Home
ALL OUR YESTERDAYS: 50 YEARS ON FROM CUP FINAL GLORY
Kingsley Hyland’s regular rummage through the archives reflects on the club’s first national trophy, half a century ago.
When Gosforth Football Club, a previous iteration of Newcastle Red Bulls, won the John Player National Knockout Cup at Twickenham in 1977 for the second year running it represented the pinnacle of the club’s achievements in the amateur era.
This was still ten years before the introduction of the RFU leagues, and so the cup was the only officially recognised club competition in England. By winning it two years running Gosforth could justifiably lay claim to be the number one club in the country.
Although they would also go on to contest the 1981 final, losing to Leicester, they would not earn the right to call themselves the country’s top club again until the Premiership triumph as Newcastle Falcons in 1998. They would not win the cup again until 2001 although they were beaten finalists in 1999.
Such were the achievements of that 1976-77 campaign, in which the club lost just two of 35 matches, that the achievements of the previous season tend to be overlooked. But when Bristol Bears visit Kingston Park on Friday it will be 50 years to the day since Rosslyn Park were defeated 23-14 in a nail-biting Twickenham final to bring the cup north for the first time.
If the club’s fall from grace in the 1980s was quite sudden – by the end of the 1980s they would be desperately clinging on to their second division status – the club’s rise to the top of the English game was anything but.
Founded in September 1877, Gosforth had led a nomadic existence until after the two world wars, in the course of which their playing strength was twice decimated, leaving them with a major rebuilding task. They did enjoy a brief period of success in winning the Northumberland Senior Cup in 1928 and reached the final again in 1932 and 1936, but the real impetus for the steady climb to the top came when the club acquired its own ground on the Great North Road in the early 1950s.
Once settled in their new home they set about pursuing an aggressive policy of improving their fixture list, offering to travel long distances to play better teams, often at considerable expense. This policy bore fruit as it attracted better quality players, and by the early 1970s they were playing and occasionally beating the likes of Coventry and Leicester.
The club first contested the National Knockout Cup in the 1971-72 season, going out in the first round at Halifax (9-13). In 1973-74 they lost 6-15 at Coventry in the second round. The following season they had notable victories on the road at Northampton (7-4) and Bristol (13-3) before going out in the quarter-final to the eventual winners Bedford at Goldington Road.
They could sense that their luck might be changing the following season when they finally received a home draw in the first round of a competition, by then sponsored by John Player Cigarettes.
The 1976 cup final programme and match ticket
© NRB
OCTOBER 18, 1975 – GOSFORTH 35-9 HARTLEPOOL ROVERS
Although they now ply their trade at Level 8 in the English club pyramid, Hartlepool Rovers were still a senior club in 1975. They were the Durham Senior Cup holders and had managed to retain a strong fixture list. In the event, Gosforth’s large pack of forwards dominated the scrums and the breakdown, even if their lineout did occasionally mis-fire.
With forward supremacy scrum-half Malcom Young was given free rein with an endless supply of quick ball, and it took some courageous defence from Rovers to restrict the home side to five tries. Young was also the team’s principal goalkicker, although he was noted more for his accuracy than his length, with the longer kicks normally delegated to full-back Brian Patrick.
It was something of a surprise therefore when Young opened the scoring in the first minute with a penalty from his own half, and then repeated the feat with less than five minutes gone to open up a 6-0 lead. Roger Uttley scored the first try after the Rovers’ scrum was shunted over their own line, and centre Harry Patrick added a second before half-time. Allan Calvert kicked three first-half penalties for Rovers as Gosforth led 16-9 at the break.
Gosforth were in total control in the second half. After Young had kicked his third penalty Ken Britten crossed for Gosforth’s third try following a telling break from Cumbrian flanker Dave Robinson. From a move off a five-yard scrum winger Mike Griffin scored the fourth, and he crossed again for the final score following a cross-field handling move. Young converted three of the five tries for a personal tally of 15 points.
