1968–69 Serie B, Teams
Como, Cesena and Ternana had been promoted from Serie C, while SPAL, Brescia and Mantova had been relegated from Serie A.


1968–69 Serie C
The 1968–69 Serie C was the thirty-first edition of Serie C, the third highest league in the Italian football league system.


1968–69 Sheffield Shield season
The 1968–69 Sheffield Shield season was the 67th season of the Sheffield Shield, the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. South Australia won the championship.


1968–69 Shell Shield season
The 1968–69 Shell Shield season was the third edition of what is now the Regional Four Day Competition, the domestic first-class cricket competition for the countries of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB). The tournament was sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell, with matches played from 17 January to 6 March 1969.


1968–69 Shell Shield season
Six teams contested the tournament – Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. The Leeward and Windward Islands both played fewer matches than the other teams, although the results from their matches still counted towards the title. Three teams – Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados – were undefeated (either winning or drawing all their matches), but Jamaica had more points than the other teams, thus winning their inaugural title. Barbadian batsman Robin Bynoe led the tournament in runs, while Guyanese pace bowler Philbert Blair was the leading wicket-taker.


1968–69 Shell Shield season, Statistics, Most runs
The top five run-scorers are included in this table, listed by runs scored and then by batting average.


1968–69 Shell Shield season, Statistics, Most wickets
The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, listed by wickets taken and then by bowling average.


1968–69 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team
The 1968–69 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 1968–69 men's college basketball . South Carolina finished 2nd in the ACC at 11-3 with a win over #2 ranked North Carolina. South Carolina finished the season ranked 13th in the AP poll.


1968–69 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
The 1968–69 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was a below average cyclone season.


1968–69 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Systems, Tropical Cyclone Dany
Tropical Cyclone Dany caused 80 deaths in Madagascar, and 2 in Réunion.


1968–69 Southern Football League
The 1968–69 Southern Football League season was the 66th in the history of the league, an English football competition.


1968–69 Southern Football League
Cambridge United won the championship, winning their first Southern League title, whilst Bath City, Brentwood Town, Crawley Town and Gloucester City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Twelve Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.


1968–69 Southern Football League, Premier Division
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:


1968–69 Southern Football League, Premier Division
At the end of the season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.


1968–69 Southern Football League, Division One
Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:


1968–69 Southern Football League, Division One
Also, at the end of the previous season Folkestone Town was renamed Folkestone.


1968–69 Southern Football League, Football League elections
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, all of which were Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.


1968–69 Soviet Cup (ice hockey)
The 1968–69 Soviet Cup was the 11th edition of the Soviet Cup ice hockey tournament. 46 teams participated in the tournament, which was won by CSKA Moscow for the eighth consecutive season.


1968–69 Soviet League season
The 1968–69 Soviet Championship League season was the 23rd season of the Soviet Championship League, the top level of ice hockey in the Soviet Union. 12 teams participated in the league, and Spartak Moscow won the championship.


1968–69 Spartan League
The 1968–69 Spartan League season was the 51st in the history of Spartan League. The league consisted of 18 teams.


1968–69 Spartan League, League table
The division featured 18 teams, 17 from last season and 1 new team:


1968–69 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team
The 1968–69 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team represented St. Francis College during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was coached by Daniel Lynch, who was in his twenty-first year at the helm of the St. Francis Terriers. The Terriers played their homes games at the 69th Regiment Armory and  played as an Independent, not affiliated with a conference.


1968–69 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team
The Terriers finished the season at 7–16 overall. After the season, Daniel Lynch retired as the men's basketball head coach and continued to be the St. Francis College Athletics Director.


1968–69 St. Francis Terriers men's basketball team, Awards
At the end of the season John Conforti was selected to the All-Metropolitan Team by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.


1968–69 St. John's Redmen basketball team
The 1968–69 St. John's Redmen basketball team represented St. John's University during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The team was coached by Lou Carnesecca in his fourth year at the school. St. John's home games were played at Alumni Hall and Madison Square Garden.


1968–69 St. Louis Blues season
The 1968–69 St. Louis Blues season was the second in the history of the franchise. The Blues won the NHL's West Division title for the first time in their history. In the playoffs, the Blues swept the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings, winning both series four games to none, before losing the Stanley Cup Finals in four straight to the Montreal Canadiens for the second straight season.


1968–69 St. Louis Blues season, Regular season
On November 7, 1968, Red Berenson scored six goals in a road game versus the Philadelphia Flyers. He became the first player to score a double hat trick on a road game. Goaltenders Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante shared the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie tandem for that season, and set the Blues' record (broken in 2011–12) of 13 shutouts. For Hall, it was his third Vezina, while Plante, who had come out of retirement during the summer of 1968, took home his seventh. It was the second major award that an NHL expansion team has earned. Hall also earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the NHL Playoffs MVP the previous season.


1968–69 St. Louis Blues season, Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals
Claude Ruel became the eleventh rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup. Montrealgoaltender Rogie Vachon limited St. Louis to three goals in four games andhis first career playoff shutout.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season
The 1968–69 season was Stoke City's 62nd season in the Football League and the 38th in the First Division.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season
Stoke failed to improve on last season's near miss and again were involved in a relegation scrap. Stoke won just nine matches all season and scored just 40 goals as they narrowly avoided relegation by three points.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
To address last season's lack of goals Waddington brought in Scottish international David Herd on a free transfer from Manchester United. There was tragedy in October 1968 as reserve team goalkeeper Paul Shardlow suffered a heart attack in a training match and died.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
As the 1968–69 season began, once again Stoke found goals hard to come by, they only scored eight in their opening eleven league matches and although the feeling amongst the supporters was that the team was too good to be relegated they were lucky in the fact that Queens Park Rangers and Leicester City had poor seasons. Stoke could only manage 19th place in a very uneventful season which saw champions Leeds United gain revenge for last season by beating Stoke 5–1 at the Victoria Ground.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
It had been a nerve-racking season with Stoke seemingly involved in a relegation battle from the start, and thanks to some determined performances Stoke scrambled three points clear of the drop zone. The 1968–69 season did, however mark the debut of Denis Smith who was later to become club captain and would have a major impact on the club's fortunes during the 1970s.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League
At the end of the season in May 1969 Stoke City embarked on an end of season tour which saw them play against Congo Kinshasa (drew 1–1) and then on to Spain where they played against Catalonia giants Barcelona. The match was played in front of 65,000 at the Camp Nou and Stoke shocked the prestigious hosts with a 3–2 victory. David Herd scored twice and Harry Burrows hit a third to put Stoke into a 3–0 lead at half-time. Barcelona fought back scoring twice through Carles Rexach and Pedro Zabalza but a  Stoke held on for a splendid victory.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, FA Cup
After unspectacular wins over Fourth Division sides York City and Halifax Town, Stoke lost 3–2 away at Chelsea.


1968–69 Stoke City F.C. season, Season review, League Cup
Blackburn Rovers eliminated Stoke in a second round replay 1–0 after a 1–1 draw at Ewood Park, John Mahoney scoring for the "Potters".


1968–69 Sussex County Football League
The 1968–69 Sussex County Football League season was the 44th in the history of Sussex County Football League a football competition in England.


1968–69 Sussex County Football League, Division One
Division One featured 14 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with two new clubs, promoted from Division Two:


1968–69 Sussex County Football League, Division Two
Division Two featured 13 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with two new clubs, relegated from Division One:


1968–69 Svenska Cupen
Svenska Cupen 1968–69 was the fourteenth season of the main Swedish football Cup. The competition was concluded on 23 June 1969 with the Final, held at Råsunda, Solna. IFK Norrköping won 1-0 against AIK before an attendance of 7,832 spectators.


