Where were you when JFK was assassinated?

Phil Whitaker on Craven Cottage in the First Division on the day the President died.

The assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy was one of the defining moments of the 20th Century. One of those moments where people ask, where were you? And I’ll take this opportunity to ask the question.

Where were you when JFK was assassinated?

You may not have been born. We are, after all, approaching the 60th anniversary of his assassination in Dallas on Friday 22 November 1963. Allow me to jog your memory.

Like other events that shocked the world — WW1, WW2, the sinking of HMS Sheffield and the Covid pandemic — United were flying high the day that JFK was killed. The relationship between our fortunes and global catastrophe is quite bizarre.

For a Club who have only spent 101 days at the top of the pyramid since the end of WW2, it is ironic that when Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal bullet, Sheffield United were enjoying one of their three stints at the top of the Football League.

In 1960/61, United had been promoted from the Second Division, finishing one point behind Champions Ipswich Town who were managed by Sir Alf Ramsay. As a reminder of football’s more competitive history, neither Ipswich nor United struggled to stay up the following season. In fact, Ipswich finished the next season (61/62) as League Champions ahead of Burnley, while United finished in fifth, our highest finish since 1932 and one we have not matched since.

Blades’ manager John Harris didn’t strengthen the side at all in the summer of 1962. United were the only side in Division One not to sign a single player and throughout the 1962-63 season we never rose above or dropped below mid-table, eventually finishing in tenth.

United only took three points from the first four games of the 1963/64 season. However, a 3-2 win at West Ham on 7 September 1963 started a good run of 9 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in the next 13 games.

In that run, Doc Pace scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 victory over Birmingham at Lane on 19 October. A week later United went top of the league when Ron Simpson scored twice at title contenders Burnley in 2-1 win at Turf Moor. Ron’s first goal was one of United’s quickest ever coming after just 8 seconds.

United stayed top for four weeks. Bob Wilson, then an amateur made his debut in goal for Arsenal as United drew 1-1 at the Lane on 2 November and a 1-0 win at Leicester preceded a 0-1 home defeat to lowly Bolton when Alan Hodgkinson suffered concussion, a broken thumb and a dislocated finger on his right hand in a collision with Joe Shaw, Freddie Hill and Wyn Davies.

Bob Widdowson, United’s back up keeper also suffered a dislocated shoulder playing for the reserves on the same day so United had to re-sign Des Thompson from Cheshire League club Buxton only shortly after releasing him.

United remained at the pinnacle of English football when they travelled to Fulham on Friday 22 November 1963. The news of JFK’s assassination would have filtered through in the team hotel in the early evening in London.

At all football league matches the following day, spectators, players and officials showed their respect by observing a minute’s silence in JFK’s memory. At Craven Cottage, the only flag visible on the river embankment was the American starts and Stripes flying at half-mast while both teams wore black armbands.

Fulham with a side including George Cohen, Alan Mullery, Bobby Robson and Johnny Haynes started the day in 19th place but overturned the form book running out 3-1 victors in front of a crowd of 22,046.

After 10 minutes, Fulham’s Jim Langley was helped off the pitch with torn ankle ligaments and in the days before substitutes, Fulham were reduced to 10 men. This didn’t stop them taking the lead in the 16th minute when Johnny Kay’s corner was flicked on by Graham Leggat to Maurice Cook who drove home through a crowd of players.

Langley hobbled back onto the pitch after 20 minutes of treatment to hop around and support his team-mates the best he could. He even managed to contribute to Fulham’s second goal when a move started by Johnny Haynes left Key with only Thompson to beat. The stand in keeper saved his shot but Leggat swept in the rebound to put Fulham 2-0 up after 38 minutes.

In the 40^th minute Tony Wagstaff pulled a goal back for United when he spotted the Fulham keeper Tony Macedo off his line and lobbed him to send United into the break in good spirits.

Fulham made sure of the victory in the 87^th minute in fortunate circumstances when Cec Coldwell’s clearance hit the referee’s leg and fell to Bobby Howfield to find the net from an acute angle. 

All the headlines after the game belonged to Langley who was admitted to hospital and ended the night with his leg in a pot up to his knee. In the post-match interviews, it transpired that his left leg was so badly swollen that he couldn’t put his boot back on but against medical advice, he hopped around the dressing room to find an old rubber studded boot which he could just fit on.

It’s somewhat ironic that our most recent game at Fulham, 60 years later also ended in a 3-1 defeat for the Blades with the main story coming out of the game being an injury to a player which saw him being taken away to hospital to have his leg put in a pot.

United dropped off the top of the league falling to 5^th place that Saturday night as Liverpool went top with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford.

United also lost the next two making it 4 successive defeats. They finished the season in a disappointing 12th with the injury to Keith Kettleborough, who missed most of the rest of the season, and the absence of Doc Pace for many games in the second half of the season, disrupting the team. 

United’s Role in Other Global Events

JFK’s assassination wasn’t the only global event that coincided with either a glorious period for the Blades or a turning point in our history. Here are 5 more: