60 years on from Wembley - Sheffield Wednesday goalscorer Jim McCalliog chats on The Wednesday Word

May 14th will be 60 years since Sheffield Wednesday came oh so close to FA Cup glory at Wembley. To mark the anniversary, we sat down with one of the Owls' goalscorers that day, Jim McCalliog, to relive one of the tournament's greatest finals.

In this special episode of The Wednesday Word Show, Jim shares memories from his time at Hillsborough, the atmosphere around the club during that and what Sheffield Wednesday still means to him today.

From iconic moments to behind-the-scenes tales, this is a must-watch for every Wednesdayite looking to take a trip down memory lane.

🔵⚪

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And we were watching uh on the television until we went down for the the what you call it, for the pre-match meal. And you know, we're looking at each other and saying, like, you know, we're gonna be playing there today. We're not watching anymore.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Word Show. Um an absolute privilege today. I'm joined by the great Jim McAliog. Jim, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:31

I'm doing fine, Joe. Absolutely fine. Uh I'm looking forward to having a chat with you.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Uh a little bit of a trip down memory lane. Um obviously the the the the anniversary of the the cup final, uh, you know, Wednesday haven't been in too many of them since then. The anniversary of the one that you played and scored in is coming up very soon. But before we get to that, um I just wanted to chat to you a little bit how about how your move to Sheffield Wednesday came about.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Yeah, yeah, I was uh I'd asked for a transfer three times at Chelsea uh because I uh I wanted to get on with my career a bit more, and and we had quite a big squad at Chelsea, and uh there was a couple of England players and Scottish International in front of me, so uh I wanted to get on. And uh um when I asked for the transfer, uh Alan Brown from Sheffield Wednesday came in and and he offered uh uh a record fee for a British teenager because Tommy Doherty didn't want to let me go, Joe. Um the first the first uh time I asked for the transfer, he chased me out of the room. He said, He said, get lost. And then the second time he said that uh he's listening to me, but he said that I'm recommending to the directors not to let you go on the transfer list. So the third time um he let it wait, and then uh the next thing I got a phone call a couple of days later uh to go and see uh Mr. Alan Brown, and uh that that was how it all started. So as it turned out, Joe, it was the best move of my career.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah. What what was your first um sort of experience, your first thoughts on the city of Sheffield when when you got there?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

Oh, brilliant. The the Wednesday people, the Wednesday fans were absolutely marvellous, Joe. And uh I I loved Sheffield. Um and and things went really well. I mean, uh I went to Sheffield Wednesday in the October, and then the following April, we played my old club, Chelsea, in the the semi-finals of the FA Cup. And uh we we beat them 2-0 at Villa Park and David Ford, no, sorry, Graham Pew and myself uh scored the goals. So it was a bit um it was a little bit bitter, really, in a way that um I had just left Chelsea and the previous year we'd got to semi-finals with Chelsea. So that's two years in a row that they lost in the semi-finals. So I went into the dressing them to say hello to the guys, but it was like a morgue. So I hastened straight back out. I thought, that's it, I've tried, and and I thought I'll go and celebrate with my own teammates and and obviously the fans a wee bit later.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Yeah, no, absolutely. And with with that that sort of move, it was it was very early on in your career. You you said before that it you think it was one of the best sort of best decisions you made. Did your time at Sheffield Wednesday sort of make you as a footballer?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Um it progressed me. Uh it gave me um it gave me confidence that uh a manager like Alan Brown, so well respected in the game, uh, wanted to pay that kind of fee for me. Uh and also Tommy Doherty, I knew he didn't want me to go. Uh, and he got top dollar, he was asking for top dollar. So that to me was the way I looked at it, Joe. Because a couple of the reporters said, Do you not feel under pressure? I said, Why should I feel under pressure? Because, you know, two great people in football, uh, one's wanting to keep me and the other one's wanting to buy me. So I feel I feel pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, when you've got two people like that both bat batting for you on each side, then you know you're doing all right.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

With with that cup run, obviously, you know, Wednesday have had some really big periods in their in their career in the sorry history over the years. How how good was that team? You know, the team that you were part of there, how how talented was that group of players?