1968–69 Svenska Cupen, Quarter-finals
The 4 matches and one replay match in this round were played between 7 and 23 April 1969.


1968–69 Svenska Cupen, Semi-finals
The semi-finals in this round were played on 7 May 1969, the replay match was played on 18 May 1969.


1968–69 Svenska Cupen, Final
The final was played on 23 June 1969 at Råsunda.


1968–69 Swedish Division I season
The 1968–69 Swedish Division I season was the 25th season of Swedish Division I. Leksands IF won the league title by finishing first in the final round.


1968–69 Swindon Town F.C. season
The 1968–69 season was Swindon Town's third consecutive season in the Football League Third Division after relegation from Division Two in 1965. In what proved to be a historic season for Swindon as the club won its first major piece of silverware, the League Cup, beating Arsenal by three goals to one. Swindon Town also won promotion to Division Two and competed in the FA Cup.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal
The 1968–69 Taça de Portugal was the 29th edition of the Portuguese football knockout tournament, organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). The 1968–69 Taça de Portugal began on September 1968. The final was played on 22 June 1969 at the Estádio Nacional.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal
Porto were the previous holders, having defeated Vitória de Setúbal 2–1 in the previous season's final. Defending champions Porto were unable to regain the Taça de Portugal as they were defeated in the fourth round by eventual winners Benfica, who went on to defeat Académica de Coimbra in the final and claim their thirteenth Taça de Portugal.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, First round
Teams from the Segunda Divisão (II) and the Terceira Divisão (III) entered at this stage. Due to the expansion of third tier teams being able to participate in the competition, two legged first round cup ties were scrapped. First round ties which ended in a draw, were replayed at a later date.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, Third round
Due to a lack of teams involved in the fourth round, the organizing body of the competition, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), decided to have an additional round where the teams who lost their second round ties would be given a second opportunity to progress to the next round of the competition.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, Fourth round
Ties were played between on the 9 February. Teams from the Primeira Liga (I) entered at this stage.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, Fifth round
Ties were played between on the 9 March. Due to the odd number of teams involved at this stage of the competition, Sporting CP qualified for the next round due to having no opponent to face at this stage of the competition.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, Sixth round
Ties were played between the 10–17 May. Club sides Atlético Luanda, Ferroviário Lourenço Marques, Lusitânia, União da Madeira and União de Bissau were invited to participate in the competition.


1968–69 Taça de Portugal, Quarter-finals
Ties were played between the 25 May and the 1 June.


1968–69 Tehran five-sided Tournament (1969 Asian Champion Club Tournament Qualification)
With the creation of the Asian Club Football Championship, this games was held to determine Iran's representative in that competition. Five Tehran teams competed periodically, including Taj, Oghab, Persepolis, Pas and Shahrbani. In the end of matches, Persepolis became champion with seven points (3 wins and 1 draw) and was introduced to the 1969 Asian Club Championship as Iran's representative.


1968–69 Tercera División
The season 1968–69 of the Tercera División (3rd Level) of the Spanish football started on August 1968 and ended on May–June 1969 the regular phase.


1968–69 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team
The 1968–69 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented University of Toledo as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season.


1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs season
The 1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the Toronto Maple Leafs 52nd season of the franchise, 42nd season as the Maple Leafs. Although the Maple Leafs made the playoffs, they were swept in the quarter-finals by Boston, suffering two crushing defeats at Boston Garden.


1968–69 Toronto Maple Leafs season, Transactions
The Maple Leafs have been involved in the following transactions during the 1968–69 season.


1968–69 Tweede Divisie
The Dutch Tweede Divisie in the 1968–69 season was contested by 18 teams. De Graafschap won the championship and would be promoted to the Eerste Divisie along with two other teams.


1968–69 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team
The 1968–69 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 1968–69 NCAA College Division men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by second year head coach Dick Davis and played their home games at Crawford Hall. They were invited to the 1969 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament where they lost to the San Francisco State Gators in the regional semifinals and defeated theUC Davis Aggies in the regional third place game. The anteaters finished the season with a record 19–9.


1968–69 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team, Previous Season
The 1966–67 UC Irvine Anteaters finished with a record of 20–8 under first year coach Dick Davis. The Anteaters were invited to the 1968 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament and lost in the regional finals to the Nevada Southern Rebels.


1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
The 1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA National Basketball Championship, the fifth in six years under head coach John Wooden with a win over Purdue, coach Wooden's alma mater. The Bruins opened with 25 wins, on a 41-game winning streak, but lost the regular season finale to rival USC on March 8, which snapped a home winning streak of 85 games.


1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
The West Regional was hosted by UCLA in Pauley Pavilion, and they defeated #12 New Mexico State 53–38 and third-ranked Santa Clara 90–52. Center Lew Alcindor had a total of 33 points in the two games.


1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
In the Final Four at Louisville, Kentucky, UCLA had a two-point lead at halftime over #11 Drake and won 85–82 to advance to the championship game against sixth-ranked Purdue. Wooden graduated from Purdue in 1932, after earning All-American honors as a guard on the school's basketball team that he captained during his junior and senior years. The Boilermakers won two Big Ten titles and the 1932 national championship during his years there. Wooden also played baseball during his freshman year.


1968–69 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team
The "Money Man", John Vallely, scored 29 points and Alcindor had 25 points at the semi-final game. Alcindor scored 37 points with 20 rebounds in the championship game.


1968–69 Uganda National First Division League
The 1968–69 Uganda National First Division League was the first season of the Ugandan football championship, the top-level football league of Uganda.


1968–69 Uganda National First Division League, Overview
The 1968–69 Uganda National First Division League was contested by 8 teams and was won by Prisons.


1968–69 United States network television schedule
The following is the 1968–69 network television schedule for the three major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1968 through August 1969. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1967–68 season.


1968–69 United States network television schedule
Each of the 30 highest-rated shows is listed with its rank and rating as determined by Nielsen Media Research.


1968–69 United States network television schedule
National Educational Television (NET) was in operation, but the schedule was set by each local station.


1968–69 United States network television schedule, Wednesday
(*) Turn-On aired in this time period on February 5, 1969, only.


1968–69 United States network television schedule, Wednesday
Tarzan on CBS consisted of reruns from the 1966-68 NBC series.


1968–69 United States network television schedule, By network, NBC
Note: The * indicates that the program was introduced in midseason.


1968–69 United States network television schedule (daytime)
The 1968–69 daytime network television schedule for the three major English-language commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers the weekday and weekend daytime hours from September 1968 to August 1969.


1968–69 United States network television schedule (daytime)
Talk shows are highlighted in  yellow, local programming is white, reruns of older programming are orange, game shows are pink, soap operas are chartreuse, news programs are gold, children's programs are light purple and sports programs are light blue. New series are highlighted in bold.


1968–69 United States network television schedule (late night)
These are the late night Monday-Friday schedules on all three networks for each calendar season beginning September 1968. All times are Eastern/Pacific.


1968–69 United States network television schedule (late night)
Talk/Variety shows are highlighted in yellow, Local News & Programs are highlighted in white.


