Legendary footballer recalls his winning goal
Gazette & Herald
17th January 2008
www.gazetteandherald.co.uk
A LEGENDARY footballer has spoken with fondness of the moment he scored the winning goal in an historic 7-6 victory.

Striker John 'Buck' Ryan, from Lyneham, was playing for Charlton Athletic at The Valley at the time of his famous last-minute effort against League Two Huddersfield Town on 21st December 1957. The goal was all the more remarkable as it capped a magnificent comeback from the Addicks, who were 5-1 down and playing with 10 men at half-time. This game has been classed as one of the 10 greatest comebacks of all time.

A total of 12,535 spectators saw Johnny Summers score five goals and John's brace, although John thinks many fans may have left at half-time. Summers later revealed that he changed his boots at half-time after his old pair had started falling apart

"The ball was laid off across to me on the floor on the 18 yard box and I hit it first time into the top right hand corner in the last seconds," said 77-year-old John, from Preston Lane.

"The crowd erupted but I don't think many of my teammates celebrated the goal as we were all so exhausted from the game. It was an amazing match although I think a lot of the supporters had gone home early. We even had to play without our captain Derek Ufton who went off with a dislocated shoulder in the 15th minute. So we were down to 10 men as there were no substitutes in those days. Near the end I remember their boss Bill Shankly said he would have settled for a 6-6 draw."

"Amazing, fantastic, incredible...call it what you will" exclaimed the newspaper report from this game as the dust settled on the most remarkable comeback in the history of English football.

Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield Town team line ups:
Charlton: Duff, Edwards, Townsend, Hewie, Ufton, Kiernan, White, Lucas, Ryan, Leary, Summers.
Goals: Summers 47, 64, 73, 78, 81, Ryan 63, 89.
Huddersfield Kennon, Conwell, Wilson, K Taylor, Connor, McGarry, Ledger, Howard, Bain, Massie, Simpson.
Goals: Massie 27, Bain 35, 49, McGarry 51 (pen), Ledger 62, Howard 86.
Referee: R Warnke.

John's rise up the football ranks was real Roy of the Rovers stuff as he got his dream move to a big club having played village football for Bradenstoke in the early 1950s.

The Alloa-born Scot had been playing against a High Street club at the County Ground when Charlton scout Fred Avern, spotted his talents.

"From being a village amateur footballer and later a pro was pretty incredible," added John.

John turned professional at the age of 23 in 1954, and became known as Buck, which came from newspaper cartoon character Buck Ryan. The No 9 scored an incredible 22 goals in reserve matches in 1957 and was the Addicks' top scorer in 1956.

John was back at The Valley before Christmas to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the match that has gone down in Charlton folklore. The club gave him a small glass trophy and allowed their former striker to score a goal in front of the Charlton fans, for the first time in 45 years, before their league match against Hull.

John was a chef at RAF Lyneham before his football days.

He always enjoyed playing in the London derbies, especially against Arsenal when he scored a double in a 3-1 win at Highbury. After playing for Charlton for five seasons, he moved on to Newcastle United and Bristol City before a short stint at Bedford Town. He then became a civilian fireman back at Lyneham. He has been married to his wife Miriam for 52 years and has six sons and four grandchildren.