Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 21974 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| NORTHERN LIFE: FOOTBALL, NEWCASTLE UNITED VISIT WILKINSON SWORD | 1977 | 1977-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Colour Sound: Sound Duration: 6 mins 30 secs Credits: Tyne Tees Television Reporter: Ian Edwards Genre: TV News Subject: CELEBRATIONS / CEREMONIES INDUSTRY SPORT WORKING LIFE |
| Summary Tyne Tees TV sports presenter Ian Edwards covers the Newcastle United football squad’s emotional visit to the Wilkinson Sword factory in Cramlington with manager Joe Harvey in the week after their FA Cup final defeat at Wembley on Saturday 4 May 1974. This filmed report was broadcast on the regional news programme Northern Life a few years later on 5 January 1977. |
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Description
Tyne Tees TV sports presenter Ian Edwards covers the Newcastle United football squad’s emotional visit to the Wilkinson Sword factory in Cramlington with manager Joe Harvey in the week after their FA Cup final defeat at Wembley on Saturday 4 May 1974. This filmed report was broadcast on the regional news programme Northern Life a few years later on 5 January 1977.
A crowd of football fans and Wilkinson Sword workers gathers outside the Cramlington factory for the visit of the Newcastle...
Tyne Tees TV sports presenter Ian Edwards covers the Newcastle United football squad’s emotional visit to the Wilkinson Sword factory in Cramlington with manager Joe Harvey in the week after their FA Cup final defeat at Wembley on Saturday 4 May 1974. This filmed report was broadcast on the regional news programme Northern Life a few years later on 5 January 1977.
A crowd of football fans and Wilkinson Sword workers gathers outside the Cramlington factory for the visit of the Newcastle United football team. Some people are dressed in the team colours of black and white, wear rosettes and other football fan paraphernalia. The reporter’s voice-over comments that they ‘spent the evening preparing these carnival concoctions to impress the players’.
The Mayor’s wife arrives in a chauffeur-driven car and enters the Wilkinson Sword factory. Some male employees are on the flat roof of the factory with a good view of the footballers’ arrival.
On their arrival, manager Joe Harvey leads the footballers through the cheering crowds on their way to the factory entrance. The players clap the crowds, acknowledging the warm reception they receive. The Mayor and his wife await their arrival. Some teenage girl fans wave their Newcastle United scarves in greeting. The players stand outside the factory for a while taking in the rapturous welcome. The players include Terry McDermott, Pat Howard, Bob Moncur and Malcolm Macdonald. High angle view of the crowd and players follows. The crowd are a sea of blue work overalls and Newcastle United fans sporting the team colours in a variety of ways.
One of the footballers gives a fan his autograph. Some of the players look overwhelmed by the passionate reception. The reporter comments that ‘One or two of them seem to cry unashamedly.’
General view of the crowd. The players now pick their way through the crowd who clap, cheer and slap them on the back. The footballers head into the Wilkinson Sword factory for the formal presentation. A man in the crowd holds up a scarf proclaiming ‘Super-Mac’. The players continue to stop and sign their autographs for fans. A gaggle of children chant the nickname of their footballing hero ‘Supermac’, the player Malcolm Macdonald. Some of the crowd start to sing the Geordie anthem, ‘The Blaydon Races’.
Inside the factory, Derek Teasdale presents the team's captain Bob Moncur with a sword made by Wilkinson Sword and reads out the inscription ‘Presented to Newcastle United Football Club By Wilkinson Sword Limited May 1974’. The guests clap and the player shakes hands with Mr Teasdale. Moncur makes a thank you speech. The guests applaud. Close-up of the player holding the sword.
Along a corridor at the factory, the doors and windows are decorated with the letters of footballers’ names: Alan Kennedy, Pat Howard, Bob Moncur, ‘AAD Joe, Terry Hibbitt, Frank Clark, Tom Gibb, Terry McDermott, Tom Cassidy and a ‘Howay the Lads’. The slogans ‘Magnificent Magpies’, ‘Welcome to Harvey’s Heroes’ and ‘Supermac burns the grass’ are spelled out on card hanging from the factory workshop ceilings. Still of a handmade poster of the team, with player portraits and ‘United for the Cup’ slogan.
The Newcastle United players and their manager Joe Harvey tour the factory with the Mayor and Wilkinson Sword representatives. Some of the machinery is painted specially in black and white. Workers can be heard cheering in the background. Again, one of the players signs his autograph. Other players are watching the machines operating.
Interview with Derek Teasdale, wearing a Newcastle United rosette, in front of a poster celebrating Newcastle United in the FA Cup 1974. The reporter asks if the tour was spontaneous or an organised event. Teasdale says that the staff knew the team were visiting and they were given a free hand to decorate the Cramlington factory as they wished.
One of the factory representatives speaks to Malcolm Macdonald. Another player poses for photographs with two women workers at the factory. They both kiss him on the cheek a few times. Another woman joins them, dressed in tails and a top hat decorated in the Newcastle United team colours. One of the women kisses the player again on the lips. Some of their work colleagues take snaps with their Instamatic cameras.
General view of the decorated factory workshop and players signing autographs for some of the staff.
The camera tracks through a factory workshop where a row of female workers are sorting packaged razor blades and pushing them onto a moving belt conveyor. One of the workers wearing a Newcastle United sash chats to some of the players.