1968–69 VCU Rams men's basketball team
The 1968–69 VCU Rams men's basketball team represented the newly created Virginia Commonwealth University during the 1968–69 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by Benny Dees, the Rams played their inaugural season as an independent team, playing a mix of Division I, II and III schools across the Mid-Atlantic, Ohio River Valley and Southeast regions. After an 0–4 start, the Rams finished the season with a winning record of 12–11. During the season, they played in two winter tournaments; the Fort Eustis and Quantico tournaments held at Virginia military bases, Joint Base Langley–Eustis and Marine Corps Base Quantico. The team did not earn a berth into either the NCAA or NIT tournaments.


1968–69 VCU Rams men's basketball team
During the team's inaugural season, the Rams played in the Franklin Street Gymnasium, which was their home arena until the opening of the Siegel Center in the late 1990s.


1968–69 WCHL season
The 1968–69 WCHL season was the third season of the Western Canada Hockey League. Eight teams completed a 60-game season, with the Flin Flon Bombers winning the President's Cup.


1968–69 WCHL season, League business
The Western Canada Junior Hockey League changed its name to the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) on June 8, 1968, and broke away from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and affiliated with the new Canadian Hockey Association instead. Ron Butlin was named president of both of the WCHL and the Canadian Hockey Association. The league changed its name since it no longer conformed to the CAHA age limit of 19, but rather raised its age limit to 21.


1968–69 WCHL season, League business
The Regina Pats chose to withdraw from the WCHL, and play in the Saskatchewan Amateur Junior Hockey League under the jurisdiction of the Saskatchewan Amateur Hockey Association. Butlin expected the WCHL to go ahead with the remaining ten teams separated into two divisions, but actively searched for prospective owners of a team in Regina, Saskatchewan. The WCHL sought for payments from the National Hockey League (NHL) as per the existing NHL Entry Draft agreement in which CAHA were paid for developing future professional players.


1968–69 WCHL season, League business
On July 20, 1968, Butlin suspended the Moose Jaw Canucks from the WCHL for failure to fulfill financial obligations to the league. The Canucks then joined then Saskatchewan Amateur Junior Hockey League, becoming the second former WCHL team to do so. The Weyburn Red Wings later withdrew from the WCHL due to concerns of increased operating costs, and were the third team to join the Saskatchewan Amateur Junior Hockey League. As of August 13, eight of the eleven teams from the WCJHL remained with the WCHL


1968–69 WCHL season, Regular season
The WCHL was split into two four-team divisions with an interlocking season schedule.


1968–69 WCHL season, Regular season
In February 1969, the Dauphin Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League challenged the validity of the Canadian Hockey Association contract when it signed Butch Goring from the  Winnipeg Jets. Merv Haney also departed the Jets for the Kings, and Butlin stated that the WCHL would seek a court injunction to prevent both from playing for Dauphin and take legal action to seek damages.


1968–69 WCHL season, Regular season, Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes


1968–69 WCHL season, League playoffs
Butlin arranged for the WCHL to compete in an east-west national championship of the Canadian Hockey Association, against the champions of the Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League. WCHL playoffs were the first team to eight points would win series.


1968–69 WCHL season, National championship
The national final was scheduled to begin April 25 versus the Western Ontario Junior A Hockey League champion. The Flin Flon Bombers and St. Thomas Barons played in the CHA east-west national final for the Father Athol Murray Trophy. It was arranged as a best-of-seven series to begin in St. Thomas, Ontario. The series would be the first Canadian national junior ice hockey championship not under the jurisdiction of the CAHA.


1968–69 WCHL season, National championship
The Barons withdrew from the championship series during the fourth game, played at the Whitney Forum in Flin Flon on May 5. The team left after an on-ice brawl during the second period. The referee defaulted the game to the Bombers, who were leading by a 4–0 score at the time. The Bombers led the series three games to one after the default win. Game five was scheduled in Flin Flon on May 7, and games six and seven would have been in St. Thomas if necessary.


1968–69 WCHL season, National championship
The Barons were escorted from the arena to their hotel by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and abandoned the series in the interest of player safety. The team departed for St. Thomas on May 6, despite game five being scheduled for the next day. The Canadian Press described the Barons as being over-matched in the series and were not up to the calibre of WCHL teams. On May 7, Butlin awarded the series and the championship to the Flin Flon Bombers.


1968–69 WCHL season, All-star game
The 1968–69 WCHL all-star game was held in Flin Flon, Manitoba, with the WCHL All-stars and Flin Flon Bombers ending in a 4–4 draw before a crowd of 2,100.


1968–69 WHL season
The 1968–69 WHL season was the seventeenth season of the Western Hockey League. Six teams played a 74-game schedule, and the Vancouver Canucks were the Lester Patrick Cup champions, defeating the Portland Buckaroos four games to none in the final series. The Denver Spurs joined the WHL as sixth team.


1968–69 WHL season, Playoffs
The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Portland Buckaroos 4 games to 0 to win the Lester Patrick Cup.


1968–69 WIHL season
1968–69 was the 22nd season of the Western International Hockey League. The WIHL played an interleague schedule with the Alberta Senior Hockey League.


1968–69 WIHL season, Playoffs, Final (best of 7)
The Spokane Jets advanced to the 1969 Western Canada Allan Cup Playoffs.


1968–69 Washington Huskies men's basketball team
The 1968–69 Washington Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Washington for the 1968–69 NCAA college basketball season. Led by first-year head coach Tex Winter, the Huskies were members of the Pacific-8 Conference and played their home games on campus at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Washington.


1968–69 Washington Huskies men's basketball team
The Huskies were 13–13 overall in the regular season and 6–8 in conference play, fourth in the standings.


1968–69 Washington Huskies men's basketball team
Winter was hired in March 1968; he had led Kansas State for the previous fifteen seasons, and the Wildcats were Big Eight champions in 1968. He coached the Huskies for three seasons, then left for the NBA's Houston Rockets.


1968–69 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
The 1968–69 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team represented Washington State University for the 1968–69 college basketball season. Led by eleventh-year head coach Marv Harshman, the Cougars were members of the Pacific-8 Conference and played their home games on campus at Bohler Gymnasium in Pullman, Washington.


1968–69 Washington State Cougars men's basketball team
The Cougars were 18–8 overall in the regular season and 11–3 in conference play, second in the standings,and the best since 1941.


1968–69 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
The 1968–69 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Weber State College during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Wildcats were led by first-year head coach Phil Johnson and played their home games on campus at Wildcat Gym in Ogden, Utah. They were 25–2 in the regular season and 15–0 in conference play.


1968–69 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
For the second consecutive season, Weber State won the Big Sky title and played in the 25-team NCAA Tournament. In the West regional at Las Cruces, New Mexico, they defeated Seattle by two points and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles,  against third-ranked Santa Clara. The Broncos won by four points in overtime, and Weber won the third place game over #12 New Mexico State by two.


1968–69 Weber State Wildcats men's basketball team
Johnson had been an assistant coach at Weber under Dick Motta, his high school coach, who left to become head coach of the NBA's Chicago Bulls. After his third year as head coach of the Wildcats, Johnson joined Motta as an assistant in Chicago in 1971.


1968–69 Welsh Cup
The 1968–69 FAW Welsh Cup is the 82nd season of the annual knockout tournament for competitive football teams in Wales.


1968–69 Welsh Cup, Fifth round
Ten winners from the Fourth round and six new clubs.


1968–69 West Midlands (Regional) League
The 1968–69 West Midlands (Regional) League season was the 69th in the history of the West Midlands (Regional) League, an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and southern Staffordshire.


1968–69 West Midlands (Regional) League, Premier Division
The Premier Division featured 19 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with one new club:


1968–69 Western Football League
The 1968–69 season was the 67th in the history of the Western Football League.


