Hungarian Revolt: Not Just a Football Match Clive Banks July 2015
Standing L to R: manager/ referee, Don Newman, Roy Collett, Roger Fields, Paul Philips, Alan Peacock, Rodney Brickell. Middle: Tony Ford; Front: Geoff Bray, Clive Banks, Grayston Dancey, Jeremy Wring and Sean Ford. Was this the Youth Team that faced the fearsome Hungarians in the mid 1950s? {Photo courtesy Clive Banks)
In 1956 the Hungarians' revolution against their Communist government was put down by a Russian invasion. Many Hungarians took refuge in the west and a good number of them found their way to the UK. Several hundred were put up in an old wartime hostel at Thorny Pits near Hawthorn.
As a goodwill gesture the vicar of Box, Tom Selwyn-Smith, arranged for a football match to be played between Box Youth team, of which I was a member, and a representative Hungarian youth team. We used to play home games on a sloping pitch which is now occupied by the tennis courts and the bowling green, a far cry from the plains of Hungary. At that time the Hungarian national team was recognised as the the best in the world, led by Ferenc Puskas, one of the all time greats of the game. We were therefore a little apprehensive about what we were going to be up against. However the match turned out to be quite evenly matched.
I am looking back nearly sixty years so my recollection of events may be a little hazy but this is how I remember it. The scores were even when somebody, it might have been me, put a through ball to Mel Bush who was running down the steep hill in the centre forward position. He was tripped and was sent sprawling headlong in the penalty area. The referee and youth club leader, Don Newman awarded a penalty.
For some reason that I don't understand, our goal keeper that day was Brian (Taffy) Boulton who was not our usual last line of defence, and was a couple of years older and a little bigger than the rest of us. Perhaps he was selected as an insurance policy against our possible humiliation by a team of young versions of Puskas and Hidegkuti. It was when he came forward to take the penalty that an international incident ensued. The Hungarians objected to Taffy taking the kick and walked off the field. There followed a long period of argument and negotiation by the vicarage wall near Valens Terrace involving the vicar, the referee and Hungarian officials, which was not helped by language difficulties. After a while some sort of understanding was achieved and the game resumed. I cannot recall who finally took the penalty but I believe that it was scored and we won by 2 goals to 1.
The vicar's good intentions were for a while in danger of turning rather sour but in the end things calmed down and no serious damage was done to international relations.
As a goodwill gesture the vicar of Box, Tom Selwyn-Smith, arranged for a football match to be played between Box Youth team, of which I was a member, and a representative Hungarian youth team. We used to play home games on a sloping pitch which is now occupied by the tennis courts and the bowling green, a far cry from the plains of Hungary. At that time the Hungarian national team was recognised as the the best in the world, led by Ferenc Puskas, one of the all time greats of the game. We were therefore a little apprehensive about what we were going to be up against. However the match turned out to be quite evenly matched.
I am looking back nearly sixty years so my recollection of events may be a little hazy but this is how I remember it. The scores were even when somebody, it might have been me, put a through ball to Mel Bush who was running down the steep hill in the centre forward position. He was tripped and was sent sprawling headlong in the penalty area. The referee and youth club leader, Don Newman awarded a penalty.
For some reason that I don't understand, our goal keeper that day was Brian (Taffy) Boulton who was not our usual last line of defence, and was a couple of years older and a little bigger than the rest of us. Perhaps he was selected as an insurance policy against our possible humiliation by a team of young versions of Puskas and Hidegkuti. It was when he came forward to take the penalty that an international incident ensued. The Hungarians objected to Taffy taking the kick and walked off the field. There followed a long period of argument and negotiation by the vicarage wall near Valens Terrace involving the vicar, the referee and Hungarian officials, which was not helped by language difficulties. After a while some sort of understanding was achieved and the game resumed. I cannot recall who finally took the penalty but I believe that it was scored and we won by 2 goals to 1.
The vicar's good intentions were for a while in danger of turning rather sour but in the end things calmed down and no serious damage was done to international relations.