The team’s reward was a trip to Liverpool in the second round.
FEBRUARY 14, 1976 – LIVERPOOL 12-19 GOSFORTH
Liverpool had already beaten Gosforth by 15 points earlier that season and so were probably favourites to win this one, with the visitors deprived of the services of both Uttley and Britten. As it turned out Gosforth’s bigger, heavier forwards again dominated, and Young produced another man-of-the-match performance with a further 15 points from scrum-half.
He again kicked two early penalties (6-0) but Liverpool levelled with a try from England wing Mike Slemen, converted by Mike Killen (6-6). Approaching half-time Steve Gustard made a decisive break to secure a five-yard scrum from which Young touched down and added the conversion to give the visitors the advantage (12-6) at the break.
Liverpool started the second half well and again levelled through two Killen penalties (12-12) but Gosforth’s clear forward supremacy gradually began to tell, and in the closing minutes Gustard finished off a blindside move to score in the corner. Young was successful with the conversion from the touchline and Gosforth were through to their first quarter-final.
MARCH 13, 1976 – ROUNDHAY 3-14 GOSFORTH
Once again it would be forward supremacy that would lay the basis for what was a much more dominant victory than the scoreline might suggest.
The stand-out feature of an otherwise dour game at Chandos Park were two tries from Gustard. Roundhay were forced to soak up early pressure, but took the lead against the run of play with a penalty from Ian Orum. Gosforth were rewarded for their forward supremacy with the award of several penalties, but failed to take advantage with Young missing two attempts at goal and Patrick with another. In first half-injury time Gustard secured a charge down leading to a five-yard scrum from which Young was held up over the line, but managed to offload to Colin White, who touched down. Young’s conversion attempt hit the post but the visitors led 4-3 at the break.
An injury to Harry Patrick forced Gosforth to re-shuffle their back line. Alan Moor came off the bench onto the wing, with Roger Biggs moving into the centre. Young and Britten each had tries disallowed when the referee was unsighted to keep Roundhay in the contest, but the constant pressure finally told when fly-half Richard Breakey threw an ambitious pass to enable Gustard to score in the corner.
Having missed with several easier kicks Young converted from the touchline (10-4). Roundhay were now forced to try to chase the game whilst struggling to secure any meaningful possession, and when they ran the ball from their own 25 they spilled it, enabling Gustard to snaffle it and run in for his second try. Young reverted to kind and missed the conversion.
The reward on this occasion was another trip away, this time to Sale, for a semi-final which would ensure that for the first time a club from the north would take part in the final.
APRIL 3, 1976 – SALE 3-12 GOSFORTH
Sale had reached the semi-final with a win at Orrell (15-9) and narrow home wins over Gloucester (16-15) and London Welsh (16-14), and so went into the contest full of confidence.
It was Gosforth, however, who started the stronger, and it took the home side 12 minutes to break out of their own half. Nevertheless it was Sale who took the lead with a penalty from fly-half Steve Rule. Gosforth hit back when centre Britten threw an outrageous dummy to score between the posts. Young added the conversion and Gosforth led 6-3 at half-time.
Rule missed with two penalty attempts as Sale strived for the score that would draw them level but they could not break down the Gosforth defence, and their discipline deserted them in the final minutes when Young made a break only to be flattened by a swinging right hand from Fran Cotton, who was duly sent off. Young dusted himself down and kicked the resultant penalty (9-3) and then kicked another in injury-time following a late tackle.
APRIL 24, 1976 – JOHN PLAYER CUP FINAL – ROSSLYN PARK 14-GOSFORTH 23
Despite the dominant performances of the Gosforth pack in brushing aside all opposition on their way to the final, Rosslyn Park were the favourites with the bookmakers, who made Gosforth even-money.
Gosforth were without their captain Roger Uttley, who had broken his leg in a match at Richmond. Park had enjoyed an easier ride to the final, beating junior clubs Marlow (41-3) and Penryn (39-3) at home before overcoming Bristol (16-12) at the Memorial Ground in the quarter-final and Wakefield (12-6) at home in the semi-final.
