JIMMY McGILL dropped a bombshell on the eve of Town’s Anglo-Italian Cup campaign by asking to go on the transfer list.
The tough-tackling Scot had made himself a fans’ favourite at Leeds Road since signing for £10,000 from Arsenal in 1967.
An ever-present during Town’s 1969-70 Division II title-winning campaign, he had missed just one match of the top-flight season which had just finished.
That had taken his overall Town tally to 173, with eight goals, although he had been ruled out of the two-legged games against Sampdoria and Bologna by a groin injury.
“Jimmy’s request was put to the board, who agreed, and we are now open to offers for Jimmy,” explained boss Ian Greaves.
Town had just returned from a warm-up tour of Sweden, and Greaves was hoping to have both Jimmy Nicholson and Dick Krzywicki available for the Anglo-Italian.
Nicholson was fighting a leg injury picked up while on Home International duty with Northern Ireland.
He had figured in all three games, a 1-0 defeat by England at Windsor Park, 1-0 win over Scotland at Hampden and 1-0 victory over Wales in Belfast.
Krzywicki had toured Sweden, but on his return, was called up by Wales for their European Championship clash against Finland in Helsinki.
The ex-West Brom man played up front as Wales, who also featured former Town defender Ray Mielczarek, of Rotherham, won 1-0 through Liverpool star John Toshack.
Krzywicki had played in the first tour game, a 2-1 defeat by Gaevle in which Frank Worthington scored.
The frontman netted twice, with Trevor Cherry and Roy Ellam also on the scoresheet, in a 4-1 win over Oernskoeldsvik, while teenager David Smith, having top scored for the reserves that season, sealed a 1-0 victory over Vaesteras.
“We had the same problem as during the season,” reflected Greaves.
“We created plenty of chances in all three games but didn’t put enough of them in the net.
“We ought to have got five in each of the matches.
“Otherwise, it was a good tuning-up exercise, and we’re all looking forward to testing ourselves against two of Italy’s top teams.”
While Town looked to their first competitive European ties, Hereford were mounting a strong campaign for election to the Football League.
Lincoln, Newport, Hartlepool and Barrow were the quartet sweating over their places, with Southern League Hereford pointing to impressive FA Cup exploits and an average crowd of 5,224, higher than 15 sides in the Fourth Division.