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Uh it was a very talented uh team, uh Joe, and we had a a lot of really good young players, i.e. Will Smith, Peter Eustace, Vic Mobley, uh Graham Pugh, uh David Ford, and myself. So there were six young players, probably 22 and under. And uh we had the great experience, uh, best captain and that I played under in my career, uh, Don Megson, uh, and there was Jerry Young, who was an England international, and also Johnny Fantham, uh and Johnny Quinn, who was a great team player. Uh so we had a really good team, and uh we fancied the chances big style. And and I remember after we'd beaten Chelsea in the the the what you call it in the semi-final, we we played them uh again at Hillsborough, and Tommy Doherty had said that the pitch didn't suit his team. But we played them, we played them at Hillsborough and we gobbed them 6-1.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

So that one didn't suit him either.

SPEAKER_00 6:10

So I don't know what he said, I don't know what his excuse was for that one. So you know it's all good fun, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah, it it's just it's it's really you know, it's interesting listening to you reel off those names because you know in a in a club like Sheffield Wednesday, you know, we've we've had like Liam Palmer now who's going through the going through the names and and moving up in the appearances. And you know, over the last few years he's been going past guys like Johnny Fantham and Don Megson. Like you know when you were when you were in that side and you're playing uh uh with people like like Johnny Quinn and Johnny Fantham and Don Megson. And did you know at the time how good they were and that they would be players that would go down in sort of Sheffield Wednesday folklore?

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Yes, I definitely thought so because uh I'd I'd seen them play at Chelsea and and Wednesday were uh were a good side. Um they they'd always been you know well respected and uh a top club in the first division. And uh it was sad what happened obviously before my time uh with uh Peter Swann and and Tony Kay. Um and of course, you you know they they were great names. They were two great players. I I would love to have played with them too as well. So it was certainly it was certainly a great move for myself. It brought me to people's attention, and and then of course when we got to the cup final, um that was brilliant because I was just 19. And um to to play in the cup final and score after four m minutes, it was beyond my wildest dreams. But the thing was the thing was we sadly we we lost the cup final after being 2-0-0 up. Uh we lost it 3-2. Uh and I would have bet all the T in China that they wouldn't score three goals, Everton, to to beat us, especially with Ron Spring It and goal, because Ron was a great goalie. And uh sadly for us and for the Wednesda fans, um we lost 3-2. Uh, but the the reception we got when we got back to Sheffield was amazing. They would come out in the the thousands, we had no idea what what would happen, and and they all they were all there at the train station when we got on the open uh bus and uh we travelled through to the the city chambers and the council buildings in Sheffield, so it was absolutely brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah, some some things never change. They're still turning out in the numbers, still uh waiting for some some some big wins and big big trophies and stuff. But with that the game, obviously, you know, you you say you you scored so early in that match. Um before then, what was it like walking out? You know, like you say, you're this young kid who's sort of making his way in the game. You what was it like walking out at a packed out Wembley on that day?

SPEAKER_00 9:19

Yeah, well, like being being back in Scotland, so the I would watch the cup final, it would be on uh BBC and ITV from nine o'clock in the morning. Well well, I preferred to watch BBC because the reason was there was no adverse on BBC, and it was all about the cup final, and I remember in the in the room, me and Will Smith, we we shared the room together. Wilf was just 20 and I was 19. And we were watching uh on the television until we went down for the the what you call it for the pre-match meal. And you know, we're looking at each other and saying, like, you know, we're gonna be playing there today, we're not watching anymore. And it was just it was fantastic, uh, you know, it was it was just everything that I expected it to be with all the pomp and the circumstance. I and when we left the the what you call it, the hotel, um, I and then the peace police escort, and once they revved up their motorbikes, we thought, oh my god, here we go, it's Wembley. So we were just just like fans, but we were gonna be playing in it, and it was gonna be a great experience, and we we both wanted to to do the best we could and take out of it as much as what we could.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Yeah. And what was going through your head when you scored? Because, you know, I I think obviously everyone wants to score in a cup final, but you don't really expect to score so early, do you? What was the thought process when when you when you hit the back of the net?