Some of the women grab Malcolm Macdonald and fling a black and white handmade garland around his neck. In voice-over the presenter says: ‘They were kissed. They were cuddled. And they were smothered. Especially Malcolm Macdonald. All of this just because he can kick a ball better than most of us.’ He comments on the tremendous quality of the people in the area who still support their defeated team in style. Inside the factory, a banner proclaims ‘Win or Lose United We Stand’.
Context
Tyne Tees TV covered the resigned acceptance of the defeat that Newcastle United FC faced in the 1974 FA Cup. The company started out inside a converted warehouse in Newcastle, and remained within this city until 2005 when they moved to smaller studios in Gateshead. Tyne Tees accumulated a quarter of a million viewers on its first airing on January 5th, 1959. This first transmission day included programmes such as a live interview with the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, followed by a...
Tyne Tees TV covered the resigned acceptance of the defeat that Newcastle United FC faced in the 1974 FA Cup. The company started out inside a converted warehouse in Newcastle, and remained within this city until 2005 when they moved to smaller studios in Gateshead. Tyne Tees accumulated a quarter of a million viewers on its first airing on January 5th, 1959. This first transmission day included programmes such as a live interview with the then Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, followed by a live variety show called The Big Show. The channel continues to rake in viewers, maintaining 1.7 million average viewers weekly (as of May 2019). This news magazine item was filmed in 1974 after the events that unfolded in Wembley Stadium. It was reshown on this Northern Life news a few years later, in 1977. Tyne Tees TV celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2019.
Cramlington, home of the Wilkinson Sword factory Newcastle United visited after their sad defeat against Liverpool, was only given township the decade previous to the FA cup final, due to several housing estates being built in the location. The prospect of Cramlington becoming a New Town began in 1958, and later down the development line, (in 1961) Northumberland County Council’s Planning Committee (NCCPC) gave the go ahead for the establishment of what they hoped would be “Britain’s first enterprise town.” The development of the New Town was led by William Leech, whom acquired the land. This was predicted to take roughly 20 years, cost around £50 million, and would house around 40,000 individuals across the four-square mile site. Two years down the line, in 1963, the plan approved by the NCCPC was then further approved by the Minister of Housing and Local Government. Estimations previously discussed had changed by this time, with the number of potential occupants rising to 48,000, and the cost rising to £60 million. The specific Wilkinson Sword factory that the Newcastle squad were invited to had only been opened in the same year that the town of Cramlington was given its New Town status - 1964. Wilkinson Sword is a company renowned for razor blades. However, the company, which was founded in 1772, began with the creation and distribution of swords, hence the football squad being presented with one in the factory. Aside from these two products, the company has also been involved in the production of: guns, bayonets, typewriters, garden shears, scissors, and even motorcycles. In 1779, Wilkinson Sword was contracted to produce 500 seven-barrelled volley guns for the Royal Navy. The basis of the company, being sword making, came to an end after 233 years of production in September 2005 when the factory in Acton closed. This led to an auction being held, which sold tools, equipment, sword drawings, and forging and milling machinery. The town of Cramlington also has some significance, not just the North East, but the rest of the country. It was used during the First World War as a base for military planes and airships for the country, and was protected by No. 36 Home Defence Squadron, formed in Cramlington itself. Due to Cramlington also being an industrial zone, the citizens were heavily affected by the political events of 1974. During the premiership of Edward Heath, the introduction of an enforced three-day working week to preserve dwindling fuel supplies was not easily accepted by the industry based North-East, and even more so, by the miners affected by this. The main industries that were affected by this implementation in Cramlington would have been the sewage treatment plant nearby, which housed major pharmaceutical companies, such as Merck Sharp and Dohme, and still mainly the mining industry. However, all this was dampened when the three-day week was recalled later in the year, namely March 7th. When arriving at the Wilkinson Sword factory, the main two members of the team that are focused upon, namely Malcolm McDonald and Bob Moncur, hold considerable significance to the fans. In this news item, fans can be heard chanting ‘Supermac’ and one man is holding a ‘Supermac’ scarf. This is because during Malcolm McDonald’s first match after his £180,000 signing to the Newcastle United squad in 1971, he scored a hat-trick. In that same match, Newcastle fans began to chant “Supermac, superstar, how many goals have you scored so far?” to the tune of Jesus Christ Superstar, a popular 1970 rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice.This nickname stuck even after their defeat. Bob Moncur, the captain of the losing team accepts the sword, kindly gifted by Derek Teasdale on behalf of Wilkinson Sword. Moncur began his career with Newcastle United as an apprentice in 1960, and finally made his debut in Division Two, at 18 years old in 1963. He continued his captaincy for a further decade, even for his home team, being Scotland. Even though Moncur did accept this sword on behalf of the team, the FA Cup match would be Moncur’s last game for Newcastle United. Despite Moncur and McDonald being highlights of the team, these two members were still just two of the entirety of the football squad, who “seemed to cry, unashamedly” at the loss, and also at the continued love and adoration of the fans present in Cramlington. Despite this loss with such high stakes, the strong support from the fans was still present, accepting them and showing their collective passion, mainly emphasising the point of a football team, being united together, even in defeat. References: https://www.nufc.co.uk/club/history/hall-of-fame/bob-moncur https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/all-about/cramlington http://www.company-histories.com/Wilkinson-Sword-Ltd-Company-History.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Macdonald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_Tyne_Tees http://www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com/news/60-years-air-tyne-tees-tv |
