I know we’ve had a lot on our mind recently, but it may have escaped your attention that a new DVD went on sale in the club shop at 10.30am on the morning of the Leeds game. I decided to go and buy a copy the following Monday, but then spent the next three days watching the recording of the Leeds game before I thought that it was time to watch this new DVD instead !
The title should give you a clue as to what it’s all about and fair play to the Commercial Dept. for getting this project off the ground in the first place. At three hours and thirty minutes in length, spread over two DVD’s, it shows the 75/76 season in chronological order. But it actually starts with the highlights of the pre-season friendly away to Borussia Monchengladbach where the German champions were taught a lesson, when having taken the lead, we then dismantled them with a brace apiece for Stan Bowles and David Webb. Then the league campaign starts in earnest with Gerry Francis scoring the BBC’s Goal of the Season in a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Loftus Road then saying in an interview that: “there’s no reason we can’t finish in the top three.”
There are various highlights of 22 games taken from either the BBC or ITV archives as we seemed to feature on Match of the Day quite regularly. What I really like is that they also show the post-match interviews with players who had made the headlines and there are great ones to look out for including Manchester United’s Alex Stepney with his unfeasibly large wing collars plus an interview with Phil Nutt who scored our goal in the ‘top of the table clash’ with Derby County at Loftus Road. I recall one of his relatives posted on this website a couple of years ago asking if anyone had the footage of his only goal for QPR, so I think the Nutt family will be very happy with this DVD, as will a lot of QPR fans of a certain age or should that be vintage ?
There are also in-depth interviews with Phil Parkes, Frank McLintock, Stan Bowles and Gerry Francis recorded recently. Not only does this DVD show what a really great team we had back then, but this release also proves that football back then was totally different to what we see today as it seemed that you had to murder someone to get sent off or even a booking (yellow and red cards were unheard of back then). For instance, see both of Stan and Gerry’s altercations with Tottenham’s Willie Young and the Norwich player who poleaxes Stan with a right hook and the referees’ didn’t even book them !
Some of the quality of the footage leaves a lot to be desired though as it appears the archivist at the BBC didn’t look after the football footage it seems. Two of the games are even in black and white and then changes to colour for a few seconds before reverting back to monochrome. In one game our goal has even gone ‘missing’ !!! These anomalies are pointed out on the inside cover though, but I do have one gripe and that is that we don’t actually want to watch the Wolves v Liverpool game at the end as even though its 35 years since we were robbed by the Scousers (no stereotyping). I do not need reminding of it thank you very much. I can even remember that night as if it was yesterday as I was 12-years-old and was at a mate’s house and as we listened to Radio 2 (the BBC’s Sports Channel back in the day), I distinctly recall crying as the last 13 minutes were played out !
I’m glad that its out on DVD though as although I already had a lot of the footage, that I received from the makers of the Michael Nyman documentary, ‘The Final Score’ (‘A Symphony for Football’), made in the early 90’s, but as its on VHS I doubt that it’s in good nick and to be honest I’ve no idea where the tape is anyway !)
It ends with a really good interview with Gerry Francis who explains that even though Liverpool were given 10 days off at the end of the season before they played their decider at Molineux, no one at QPR complained at the time which also shows how football has changed these past 35 years.
£13.99 from the club shop and no doubt also available online
ChrisPTenner
(Thanks to Martin Percival for the above scans)
Being of a certain vintage I too remember our greatest team and season. Nice review Chris, this is one DVD I will certainly get as it harks back to what now seems a more innocent time, although it wasn`t as you point regarding what referees and the authorities allowed to go on the pitch. I don`t know if it was 1975-6 but I remenmber about this time, us going to Upton Park and a West Ham player, Keith Robson I think, injuring Dave Thomas so badly in the first minute with a scything tackle, which was more like an assault, that he took no further part in the match while his assailant stayed on the pitch and if memory serves me correctly helped tha Hanmmers win.
Hello Rob, I remember that terrible tackle On Dave Thomas. Wasn’t it the League Cup tie the following season ? I was standing right in front of that on the half-way line. Although surrounded by West Ham fans I couldn’t control my anger at the challenge. I even got away with celebrating our two goals from Bowles & Clement!
That incident at Upton Park Rob took place right in front of the (small) group of Rangers fans seated in the Chicken Run, or East Stand as it is now known. It was the 1976/7 League Cup tie on Oct 27th. I’m pretty sure the offender was Frank Lampard. It was the worst tackle I have ever witnessed. It took place barely 45 seconds after kick off and must have been totally premeditated. Lampard just launched into Thomas as he was about to head off on one of his typical jinking runs down the wing and crunched into him. Thomas (of course) was not wearing shin pads and I bet Lampard knew that. The Rangers fans were incensed but the referee did not even take Lampard’s name. In this day and age he would have been immediately sent off and probably given an extended ban plus a heavy fine. Oh how we celebrated Bowles and Clements goals in the 2-0 win that followed. Just look at Clement’s goal here – absolutely magnificent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp2GKliR2yE Quite incredibly (and no thanks to Lampard) Thomas was not seriously injured and only missed 1 match.
