Jon Sammels Remembered
Oct 29th, 2014 by 'holic
Three points secured the previous day, the clocks have gone back so it is dark early. What do you do on the longest Sunday evening for six months? This Gooner reached for the dvd of our first double season, 1970-71.
The triumphs that season were made all the more remarkable by the fact that the club went into the season with a squad of seventeen players, which they did not supplement at any stage. Astonishing as after the opening day of the League season they had three players out with long term injuries. Of the other fourteen one, the reserve goalkeeper Geoff Barnett, did not make a single appearance all season. Two others, Peter Marinello and Sammy Nelson, started just one and three matches in the campaign. You don’t need to be a mathematician to work out that the other eleven were pretty busy for a while. And we think we are down to the bare bones now.
On 21st November 1970 we welcomed central defender Peter Simpson and midfielder Jon Sammels back into the team for the first time in what would become an historic season. At Ipswich we secured a one-nil win courtesy of Geordie Armstrong’s second-half strike, but more importantly we now had more than a dozen outfield players to pick from. Sammels, scorer of the clincher in the previous season’s European Fairs Cup triumph was a welcome addition to a functional midfield shorn of his passing ability and fierce shot.
A week later Jon featured again in a 2-0 win over Liverpool but the substitute was George Graham, who went on to score. There were mutterings in the crowd now used to seeing Peter Storey and Eddie Kelly battling whoever wanted to stop us playing, while George Graham strolled forward to telling affect and Geordie Armstrong supplied a stream of crosses on which the twin battering rams of John Radford and Ray Kennedy feasted.
It seemed that Jon was contesting a place with ‘Gorgeous George’, and although more skillful the former was struggling to regain match fitness. Graham’s goals gave him the edge although he too did not enjoy universal acclaim from a tough Highbury crowd frustrated at both for a perceived casual approach at times.
Jon replaced Eddie Kelly for the next match, a 4-0 romp against Beveren Waas, and stood in for George again for the impressive 2-0 defeat of Manchester City at Maine Road. There followed a run of seventeen matches when Bertie Mee decided to go for a blend of beauty and the beast where Jon replaced Eddie Kelly in the starting line-up. At the start of February Charlie George, who had broken his ankle on the opening day of the season, returned in an FA Cup replay against Portsmouth. George Graham lost the number eleven shirt and Jon held on to his place until a Fairs Cup nightmare against Cologne in March.The boo boys got to him and the more prolific scorer returned to the team.
He would not start a game in an Arsenal shirt again, although ironically in the next match, at Crystal Palace when he was dropped to the bench, he came on to score a typical Sammels strike in a 2-0 win. That was his last goal for the club. He made two further appearances from the bench, firstly in the FA Cup semi-final which Peter Storey turned round single-handedly against Stoke, and finally at the end of April in a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich which I attended.
I wish I had known I wouldn’t see him in red and white again. In the wake of the Fairs Cup Final triumph a year earlier I had written to him asking for advice on striking a football (he had the fiercest shot on him) and how to improve my game. I didn’t expect a response, and certainly not a hand-written one that stretched to four pages of velum. I was already a fan, but at thirteen I was understandably overwhelmed at his kindness.
As the double was secured Jon had already decided he could no longer accept his treatment from the segment of the Highbury crowd who had turned on him. Bob Wilson was quoted in Jon Spurling’s excellent Highbury: The Story Of Arsenal In N5 thus,
“Jon was my room-mate and the night before the FA Cup final, he was seriously choked up. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for him to miss out on the climax to the Double season, after he’d been at Highbury all those years. You hate to hear one of your team-mates receiving criticism from the crowd. Fans have a much bigger influence on players than they think.”
It the ensuing summer Jimmy Bloomfield, an experienced player at Arsenal when the teenage Sammels surfaced, paid £100,000 to take him to Leicester, where Jon would stay for seven seasons as a mainstay of what many Foxes supporters would argue to be their most exciting side. Many Arsenal supporters would care to remember what had gone before.
A boyhood Arsenal supporter in his native Suffolk, Jon joined Arsenal as a 16 year old in 1961. He made his debut at 17 and scored in a 2-3 defeat at Blackpool. He finally established himself in the 1965-66 season, sharing the playmaking duties with George Eastham, an England international. In November of that season Arsenal played a Brazil XI, preparing for the World Cup tournament won by England the following summer. Jon scored in each half as Arsenal beat the reigning world champions 2-0.
