Confidential letter reveals blame game after Newcastle United relegation
The unearthed letter reveals behind-the-scenes anger during topsy-turvy season in the sixties. Tony Henderson reports
A confidential letter has come to light which reveals the boardroom tension at Newcastle United as the club spiralled to relegation in one of the craziest seasons in its history.
In 1960-61, United fell into the old Second Division despite scoring a remarkable 100 goals in all competitions - 86 of them in the league - with brilliant centre forward Len White netting 29 before being badly injured by a tackle as Newcastle beat League and Cup Double winners Spurs at White Hart Lane.
White had netted more than a century of goals between seasons 1957-1961.
But Newcastle conceded 117 goals, 109 of them in the league. This saw a national newspaper run a back-page cartoon with meters fixed to United’s goalposts.
Now a typed letter, headed confidential, has been found in a batch of documents which belonged to former club chairman, long-term director and solicitor William McKeag.
The letter, from a fellow director, calls for manager Charlie Mitten, who had joined the club in 1958, to bear full responsibility for the fall from grace.
The letter will be sold on Thursday (June 4) at auction in Newcastle.
“1960-61 was certainly a bizarre season and there was boardroom turmoil. It is very rare to see a private letter like this,” said United historian Paul Joannou.
In the first two games of the season, United scored 10 goals, including a 7-2 win over Fulham, who they later defeated in an FA Cup tie 5-0.
Newcastle registered wins against Cardiff 5-0, Blackpool 4-3 and Stockport 4-0 in the Cup. They drew with Wolves 4-4, West Ham 5-5 and Arsenal 3-3.
But only three days after winning 2-1 at the all-conquering Spurs, United lost 1-6 at home to Chelsea. Other defeats included 0-5 v West Brom, Arsenal and Everton, 3-4 at home to Spurs and 3-5 v Burnley and Leicester.
The director who wrote the letter mentions that he joined the board in August. Two new directors joined in that month in 1960.
They were surgeon Fenton Briathwaite, head of plastic surgery at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary, and Lord Westwood, a director of a number of companies who went on to be a United director for 21 seasons and chairman from 1964-1978.
The letter says:
“Prior to being appointed to the board last August, I had read many press reports and heard many rumours about there being a lot of disharmony on the board. I can say that whilst various opinions have been held by directors, the majority view has always been accepted.
“We are all very sorry and extremely disappointed at the relegation of our team, but it must be emphasised that the writing was on the wall in December and things were allowed to continue along the same paths which were obviously not leading to success on the field.
“Time and time again strong criticisms were expressed by the board about team selections, especially in the defence. It is my opinion that the whole training system needs overhauling in the tactical sense.
“The manager must bear full responsibility for this system of tactical play and, whilst agreeing that we have had more than our fair share of injuries, it must be evident that the team was not good enough.
“Practically every week members of the board were requested by the manager to travel all over the country to watch likely players and whilst these duties have been carried out by all, our own manager seldom makes journeys to watch players.”
Charlie Mitten left the club in 1961 and was succeeded by Joe Harvey, who won promotion, led the team to three years in Europe and won the Fairs Cup, and whose side were runners-up in the 1974 FA Cup final.
Thursday’s auction will take place at Anderson & Garland.