Although that was a golden era as far as Rangers were concerned, there were many dinosaurs roaming the pitch like Ron Harris, Norman Hunter, Tommy Smith, Mike Pejic and Mick Mills who were only too happy to launch into the likes of Bowles and Thomas with a view to taking them out of the game. Gerry Francis used to get attention too, but Gerry could mix it if needed better than Thomas and Bowles could. Having said that the dvd does show Thomas launching into Asa Hartford off the ball v Man City in March 1976 – a bit of retribution I suspect. Although he is still my all time favourite Rangers player I have to admit that Thomas was lucky to stay on the pitch that day. To show how loath referees were to send players off in that era Hartford’s sending off in that game was the first I had ever witnessed – and I’d been watching Rangers for over 5 years by then.
As far as the dvd is concerned, overall I think it’s a great production and top marks to the club as it is very rare to see dvds that mix BBC and ITV material. I think they have rounded up all of the footage that there ever was of that season which is a great achievement. There are a few things that could have been improved upon. The way they used the away programme covers to cover score lines for some away games but not others was a bit strange. There are many fans who would have happily loaned them the set of away programmes for that season so they could have been consistent. Watching the post match interview with 17 year old Phil Nutt after the Derby home game was great! A London cabbie now – along with Ron Abbott, another youngster of that era. I wish they had shown more of the
Leeds game but it was good to see what they did show. I’d never seen the Arsenal home game goals and had not seen the Newcastle away FA Cup replay footage since the
original broadcasts in 1976. All in all an absolutely essential purchase for all Rangers fans.
Martin
You must of been standing near me then Martin ! I remember that Phil Nutt interview very clearly and I thought at the time that he could do well for us, but he only made 4 1st team appearances for us, all as a sub.
I think what West Ham did Steve was give an allocation of seats to the Rangers fans in the front section of the East Stand and a lot of the Rangers fans on the terrace were immediately in front of them. It was not a big support that night… but it was bloody loud – as you can hear on that YouTube clip! I think everyone was determined to see a Rangers win after that appalling foul. I recall an away game at Forest a couple of years later where it was similar – a group in the seats and then the terrace fans immediately in front. Made for a good atmosphere!
You’re right about Phil Nutt. He ended up at Hounslow I think. Danny Westwood was another youngster of that era who I thought might make it. That mid 70s era was a period where not much came through the youth team until a few years later with the likes of Warren Neill, Ian Dawes, Gary Waddock, Peter Hucker, Ian Stewart, Macca and co. It’s funny how youth teams tend to go like that – mot much for a few years and then a glut of talent.
That league cup game against West Ham was my first ever QPR game, aged 12, and taken by my elder brother – a Gooner – who new how fanatical I’d become with the Hoops since I was 10. Still remember that evening like it was yesterday, and the floodlit midweek European games were amazing too! QPR forever!
Blimey I too was in that part of Upton Park with my old Dad, we’d been for pie n mash round the corner and then won 2-nought. A good night!
I liked the DVD but felt that it could’ve been better. One of those things that if it was left in the hands of a QPR fan then you’d probably come up with something a great deal better.
It was completely annoying (to me anyway) that they obviously didn’t have the complete set of programmes from that season and kept re-using the same programme cover several times.
I know that not all the games during that season were broadcast but am certain that there were a few more that should’ve been included but weren’t…
Full marks to the commercial department for getting this into the club shop as it obviously filled a gap in the Video/DVD collection.
Which games do you think were missed Moreno? I do agree that for a production like that club would have been wise to get a group of experts (read “nutters”) to do an early review of the first rough cut.
There are a couple of good sites that list all the Match of the Day and Big Match games down the years.
Big Match: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/ITVfootball68-83.html
Match of the Day: http://sites.google.com/site/motdlistings/
There are some games covered that are not on the 75/76 DVD. Middlesbrough away, Man Utd away, Newcastle home in the FA Cup.
And it’s strange that Rangers were covered more times this season than any other but 5 of our 7 defeats (plus FA Cup) were covered and only 7 of our 24 were covered!
Circa1Media the makers of this DVD didn’t do much research for this compilation and basically put together a compilation they purchased on ebay.
There is a claim it contains all available footage from that season, which is untrue, they fail to show Don Givens goal at home to West Ham. which is available if they made the effort to look for it as well as games at Old Trafford and the home game to Norwich