With Eastham’s departure Jon became the Gunners playmaker and soon found himself surrounded with familiar faces as Bertie Mee increasingly gave responsibility to the youth assembled largely around the Billy Wright era. Bob Wilson, Peter Storey, Peter Simpson, John Radford, Geordie Armstrong. He won admirers as a stylish passer with good control in either foot and a devastating shot. I was in the Clock End in 1969 when he slammed the goal of the season past Manchester United’s Alex Stepney from over thirty yards out. I can see it today. A special memory.
That season ended with his glorious chest down and cross shot inside the far post against Anderlecht, thus securing the first trophy my generation saw the Arsenal win. For that reason alone he would live in the memory, but the man who went on to become a driving instructor in Leicester (let that sink in David Bentley and your ilk) will always be fondly remembered by most who saw him proudly wearing the cannon on his chest.
So sad that an ignorant few deprived us of a talent that may have helped us avoid the all too quick return to temporary mediocrity so soon after that double triumph.
Campo Retro Discount – Last Chance
Do you now want to buy that 1971 classic Arsenal shirt? Don’t forget, during the month of October you can get a generous 20% off a classic Campo Retro legend shirt by entering the code GH20 at the checkout. Click here to check out the range and order your favourite.
82 Responses to “Jon Sammels Remembered”
Arsenal News 24/7
Far too young to remember him
But he was popular enough at one point to spawn the original “million miles for one of your goals song” wasn’t he? Good to remember too that the passion of crowds a generation or two ago wasn’t always a positive thing. Thanks for writing
Spot on Matt.
Are you sure, neighbour? 😉
Fill your boots:
http://youtu.be/RMnrxFQebAg
they’d won the league a year before my birth so i was brought up in the very lean period suffering under my LWC cousins’ taunts for 10 long years until 70-71. all made especially sweet by winning at the lane, and for beating leeds dirty fouling fuckers (bremner and his thugs), top post ‘holic.
Gosh. We could do with a player like Jon Sammels today, rifling shots from outside the box. Fond memories here.
Well Holic, people of my era have been served up a real treat of late with
your trips down memory lane. An extra drink on the bar awaits you on Saturday.
I do recall the crowd getting on Jonny’s back in the last year or two….’twas a shame. That Rocket Shot was heavy..man.
In the early years Jon was loved by the crowd as often happens to youth stars. In many was in England U21 his only main competition at that time was Peter Knowles of Wolves. When Bertie and Don introduced this more defensive line up and Armstrong became more of right sided midfielder we lost our width and with that the benefit of Jon’s long rang passing which was what had made him stick out. At the end the fans were split, my best mate at that time Joe Studman hated him and called him ‘Camels’ because he said he gave him the hump. However there was also a big section (like my father and I) who really liked Jon and was sad to see him go. Always a goner you can still see him today at many home games.
Thanks for the memories , I could never understand the bitterness towards him . I wish our present lot could take a pot shot like he did.
Holic, top notch.
One for the book – seriously.
“I’d walk a million miles
For one of your goals, Jon
Saaaaaaamels …… “
Top post ‘holic.
My uncle has fond memories of Sammels and used to talk up his abilities to me with that rocket shot! Nice trip down memory lane.
I was right behind the goal in the Clock End when Jon Sammels lashed in the goal that ended Anderlechts ambitions in the Inter City Fairs Cup in 1970. It was one of my all time favourite Arsenal moments!
Jon was a brillianr player in an awesome Arsenal side.
I was eleven years old and on my own in a heaving Clock End.
Many thanks “Holic for rekindling that wonderful memory!
Jon Sammels has always been my favourite Arsenal player. Thanks for reminding everyone what a great player he was!
I loved Jon Sammels but I remember John Barnwell telling me in the 99 Disco in Nottingham in 1990 that Jon’s career would never improve until he left Arsenal. He was right. The way Jon was vilified by the Arsenal crowd was horrible – such a supremely talented footballer.
Make that 1970! Lol!
Brilliant stuff Holic.
Moving to Leicestershire (from the wilds of Staffordshire) in 1971, I can confirm the high esteem in which he was held by all City supporters.
Excellent.
Thanks Holic.
This where I come for my education. Much needed and greatly appreciated.
Brilliant piece, Guvna.
Top player.
Also a reminder to us all that the negative brigade have always been with us and that they have a truly poisonous impact.
Boo-boys are not a new phenomenon.
Being able to retire and never needing to work again after a year in the stiffs though most certainly is.
Modern footballers. Pfft.
Great piece, Holic.
My heart sank when I saw the headline ‘Holic. Surely, no, he can’t be … and no, he wasn’t. I was convinced an obituary was about to follow!
I loved Jon Sammels. No, truly! I had a keyring along with the blue and white socks they wore then and I was convinced it was Jon Sammels. I just loved the fact that he was ‘Jon’ and not ‘John’!
