RIP Dickie Rooks

RavsDad said:
Was that away to Blackpool? I remember knowing that we were on MotD and wondered if we'd get home on the bus in time to see it. No VCR's back then IIRC.
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That was the game - my first ever. 1-1 and it's the first goal on the video of Boro on the BBC. ( Its a short video)
 
Capybara said:
I don't want to derail the thread but were you at Great Yarmouth in about 1967-ish?
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I was mate on a family holiday. Went to see Jimmy Clitheroe and one of my Mams favourites Donald Peers.
We're you there ?
 
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I seem to remember towards the end of one season that Rooks was dropped which seemed crazy as we were going for promotion and he was outstanding.. Rumour was the club didn’t want promotion and it worked,dropping him ended our promotion push.
 
Blf said:
I was mate on a family holiday. Went to see Jimmy Clitheroe and one of my Mams favourites Donal Peers.
We're you there ?
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Yes we were on holiday in Norfolk and went to Great Yarmouth to see that show.
 
Fofacut said:
I seem to remember towards the end of one season that Rooks was dropped which seemed crazy as we were going for promotion and he was outstanding.. Rumour was the club didn’t want promotion and it worked,dropping him ended our promotion push.
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Rooks being dropped is touched upon in the interview link in a previous post in this thread by @swordtrombonefish .

If you scroll to the bottom of the interview, it shows letters from the following weeks' Gazette slating Stan for dropping Rooks, as well as Gordon Jones and top scorer John Hickton (who had asked for a transfer).

The game in question was on April 12th 1969 v Bury at Ayresome. There were only two points for a win back then, and it was a 42 game season. On that morning, the table looked like this:

Derby Played 39 57 points
Palace Played 39 51
Boro Played 40 49
Charlton Played 39 47

So Boro's chances were not good even if they won their remaining two games. They were on a bit of a slump having drawn four and lost one of their last five games.

Dickie was very angry at being dropped for the penultimate game of the season against Bury (which was possibly why Stan left him out of the final game too), and he was still pretty miffed when I interviewed him 30+ years later in 2001. His reasoning was that he had never in his career played a full season and so that on its own was enough to justify being included for these games.

However, Stan told me that being as the Boro were unlikely to be promoted at that stage, he was already looking towards building for the following season, so he wanted to throw some youngsters in for the final games to see how they handled the pressure, with promotion, while most unlikely, still at least a mathematical possibility.

Those youngsters he played in those final two games were:

Bryan Myton on his 3rd full appearance (meh)
Alan Moody - his 10th appearance
David Mills - who made his debut from the subs bench in the final game
Joe Laidlaw who played as a No. 9 in the final 3 games,
Willie Maddren, who made his debut and scored a goal in the Bury game in what was a 2-3 defeat).

All except Myton went on to have long careers in the game, Maddren, David Mills and Joe Laidlaw reaching the top division and Moody becoming Southends all-time appearance holder at 504 games. This could justify Stan's apparent thinking.

It's an interesting thought that maybe the club's owners at that time did not want the expense that promotion would bring in those pre-Premier League days - I have not heard that theory before. Stan's tinkering in those final games gives that suggestion some credibility, but who knows, these changes (with the obvious exception of Rooks) may have been down to injuries, although the Gazette letters mentioned above suggests otherwise.

Dickie and Stan knew each other from when they were at Sunderland together, and as Dickie said (and Stan himself acknowledged), he was a moody b***r back then, although he did brighten up considerably in later life.

Incidentally, Alan Moody in interview said that as a Boro apprentice, Dickie Rooks was his idol and that it was his job to file the metal studs on Dickie Rooks boots to a fine point - back then it was truly a case of "If you don't get the ball, get the man."
 
Blf said:
I was about 9 yrs old and found out he lived near me. I used to go to his house all the time and ask for his autograph. He used to sign, ruffle my hair and say see you next week son.
He must have thought I was a right pain but never let on.
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What a wonderful story Blf. He was before my time, but was clearly a gentleman.
 
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Picto_Leng said:
Rooks being dropped is touched upon in the interview link in a previous post in this thread by @swordtrombonefish .

If you scroll to the bottom of the interview, it shows letters from the following weeks' Gazette slating Stan for dropping Rooks, as well as Gordon Jones and top scorer John Hickton (who had asked for a transfer).

The game in question was on April 12th 1969 v Bury at Ayresome. There were only two points for a win back then, and it was a 42 game season. On that morning, the table looked like this:

Derby Played 39 57 points
Palace Played 39 51
Boro Played 40 49
Charlton Played 39 47

So Boro's chances were not good even if they won their remaining two games. They were on a bit of a slump having drawn four and lost one of their last five games.

Dickie was very angry at being dropped for the penultimate game of the season against Bury (which was possibly why Stan left him out of the final game too), and he was still pretty miffed when I interviewed him 30+ years later in 2001. His reasoning was that he had never in his career played a full season and so that on its own was enough to justify being included for these games.

However, Stan told me that being as the Boro were unlikely to be promoted at that stage, he was already looking towards building for the following season, so he wanted to throw some youngsters in for the final games to see how they handled the pressure, with promotion, while most unlikely, still at least a mathematical possibility.

Those youngsters he played in those final two games were:

Bryan Myton on his 3rd full appearance (meh)
Alan Moody - his 10th appearance
David Mills - who made his debut from the subs bench in the final game
Joe Laidlaw who played as a No. 9 in the final 3 games,
Willie Maddren, who made his debut and scored a goal in the Bury game in what was a 2-3 defeat).

All except Myton went on to have long careers in the game, Maddren, David Mills and Joe Laidlaw reaching the top division and Moody becoming Southends all-time appearance holder at 504 games. This could justify Stan's apparent thinking.

It's an interesting thought that maybe the club's owners at that time did not want the expense that promotion would bring in those pre-Premier League days - I have not heard that theory before. Stan's tinkering in those final games gives that suggestion some credibility, but who knows, these changes (with the obvious exception of Rooks) may have been down to injuries, although the Gazette letters mentioned above suggests otherwise.

Dickie and Stan knew each other from when they were at Sunderland together, and as Dickie said (and Stan himself acknowledged), he was a moody b***r back then, although he did brighten up considerably in later life.

Incidentally, Alan Moody in interview said that as a Boro apprentice, Dickie Rooks was his idol and that it was his job to file the metal studs on Dickie Rooks boots to a fine point - back then it was truly a case of "If you don't get the ball, get the man."
Click to expand...
It's an interesting thought that maybe the club's owners at that time did not want the expense that promotion would bring in those pre-Premier League days - I have not heard that theory before. Stan's tinkering in those final games gives that suggestion some credibility, but who knows, these changes (with the obvious exception of Rooks) may have been down to injuries, although the Gazette letters mentioned above suggests otherwise.

I was friends with a lad who was friends with Charlie Amers son. He told me that this was the case
 
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