They too had an enormous pack of forwards. They were captained from hooker by Phil Keith-Roach, who perhaps became better known when his playing days were over as a specialist scrum coach, and was the brainchild behind the Rhino scrummage machines. He was England’s scrum coach when they won the Rugby World Cup in 2003.
Their stand-out player was number 8 Andy Ripley. Then aged 28, his 24 England caps had already made him Park’s most capped player, and he had also toured South Africa with the British Lions in 1974. Ripley was an incredibly gifted all-round sportsmen and quite a character. On one occasion when skippering his club, and after his coach had delivered the final team talk in the dressing room, he was asked by the coach to provide a quick word, to which his swift single word response was ‘velocity’.
As for the match, itself Gosforth secured what should have been an enormous early advantage when, with fewer than ten minutes on the clock and the game still scoreless, Park flanker Bob Mordell, who would later be capped by England, made contact with a punch to the face of Colin White right in front of the notoriously disciplinarian referee Norman Sanson. Having already warned him for foul play, Sanson had no alternative but to give him his marching orders.
How the Sunday Express reported the 1976 Cup final
© NRB
As the second half progressed Gosforth gradually managed to wear down their opponents, who remained defiantly in contention until the final 15 minutes. The fightback began with a midfield break by Breakey followed by an overhead pass from Britten to set up a try for second row Terry Roberts, which Young converted (10-14). After two more try scoring opportunities had been squandered Gustard crossed for his 42nd try of the season to level the scores (14-14).
Gosforth did not finally edge ahead until injury-time when Young kicked a 50-yard penalty (17-14), and the match finally was made safe when Robinson went over for Gosforth’s fourth try, with Young adding the conversion.
Teams
Rosslyn Park: P.A.Treseder; M.P.Bulpitt; C.P.Kent; S.Fluskey; J.Moyes; C.Ralston; L.E.Weston; G.Lloyd-Roberts; P.d’A.Keith-Roach. N.P.Hinton; A.K.Rodgers; A.K.Mantell; R.Mordell; A.G.Ripley; D.Starling
Gosforth: B.Patrick; S.M.Griffin; J.K.Britten; H.E.Patrick; J.S.Gustard; R.W.Breakey; M.Young; C.White (rep. P.Levinson); D.F.Madsen; T.‘C’.Roberts; J.J.O.Short; A.J.Preston; P.J.Dixon; D.Robinson
Gosforth had been coached to their success by Jack Rowell, who left the club at the end of the season when work took him to the south-west. He took over as coach of Bath and went on to lead them to eight John Player Cup victories and five league titles before taking over as England coach.
Compared to the Falcons’ cup triumphs in 2001 and 2004, which were played out in front of almost full stadia, the 1976 final was a much more low key affair. Only two sides of the ground were opened to spectators, who paid just £2 for a seat and 50p for a standing ticket. The attendance was given officially as 7,500.
A 1976 Cup Final committee box ticket
© NRB
Cash-rich supporters who wanted to make a weekend of the final could avail themselves of a ‘Stardust Mini Holiday’ at a cost of £21.50 per head (£22.50 with private bath) comprising second class return rail fare from Newcastle (£5.20 extra for first class) and two nights bed and breakfast at the Grand Metropolitan Hotel.
There was no live televised club rugby in those days, with TV coverage limited to edited highlights on BBC2’s Rugby Special that went out on the evening of the match. Some of those highlights can still be viewed on YouTube.
Twenty-five years after the 1976 final, the club, by this time known as Newcastle Falcons, held a celebratory dinner at Kingston Park to commemorate the two cup final victories, with Rowell as the chief guest.
The only player missing from the 1976 cup final team was Alex Preston, who could not be traced. The timing was apposite, as it came just a month after the Falcons had won the cup for the first time - albeit by now called the Powergen Cup.
The 1976 Cup Final anniversary dinner menu
© NRB
READ MORE