1968–69 Western Football League
The champions for the first time in their history were Taunton Town.


1968–69 Western Football League, Final table
The league was reduced from 21 to 19 clubs after Salisbury joined the Southern League and Plymouth Argyle Colts left. No new clubs joined.


1968–69 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
The 1968–1969 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented University of Wisconsin–Madison. The head coach was John Powless, who coached his first season with the Badgers. The team played their home games at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wisconsin and was a member of the Big Ten Conference.


1968–69 Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team
The 1968–69 Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Yale University during the 1968–69 men's college basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by 13th year head coach Joe Vancisin, played their home games at John J. Lee Amphitheater of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium and were members of the Ivy League. They finished the season 9–16, 6–8 in Ivy League play to finish in fifth place.


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup
The 1968–69 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-first occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Leeds won the trophy by beating Castleford by the score of 22-11. The match was played at Belle Vue, in the City of Wakefield, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 12,573 and receipts were £3,746.


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup, Background
This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained the  same at sixteen.


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup, Background
This in turn resulted in no byes in the first round.


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup, Competition and results, Final, Teams and scorers
Scoring - Try = three (3) points - Goal = two (2) points - Drop goal = two (2) points


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments, General information for those unfamiliar
The Rugby League Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from  the  county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from  outside the  county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden.


1968–69 Yorkshire Cup, Notes and comments, General information for those unfamiliar
The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars)


1968–69 Yorkshire Football League
The 1968–69 Yorkshire Football League was the 43rd season in the history of the Yorkshire Football League, a football competition in England.


1968–69 Yorkshire Football League, Division One
Division One featured 14 clubs which competed in the previous season, along with four new clubs, promoted from Division Two:


1968–69 Yorkshire Football League, Division Two
Division Two featured eleven clubs which competed in the previous season, along with seven new clubs.


1968–69 Yugoslav Cup
The 1968–69 Yugoslav Cup was the 22nd season of the top football knockout competition in SFR Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Cup (Serbo-Croatian: Kup Jugoslavije), also known as the "Marshal Tito Cup" (Kup Maršala Tita), since its establishment in 1946.


1968–69 Yugoslav Cup, Round of 16
In the following tables winning teams are marked in bold; teams from outside top level are marked in italic script.


1968–69 Yugoslav First Basketball League
The 1968–69 Yugoslav First Basketball League season was the 25th season of the Yugoslav First Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in SFR Yugoslavia.


1968–69 Yugoslav First League
The 1968–69 Yugoslav First League season was the 23rd season of the First Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Prva savezna liga), the top level association football league of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. Eighteen teams contested the competition, with Red Star winning their ninth national title.


1968–69 Yugoslav First League, Teams
Due to the expansion of the format from 16 to 18 teams at the end of the previous season no one was relegated. Bor and Čelik were promoted from the 1967–68 Yugoslav Second League.


1968–69 Yugoslav Ice Hockey League season
The 1968–69 Yugoslav Ice Hockey League season was the 27th season of the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League, the top level of ice hockey in Yugoslavia. Eight teams participated in the league, and Jesenice have won the championship.


1968–69 Yugoslav Second League
The 1968–69 Yugoslav Second League season was the 23rd season of the Second Federal League (Serbo-Croatian: Druga savezna liga), the second level association football competition of SFR Yugoslavia, since its establishment in 1946. The league was contested in four regional groups (East, South, North and West Division), with 16 clubs each. There were from one to four teams relegated from each group at the end of the season.


1968–69 ice hockey Bundesliga season
The 1968–69 Ice hockey Bundesliga season was the 11th season of the Ice hockey Bundesliga, the top level of ice hockey in Germany. 12 teams participated in the league, and EV Fussen won the championship.


1968–69 in Belgian football
The 1968–69 season was the 66th season of competitive football in Belgium. Standard Club Liégeois won their 4th Division I title. No Belgian club managed to pass the second round of the European competitions, though for the first time 6 Belgian clubs qualified (1 more club qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup). K Lierse SK won the Belgian Cup final against RR White (2-0). The Belgium national football team continued their 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign with 3 home wins against all other Group 6 teams (Finland, Yugoslavia and Spain) and a draw in Spain. Belgium qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup finals in Mexico with one match to go. For the first time since the 1954 FIFA World Cup, Belgium would qualify for a major tournament.


1968–69 in Belgian football, Overview
At the end of the season, RFC Malinois and R Daring Club Molenbeek were relegated to Division II and were replaced by ASV Oostende KM and R Crossing Club Molenbeek from Division II. The bottom 2 clubs in Division II (KFC Herentals and RFC Sérésien) were relegated to Division III, to be replaced by KRC Mechelen and KSV Sottegem from Division III. The bottom club of each Division III league (K Wezel Sport FC after a play-off game against ACV Brasschaat, K Olympia SC Wijgmaal, R Entente Sportive Jamboise and RRC de Gand) were relegated to Promotion, to be replaced by Kortrijk Sport, VC Westerlo, RAA Louviéroise and AS Eupen from Promotion.


1968–69 in Belgian football, European competitions
RSC Anderlechtois beat Glentoran FC of Northern Ireland in the first round of the 1968–69 European Champion Clubs' Cup (won 3-0 at home, drew 1-1 away) but were eliminated in the second round by Manchester United FC (lost 0-3 away, won 3-1 at home).


1968–69 in Belgian football, European competitions
RFC Brugeois lost in the first round of the 1968–69 European Cup Winners' Cup to West Bromwich Albion FC on away goals (won 3-1 at home, lost 0-2 away).


1968–69 in Belgian football, European competitions
For the first time, 4 Belgian clubs entered the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: KSV Waregem beat Atlético Madrid of Spain on away goals (lost 1-2 away, won 1-0 at home), Standard Club Liégeois was defeated by Leeds United (drew 0-0 at home, lost 2-3 away), K Beerschot VAV by DWS of the Netherlands (drew 1-1 at home, lost 1-2 away) and R Daring Club Molenbeek by Panathinaikos FC of Greece (won 2-1 at home, lost 0-2 away). In the second round, KSV Waregem lost to Legia Warszawa of Poland (won 1-0 at home, lost 0-2 away).


1968–69 in English football
The 1968–69 season was the 89th season of competitive football in England.


1968–69 in English football, Honours
Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour.


1968–69 in English football, FA Cup
Manchester City completed a disappointing season for relegated Leicester City by defeating them 1–0 in the FA Cup Final. Neil Young scored the only goal of the game, although Leicester's David Nish gained the record as the youngest captain of a cup finalist at the age of 21.


1968–69 in English football, FA Cup
The season's big giant-killers were Third Division Mansfield Town who accounted for Sheffield United in the Third Round and West Ham in the Fifth before going out to Leicester in the Sixth Round.


1968–69 in English football, League Cup
In one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition Swindon Town won the final 3–1 against Arsenal. Swindon's non-top flight status saw them barred from competing in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup which led to the creation of the Anglo-Italian Cup the following season.


1968–69 in English football, European football
Newcastle United won the first, and to date only, European trophy in their history by beating Újpest of Hungary 6–2 on aggregate to lift the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.


1968–69 in English football, Football League, First Division
Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool.


1968–69 in English football, Football League, First Division
Manchester United's final season under the management of Sir Matt Busby before his retirement ended in an 11th-place finish, although their defence of the European Cup lasted until the semi-finals. Their cross city rivals finished 13th a year after being league champions, but had an FA Cup triumph as compensation for their failed defence of the league title and their failure to succeed in the European Cup.


