Calling Boro stattoes

[Capybara]

I’m looking for the oldest match where all the Boro players who appeared are still alive. I have two possibilities but I’m really relying on Wikipedia in respect of some of the players and that is not always reliable in picking up deaths. Anyway, I have the following. Firstly, the game at home to Derby County on 27 April 1968:

1. Maurice Short
2. Alex Smith
3. Gordon Jones
4. Billy Horner
5. Dickie Rooks
6. Frank Spraggon
7. Mike Kear
8. Eric McMordie
9. John Hickton
10. Arthur Horsfield
11. David Chadwick

Unfortunately, Mike Kear doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. After that, our Cup replay against Millwall on 6 January 1969 had the above XI with Horner, Kear and Horsfield replaced by Bill Gates, Ray Lugg and Mike Allen.

Can anyone confirm the above or otherwise or come up with something older?

 

[pierrequiroule]

You must have some memory capy, I'm envious. I can't help, but wanted to say that I was probably at that game. Maurice Short played in goal and I was captain and centre-half for Park End school. I'm very pleased he's still alive and kicking.

 

[Erimus74]

I’m looking for the oldest match where all the Boro players who appeared are still alive. I have two possibilities but I’m really relying on Wikipedia in respect of some of the players and that is not always reliable in picking up deaths. Anyway, I have the following. Firstly, the game at home to Derby County on 27 April 1968:

1. Maurice Short
2. Alex Smith
3. Gordon Jones
4. Billy Horner
5. Dickie Rooks
6. Frank Spraggon
7. Mike Kear
8. Eric McMordie
9. John Hickton
10. Arthur Horsfield
11. David Chadwick

Unfortunately, Mike Kear doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. After that, our Cup replay against Millwall on 6 January 1969 had the above XI with Horner, Kear and Horsfield replaced by Bill Gates, Ray Lugg and Mike Allen.

Can anyone confirm the above or otherwise or come up with something older?

Morning capy, that game v Derby was Maurice Short's debut, Michael Kear made his Boro debut at home to Brum a few months earlier, September 1967

 

[VestasBoro]

That would be really something, to know for sure this is the oldest game in which all the blokes are still with us.
They should be celebrated.

I've often wondered why we don't seem to have a minutes applause, or any sort of celebration for players and fans lost during the previous year/season because i have been to many away games and they do that, have a minutes silence for players and fans lost and all that, often at the start, end of during the xmas period and to my knowledge we don't have anything to honour the memory of players and fans.

 

[Erimus74]

Another stat, Gordon Jones made his Boro debut in our 1st ever league cup fixture, October 3rd 1960, at home to Cardiff,we lost 4-3

 

[Decent_Left]

I’m looking for the oldest match where all the Boro players who appeared are still alive. I have two possibilities but I’m really relying on Wikipedia in respect of some of the players and that is not always reliable in picking up deaths. Anyway, I have the following. Firstly, the game at home to Derby County on 27 April 1968:

1. Maurice Short
2. Alex Smith
3. Gordon Jones
4. Billy Horner
5. Dickie Rooks
6. Frank Spraggon
7. Mike Kear
8. Eric McMordie
9. John Hickton
10. Arthur Horsfield
11. David Chadwick

Unfortunately, Mike Kear doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. After that, our Cup replay against Millwall on 6 January 1969 had the above XI with Horner, Kear and Horsfield replaced by Bill Gates, Ray Lugg and Mike Allen.

Can anyone confirm the above or otherwise or come up with something older?

Ref the 2nd game. Am sure Bill Gates has passed away

 

[Capybara]

You must have some memory capy, I'm envious. I can't help, but wanted to say that I was probably at that game. Maurice Short played in goal and I was captain and centre-half for Park End school. I'm very pleased he's still alive and kicking.

It's not down to memory, mostly Wiki and Glasper, though I was at the Derby game.

 

[Capybara]

Ref the 2nd game. Am sure Bill Gates has passed away

I'm fairly sure he hasn't - @Erimus74 wished him happy birthday a few weeks ago. But this is the sort of thing I'm after. For some of the players, there's very little available on the internet - Mike Kear in particular - and there's nothing to say that they aren't still with us.

 

[Pear-Drops]

Am fairly sure Bill Gates is still with us......think there was something in gazette recently about his missus getting involved with some charity about dementia in football, as Billy suffers with it. He was, maybe still is, living in cayman islands

 

[Erimus74]

Am fairly sure Bill Gates is still with us......think there was something in gazette recently about his missus getting involved with some charity about dementia in football, as Billy suffers with it. He was, maybe still is, living in cayman islands

Ive not seen anything to say he isnt

 

[Decent_Left]

I'm fairly sure he hasn't - @Erimus74 wished him happy birthday a few weeks ago. But this is the sort of thing I'm after. For some of the players, there's very little available on the internet - Mike Kear in particular - and there's nothing to say that they aren't still with us.

Quite right, am wrong, and in a small way relieved, though sad now I've just read an article on the Sky Sports site. I kind of imagined him still spending his sports shops empire proceeds on fancy drinks lying on a beach in Barbados.. Wonder how many of the rest of that squad from that time made a million

 

[shaun71]

Great question. Ill have a dig but that game v Derby in 1968, all 11 players are certainly still with us.

 

[Capybara]

Thanks @shaun71 . The key is goalkeepers. Our regular goalkeepers in the years before Jim Platt arrived were Willie Whigham and Des McPartland, both of whom have sadly passed away. So you need to focus on the appearances of reserve 'keepers. The match above was Maurice Short's debut and the only goalkeeper who played in 66-7 other than Whigham and McPartland was Bob Appleby. Assuming he is still alive then we can look at games he played in. Those he played in 66-7 both included John O'Rourke so they can't count. In 65-6, every game he played included Ian Gibson who passed away a few years ago. The regular 'keeper that season was Eddie Connachan who died last year so we'd need to look at 64-5. I'd be amazed if there are any games that season or earlier where every player is still alive.

Edit: Ian Gibson played all but one game in 64-5 and was ever-present in 63-4. Ray Yeoman was ever-present in 62-3. The search ends here.