I have always been interested in boxing. As a spectator, not a participant I must make clear. When I was doing my National Service I got 'ordered' to make up the numbers but I quickly found out that a punch on the nose is quite painful and makes your eyes water, so I got out fast. I was reading something the other day about a heavy weight who was 6ft 8inches tall and weighed 19 stone which seems to be par for the course these days. It reminded me of a time when I was fortunate to spend and hour and a half with Henry Cooper. Just the two of us and we spent the whole time discussing boxing. Fabulous experience. He said that he never went into a fight weighing as much as 14 stone. He said his average weight was 13stone 10pounds. I asked him who the best boxer her ever fought was (excluding Ali). He said that if Joe Erskine had had a punch he would have been world champion for years. America ruled the roost for a very long time, particularly in the heavyweight division but that has all changed. I can't remember when Britain had so many world class fighters as now.
I was a schoolboy boxer & my for my first fight I got a bye through to the Leeds final, I was against a guy called Wagstaffe, he went on to be the third best welterweight in the country, he absolutely battered me but I managed to last the three one & a half minute rounds, remarkably I was unmarked apart from scratches on my arms from his gloves, when I came out of the ring my trainer praised the way I'd defended myself & I suppose the lack of bruises proved his point.The following year I won the Leeds final & came up against Wagstaffe in the Yorkshire semis, amazingly I beat him quite easily (unanimous decision) I went on to win the Yorkshire final & copied this feat for the following two years.I was then chosen to represent Yorkshire boxing in the England selection tournament in Plymouth, I fought a kid called Mark Winter who never landed a blow on me & again I won by a unanimous decision.I returned to Leeds awaiting my England call up to tour the boxing clubs of New York but the call never came so I asked my trainer what was going on, he made a phone call & discovered that Mark winter had been selected, he also discovered that two of Marks relatives were on the Selection comittee, I decided then that the three nights a week dedicated training followed by gym work in my breaks at School were not worth it so I gave it up.THEN....I joined the RN & during one of the PT classes we were paired up against each other size for size however because I had answered truthfully when the instructor asked "Anybody boxed before?" I was paired with a tough looking guy called Maurice Perkins who was about three inches taller than me, we had a decent fight & again I was unmarked & he had a bloodied nose, I was reluctantly persuaded to box for the RN but only had three fights before I decided my heart was not going to be in it ever again, I didn't join up to box.Funny thing is that even when I was enjoying boxing I wasn't really interested in watching, I didn't particularly like Ali, Not sure why maybe it's because I always wanted the underdog to win.
The team is Yorkshire Amateur and the photo was taken before the FA Amateur Cup third round replay against Harwich & Parkeston on 31 January 1959. We drew 0 - 0 down at Harwich the previous week and won the replay 3 - 2. It was a good scalp as they played in the final at Wembley a few years earlier. The shirts we wore that day were provided by Leeds United. They were blue with gold edging and you can see the Leeds badge. I don't know why this was as H&P played in red and the 'Ammers' shirts were white so there wasn't a colour clash.
I am third from right in the back row (for those not very good at Geography - I am the tall good looking bloke in the back row ).
That season we were drawn away in all our Amateur Cup games. We beat Ossett Albion, Durham City, Harwich & Parkeston before losing to Walthamstow Avenue in London. When we travelled to Harwich we left on Friday evening by train to London, stayed overnight in London then got the train to Harwich on Saturday morning. We returned to London after the game and travelled back to Leeds on the Sunday.
In the next round Walthamstow Avenue had six Amateur internationals in their team including Jim Lewis (who I was marking) and who also played for Chelsea. The only consolation in losing to Walthamstow was that we had another week-end in London!
I played for 'Ammers' for about 10 seasons but I think that this team was the best of all. We won the Yorkshire League that season, losing only one game. I can still reel off the names of all the players in that team. Johnh
My first job aged 15, was in the offices of Wm Pepper & Co, Ltd., Industrial Coal Merchants in Park Row Leeds. One day they said that the man in the place they kept their lorries was ill and I would have to go each morning to open up. It was an early start for me as I had to open up for 8.00 am. The place was in the Dark Arches in Neville Street. I was given the keys to open up on the following morning. I was surprised to be given instructions on exactly where the lock was on the door and exactly where the light switch was on the wall inside. I soon found out why on my first morning. The garage was located about three hundred yards down the end of the Dark Arches. I had only gone about 50 yards when it was pitch black. The river Aire ran on the left hand side and I had been warned to keep well to the right. I continued to the end by feeling my way with my hand on the brick wall until I felt wood, which was the entrance to the garage. I remembered what they had told me about where the lock was and managed to locate it and opened up. I managed to find the light switch which illuminated one dim light bulb and enabled me to locate the pokey little office which was to be my workplace for the day. I had to do this for a week and it still remains the worst job I ever did. Another time, I had to go and stand in for the man in the office at the Railway sidings in The Calls. There was a goods train being loaded with coal to go to Hull. My job was to make out cards to go on the side of each wagon giving the various weights and the name of the ship the coal was destined for. I made all the cards out and was busy fixing them to the side of the wagons which had a spring clip on the side for that purpose. I had got about halfway done when the train driver shouted that he was leaving. The train started moving and I found myself running alongside trying to get all the cards in. I finally gave up when I couldn't run fast enough and stood watching the train disappearing into the distance with me still holding a handful of cards. Those were the days.
In 1958 I was in my first season with Yorkshire Amateur following my demob from National Service. I was selected to represent the Leeds & District FA X1 against a Huddersfield Town X1. The game was played in the evening, mid-season, so was played under lights. The first time I had ever played under lights. The game was played at Huddersfield's Beck Lane training ground in Heckmondwike. It was a proper ground with grandstands and, obviously, floodlights. The Leeds officials told me I would be captain. This was for no other reason than I was playing centre half and in representative sides the centre half was usually nominated as captain. I remember that Huddersfield Town won the game but can't remember the score. After the game, when we had showered, refreshments had been laid on in the clubroom. As I walked into the clubroom I noticed a Leeds official talking to Bill Shankly who was then Huddersfield's manager. Standing next to Bill Shankly was a young blond haired lad who looked about 14 years old and who I took to be Bill Shankley's son. The Leeds official spotted me and called me over and introduced me to Bill Shankly. Bill Shankly shook my hand, fixed me with his steely grey eyes and all he said was 'let me introduce you to a future Scottish International'. He pointed at the young lad next to him and I shook hands with the lad. I can't remember if the lad's name was mentioned but even if it had been it wouldn't have meant anything to me. I now know that the lad's name was - Denis Law!
In about 1998 I was at a sportsmans dinner at my local rugby club in Maidenhead when Denis Law was the guest speaker. I was fortunate to be able to have a one on one chat with him for about 20 minutes. I told him the above tale, he obviously didn't remember the incident but we had a laugh about it.
I only regret that I never had the opportunity to re-visit the experience with Bill Shankly.