1968–69 in English football, Football League, First Division
Newly promoted Queens Park Rangers were relegated after finishing bottom, along with the FA Cup runners-up Leicester City.


1968–69 in English football, Football League, Second Division
Derby County were runaway winners of the Second Division and they were joined in being promoted by runners-up Crystal Palace. Despite still boasting the talents of Johnny Haynes and George Cohen, Fulham finished bottom and were relegated. They were joined in the Third Division by perennial strugglers Bury


1968–69 in English football, Football League, Third Division
Watford won the title on goal average (Goal Ratio) from Swindon Town and both teams were duly promoted. At the bottom end Northampton Town, Hartlepool, Crewe Alexandra and Oldham Athletic were all relegated.


1968–69 in English football, Football League, Fourth Division
The Division was won by Doncaster Rovers, who were promoted along with Halifax Town, Rochdale and Bradford City. No team failed re-election so no new members were admitted to the Football League.


1968–69 in English football, Star players
For the only time in its history the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year was shared by two players — Tony Book of Manchester City and Dave Mackay of Derby County. For the sixth and final time in his illustrious career Tottenham Hotspur's Jimmy Greaves was Division One top-scorer with 27 goals. He was also top-scorer in the league overall with 22 goals taking the Second Division award for John Toshack of Cardiff City,


1968–69 in English football, National team
The England national football team enjoyed a successful year in the build-up to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, for which they had automatically qualified as holders of the trophy after the 1966 FIFA World Cup. They won the 1969 British Home Championship by beating all three opponents and only lost one game all year, to Brazil during an end of season tour to the Americas.


1968–69 in Scottish football
The 1968–69 season was the 96th season of competitive football in Scotland and the 72nd season of Scottish league football.


1968–69 snooker season
The 1968–69 snooker season, the first season of the modern era of snooker, was a series of snooker tournaments played between July 1968 and March 1969. The following table outlines the results for the season's events.


1968–69 snooker season, New professionals
The following players turned professional during the season: Maureen Baynton, Maurice Parkin David Taylor, Bernard Bennett, and Graham Miles


1968–71 Nordic Football Championship
The 1968–71 Nordic Football Championship was the tenth tournament staged. Four Nordic countries participated: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Sweden won the tournament, its eighth Nordic Championship win.


1968–71 Nordic Football Championship, Table
The table is compiled by awarding two points for a victory, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.


1969
1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 969th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th  year of the 20th century, and the  10th  and last year of the 1960s decade.


1969 (Gábor Szabó album)
1969 is an album by Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó featuring performances recorded in 1969 and released on the Skye label.


1969 (Gábor Szabó album), Reception
The Allmusic review states: "The Hungarian guitarist doesn't always stretch out as much as he could on this album; at times, he ends a solo that probably should have lasted a few more minutes. But Szabo still deserves credit for bringing a jazz perspective to songs that so many other improvisers were ignoring".


1969 (Myka 9 album)
1969 is a studio album by American rapper Myka 9. It was released on Fake Four Inc. in 2009. Entirely produced by Canadian producer Factor, it features guest appearances from Aceyalone, Busdriver, Awol One, and Gel Roc. The title of the album comes from the year Myka 9 was born and the zeal of that era. In promotion of the album, Myka 9 toured across the United States with Factor, Sole, and Ceschi.


1969 (Myka 9 album), Critical reception
Spence D. of IGN gave the album a 9.7 out of 10, saying: "At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, Myka 9 has dropped one of the best, most expansive, and deeply rooted rap albums to hit the scene in quite some time." Thomas Quinlan of Exclaim! said, "Myka 9 is one of the best, most slept on MCs making music today, and 1969 is the best work he's done in a long time."


1969 (Pink Martini and Saori Yuki album)
1969 is a studio collaboration album by Pink Martini and Saori Yuki, released in 2011 through Heinz Records.


1969 (Pink Martini and Saori Yuki album)
As of 2013 in Japan it has sold over 500,000 copies.


1969 (TV series)
1969 is an American six-part television documentary series on the events of the year 1969 which aired on ABC in 2019.


1969 (TV series)
The series tells behind the scenes stories of major events on the year 1969, such as the Apollo 11 Moon landing and the Woodstock music festival. It includes interviews with some of those who were part of the events.


1969 (TV series), Reception
Verne Gay of Newsday called the first episode about Apollo 11 "an essential and long overdue reminder" of how the event was the work of many. He said the episode made an "honorable effort" to include the women who contributed to the Moon landing, made necessary by the 2016 book and film Hidden Figures, and largely ignored by other stories told about the event. Of a later episode about the Chappaquiddick incident, Gay said, "Alas ... [ this] episode makes a hard landing back to Earth."


1969 (TV series), Reception
A review in Vox framed the Manson Girls episode in #metoo terms. "There's a Manson girl counternarrative now"[...]"The women of the Manson family who didn't go to prison have spoken out about their treatment at Manson's hands, and they are beginning to find an audience [...] as these women continue to insist on their identities as not just 'the Manson girls' but as agents and human beings in their own right, popular culture is starting to take notice."


1969 (film)
1969 is a 1988 American drama film written and directed by Ernest Thompson and starring Robert Downey Jr., Kiefer Sutherland and Winona Ryder. The original music score is composed by Michael Small. The film deals with the Vietnam War and the resulting social tensions between those who support and oppose the war in small-town America.


1969 (film), Plot
Two boys, Ralph and Scott, hitchhike home from college, arriving on Easter morning and shout their greetings across the glen to their families during a lakeside Easter Sunrise service, much to the amusement of Ralph's younger sister, Beth, and mother, Ev, and embarrassment of Scott's mother, Jessie, and father, Cliff. Later that day, they drive Scott's older brother, Alden, who is shipping off to Vietnam, to the bus depot; Alden pushes Scott when Scott says that his Marine brother is afraid to go to Vietnam. They begin fighting until their father arrives wondering what is going on.


1969 (film), Plot
A few weeks later, Scott and Ralph again return home from college to attend Beth's high school graduation, where they learn that Ralph has flunked out of college (thus making him eligible to be drafted). Ralph and Scott decide to spend the summer on the road, living out of their van and experiencing all the freedom that the counterculture has to offer. Eventually, they arrive back at their hometown in the middle of its summer festival, where they learn that Alden has disappeared and is considered missing in action. Ralph and Scott hatch a plan to steal their files from the local draft board office, but they are caught, and Ralph is arrested.


1969 (film), Plot
Scott is now determined to avoid Ralph's fate and plans to leave town and head to Canada to avoid the draft. Scott invites Beth to travel in his van on his trip out of town and to stay away until the end of the war. They admit their attraction to each other and make love in the van. Later, the two decide to visit Ralph in jail to tell him that they are leaving. Ralph reveals in a very sarcastic tone that he actually wants to go to Vietnam. When he learns that his friend and his sister have had sexual relations, he disowns Scott and ignores Beth.


1969 (film), Plot
Scott and Beth get to the Canada–US border and are about to cross but have a change of heart and head back to Maryland. When they get home, they learn of Alden's death in the line of duty. Scott leads a huge march downtown in the midst of Alden's funeral, where Ralph is released from jail and the two friends are reunited. The film ends with a narration by Scott, announcing that his family and friends join hundreds of thousands of other Americans towards Washington, D.C. to protest the Vietnam War.


1969 (film), Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 55% based on reviews from 11 critics.


