Ali packs real punch on his visit to North
WAS you?
It could well have been if you were a boxing fan at the time, as world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali unexpectedly visited the North East for four days.
He was not the only Stateside visitor that year as 20,000 people packed the area around Newcastle’s Civic Centre when US President Jimmy Carter paid the North East a visit.
The 39th President of the United States was given the honorary Freedom of Newcastle and started his acceptance speech with “Howay the Lads” in a near-perfect Geordie accent – much to the crowd’s delight.
Elton John was in town too, talking football with The Chronicle’s John Gibson.
Meanwhile, US punk band The Ramones were one of the acts on the bill at The Mayfair, while The Clash, The Stranglers and Iggy Pop also came to the North East as the punk
1977
The
Greatest
for explosion rocked the UK.
Of course, 1977 was also the year of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, and parties were held across the country.
In sport, the region’s three most-followed football teams enjoyed a mixed year.
Newcastle United claimed their highest finish since 1951 in the top division – fifth – to clinch a Uefa Cup spot, despite manager Gordon Lee having quit in January.
Down the road at Sunderland their return to the top flight was ended after just one season in controversial circumstances.
The Wearsiders, Coventry City and Bristol City went into the last game of the season with their fates undecided.
As coincidence would have it, the latter two were playing each other.
That game kicked off seven minutes later than Sunderland’s at Everton, where the Rokerites needed a point to secure safety – Coventry chairman Jimmy Hill citing traffic congestion as the reason to delay the start.
Sunderland lost 2-0 and a tannoy announcement at Highfield Road after the final whistle at Goodison Park let the crowd and Sky Blues and Robins players know if their match, 2-2 at the time, finished like that they would both stay up – leaving both sides to go through the motions in the closing minutes.
A complaint was made to the Football League and Coventry City were reprimanded, but not with a points deduction, so there was to be no reprieve for the Black Cats.
In May, a Jack Charlton-led Middlesbrough side finished 12th in the First Division after briefly topping the table in the previous October.
A run of four consecutive defeats – started with a 4-0 Wear-tees derby reverse at Sunderland – saw the Teessiders fall away from a top-six place.