by Malcolm Pheby | Mar 28, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
It’s true to say the tropical palm house at Sefton Park shaped the whole life of Liverpool jazz singer, writer and entertainer George Melly. The incongruous sight of wounded soldiers sitting and smoking among the exotic plants in the 1940s awakened a love of...
by Malcolm Pheby | Mar 18, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
Liverpool must have had a feeling of déjà vu when they played West Ham at Wembley in the League Cup Final of March 1981. For the Reds had already met the London club in August in the Charity Shield – the curtain-raiser to the new season. Liverpool were at Wembley as...
by Malcolm Pheby | Mar 11, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
It was a classic case of so near, yet so far for Manchester United when it came to the topsy-turvy campaign of 1969-70. It was all change at Old Trafford as club legend Matt Busby had retired after 24 years as manager to be replaced by Wilf McGuinness. As far as...
by Malcolm Pheby | Mar 4, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
There’s a fascinating link between Coronation Street character Fred Elliott and Salford comic Al Read. Elliott, brilliantly portrayed by actor John Savident, was a blunt-speaking butcher who often repeated the words ‘I say’ for comic effect. Read, before he started...
by Malcolm Pheby | Feb 26, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
Prime Minister James Callaghan was clearly a big fan of Coronation Street character Elsie Tanner. He described the Weatherfield firebrand, played by Manchester actress Pat Phoenix, as ‘the sexiest thing on television’. Elsie certainly made an impact during her two...
by Malcolm Pheby | Feb 24, 2020 | Bits & Pieces
The FA Cup Final of 1958 will be remembered as the most poignant ever played in the history of the competition. It was the year that Manchester United, devastated by the Munich air disaster 86 days earlier, defied all the odds to face Bolton Wanderers at Wembley. That...