1969 (film), Critical reception
Rita Kempley of The Washington Post wrote, "[The film] 1969, the directorial debut of Ernest Thompson, is an aimless drama, its purpose and promise lost in a thicket of false endings and a fog of nostalgia". Janet Maslin of The New York Times described how "Mr. Dern, unusually laconic here, is unexpectedly moving as the character who seems most confused by changing times.


1969 (film), Critical reception
Variety said, "Affecting memories and good intentions don't always add up to good screen stories, and such is the case in 1969, one of the murkiest reflections on the Vietnam War era yet, notwithstanding good performances all around and bright packaging of Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. in the leads."


1969 (film), Box office
The film was a box office bomb, grossing $5,979,011  against a $7 million budget.


1969 (film), Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack consists of original period rock. However, it also includes a notable re-recording of The Youngbloods' classic hit "Get Together", performed as a solo by the Youngbloods' lead singer Jesse Colin Young.


1969 1. divisjon
The 1969 1. divisjon was the 25th completed season of top division football in Norway.


1969 1. divisjon, Overview
It was contested by 10 teams, and Rosenborg BK won the championship, their second league title.


1969 2. divisjon
The 1969 2. divisjon was a Norwegian second-tier football league season.


1969 2. divisjon
The league was contested by 16 teams, divided into two groups; A and B. The winners of group A and B were promoted to the 1970 1. divisjon. The two bottom teams in both groups were relegated to the 3. divisjon.


1969 2. divisjon, Overview, Summary
Pors won group A with 22 points. Hamarkameratene won group B with 22 points. Both teams promoted to the 1970 1. divisjon.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1969 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 37th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14 and 15 June 1969. It was the eighth round of the 1969 World Sportscar Championship season.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans
It was the last year with the traditional "Le Mans" style start, in which the drivers run across the track to enter their cars, start them, and race away. The previous year, Willy Mairesse crashed on the first lap while trying to properly close the door of his car at speed on the Mulsanne Straight; the crash would have been avoided entirely if not for the Le Mans-style start, and it ended Mairesse's racing career.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans
During the 1969 start, eventual winner Jacky Ickx famously staged his own one-man protest by walking to his car, and taking his time doing up his belts. Meanwhile, privateer John Woolfe ran with the other drivers, flipped his car on the opening lap near Maison Blanche corner, and not yet strapped in properly, was killed when the car broke up.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans
The race was one of the most exciting in the event's history. Porsche had already wrapped up the World Sportscar Championship, and were strong favourites to achieve their first outright win. More than one-third of the starting cars were Porsches, and the mighty 917s held the lead for 90% of the race. But when the Elford/Attwood car's gearbox broke at 11 a.m., it was the Ford of Ickx and Jackie Oliver that took over the lead. The race ended in a 3-hour sprint, with the Ford battling the pursuing Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse non-stop. In the end, the Ford GT40 – the same chassis that had won the previous year – took the chequered flag by just 120 metres after 24 hours.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
Heeding the calls of race promoters worried about diminishing fields, the FIA sought to fix things by reducing the minimum production figure to run in Group 4 from 50 to 25. Even though they had an unlimited engine capacity, it was reasoned that it would not be a difference as the cars were not usually as competitive as the Group 6 Prototypes. This however, left a large flaw in the system for big manufacturers with the resources to exploit the regulations. Porsche were able to construct 25 chassis of their new 917 prototype, with its 4.5-litre engine, to get it homologated for Group 4.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Regulations
This year the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) brought the start-time forward to 2pm, to allow time for the largely French crowd to still be able to get to vote in the Presidential Elections on the Sunday afternoon. New Armco crash barriers were installed around the circuit, including on the Mulsanne Straight, where there was previously no protection from the trees, houses and embankments in the event of a car leaving the track. Sandbanks were replaced by barriers.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Into the second year of the new 3-litre regulations, the initial entries closed with 109 applications – the biggest number in the past decade. However, after the requisite culling 60 cars were accepted, but a number of withdrawals meant only 51 practiced with non-starters reducing the final grid to only 45, the smallest field in the decade. After a dominant season to date, Porsche had already won the Sportscar Championship, and arrived with easily the biggest representation with 16 cars, a third of the field.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Porsche had already wrapped up the championship after the seven races to date. Starting in July 1968, Porsche made a surprising and very expensive effort to conceive, design and build a whole new car for the Group 4 Sport category with one underlying goal: to win its first overall victory at Le Mans. In only ten months, the first Porsche 917 prototype was developed with a fibreglass body and Porsche's first 12-cylinder engine. Bored out to 4.5-litres, made from titanium, magnesium and exotic alloys, it produced a mighty 520 bhp.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The 917 included another feature which would prove to be controversial in the week leading up to the race: movable aerodynamic wings linked to the suspension. These were banned by the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale – the FIA's regulatory body) at the Monaco GP in May as dangerous. Porsche team manager, Rico Steinemann, protested that their test-sessions had shown the car was inherently unstable without them and that the cars had been homologated for Group 4 with the flaps.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
A last-minute decision the day before Le Mans by the FISA allowed them to race, although the 908s had to lose the flaps as they had previously run without them. Team Matra was particularly upset by this decision, but in a statement said they did not intend to protest. It was widely believed that if the ban was again reinstated because of a protest by other teams, Porsche would have pulled out of the 1969 race entirely.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
By May the necessary 25 chassis were completed for homologation, intended to be sold to private racing teams at $35,000 each. The first was purchased by a private interest by the time of the Le Mans race, that of Briton John Woolfe. The cars had their first race at Spa, and three works entries were at Le Mans in langheck (longtail) form for Vic Elford/Richard Attwood and Rolf Stommelen/Kurt Ahrens, with Herbert Linge in the reserve car.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
In the Prototype class, Porsche had three works 908s, also in langheck form, including regular team drivers Gerhard Mitter / Udo Schütz. This season's version was at least 20% lighter than the 1968 car. The new 908/2 spyder version that had been very successful through the season was run by the team's lead drivers, Jo Siffert and Brian Redman, through Siffert's sponsor, Hart Ski with strong works support. There were also a pair of privateer 910s in the 2-litre Prototype class.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After a tight season last year, Ford were no longer as competitive as their Porsche rivals. Although the GT40 was showing its age, five were entered. John Wyer's J.W. Automotive, managed by David Yorke, chose not to run the disappointing Group 6 Mirage M2s and instead entered two of the cars they ran in the previous year's race. They kept their regular driving combinations: Jacky Ickx / Jackie Oliver and David Hobbs / Mike Hailwood. There were also entries for Alan Mann Racing and a race-debut for Reinhold Joest, as a driver.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After an inauspicious debut in 1967, the Lola T70 Mk 3 had gradually improved, and with sufficient production now completed to put it into the Sports category, it could run the far more reliable, race-proven, Chevrolet 5-litre V8 engine. The new Mk 3B, designed by Eric Broadley, was the first racing car to use the new ultralight, ultra-strong, carbon-fibre. A victory in the opening championship round at Daytona for Roger Penske's team boded well. Lola withdrew its entries after Paul Hawkins burned to death in an accident in May driving a Lola at the RAC Tourist Trophy. Without the works team, it was Scuderia Filipinetti who ran a car for Jo Bonnier/Masten Gregory.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The SEFAC-Ferrari works team returned to Le Mans after a year's absence, with the new 312P prototype, a design strongly akin to the Can-Am 612P. It ran a 3-litre V12 engine based on the Ferrari Formula 1 engine, developing 430 bhp. Two cars were entered, for former race-winners Chris Amon and Pedro Rodriguez, partnered with hill-climb specialist Peter Schetty and David Piper respectively. The North American Racing Team (NART) once again had three different options entered in the Sports category: its 1965 race-winning 275LM car was back, with a new 365 GTB/4 in the over-2-litre class, and a Dino 206 S in the under-2-litre class.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Alpine returned with its A220, Gordini had now fuel-injected the Renault 3-litre to produce a still-underwhelming 330 bhp. Mauro Bianchi, badly injured at the 1968 race, was now the works-team manager after he failed the medical at the Monza round. As well as the three works cars, there was one for their regular customer team, the Ecurie Savin-Calberson. The two teams, alongside another French privateer team, Trophée Le Mans, ran four of the A210 in the smaller Prototype classes including one for French ski-champions Jean-Claude Killy and Bob Wollek.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After a strong showing in the 1968 race, the French team Matra gave up its Formula 1 development (leaving it to Ken Tyrrell's Matra International) to focus on its sports-car program. Aerodynamic engineer Robert Choulet designed a low-drag coupé specially for the Le Mans, the Matra 640, bearing a resemblance to his Panhard CD designs but with the Matra 3-litre V12 engine. Not ready in time for the March test weekend, Matra was able to get a special test in April.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Henri Pescarolo took to the track, but at the first kilometres on the Mulsanne Straight, the car got airborne, doing a 360° loop, before smashing into roadside trees and catching fire. Pescarolo was pulled out alive but had two broken vertebrae and severe burns to his face and arms. The project was cancelled; however development was also proceeding on the 630. This led to a new open-top car, the 650.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Only one had been finished (just before scrutineering ) for Jean-Pierre Beltoise / Piers Courage, while two former 630 chassis were converted (christened 630/650) for Johnny Servoz-Gavin/Herbert Müller and 'Nanni' Galli/Robin Widdows. There was also an MS630 for Nino Vaccarella/Jean Guichet who had won the 1964 race together for Ferrari. Meanwhile, Pescarolo did race commentary for French TV from his hospital bed.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Aside from the Lola, British cars were limited to the small manufacturers. The Chevron B8 had been homologated into Group 4, with a 2-litre BMW engine. Donald Healey had returned with its SR 2-litre prototype, improved from extensive testing at Silverstone. The Unipower GT had a 1275cc Mini Cooper S engine, while the Piper GTR had a 1300cc Ford engine. Smallest car in the field was the Abarth 1000SP