SPEAKER_00 11:06

My thought process, to be honest, uh I was stretching as I went to hit it. My my thought process was to keep it down. I and I and I hit it into the ground, which was okay. I and Ray Wilson, I think he got a touch to it, and it and it it went up in the the the top of the net. So I I was very pleased with it, obviously, and uh you know what what a thrill. And I knew my dad was at that end of the ground as well. So I did a customary leap up in the air and uh and then back to my position uh after the congratulations from my my my teammates. So it was amazing, absolutely wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah, celebrations are a little bit different these days, aren't they? The way that the way that the way that players celebrate goals.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah. Uh yeah, absolutely absolutely, Joe. I mean, uh I I think uh you you didn't do too much celebrating, otherwise you might get a clip round the ear.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

No, I yeah, I can imagine. So you you go 2-0 up in that game. I know you said before that you you would never have expected Everton to have got three. At 2-0, do you think, well, this is ours now? Like what do you think there was maybe a little bit of complacency crept in in the side?

SPEAKER_00 12:24

No, because the the the actual goals, um the um what do you call them? I've I've forgotten his name at the moment. Uh Tribilco, the two goals that he scored were very similar. They just knocked the ball into the box, it was headed down, and and he picked up the scraps and and he he did that with with the two of them. And it was quite strange because he never played in the Everton team ever again.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Oh really?

SPEAKER_00 12:55

Yeah, and and and he was a last minute uh pick because uh Fred Pickering had moved to Everton, and Everton were the Bank of England club because the the the pools, the the the Littlewoods pools and what have you, and Vernon's pools was owned by the Moore family, and and they owned uh Everton. So they had plenty of money, and they had uh uh uh like I said, they they they they dropped Fred Pickering, who they'd paid 80,000 for, uh and put Trabilko in, uh and well, he he scored two goals. And and you know, good luck to the guy, but it was I wish it wasn't us.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

But what what what's it like?

SPEAKER_00 13:46

You you know as the game's happening when when they scored and they get another one, and like did did it feel like the momentum was was shifting, or did you all did even then did you feel like you could still you know I mean we come out in the second half, it was one nil at halftime, we come out of the second half, and Johnny Fantham, uh who I thought was a great player, very strong, two-footed, great athlete. Uh I I don't know what happened, why he left Sheffield Wednesday, but I was certainly disappointed. Uh but he he picked up a ball and he went on a run and ended up with a shot a goal, and the goalkeeper Gordon West, who was the highest priced goalkeeper in the land then. Um he he parried it out, and young David Ford, uh, he's come in and just slipped into the net, cool cool as you like. And we were fine, we were knocking it about, you know, and then like I said, just out of the blue, the the these crosses into the box, and and Tribilco picked up the two of them and and scored twice. Uh, and then the the the third goal, uh Derek Temple's uh run through the middle of the field. Sadly for for Jerry's miscontrolled it. Uh a thing that he'd never done ever while while I played it would be Jerry uh and uh went under his foot and Trebellku uh Temple was away and and he fired it past rond to get them the third goal. So yeah, it was uh it was still a great day, and uh it it it was the first time that um uh uh a losing team at Wembley did a lap of honour, and that was because of Alan Brown, because when we come down the steps, we wanted to to be honest, we just wanted to crawl away and go in the dressing room. But he said, right, he says, off you go round the pitch, he said, you've a terrific, he says, away you go around there, he says they'll they'll all appreciate it. And we went running round the Everton side first, and then right away round, and then down to where the Wednesday fans were behind what was the tunnel end. Uh and so they changed Wembley and and they put it in the centre the centre of the ground, Joe. And uh it was great. We got a great reception from Everton and an even better reception from the the Wednesday fans, and uh they were marvelous. They they they they helped me so much, Joe. You know, they they knew what was happening and and and all the rest of it. They uh I would come for a big fee, but they were willing to give me every chance, and uh I hope I repaid them.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yeah, what was that like, you know, to to have that kind of because like you say, you're you've just lost in a in a cup final. I'm sure inside you just want sort of the ground to swallow you up and you want to be, you know, back on the bus home and stuff. But like to have your manager say no, you go speak to those fans, you go share that moment with them, and to have them respond the way that they did, that must have been really special.

