FOOTBALLING FIFTIES, THE GREAT POLL: TEAMS

Select the team that you consider was the tops in the 'fifties from the choice of ten below. They are presented in alphabetical order. E-mail your top club team and your dream team selection in 2-3-5 formation to the author normangiller@footballingfifties.co.uk He will do his best to reply.

ARSENAL The Joe Mercer-motivated Arsenal of the early 1950s, featuring the scheming skills of Jimmy Logie, captured the League championship in 1953 after winning the FA Cup and finishing runners-up.

BLACKPOOL of Matthews, Mortensen and Mudie were FA Cup specialists, finally winning it in the memorable 1953 final after finishing runners-up to Manchester United and Newcastle.

BURNLEY Managed by Harry Potts, they pipped Wolves for the League championship in 1959-60 and won the admiration of neutral fans with the way they always chose to play pure football. Their tandem team partners in midfield, Jimmy Adamson and Jimmy McIlroy, was close to poetry in motion.

CHELSEA They were the shock winners of the League championship in 1954-55 under the guiding influence of manager Ted Drake, who later introduced his Drake Ducklings featuring the likes of Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Tambling and Frank Blunstone.

LIVERPOOL The pre-Shankly side had the power of the legendary Billy Liddell to push them to a runners-up place in the 1950 FA Cup final three years after capturing the League championship.

MANCHESTER CITY With Don Revie as their 'secret' weapon as a deep-lying centre-forward, they were runners-up for the FA Cup in 1955 and came back the following year to win it by beating Birmingham City 3-1.

MANCHESTER UNITED They had three exceptional teams in the 'fifties, but are represented here by the unforgettable Busby Babes who won back to back First Division titles before tragically being wiped out by the Munich air disaster of 1958.

NEWCASTLE UNITED They collected the FA Cup three times in five years in the 1950s, with Bobby Cowell, Jackie Milburn and Bobby Mitchell being the only ever-presents.

TOTTENHAM Their push-and-run team won back to back Second and First Division titles at the start of the 1950s, and played stylish fooball that was thoroughly enjoyable to watch for neutral spectators.

WOLVES Wolves set a record of topping 100 goals in four successive First Division seasons, and set Europe alight with their thrilling pioneering floodlit victories over the likes of Honved and Real Madrid. They more than any other club inspired the idea of the European Cup.

CHOOSE THE CLUB TEAM YOU THINK WAS THE FINEST OF THE 'FIFTIES AND SEND IT TO normangiller@footballingfifties.co.uk THANK YOU.

YOU CAN ORDER A COPY OF FOOTBALLING FIFTIES AT A SPECIAL DISCOUNT PRICE BY E-MAILING normangiller@footballingfifties.co.uk

Back to the top Back to the home page