John Templeman

[withdeanwombat]

villa 48,000 for b'muff!

I agree,Villa were a Division 1 team playing in Division three.They drew massive crowds wherever they played,home or away. I think Tommy Docherty said that if they hung the players shirts out on the pitch 50,000 people would come to watch !

Great days in season 71-2,though,with that four horse race for a lot of the season ,and didn't Ted McDougal handle the ball before scoring in the 1-1 at Dean Court ?

Oh,and John Templeman scored in our 1-1 with Rochdale in the last home game in front of nearly 35,000 At the Goldstone.So he was certainly a legend that day.

Wring out those hankies again !

 

[Return of the Rev]

i agree,villa were a division 1 team playing in division three.they drew massive crowds wherever they played,home or away. I think tommy docherty said that if they hung the players shirts out on the pitch 50,000 people would come to watch !

Great days in season 71-2,though,with that four horse race for a lot of the season ,and didn't ted mcdougal handle the ball before scoring in the 1-1 at dean court ?

Oh,and john templeman scored in our 1-1 with rochdale in the last home game in front of nearly 35,000 at the goldstone.so he was certainly a legend that day.

Wring out those hankies again !

rochdale what a night! Share of the points everyone happy and a knees up in the chicken run!

 

[maltaseagull]

Sorry if it's already been said. I think it was December 1966 when 19 year old Templeman was charged with marking the then rising QPR star Rodney Marsh. QPR were top of the old third division and red hot favourites to beat Albion at the Goldstone (Today's division one) The match ended 2-2 and Templeman was outstanding - keeping Marsh from scoring. The John Vinicombe Argus headline read 'An Albion Star is born'. The rest is history.....

I was there! It was over Christmas and we had played QPR away on the 26th I think we lost 4-0.

 

[KNC]

Agree with Bwian on this. Poor John. was generally known as 'Shirley' from the stands. He was though, IMO, a great player. Unfairly lambasted, and yes, very much an 'Ashley Barnes'.

 

[cunningplan]

I was there! It was over Christmas and we had played QPR away on the 26th I think we lost 4-0.

Yep

I was enjoying my first full season as an Albion supporter. QPR won the League (Carling) Cup that season too. Beat W.B.A. Geoff Astle and all!

Happy times!

 

[Tony Towner's Fridge]

Templeman was signed from Dover, I think? Also Southern Counties 100yds champion. He could scorch down the left wing and then cross into the old West Stand. So frequently in fact that after a few matches no one bothered to go up and support the attack, in the safe knowledge that there was more chance of Doris Knobsworth in the West Stand catching the ball than the striker scoring.
Oh happy days?

TNBA

TTF

 

[perseus]

Great days in season 71-2,though,with that four horse race for a lot of the season ,and didn't Ted McDougal handle the ball before scoring in the 1-1 at Dean Court ?

Legendary season, one of the best. Villa romped home and for most of the season (until January) it was a two horse race between Bournemouth and Notts County for second place and we were ranked outsiders (a bit like now with lots of last minute goals notable at Spotland). No play-offs in those days.

The season started ordinarily with 10,000 (below average even then) and by Christmas we needed a bigger ground. If Rochdale was the most crowded I have seen the Goldstone, Bournemouth was the most chaotic and Rotherham the most atmospheric/buzzing/exciting. A lot was to do with the Southampton TV who featured Bournemouth all the time.

At Dean Court I could only see the goal at the far end.

 

[severnside gull]

Templeman was signed from Dover, I think?

Non-league but we signed him from Arundel, even lower down the tree.

 

[cunningplan]

Must say I thought Templeman has worn quite well for a guy of - what - 64?

 

[Mackenzie]

Remember him vaguely...blonde hair...girls loved him.... used to see him in the cafe of Miss Selfridges in the old Churchill Square quite a bit...

There is a blast from the past.....!

 

[Hiney]

He scored the very first Albion goal I saw live and lived in Yapton, a couple of miles from my Mum & Dad

For that, he's a legend.

I do wish Reynolds would ask some less banal questions.

"You played at the Goldstone <insert name of random legend>, which wasn't the best of places, and now you are here at The Amex. What do you think of it?"

Yes Richie, we know The Goldstone was a dump and that The Amex is a shining example of stadium design and we also know that the legends themselves are hardly going to say anything different. So let's have some more searching questions please.

 

[Dave Armstrong's Hare]

Templeman was signed from Dover, I think? Also Southern Counties 100yds champion. He could scorch down the left wing and then cross into the old West Stand. So frequently in fact that after a few matches no one bothered to go up and support the attack, in the safe knowledge that there was more chance of Doris Knobsworth in the West Stand catching the ball than the striker scoring.
Oh happy days?

TNBA

TTF

That sounds more like a description for Dave Armstrong than "Shirley" Templeman. Yes he did get stick from the crowd, usually for putting the ball into the back row of the South or North stand, when he got a clear shooting chance just outside the box. He could have taken some lessons from Whittingham.

 

[cunningplan]

That sounds more like a description for Dave Armstrong than "Shirley" Templeman. Yes he did get stick from the crowd, usually for putting the ball into the back row of the South or North stand, when he got a clear shooting chance just outside the box. He could have taken some lessons from Whittingham.

Dave Armstrong? Eric Whittingham? You'll be reminiscing about Charlie Livesey next!

 

[Dave Armstrong's Hare]

Dave Armstrong? Eric Whittingham? You'll be reminiscing about Charlie Livesey next!

Yup, a few pints, fish & chips, then time to put his boots on and gracefully stroke a few telling long balls around the Goldstone plus the odd goal here and there to keep Archie happy. He was like a combination of Alf Tupper & Roy of the Rovers. A talent clouded in manly 60's machismo, our own Jimmy Greaves and a firm favorite among the South & West stand like minded regulars.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Dave Armstrong? Eric Whittingham? You'll be reminiscing about Charlie Livesey next!

Brian Tawse anyone?

 

[On the Left Wing]

Tiger Tawse you mean!!!!

 

[cunningplan]

Tiger Tawse you mean!!!!

Of course - and the ever reliable Stewart Henderson at full back...

...not to mention Howard (Leeds United) Wilkinson on the other wing!

Blimey - I've time travelled back 45 years!!

 

[JBizzleBeard]

My old man said he was the very first Albion player he disliked. That's all I gots...

 

[cunningplan]

My old man said he was the very first Albion player he disliked. That's all I gots...

Tawse? .....and no reason?

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Sorry if it's already been said. I think it was December 1966 when 19 year old Templeman was charged with marking the then rising QPR star Rodney Marsh. QPR were top of the old third division and red hot favourites to beat Albion at the Goldstone (Today's division one) The match ended 2-2 and Templeman was outstanding - keeping Marsh from scoring. The John Vinicombe Argus headline read 'An Albion Star is born'. The rest is history.....

That was my first Albion match, and I would have mentioned it if nobody else had. I think it was Boxing Day. I was 13 and i was sat at the back of the west stand with my brother and father. JT was my footballing hero for a while after that.