Our columnist on how the Rams signed George from Woolwich
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Anton Rippon Nostalgia: The day Derby County stole Charlie George from Tottenham Hotspur
Our columnist on how the Rams signed George from Woolwich
By
Derbyshire Live
When in 1975 Derby County won the Football League title for the second time in four seasons, many supporters believed that here was a team that could go on and win the European Cup after all.
Hadn't the Rams already been so close before the game’s dark arts went to work around the 1973 semi-final tie against Juventus? Odd goings-on in the first leg in Turin, and a notorious Hungarian fixer who promised the referee for the Baseball Ground leg a Fiat car if Juve's safe passage to the final was assured – the referee reported the approach straight to FIFA, by the way – had proved hurdles too great for honest-to-goodness Derby County to surmount.
But here there was another opportunity. Now with Francis Lee, whose goals had helped the Rams win the First Division again in 1974-75, this was arguably a stronger Derby side than the one that had gone into Europe first time around.
Dave Mackay wanted to further strengthen his team, however, and when he heard that Charlie George, the darling of Highbury’s North Bank, wanted to leave the Gunners, the
Rams’ manager had to have him.
There was a problem, though. Stuart Webb, the Rams’ club secretary at the time, takes up the story of a remarkable chase: "In July 1975, Dave was on holiday in Edinburgh when a journalist in London tipped me off that Charlie was leaving Woolwich to go to Tottenham for £100,000. I relayed the bad news to Mackay, who said: ‘Oh no, he’s not, is he?’
"I confirmed what I knew, and Dave told me to stall Charlie if at all possible while he flew to London to talk to him personally. I contacted Woolwich, who readily accepted our offer to match Tottenham’s £100,000, before I spoke to Charlie, telling him that in two months’ time he could be playing in the European Cup with us.
He was interested but said mournfully: 'It's almost all done this end, mate. I’m at Spurs for the press conference at midday tomorrow.’
"But Terry Neill, the Tottenham manager, made a huge mistake that day. Everything was in place for him to complete the transfer but he was keen to stage-manage the business and show off Charlie to the media. After all, he was taking him from Spurs’ fiercest rivals. None the less, I was convinced that Dave’s dash to Heathrow would be in vain. However, the following morning as I was about to take our daughter, Beverley, to school – we were in the car, pulling out of the drive – my wife, Josie, came running out of the house to tell me: ‘There’s a man on the phone, asking for you. Don’t ask me who it is, I don’t know. I can’t understand him!’
"I went inside, picked up the receiver. It was Charlie George, demanding to know if “you lot” were coming to London to get him.
"I took a deep breath and replied: ‘Charlie, we are most very definitely on. We are coming, we’re on our way down. Dave and I are both coming. We'll see you at the Hilton Hotel at twelve o’clock.
Charlie spluttered: "I can't be there. There's a press conference at White Hart Lane.'
"Never mind Spurs,’ I insisted. ‘Just be there at twelve o’clock.’
"By the time I arrived at Hyde Park, Dave was already there and we had a nervous few minutes before Charlie walked in and quickly signed a contract. While we celebrated Dave’s capture of another great player with a round of drinks at the bar, Tottenham were experiencing a vicious hangover and acute embarrassment at White Hart Lane where Charlie George, whose name was written proudly on a card on a table in front of an empty chair, was conspicuous by his absence.
"One of Islington’s finest natural talents had been reared on playground tales of Dave Mackay's swashbuckling feats at the other end of the Seven Sisters Road, and he signed for us because it was Dave’s champions – the team, the success, the attraction of what we were doing, and the lure of Europe. All those things added up to a huge incentive. Finally, though, Charlie was North London through and through, so he was a bit twitchy about Tottenham and how that would go down with his Woolwich supporting mates."
It was, of course, a fantastic signing for the Rams. George made his competitive debut at Wembley in the 1975 FA Charity Shield victory over West Ham United.
He had a brilliant first season with
Derby, his deadly shooting and startling vision steering the Rams towards a possible League and FA Cup double before he dislocated a shoulder against Stoke City at the Baseball Ground in March 1976.
By then, of course, the Rams were out of the European Cup again, losing 6-5 on aggregate to Real Madrid after a brilliant Charlie George hat-trick against the Spaniards at the Baseball Ground.
