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Gil Merrick

i used to go to the BLUES every home match in the 1950s.
few of the players i remember of those days;
gil merrick, jack badham, jeff hall, len boyd, alex govan,
noel kinsey, jackie brown the other names are lost can anyone help to revive them for me.
 
Joe, you may remember some of these from the 1950/51 squad...

Atkins, Arthur
Badham, Jack
Berry, Johnny
Boyd, Len
Dailey, Jimmy
Dorman, Don
Ferris, Ray
Fletcher, James
Green, Ken
Hall, Jeff
Higgins, Jimmy
Kloner, Hymie
McKee, Frank
Martin, Roy
Merrick, Gil
O'Hara, Edward
Powell, Aubrey
Roberts, Harold
Rowley, Ken
Smith, Bill
Stewart, Jackie
Stirling, Jimmy
Trigg, Cyril
Warhurst, Roy

...or the 1955/56 squad....

Allen, George
Astall, Gordon
Badham, Jack
Bettany, Colin
Boyd, Len
Bradbury, Bill
Brown, Eddie
Cox, Geoff
Finney, Bill
Govan, Alex
Green, Ken
Hall, Jeff
Hill, Dennis
Kinsey, Noel
Lane, Jackie
Linnecor, Bert
Martin, Roy
Merrick, Gil
Murphy, Peter
Newman, John
Schofield, John
Smith, Trevor
Warhurst, Roy
Warmington, Peter
Watts, Johnny

...or even the 1960/61 squad...

Allen, George
Astall, Gordon
Auld, Bertie
Barlow, Ray
Beard, Malcolm
Bloomfield, Jimmy
Farmer, Brian
Foster, Winston
Gordon, Johnny
Harris, Jimmy
Hartland, Mick
Hellawell, Mike
Hennessey, Terry
Hooper, Harry
Neal, Dick
Orritt, Bryan
Rudd, Billy
Schofield, John
Singer, Jimmy
Sissons, Graham
Smith, Trevor
Stubbs, Robin
Taylor, Brian
Watts, Johnny
Weston, Don
Withers, Colin
 
hi

The Famous side of the mid 50's than ran out on numerous
Saturday afternoons Arthur Turners best 6th in Div 1 1955/56
Gil Merrick Jeff Hall Ken Green Len Boyd Trevor Smith Roy Warhurst.
Geof Astall Noel Kinsy Eddie Brown Peter Murphy and Alex Goven.

Injuries to certain players in that period were covered by

John Scholfield for Gil Merrick
Jackie Badham for Ken Green Johnny Watts for Len Boyd
Johhnie Newman for RoyWarhurst and Brian Orritt for Noel Kinsey.

Happy Days

Mike Jenks
 
mike jenks
many thanks for jogging my memory.
it would be the team of 1955/1957 that contained most of the names you mentioned.
i did go to wembley to see the 1956/57 cup final.
blues lost to man city 3...1
trautmann broke his neck.
PS. i think it was gordon astall not geoff
 
I think Newman was a centre half until Trevor Smith came on the scene and he occasionally played centre half after that event. Actually Newman was pretty good.
 
Hi

sad to hear the death og Gil on Wednesday. In hose day's we had the 4 best goalis
in the country. Merrick from the Blues Williams from the Wolves Saunders from the
Albion and Simms from the Villa.

Mike jenks
 
I reccomend the book "Gil Merrick" by Keith Dixon which was released towards the end of 2009. It has a RRP of £16.99, cheaper if you hunt around a bit, especially on the 'net.
Gilbert Harold Merrick born 26 January 1922 Shakespeare Street, Sparkhill.
Gil married Dorothy "Jean" Voce on the 30 December 1944, registered Birmingam.
Dorothy Jean Merrick death registered May 1996, Solihull South.
Gil married again (aged 85) on the 20 April 2007 to Ivy.

Gil's first house was in Braemoor Road Olton.
56 Bray's Road Sheldon (A Blues club house).
Moved to "8 Bills Lane, Solihull in 1961.

RIP GIL
 
He lived close to me in Bills Lane in my youth,don't know about later though.
What a nice chap,a real working class here who played the game for love,not money.

Sad,sad loss,the same age as my father,God Bless you Gil,heaven is a richer place for our loss.
 
Although Gil's not in this pic, it's still from his era. A photo of the dressing room. It was given to me by Alex Govan who I've kept in touch with since helping to organise a Blues re-union dinner at the Grand Hotel quite a few years ago.
 
Sad to hear about the passing of Gil Merrick whom i met many years ago,,although he must have made many great saves in his long career,, does anyone remember the thunderbolt of a penalty save he made from Villa's Stan Lynn at Villa Park i think must have been 1959/60ish
 
Blues were promoted back to the 1st division in 1948 conceding just 24 goals in 42 games, a remarkable achievement due in no small measure I'm sure to Gil Merrick.

I notice there are few on the forum who can go back that far. I can't but I have my mom's scrapbook and momentos of the season which make interesting reading. She obtained real photographs and got them signed by the players of the time. This one shows Gil in what appears to be a publicity shot from 1948 (either that or there weren't many in the Tilton that day!). Hope it is of interest

Bob

Actually, looks more like the railway end.
 
Bob, That is definately the Railway End now named The Gil Merrick Stand in his honour and well deserved. I saw Neil Dougal dot the "i" in Mitchell & Butlers sign circa 1947?, the first game i saw was Birmingham City V Charlton Athletic, wartime League South 1947 result 1-0 to Blues entry fee 1shilling & 3 pence old money. Len.
 
As a proud and OLD Blues supporter, I well remember Gil Merrick! Just watched Brum beat .... 2-1 in the Carling cup, Foster like Merrick the BEST. You can take the Brummie out of Brum BUT you cant take the Brum out of the Brummie, John Crump OldBrit and BRUMMIE in Parker, Co USA
 
Shame Gill wasn't around to witness it, sure he would have been pround of them, especially with Ben getting man of the match!
 
oldbrit said:
As a proud and OLD Blues supporter, I well remember Gil Merrick! Just watched Brum beat .... 2-1 in the Carling cup, Foster like Merrick the BEST. You can take the Brummie out of Brum BUT you cant take the Brum out of the Brummie, John Crump OldBrit and BRUMMIE in Parker, Co USA
Click to expand...


RED NOSE DAY 18thMARCH BLUE NOSE DAY 27th FEBRUARY
 
Poor old Gil,

I remember the one game he would probably like to forget ...... England 3 Hungary 6 at Wembley Stadium. That was when Puskas and the gang introduced England to continental style soccer rather than a boot down the wings followed by a wild cross to the goal. However, I agree, his career was excellent, one to be envied
 
LEN,you have waited a long time for this,couldn't answer your call earlier bad signal,as much as this hurts me congratulations,will phone tomorrow.Jim
 
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