Well, well, well, Impressive Failage, I was also on my own as an eleven year old when he scored that goal against Anderlecht but at the front of the North Bank behind the goal. Who’d have known it 😉 When the police tried to prevent the crowd from going on to the pitch at the end, I fell below peoples’ feet in the crush and had given up breathing. I was hauled up by a skinhead and a policeman – as a consequence of that, and the subsequent installing of perimeter fencing in grounds other than The Arsenal’s, I was always convinced a Hillsborough was waiting to happen.
Thanks for the memories ‘Holic and what a night that was at Highbury. The best ever!
Thanks Holic – all the oldies out tonight and very similar memories.
That Jon Sammels was eventually driven out of the Arse by a small section of the great unwashed remains a travesty to this day. He deserved far better.
Like others here, he was my favourite player of that era. A scampering run and an intelligent, skilful player with a rocket shot in both feet, usually from prodigious distances as the youtube clip earlier showed well. ( Even in the snow – I was there.)
The night against Anderlecht has been well documented, here and elsewhere, but it has a special memory for me in that it was the last time my father was able to attend a game with me and the atmosphere that night was simply electric. When Sammy smashed us into the lead I reckon we must have plunged about thirty feet or so down the North Bank and it took us a little while to find each other. But it was so worth it. Thanks Jon.
There were many other memorable moments that he provided and if he gets to see any of this, thank you Jon for those wonderful memories.
“I’d walk a million miles, for one of your goals………”
UTA.
I was not born then so i cannot comment but the one line that made me melt was how much fans have an influence on a player. It is so easy to criticize not realizing how much it affects the player and what it may result in. I sincerely wish we do not end up doing this to our players, classic case in question- Mesut Ozil, the boo boys have their target and i am dreading it.
Glad you are still with us Bodrum Gooneress. Easy to forget these all-seater days how scary it could be to be standing on a packed terrace. The crowd took on a primal life of its own. You just went wherever it did. Exhilarating and frightening in equal part
BG…as per normal I was behind the goal at the clock end that famous night. The goal at that end was from a corner that eventually arrived at the feet of Eddie Kelly standing still the edge of the box. He rifled it straight into the top corner, was the best goal of the three – the winning goal of course was the most memorable.
Those occasional days when the old Highbury was full – 63000 officially but several thousand more were crammed in – it was indeed a dangerous place to be. The surge forward when a goal was scored was highly dangerous. You endeavoured not to lose your footing – trying to keep shoulder to shoulder to ensure you weren’t crushed and could breathe. Health & Safety hadn’t been invented then.
Holic
I was very much in the minority at a South London grammar school in the sixties and one of my best friends who I will see in a couple of weeks was a Spurs fan. They were a better team than us then but I can remember after a defeat early in Bertie Mee’s reign my mate refused to crow. The reason was Jon Sammels had such a cool haircut and Arsenal such cool kit. Things like that matter to impressionable teenagers.
I remember getting his autograph at a five a side tournament with another young player called Geirge Armstrong. What a brace of signatures for a young boy to get. Jon was a very good player and I am so glad he added a goal in the Fairs Cup Final to put a special mark on his time at the club. He had a phenomenal shot and I can remember a terrific long- range goal against Manchester United in about 1969 which was astonishing. He was the victim of boo- boys who it was said at the time forced him out of the club and his progress stalled largely because of the emergence of Charlie George who took his position and was another match winner.
I spoke to Bob about him a while ago. He is still friendly with him and he still regards Arsenal as his club. That great hairstyle us now gone but he remains another one of the real favourites of that era.
I wish him a long and happy retirement. Top man !
Thanks for the feature Guvnor.
Great article Holic and many interesting responses in the drinks. Makes me wish I’d been around in that pre-Internet era. Sammels was clearly a heartthrob. 🙂
Nice one ‘holic, great drinks above too.
A bit before my time (as an attendee at THOF) although I do remember stories from the couple who used to take my brother and I in the mid and latter 70’s.
There was only one sub allowed in 1971 not seven as of now. We had (and needed) Eddie Kelly because Storey was injured before Wembley but Jon would have definitely been a sub and possibly come on in extra time. But what if he’d replaced an exhausted Charlie George?
Jon would have won a second cup for us ttg 🙂
Noosa,
30 feet down the terraces ?
You weren’t really trying then ! 😉
Absolutely mad night it was. I started just in front of the divide half way up the North Bank and ended up half way to the front. No idea who I was hugging / jumping up and down with / screaming at, but I’m not sure there’s ever been one to quite match it.
That was my first proper season too – maybe I peaked too soon.
