For those that we there that season how good was this team never really hear much about them considering another 3 points and they would of been champions( derby county won it ) and gone down in history with 1970 and 1985 /87 league winners .shamefully I don't much about the players TBH apart from Big bob mick Lyons roger Kenyon .were Kendall and Harvey still playing Goodison must of been bouncing for the last few games ?
74-5 was a strange season with no outstanding teams: Leeds were in their 1st season without Revie, Liverpool without Shankly, Arsenal's double-winning team had collapsed, Spurs were battling relegation and Man U were, praise be, in the 2nd Division.
We were in our 2nd year under Bingham and he's stabilised us after the chaotic end to the Catterick era. 7th in his first season. 74/5 he was still rebuilding. We began the season with Harvey and Royle still in the team and Dobson hadn't yet been signed, and when he did it took him at least half a dozen games to show anything - he would have been slaughtered by the usual suspects on here!
The team was basically Dai Davies - enough said, Mick Bernard at right back - tough-tackler, Bingham converted him from midfield, Steve Seargeant at left back - another Bingham conversion, this time from central defence, Roger Kenyon and John Hurst central defence - both solid. Midfield was built around Dave Clements - a shrewd Bingham signing the year before - he could spot a good player. Strong, experienced with a wonderful left-foot. Along side him were the promising Mick Buckley and newly arrived Dobson. Attack was Latchford with John Connolly on the wing until he had his leg shattered in the FA cup 3rd round. Finding someone to partner Big Bob was a problem. Royle was shunted aside prematurely, JIm Pearson was an honest trier but not good enough, so Mick Lyons was probably the best bet with his enthusiasm and willingness to die for the team, but he also was needed to fill in at centre-half, his true position, and also in midfield, unlikely as it seems. Gary Jones came in and showed the first glimpses of his undoubted potential.
Everyone talks about Carlisle costing us the league and there's some truth in it because those 4 points would have won it for us. We should certainly have won the first - 2-0 up at Goodison. But they actually won 12 games that season, including beating the eventual champions Derby - took 3 points off them, only 1 less than they took off us, so that wasn't really the reason.
Bingham pointed to injuries. Connolly was playing really well and so was a big loss. Latchford missed games with, I think, some sort of thigh injury and I think we drew all bar one game when he was out. He was also hampered by it for much of the season but still managed 17 goals.
By March we'd opened up the biggest gap at the top that anyone had all season - I think we were 4 points clear (2 for a win). We won at Arsenal 2-0 and Alan Ball said we were the best team he'd seen all season and was sure we'd go on to win it. The following week we scraped a lucky 2-1 win at home against QPR - last minute Latchford winner. then got a solid 0-0 at our bogey ground (at that time) Elland Road.It all went downhill from there.
Our last 9 games we won just 2, drew 3 and lost 4. We were a bit unlucky in some of the games, Burnley and Ipswich at home, Luton away, but the truth is we weren't quite good enough, or brave enough, to seize the chance. Goodison was anything but bouncing for those last few games - it was gripped with tension, the players, the crowd and probably the manager too. The only time the team relaxed enough to show their true form was when the damage had been done, the first half against Sheffield United when we led 2-0. That all went pear-shaped in the 2nd half as well!
The biggest mistake, though, was not kicking on from that near miss. Amazingly, we didn't sign a single player in the summer, we lost the opening game of the new season 4-1 at home to serial mediocrities Coventry and never really recovered. I'm sure Bingham was astute enough to know we needed strengthening but, for whatever reason, it never happened. In the rest of his reign there were still some good results and some enjoyable football to watch, but the team was never as consistent again until Gordon Lee arrived.
You still in Australia?