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
After their excellent result in the previous year's race, Alfa Romeo's Autodelta works team was favourites for a class-win. However, the team withdrew after the death of their lead-driver and 1968 race-winner, Lucien Bianchi, at the March test weekend trialing the new Tipo 33/3– the third driver death for the team in testing after Jean Rolland and Leo Cella in 1968. Instead it fell to the Belgian customer team VDS to run two of the older model Tipo 33/2, one with a 2.5-litre V8 engine.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
The GT category was still a limited field. Scuderia Filipinetti had a lock on the over 2-litre class, with both entries – a Corvette Stingray and Ferrari 275 GTB/C. The under 2-litre class was only contested by 911 privateers – the Porsche already proving to be the car of choice in this class.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Entries
Alfa-Romeo and Abarth factory entries dropped out because of a customs strike, and Ferrari North America also scratched some entries.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
The test weekend was held on 29/30 March and was dominated by the fatal accident to Lucien Bianchi in the new 3-litre Alfa Romeo. Apparent mechanical failure hit the car on the Hunaudières straight, coming over the hump approaching the Mulsanne corner at over 305 km/h (190 mph). The car crashed into a telephone pole and a transformer station and exploded. Bianchi was killed instantly by the impact.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
From the test weekend Rolf Stommelen, in the brand new Porsche 917, recorded a 3:30.7 over three seconds quicker than Servoz-Gavin in the Matra. Paul Hawkins in a works Lola was third-quickest with a 3:35.2.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
The power of the new Porsche 917 was shown by Stommelen on the first night of practice when he put in a blistering lap of 3:22.9 to take pole position. This was over 2 seconds faster than the sister car of Vic Elford. It was also 0.7 seconds faster than the lap record held by the big Mark IVs of Denny Hulme and Mario Andretti in 1967 (set without the Ford chicane present). Despite a top speed over 20 km/h slower than the Fords, this was achieved with the great advances in downforce. In the end, Porsche chose to only race two of their three 917s. Woolfe had busted his engine in practise grabbing 1st instead of 3rd but was able to get a replacement one from Porsche.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
The Porsche 908s of Jo Siffert and Rudi Lins were third and fourth then came the Ferraris of Rodriguez and Amon with 3:35 laps. The best Matra was Servoz-Gavin in 11th (3:36.4) and Ickx put the top Ford in 13th. The underpowered Alpines were well off the pace of their contemporaries with qualifying laps in the 3:45s putting them midfield. The top 2-litre car was the Gosselin/Bourgoignie Alfa Romeo in 27th (4:09.8) with the first 911 doing 4:28.2 to qualify 35th.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Practice
NART had a bad practice when its Dino collided with its Daytona stablemate approaching the Mulsanne corner, putting both cars out for the race. A curious incident happened in practice when Bonnier pitted his Lola and got out covered in blood and feathers. Apparently he had hit a bird and it had been sucked through a cooling vent into the cockpit. With the proviso that all cars had to qualify within 85% of the pole-sitting car's average speed for safety reasons, it meant that several cars failed to qualify.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
After a sunny week, race-day was overcast, but dry with a huge crowd in attendance for the start. At the drop of the flag it was Stommelen, with a big power-slide, who was first under the Dunlop bridge. In yet another deadly year of motorsport Jacky Ickx, mindful of the accident that had ended the career of his former teammate Willy Mairesse's on the first lap of the previous year's race staged his own one-man protest.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
He rebelled against the traditional Le Mans starting procedure to run across the track to their cars, climb in, start the car, and move the car as quickly as possible to pull away from the grid. Instead Ickx walked slowly to his car, properly put on his safety belts, and only then moved the car. Doing so effectively relegated Ickx to the back of the starting grid.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
His concern was borne out almost immediately. On the very first lap, the twitchy handling of the Porsche 917 and the inexperience of one of its drivers resulted in a major accident: the death of British gentleman-driver John Woolfe. Woolfe's purchased his 917 for £16000 (US$40,000) only days earlier and was quoted by a colleague as having said its power "scared the pants off me". Porsche racing manager Rico Steinemann was quoted as having pled with Woolfe before the race to allow his works-driver teammate Herbert Linge to drive the first stint, but he demurred. Woolfe crashed approaching Maison Blanche when he got two wheels on the grass and lost control. He was thrown free of the car as it spun, rolled, hit an embankment, and exploded. Woolfe was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, but was dead on arrival.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
The nearly full fuel tank from Woolfe's car became dislodged and landed, burning, in front of the oncoming Ferrari 312P of Chris Amon. Amon ran over it, and Woolfe's fuel tank jammed underneath causing Amon's to rupture and explode as well. Amon set off the on-board fire extinguisher and was uninjured but forced to retire the car. Debris virtually blocked the road and a number of cars were affected including the Healey, Gardner's Ford and Jabouille's Alpine. The rest of the field was virtually halted and slowly picked its way through the carnage.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
Stommelen led the race to the first pitstops, leading a train of five Porsches (Stommelen, Elford, Siffert, Mitter, Herrmann). Bonnier's Lola was sixth, but then Stommelen was delayed by oil leaking from the transmission. Gardner brought the Alan Mann Ford in several times with overheating because debris from the accident had holed the radiator. Jo Siffert and Brian Redman took over the lead until they too were crippled by an oil-leak in the gearbox after four hours.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Start
This moved the Elford/Attwood 917 to the lead, ahead of the other 908 team cars of Mitter/Schütz, Herrmann/Larrousse and Lins/Kauhsen, pursued by the Matra of Beltoise/Courage then the Wyer Ford of Ickx/Oliver in 6th. In the sixth hour a number of cars had problems: Herrmann was delayed for 20 minutes repairing the front suspension with parts from Siffert's car (dropping to 12th), and the Matra lost two laps fixing a faulty rear light. The leading Alpine of de Cortanze/Vinatier (running 11th) lost a wheel at Indianapolis corner. With a large crowd of observers he 'fortuitously' found the right tools on the grass verge but dropped well back. The Matra was being raced very hard and by dusk, at 9pm, had made it up to second only to be delayed repeatedly by slow pitwork.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
As night fell, the three works Porsches were ahead of the two Wyer Fords and also running in the top-3 of the Index of Performance. Bonnier and Gregory were having a good run in the Lola, running sixth, until overheating issues at 11pm forced a 3-hour pitstop to change heads and gaskets. 'Taf' Gosselin got it wrong approaching the Ford chicane, going straight on and crashing although the driver escaped without injury. The big Alpines had been plagued by engine issues, and just after midnight the last one suffered head gasket failure.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Night