Old habit’s and all …………. 😉
a long time reader, never compelled to contribute but a number of evening beverages and unrelated to the great mr sammels (ever so slightly before my time, real memories start from don howe in the eighties) I’ve decided to provide my opinion.
I remain fiercely loyal to our manager who dragged us by our boot straps into the modern era. I understand the anger and frustration of many who feel we should win a trophy every year but we continue to do well regardless
Personally I love our clubs loyalty and respect for a man who has done so much for us and until he decides to give up i hope we stand by him, no matter what!
This may be my last post but not designed to change any one else’s opinion just how i think.
Still love the rest of you gooners who think different to me at the end of the day we’re all red and white.
Jesus said paddy i sang it so well, i think i’ll get up and i’ll sing it again!
Trev
Rumour has it you peak too soon but that’s scurrilous rumour. I was exactly the same the greatest terrace wave I’ve ever been involved in. May have been clutching on to you mate. A great night and one we will never forget .
Thank goodness as a club we have a history …..and a present
Thanks for the education, ‘holic. Only just got time to read now. if only some of our fans will see the error of their ways and stop giving OUR players shit, It becomes even more pertinent now that the internet brings said shit to the doorsteps of OUR players.
Earlier today on Twitter an Arsenal fan I follow said she loves Ozil and someone else(who claims to be an Arsenal fan) asked her why she loves him, I got involved and asked him if the fact Ozil was an Arsenal player wasn’t enough to make her love him and got insults back for my troubles.
@neddehed (aka the reluctant drinker).
Reluctance was never an aspect of my drinking repertoire. May you return here more often than planned. 🙂
More the merrier, neddehed.
A fine debut – don’t let the boo boys get you. 😉
What Bt8 and Trev said, Neddehed.
Top stuff Neddehed a great debut. Proper respect for the heritage of this great club
It’s blogs like this that make the site stand out from the rest.
Lovely memories, lots to ponder next time I feel like chucking the dog at the telly when a player screws up.. cheers, H.
Trev@31: That could have been me you were hugging. Yikes. One of us could have been scarred for life. Only saving grace is that it wouldn’t have put any strain on that knee of yours. Feet never touched the ground in those mad surges. You went where the crowd took you.
Neddehed@32: Welcome. All civilly expressed opinions can find a home in this bar, even internally contradictory ones, our speciality. Don’t be a stranger.
ttg@33 (back drinking slowly tonight!): Respect. It was a special place to be on a special night.
My god, this makes me feel old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbCnRr3wbPg
For years, there didn’t appear to be any footage of that famous night v Anderlecht and yet I remember each one of those goals as though it were yesterday!
NBN- feeling is mutual. I’m sure it was you I was hugging too. I’m out of therapy now!
TTG, perhaps we should have a ‘group hug’ for the oldies 😉
BG @ 45
Yes a virtual group hug is a great idea just as the team bonds before the match!
No need for gloom on here. I’ve just read NewsNow and we are going to buy Hummels , Pedro and Cavani in January. Also we only have £20 million to spend ( that lot would cost over £ 100 million) and Clement will take over from Wenger at the end of the season. Glad I got up to date with stuff. It’s nice to find out what’s going on.
Actually I disbelieve totally all of this but it shows the poverty of the reporting we get nowadays. My heart sinks when an article begins.
The Star, Express or Metro says….!
Wonderful stuff, Bodrum,
how could people ever boo a bloke who did that (final goal) for the club.
Personally, I don’t get the whole booing thing anyway.
Thanks again, H.
This piece deserved a lot more than 46 drinks.
Which is why it’s had 49 ! 🙁 😉
Trev, I do strongly agree with your earlier suggestion that this post should join many other classic posts by by H’ in an anthology. The Guvna should get ‘is bloody finga’ out.
Thanks for the link Delia. Wasn’t there myself to join the group hig but I do remember the game.
Still remember Jon’s goal v United as being a classic ‘I was there moment’ which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMnrxFQebAg
In Dec 1969,Sammels scored off a corner kick against Burnley.It was a stunning strike.I was sad to see him leave Arsenal.
I will always remember his fearsome shooting.
Here is a longer clip of the Anderlecht final:
http://youtu.be/UXLpeo4bJUI
Excellent stuff Holic!
I grew up on the folklore of that Fairs Cup win and the League & Cup double the following year….Highbury looked like it was absolutely rocking during that Anderlecht game! If any modern player (i.e. a Gerrard) scored a goal like Sammels’ winner – taking the ball out of the air on his chest and hammering it into the bottom corner – they’d be salivating about it in the media and social networks for weeks!
