BIG FREEZE AT PITTODRIE

1962/63 is remembered for the worst winter in living memory.

Starting just before Christmas 1962, the snow and ice arrived and the weather pattern stayed put. It was not until March that life got back to normality. Known as the big freeze, temperatures on occasion reached lower than -20 °C and around the British Isles the sea even froze.

Sport was severely disrupted from early December to late February throughout the UK, the game put virtually on hold as the country was under a blanket of snow and ice.

On the pitch, the disruption did not help the Dons who spectacularly squandered a promising position in all competitions. A very chilly Hogmanay saw Dons fans in high spirits, but the eventual thaw would lead to a season of disappointment…

LEAGUE CUP COLLAPSE

Although it was a season of improvement all round at Pittodrie, the Dons’ inconsistent habits came back to hit them hard. A League Cup campaign brought three early victories, but defeats by Partick and Motherwell finished the Dons’ interest. It was a collapse that was a concern for manager Pearson as he continued his rebuilding of Aberdeen, bringing a youthful feel to it. There were hardly any new faces at Pittodrie either, which disappointed the Aberdeen support. Only three players would make their debuts that season: Alec Wilson, former Clyde man Tommy Ring and Jim Anderson. The fact that they made only eight appearances between them perhaps indicated that Pearson did not have the transfer acumen that was expected.

EARLY LEAGUE ENCOURAGEMENT

In the league, the Dons made a promising start and before the turn of the year Aberdeen were battling it out in the top four positions. Undefeated in their opening five outings, that run included a first win at Celtic for ten years and so hopes were high that Aberdeen could mount a serious challenge in the league. With only three defeats before the end of the year, there were real signs of encouragement for the Dons. Incredibly as the rest of the country suffered, the Dons played six home league games in a row during that winter between December and March. When the Dons beat Dundee at New Year, they moved into third place, but the worst weather seen for a generation changed everything for Aberdeen. With the enforced break, the games piled up and the threadbare squad struggled to maintain any consistency.

SCOTTISH CUP HUMILIATION

When Aberdeen emerged from a dreadful winter weather spell that decimated their fixtures, they were to face Raith Rovers in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. To most observers, that meant they stood on the threshold of a semi-final place while still sitting pretty in fourth place in the table. Raith were bottom of the league and had already been crushed 10-0 by Aberdeen in the league.

Without a home win all season, Raith pulled off a huge shock by knocking the Dons out in a 2-1win in Kirkcaldy. Four straight league defeats followed and Aberdeen crumbled to finish just outside a qualifying place for the Inter Cities Fairs Cup. Aberdeen had already beaten one of the favourites at Pittodrie but the 4-0 win over European hopefuls Dunfermline offered a false hope for the Dons.

At one point, Aberdeen were being talked up as title contenders then came the cup exit at Raith which effectively finished their season and piled the pressure on Pearson and the Aberdeen directors. With crowds starting to dwindle these were tough days for the club.
In a season that had so many highs and lows, the only real improvement was in the Aberdeen defence which went on to concede fewer goals than it had done since they took the title in 1955.

THE TEAM

John Ogston and Jimmy Hogg were ever presents in the side but the Dons continued their policy of selling their most valuable assets; this time, it was Sunderland that took Scotland international George Mulhall in a £25,000 deal.

Born in Falkirk on May 8th 1936, George Mulhall started out with the junior side Kilsyth Rangers before being spotted by Aberdeen and joining the Dons in 1953. In those days, it was far more difficult to break into the first team.

The accepted practice was a rigid first team selection with little or no flexibility within the side. George was a promising left winger but in his early days at Pittodrie, he found it almost impossible to replace Jackie Hather who was Dave Halliday’s first choice. Hather was one of the quickest players in British football and a vital part of the Aberdeen side that was so successful in the 1950s.

Instead, George was part of the highly successful Aberdeen reserve team before he finally made his first team debut in the opening game of the 1955/56 season, a League Cup section game away to Hibernian on August 13th 1955 as Jackie Hather was still recovering from an operation during the summer. George played his part in a 1-0 win before a 30,000 crowd.

Mulhall played in the Dons’ opening five ties of the League Cup as Aberdeen cruised through to the latter stages and eventual success when they won the Hampden Park final against St Mirren. It was tough on George that he made way for Hather in that showpiece, despite playing well in the opening games.

It was not until 1959 that George became a regular first choice for Aberdeen after Hather retired. By that time, Aberdeen had fallen from grace and Hather’s swansong was the 1959 Scottish Cup final. Once in the side though, it was not long before the Scottish selectors called up Mulhall for the international squad.

