Bill Marshall looks back at the Press' sporting headlines during this week...

80 YEARS AGO

PILOT officer Donald Finlay had a close shave at Liverpool Lime Street Station.

The British athletics captain was part of the team that had congregated in London to head for the Olympic Games in Berlin, and two trains were due to take over 100 athletes and officials o the start of their journey to Germany.

Finlay was supposed to be on the first train but was nowhere to be seen, missed it, and only caught the second by a couple of minutes after he was discovered in the tea room by AAA assistant secretary George Hogsflesh (yes, that really was his name).

Lancashire must have obeyed the no-fours-before-lunch maxim on the first day of the Roses match at Old Trafford (the first Monday of the month was a Bank Holiday until 1971 when it was switched to the last Monday of the month).

Although 70 minutes was lost in the morning to persistent drizzle, the red rose only made 190-6 in front of 6,000 in what was described as stodgy and wearisome batting.

Len Hopwood made 31 in two-and-a-half hours, while Norman 'Buddy' Oldfield did not score for 40 minutes, hit two fours and was then scoreless for another 20 minutes.

Eddie Paynter made 92, taking two-and-a-half hours to reach 50 but only 45 minutes to score his other 42.

Yorkshire had earlier beaten Middlesex by an innings and 170 runs at Scarborough, with 9,000 in attendance on both days to watch Herbert Sutcliffe score 202, his 15th double ton for the white rose as he reached 1,000 runs for the 18th straight season.

Backing up Sutcliffe's six-and-quarter hour vigil as he pushed for a place on the boat to tour Australia was Maurice Leyland (107) in Yorkshire's 469, Middlesex being dismissed for 127 and 172.

Frank Smailes, whose car had been stolen and wrecked the night before play started, took three wickets in four balls on the first morning as Middlesex were reduced to 34-6 before big Jim Smith made 56 at No 10, hitting three sixes into Trafalgar Square Gardens.

50 YEARS AGO

BRIAN Meillam did not let the small matter of his wedding earlier in the day put him off his stride when he played in York's first rugby league match of the season at home to Rochdale Hornets.

He scored one of their four tries, all of which were choice efforts as the sluggish visitors were beaten 18-7 in a Saturday night contest, the other scorers being Rich Horner, Eric Payne and Tony Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Great Britain tour manager Wilf Spaven said that the standard of the English game was slightly higher than that of the Australians after they finished the first leg of their tour Down Under having won 15 of their 22 matches.

Leeds' York-born winger Geoff Wriglesworth scored three tries in Great Britain's 33-12 win over Monaro at Cooma in their final match in Australia before they defeated Waikato 47-8, and New Zealand 25-8 in the first Test in Auckland, with tries coming from late call-up Colin Clarke, Ian Brooke, substitute Frank Myler, Bill Burgess and Cliff Watson.

In the 15-a-side code, the British Lions lost 16-12 to New Zealand in Wellington in front of 50,000 – twice the number that watched the 13-a-side test.

Cassius Clay (as Muhammad Ali was still known then) beat Brian London over three one-sided rounds in a world heavyweight fight in London's Earls Court Arena, with the loser saying: "I knew he was very good but I didn't know he was as good as that."

Weightlifter Precious McKenzie won Great Britain's first gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, the 39-year-old taking the bantamweight division with a total of 705lb.

Peter Moor became the first player from York to win the Ilkley Open men's singles tennis title, while Stanley Matthews jnr (son of the legendary footballer) won the main prize, the Wharfedale singles, for the second time in three years.

Meanwhile, Leeds' three links with their 1966 World Cup success – Jack Charlton, Norman Hunter and trainer Les Cocker – were given a civic reception in Leeds by Lord Mayor Alderman JS Walsh.

Charlton held up his golden winners' medal to cheers from a small crowd. A SMALL crowd? Imagine the fuss that would be made in identical circumstances today?

20 YEARS AGO

YORK City raised hopes of having a fine season with a 2-0 home victory over FA Carling Premiership Middlesbrough in a semi-final of the North Riding Senior Cup.

Admittedly, most of Boro's first-choice squad were unavailable as they were flying back from Malaysia, but they still included Jamie Pollock, Phil Whelan, Craig Liddle and Chris Freestone.

The only surprise was that York didn't win it in normal time, goals for the fluent hosts coming from Neil Tolson in the 103rd minute, after a patient passing move, and man of the match Adrian Randall eight minutes later.

Although the Minstermen then lost 2-0 at home to just relegated Bolton Wanderers in their next pre-season friendly, there was much to admire about City's first-half display.

In rugby league, York left their comeback too late in a 20-16 to South Wales at Cardiff Arms Park, tries coming from Dave Smith (2) and Damian Ball, while the reserves were scouring the record books after beating Widnes 19-16, aided by an incredible SEVEN drop goals – six by Colin Brown and one by Dean Jackson.

Half-back Terry Smirk was wanted by Hull KR on loan for the rest of the season, but the move was only likely to go through if free-scoring utility back Gary Brown came in the opposite direction.