advantage tih 'one' Brian Clough, who was Derby's manager at the time, and in the aad telly footage, yih can see that there was'nt a blade of grass on the pitch!.

'Cloughies' men were gannin for the Championship and had'nt been beaten at home for ower a year, so The Toon had an uphill task tih say the least!.
It had been 'chuckin' it doon' owerneet and the notorious pitch was like a quagmire as the teams ran oot.

The forst half ended goal-less, with the Derby forwards poundin' the Newcastle defence, but Willie McFaul and Bobby Moncur in particular, had blinders in the 'mud bath', tih keep oot the 'Ram Raiders'.

The deadlock was broken by The Toon in the 70th minute, when a Frank Clark free kick (ultimately) foond 'Supermac', who's raspin' shot was punched oot by County's keeper, but anly as far as Tommy Cassidy, and he calmly stroked the baall through the thick mud, and it rolled ever so slowly (and agonisingly!) ower the goal line and into the net for the one and anly goal of the game.

He was then mobbed by virtually the full team and it was quite a sight as 'they' rolled aboot and wallowed in the wet mud (as we 'rolled' aboot and 'wallowed' on the terraces!)
At the end they came off to a standin' ovation from the Toon contingent, but yi could hardly recognise them as they were aall caked 'up ti the eyebaalls' in 'yee naa wot'! ---'black 'n' white minstrel style'! (remember them!?)

21 year old Cassidy said later that it was!: "The greatest moment of my life!"
(A 'glorious mud' goal!---if ever there was one!)
Personally, aa would'nt gan 'that far'!, but it was still one of the great moments of that season.
(Except!---for the Derby fans---that is!)

 Now!---how does that aad 'hippo' song gan again?

♫Mud!---Mud!---Glorious Mud!♪
♪There's nothing quite like it, for cooling the blood!♫
♫T'was a 'class'? goal from 'CASS', from a 'SUPERMAC' 'pass'?♪

♪And there let them wallow, in glorious mud!♫♫



After the match, 'Cloughie' said that he thought the Newcastle defence were brilliant, but bragged that Derby were still top of the League, and that's where they would stay!.
He was reet!---as they won the League in a nail bitin' end tih the season, by one point, from Leeds, Liverpool and Man. City.
(The Toon finished eleventh)


Footnote:
(The Basebaall Groond is no more of course, and was bulldozed in 1997 to make way for---THIS!▼▼▼) (another 'mud-bath'!)

©Fink™ (the mad-sad gr☺unh☺pper!)

☺☻☺☻☺



OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF TERM & PHRASE
(for the benefit of 'Geordie readers'!)


wallow=stagger/stumble/flounder/lurch/welter/reel!


☺☻☺☻☺


'A to Z' GEORDIE GLOSSARY OF TERMS & PHRASES
(for the benefit of 'non Geordie' readers!) (in Alfie-betikal order!)


aa/ah=I
Arthur Scargills=gargles=beers
aye=yes
anly=only
aad=old
aall=all
aalso=also
aboot=about
braces slack=a skinhead custom
baall=ball
crombies= skinhead jackets
cannit=cannot
caalled=called
coonty=county
chuckin' it doon=raing very heavily
dibble=police force/men
forst=first
foond=found
groond=ground
gargles=beers
gan(in')=go(ing)
heeded=headed
hooch hostelry=public house
Leazes boot boys=Newcastle United hooligans
Liquid lubrications=beers
lang=long
mee=my
ne=no
oot=out
ower=over
owerneet=overnight
reet=right
rundoon=run down
sorve=serve
steel cappers=steel capped Dr Marten boots
Toon fans=Newcastle United fans
The Toon=Newcastle United FC
tih=to
toolshed=netty=gents toilet
the rams=Derby's nickname
up tih the eyebaalls=covered from head to footwaallpaper=wallpaper
wih=we
waam=warm
yi(h)=you
yee naa wot=you know what

URAWA RED DIAMONDS 1 THE TOON 4 *** JAPAN TOUR GAME 1

 Posted '1:00pm bells' Thorzday 1st August 2024

NUFCs Japan tour started off well with a 4-1 win in Tokyo!

The goal sequences were az follows:

3rd minute: Harvey Barnes races through and gives a great baall to Isak, who weaves through The Diamonds defence to hit a fine shot to put us 1-0 up

23rd minute: The Diamonds equalise through Nita, who back heels the baall past Pope in The Toon goal

30th minute: Livramento gives a penalty away, but Pope makes an excellent save!

45th minute: NUFC regain the lead through a shot from Murphy, from a Willock pass

47th minute: Murphy doubles hiz tally just after the restart, from a Jamie Miley through baall (1-3 to us)

58th minute: A Lewis Hall deflected shot wrang foots their goalie to put us 4-1 up----final score!

AN ESTIMATED 2,000 TOON FANS WERE PRESENT, WHITH QUITE A FEW TRAVELLIN FROM THE UK—THE STADIUM CAPACITY IZ 67,000 SO THERE WERE QUITE A FEW EMPTY SEATS!

The pix were sent to us by intrepid Geordie Times paparazzi reporters Paul The Englishman and Blondie Alan The Morris Dancer!----Cheers lads!—more to follow later!

LUV AT FORST SIGHT!💗

URAWA RED DIAMONDS v THE TOON *** JAPAN TOUR GAME 1

 Posted 'high noon bells' Wedinzday 31st July 2024

Picture of stadium entrance taken by 'Blondie Alan the Morris Dancer'

Az we type NUFC are in action in Japan and are currently drawin' 1-1 with The Red Diamonds of Urawa!   Isak got wor goal in the 2nd minute!  They equalised with a soft goal ----Murphy puts NUFC back in front bang on half time!