It was on October 3rd 1959 that Mulhall made his full international debut, playing for Scotland against Northern Ireland in Belfast before a 59,000 attendance. It was a memorable debut for Mulhall as he scored the Scots’ fourth and final goal in the 54th minute in a convincing 4-0 win.

Also in the Scotland side that day was Graham Leggat, the former Dons winger who was now with Fulham. Leggat and Mulhall were joined in the Scots forward line by Aberdeen born Denis Law.

It was no surprise that Mulhall had now attracted the attention of the English club scouts and with Aberdeen in no position to resist any lucrative bids, George Mulhall was sold to Sunderland for £23,000 in September 1962, after 154 first team appearances and 42 goals for the Dons.

Manager Tommy Pearson was once a fierce critic of the Dons whilst he was working as a journalist in one of the national papers before he was appointed Aberdeen manager. Pearson had the unique distinction of playing for both Scotland and England (he guested for England during the war) and was one of the finest forwards of his time but he could not take those skills into management.

In an era when cup football was seen as far more important than the league, any early exits from either cups had an immediate negative impact on the club. After their Scottish Cup exit at Kirkcaldy, the next home game against Clyde attracted a paltry 4,345 attendance, one of the Dons’ lowest home attendances on record.

In those days, gate money was crucial and continuing poor crowds would have an obvious effect on how the Dons directors looked at things.

The Dons did still have the talents of Charlie Cooke who was emerging as a player of real quality. That brought Cooke Scotland U-23 and Scottish League honours that season. Although Aberdeen finished in a respectable sixth place in the league, it was still a bitter disappointment in a season that promised so much.

DUNDEE AND DUNFERMLINE EXCEL IN EUROPE

While Rangers were the dominant side in Scotland with Jim Baxter at his very best, it was Dunfermline and Dundee who took all the plaudits for some stirring displays in Europe. Dundee reached the semi-finals of the European Cup before being hammered by eventual winners AC Milan in Italy. A 5-1 deficit was always too much for the Dens Park side who were making their debut in Europe that season. It meant that Dundee missed out on what would have been a dream final at Wembley in London. Dunfermline also distinguished themselves in the Fairs Cup, knocking Everton out before going down to Valencia.

EVERTON THE BIG SPENDERS

Everton were labelled the ‘cheque book champions’ after manager Harry Catterick had bought five players for £175,000 on their way to winning the First Division championship. Everton’s strength in depth saw off the challenge of Tottenham, Burnley and Leicester. Manchester United under Matt Busby were still in transition after Munich, but they took the FA Cup by beating favourites Leicester 3-1 at Wembley.
Busby brought back Denis Law and his arrival helped United win their first trophy since their blackest hour in Munich in February 1958. It was an emotional moment for Busby and his team.

MILAN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS

AC Milan won the European Cup after a 2-1 victory at Wembley. It was a first for the Italians as defensive football won the day. Portuguese legend Eusebio who put Benfica ahead in the 19th minute and their all Portuguese line up looked to have the measure of their opponents, but after Brazilian Altafini levelled on the hour, the centre-forward scored his second goal after 69 minutes to win the cup for the Italians.

In the European Cup Winners’ Cup it was Tottenham that hammered Atletico Madrid 5-1 in the Feyenoord Stadiun in Rotterdam. Two goals from Jimmy Greaves and another from Scotland international John White set Spurs on the road to a decisive win, the first by any English club in European competition.

SCOTLAND CHAMPIONS!

Both Greaves and White were then in action against each other at Wembley in May. The 1962/63 British Home International Championship football tournament came after disappointment for the home nations in the 1962 World Cup, for which only England qualified, only to be beaten 3–1 in the quarter-final by eventual winners Brazil. The Home Championship was won by a Scottish team which dominated all their matches and whitewashed their opponents for the second year in a row, as part of a period of temporary but pronounced dominance.

The Scots and English both started strongly, beating Wales and Ireland away respectively. This was followed with similar victories at home in the second fixture, England comprehensively outplaying Wales in a 4–0 win, whilst a Denis Law inspired Scotland hammered the Irish 5–1, with Law scoring four times.

In the final games, Wales gained some points by beating Ireland, but the deciding match of the tournament was closely fought between England and Scotland at Wembley Stadium, from which Scotland emerged eventual 2–1 winners to claim the championship.

In an interesting footnote, this was the last match where the FA Select Committee picked the England team. Alf Ramsey had taken the England manager’s job in succession to Walter Winterbottom on the understanding that he would have complete control.
As his tenure as England manager didn’t officially start until May 1963, his first two teams were selected by the FA Select Committee.

 

For the record, the winter of 1962/63 remains the coldest since at least 1895 in all meteorological districts of the United Kingdom except the North of Scotland, where the two winters of 1978/79 and more recently 2009/10 were colder.