SPEAKER_00 17:07

Oh, it is you know, you they don't don't forget how disappointed they are because supporters are uh uh the the lifeblood of the game. If they don't come, you know, the game the game's not as it's certainly not as good. And uh it's nice to have you uh that bit of support, even if you're having a a a good game or a bad game, it always lifts you that bit, Joe. But the Wednesday were just amazing, and like I said, the turnout uh on the Sunday um through Sheffield and into the town centre was amazing.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Were were you expecting that as all at all? Was it planned or was that just something that happened sporadically?

SPEAKER_00 17:54

No, what happened was they they knew we were we were gonna do uh uh an open top bus from the the train station, but we had no idea how how many would be there. And uh of course when when there was that many, it was it was just unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Yeah, I mean I I've I've been lucky enough to see you know Sheffield when it's been like that when Wednesday had been promoted out of out of you know League One a couple of times, but of course you know to to have seen that after an FA Cup final, which you know it's been a it's it's not something that I've seen in my lifetime. So it's it must have been you know it must have been really nice to see the city like that.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Oh yeah, it was uh for a young player and uh it was marvellous and uh you know I couldn't wait to get started again the following year, and because of the performance that we'd put on at Wembley, they they they were actually um the Northern reporters were actually fancying Sheffield Wednesday uh to do really well the following year in the league because like I said, we had a young side, um, but we had great experienced players in the team and and it knitted well, and um we thought we were you know we were gonna be the the surprise packer and and maybe uh really have a go for the getting up the league as high up as we could. So we started off very well. Uh we had a great pre-season and um that uh you know everything looked good. I think we we were up round the top for quite a while, so we were happy and um yeah, it was a great club to be at. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Am I right in saying that a decade later you uh you went back to Wembley in the FA Cup final and won it that time?

SPEAKER_00 19:51

Yes, that's correct. It was exactly 10 years, Joe. Um 66 was Wednesday, uh, and 76 was Southampton and Man United. Uh, and we beat Man United uh 1-0. So, you know, that was uh it was quite quite amazing, really, because uh I think there's only two players, including myself, that's actually done that, played it uh Wembley 10 years later. So yeah, it's it's in the stats as you want to call it, or in the history books, whatever.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Yeah, no, absolutely. Did did you have a moment then? I know obviously you'll have been a a much different person ten years down the line, but you know, when you're you're at Wembley and you're walking up the stairs to go get that trophy, did you have a little bit of a uh a moment of, you know, at least I've at least I've got this one?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Yes, uh that was how it was, but I also remember when we went back to the the the gr uh to the dressing room uh and we were in the dressing room before we actually went on the bus, and I went off quietly up the tunnel myself and went up to the onto the pit and looked around it, and I thought I've got to come back here again somehow, hopefully. And uh I was just thinking in my head, it'd be so good if I could come back here. And then I I I was fortunate the following year, uh I went back with with Scotland. So that was amazing. Like I said, I I had 18 months um of my career on a high curve all the way going up. So my career was was well on its way. Uh uh after the cup final I'd had a couple of under-23 matches for Scotland, and uh we we beat Wales uh 6-0 and I got two goals, and then we we played England uh under 23s, and we beat England at St James. Newcastle, St. James's Park, Newcastle. We beat them 3-1 and I got the first goal. So I'd got three goals in two games for the under-23s. So, you know, I was I was in my shout after my cup final appearance and doing well in the under-23s to get my full cap.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

Brilliant. Brilliant. It's uh it's it was a fantastic career you had, and and Jim, thank you so much for your time. It's been lovely taking this trip down Memory Lane with you. And uh hopefully it's not another 60 years before we see Sheffield Wednesday in N FA Cup final.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

I hope not, Joe. I'm I'm always looking out for them, always thinking, you know, things will pick up. I'm sure it will. And and just a great a great thank you to Wednesday fans for for for making my career so so great, really. I've I loved them all together.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Brilliant. I'm sure they'll lovely they'll love to hear that. Jim, thanks very much.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

Okay, wait.