Will be updated later this evenin'

Az per usual  "Watch this space!"  

Updated: ‘5:25pm bells 🔔’

🤪👍🏁

We won 4-1 with 2 goals from Jacob Murphy and 1 each from Alexander the Great (Isak) and Lewis Hall!

🤪👍🏁

Full match report and pix from Blondie Alan sometime tomorrow!

🤪👍🏁

URAWA RED DIAMONDS v THE TOON *** JAPAN TOUR GAME 1 *** '11:30am BELLS' GMT (Geordie Meeen Time!) WEDINZDAY

 Posted 'high noon bells' Tuezday 30th July 2024

SALTIMA STADIUM, TOKYO, JAPAN, HOME OF URAWA RED DIAMONDS

We play wor forst owerseas friendly in Tokyo tomorrow neet when we play The Red Diamonds of Urawa!

2 'Geordie Times' paparazzi reporters will send match pix (and Japanese boozer pix!) back to us (hopefully?)

More info when we get it!

Az per usual "Watch this space!"

****

HULL CITY TIGERS 0 THE TOON XX 2 *** PRE SEASON FRIENDLY

 Posted 'high noon bells' Sunday 28th July 2024

4,500 Toon fans behind the left hand goal!

"XX"--"TWENTY'S PLENTY!"

Wor forst 'kickaboot' of the season took place in Hull yesterday afternoooon in front of 4,500 Toon fans housed in the away end! (One third of the attendance of 13,670!)

NUFC opened the scorin in the 32nd minute when Murphy supplied 'Alexander the Great' (Isak) with a great cross and he toe poked the baall past the Hull goalie! 0-1 to 'us'

The Toon then doubled wor lead in the 40th minute, when a cross from Murphy eluded the home defence and the baall crept into the corner of the net to send the faithful wild with delight! 0-2 to 'us'

We'd started off with a strong line up and in the 2nd half, 9 substitutes were brought on to make it 20 in total---Just wot The Geordie Times had predicted!  (See article below)

A predictable practice game az well--- for certain!---Pre season friendlies normally are of course!

There woz nee more scorin in this half and so we had to settle for the 2 goal win!

Today the players fly off to Japan for 2 friendlies in Tokyo next Wedinzday and Saturday (We have 2 Geordie Times paparazzi reporters to send us photos back!) (Paul 'The Englishman' and 'Blondie Alan the Morris Dancer'!)

Az per usual---"Watch this space!"

HULL CITY v THE TOON X1*** FRIENDLY*** TOMORROW AFTERNOOON!

 Posted '2:10 pm bells' Friday 26th July 2024

MKM STADIUM, HULL

"IN RESERVE!"

NUFC play wor forst pre season friendly at Hull on Saturday and aall 4,500 tickets allocated have been sold!---But beware!----The team iz likely to feature several U21 and junior player because of absentees!

Callum Wilson, Lewis Miley, Matt Targett, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman will be missin', while Lloyd Kelly, Joe Willock and Tino Livramento are unlikely to feature!

On top of that and because of International service, Kieran Trippier, 'Fab' Schar, Anthony Gordon, Martin Dubravka, Miggy Almiron and Bruno were granted extra time off, but should be on the plane to Japan on Sunday for 2 games in Tokyo!

And of course Sandro Tonali iz still sorvin hiz ban for gamblin'!

That's 15 (FIFTEEN!) forst team players who will probably be unavailable for the Hull game!

And az usual in pre season ‘kick abouts’, up to 20 players could be used!

A Geordie Times match report will appear here sometime on Sunday!

Az per usual!---"Watch this space!"

Updated 12:55pm bells 🔔 Saturday

We woz wrang!🥶az this looks a pretty strong startin’ line up!

But wotz the bettin that we play nearly aall wor subs in the 2nd half?🤔 (We still predict that at least 20 players will be used!)

This iz The Geordie Times!

Wot did yoo expect???🤔

SpVgg UNTERHAGHING 1. THE TOON 3 *** FRIENDLY (BCD)

 Posted just after ‘high noon bells 🔔 Sunday 21st July 2024

An unannooced pre season friendly took place on Friday near wor trainin camp in Jawmany!

NUFC won 3-1 with goals from Barnes, Murphy and Isak in the forst half! SpVgg replied from the penalty spot through Skarlatidis!

2 comletleee different teams play in each half!

We bring yoo this news 2 days late!

But wot did yoo expect? This iz The Geordie Times!

We bring yoo aall the news second hand, first!

THE UNDERTAKER AND LIAM FROM THE LAMP---- A FEW 'GARGELS' IN THEIR MEMORY!

 Posted just after 'high noon bells' Saturday 20th July 2024

Friends of The Undertaker and Liam from The Lamp (The Big Lamp on Westgate Road) will meet in 'The 5 Swans' boozer opposite the civic centre at '2:00pm bells' for some drinks in their memory, to remember the tragic events that unfolded 10 years ago this week! 

(See article below)

Everyone iz welcome, even those who never met them!

They may be lost but they are not forgotten! RIP LADS!

STATEMENTS FROM NUFC, AMANDA, MEHRDAD and JAMIE REUBEN

 Posted ‘12:27 pm 🔔 bells’ Saturday 13th July 2024