Look forward to reading more player retrospectives…
Thanks NBN. That was a great treat – I haven’t seen that much of the game in (gulp!) 44 years!
Goodness on the injury front. Giroud three weeks ahead of schedule, will be back training after the International break.
Lovely article.
For some reason I tend to look back these days rather than forward. 🙂
That night in the mud when we won our first trophy in 17 years will live long in the memory .I always supported JS and he really did have a shot on him.
If we has Internet then, would he have been slated by the boo boys, probably yes. I have seen a lot worse than him play for us yet they got off scott free except the odd groan.
“All this talk of getting old ……..
Led me to this (ignore the ad)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ToQ0n3itoII
The drugs certainly aren’t working in the medical centre as Jack Wilshere is now out, at least for Burnley, and for Tuesday the boss “doesn’t know”.
One bright spot, despite my own continued non-availability, is that my dog is available for selection. Fantastic engine on her, will run all day, chase down anything that moves, is quite nippy – I think it’s the standard poodle in her – and will work really hard for very little reward. Just a decent meal really.
Well, she’s down to the bare bones now. 😉
Clement to take over from Wenger?
Let’s hope he doesn’t make a dog’s dinner of it, Henry. (one for the teenagers)
Or turn out to be a Freud….
The international break being where we send our players to be broken, SAG?
First of all, bloody brilliant reading all your old memories of days gone past!
Second:
Trev, on the other hand Olivier Giroud is way ahead of schedule and will be back in training after the international break. That’s about a month ahead of what was first said, and remember that Ramsey also came back a bit quicker than expected after his injury. Maybe, just maybe we are starting to see some results of Shad Forsyth’s work?
Trev….58. Hopefully she can give us some extra bite in midfield. You will need to give her some Winalot though. She’ll be our very own WAG.
Sorry that was very paw….I’ll get my coat 🙂
Heh Uply. 🙂
Anyone remember when she played non-league football for Barking?
Any room in your coat, Uply?
True enough. This injury situation we have on ou our hands is ruff.
You can tell that a preview post is necessary when the punfest begins.
I reckon it’s a 6 pinter. 😎
Top post, ‘Hols. I truly appreciate these historical snippets more than any others…
Win the next match.
BMBD
What Lonestar said.
and Burnley Must Be Destroyed.
Sorry Holic but there is definitely a book in this and I’m sure a number of veterans would be happy to help you put it together. I’m much younger than a lot of the old codgers on here but I would be.
I think a wave of compulsion might be building up!
Trev
We get an injury a week even when nobody plays any games! It’s Jack ‘s turn this week. When I was in the gym today…stops for this to sink in….I heard Wenger’s preserve and aim sure heard him say Giroud was way ahead if schedule. So is Debuchy I believe. Even Sanogo is fit
Pressed not preserve. Sorry
Presser not pressed. I hate iPads !
TTG – preserve….got yourself in a bit of a jam there 😉 No need to get my coat as it’s already on (though bit of a tight fit with Ned also in it.)
TTG – ‘there is definitely a book in this’. There probably could be. I think ‘The End’ did a decent job at the time. If anybody remembers it.
Evening, all.
Put me firmly in the camp of those persuading ‘holic to write a book about Arsenal heroes of yesteryears. my own derivation of the idea would be to dedicate a chapter to each one of the oldies who will be featured in the book. You should really give it a thought, H.
Physio Room saying:
Jack: late fitness test for tomorrow (do they mean Gibbs?)
Giroud and Debuchy: Dec 21
Ospina: Jan 15
No return date: Kos, Ozil
I’ll have to hop out, Uply, to make room for Homer.
Hello again all.
Started a new gig in Cambridge last week and moved into new gaff this week. No interweb, no mobile coverage even, so cut off from the bar since Sunday evening. Have now back-drunk and delighted to see some optimism returning to the place. Props especially to H2H in the last set of drinks.
Burnley tomorrow is it?
COYG
Jack or no Jack, Arsenal will be all over Burnley like … er, hair on a dog…?
Yikes, that was a bad one. Or should I say, Yipe, Yipe!!!… that was a bad one.
But I am looking forward to seeing Alexis in action tomorrow, what with his terrier-like work rate.
Pangloss. Didn’t they invent the interweb in Cambridge?
Always had you as more of the Oxon type anyway. 🙂
Pangloss.
Thank you sir.
Good luck with the new gig.
bt8, I am, indeed an Oxon type, and although it was a ‘tab feller who invented t’internet, I think he was in Geneva at the time so that doesn’t count.
Thanks, h2h.
Could be a cheap round… “Barman!”
OKay, I’ll do the honours.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>