At the 2am halfway mark Elford/Attwood had done 192 laps, four ahead of Schütz/Mitter and Lins/Kauhsen (187), then back to the Fords (both 184 laps) and the Vaccarella/Guichet Matra (183). Disaster struck the Porsches at 2.45am when the team cars of Schütz (running 3rd) and Larrousse (now 8th) collided at the Mulsanne kink. Schütz's car rolled, burst into flames and almost broke in half. However the driver escaped uninjured. Larrousse's car made it to the pits with bodywork damage and was quickly repaired.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
Dawn saw the 917 of Elford/Attwood driving within itself and still leading the 908 of Lins/Kauhsen. The Wyer Fords were 3rd and 4th with the Herrmann/Larrousse Porsche motoring back through the field, up to 5th. The remaining 312P Ferrari was in 8th with ongoing oil-leak issues splitting the three remaining Matras until it finally retired just after 5am. Through the night the Matras had had their problems: Galli spent an hour getting new fuel pumps fitted and Courage had a broken headlight then clipped a Porsche 911 on Mulsanne, getting bodywork damage. But come the daylight he and Beltoise pushed hard to close in on the Fords. At 6am, as a heavy mist came down over the circuit the leaders had a 5-lap lead and there were only 19 cars still running.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
The 1.5L Alpine, of Killy/Wollek, had been running very quickly and steadily moving up the order to as high as 11th leading the medium-engined cars and the Thermal Efficiency Index. But soon after 8am it was retired with broken suspension much to the disappointment of the French crowd.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Morning
Then around 10.15am, with barely 3 hours left to run, the two leading Porsches both came in with unscheduled pitstops. The mechanics examined them but to no avail – the Lins/Kauhsen car stopped on Mulsanne with a broken clutch. The 917 limped on for another half-hour before a cracked weld in its gearbox stopped it for good. Within a matter of minutes, the Ickx/Oliver Ford now found itself in the lead. The Herrmann/Larrousse Porsche had been driving hard making up time and when the other Wyer Ford lost two laps changing its rear brakes it moved up to second place.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Going into the final hour after their final pit-stops, both teams put their best drivers in the cars. Ickx and Herrmann were now on the same lap, barely 10 seconds apart. The Porsche 908 had fading brakes and an engine now 400rpm down on power and the Ford GT40 suffered from exhaust problems, making for a very even contest. In a dramatic finish, Ickx and Herrmann repeatedly overtook each other.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Ickx knew if he led onto the Mulsanne straight, Herrmann would pass, but he could slipstream past him back again before the Mulsanne corner and then hold a lead for the rest of a lap. But by strange timing the cars crossed the line with less than a minute to go and had to go around one more time. The Ford had only ever done 23 laps on a tank of fuel, but now needed an extra lap.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
So on the last lap, Ickx let Herrmann pass him early on the Mulsanne Straight, faking a lack of power from fuel starvation. Ickx used the slipstream of Herrmann to pass him again just before the end of the 5 km straight. Ickx then managed to hold on and beat Herrmann by a few seconds, and a distance of about 120 metres (390 feet). Ickx and Oliver won with the GT40 chassis #1075 (nicknamed the 'Old Lady'), the same car that had won the previous year.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
This was only the second time the same car had won two years in a row; a Bentley Speed Six had done it in 1929 and 1930. Ickx dedicated the team's victory to Lucien Bianchi, who had been killed earlier in the year, and had helped the Wyer team win the Le Mans the previous year.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
The Hobbs and Hailwood Wyer Ford, after its delay, finished third four laps behind, just ahead of the Matra of Beltoise/Courage. The older Matra of Vaccarella/Guichet was 5th a distant 9 laps behind and the German Ford of Kelleners/Joest 6th an even further 18 laps behind them. The veteran NART Ferrari 275LM finished eighth, covering 250 km (155 mi) less than its race-winning performance in 1965.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
With eight cars entered, Alpine had great expectations but the only one to finish was the smallest: the 1-litre A210 of Serpaggi/Ethuin finished 12th, 80 laps behind the Ford, but winning the lucrative Index of Performance covering almost 30% more distance than its small-engine target. For the first time since 1926 there were no all-British entries among the finishers.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
So, once again Porsche, Matra and Renault left without their coveted Le Mans victory. It was the first win of six for Jacky Ickx (a record that stood until 2005 when beaten by Tom Kristensen). He had walked across the track at the start line and still won. The ACO's response to that was proactive and the iconic Le Mans start was discontinued. Ironically Ickx himself had a road accident near Chartres while driving to Paris on the Monday morning after the race. A car pulled in front of his Porsche 911. Ickx's car ended up crushed against a utility pole. Ickx unbuckled his seat belt and stepped unharmed from the wrecked Porsche.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Later in the month, Enzo Ferrari sold sufficient stock holdings in his company to the Fiat S.p.A. to raise their share to 50%. In another bad year for motorsport accidents, the Porsche works team lost two of their drivers at August's German Grand Prix Gerhard Mitter, driving an F2 BMW was killed in practise. Then Vic Elford had a major accident on the first lap with Mario Andretti. He survived but had broken his arm in three places. The race had also marked the return to racing of Henri Pescarolo, in an F2 Matra, after his test-accident.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Race, Finish and post-race
Finally, Jacques Loste, race director of the ACO since 1957, retired later in the year. His successor was the manufacturer/engineer, and Le Mans veteran, Charles Deutsch.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Official results, Finishers
Results taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO Class Winners are in Bold text.


1969 24 Hours of Le Mans, Official results, Statistics
Taken from Quentin Spurring's book, officially licensed by the ACO


1969 ABA All-Star Game
The second American Basketball Association All-Star Game was played on January 28, 1969 at Louisville Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky before an audience at 5,407, between teams from the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference. The West team won the game, with a score of 133–127.


1969 ABA All-Star Game, Team members and officials
Gene Rhodes of the Kentucky Colonels coached the East, while Alex Hannum of the Oakland Oaks coached the victorious West. In the previous year, Hannum had coached the NBA's West team to victory in the 1968 NBA All-Star Game.


1969 ABA All-Star Game, Team members and officials
John Beasley of the Dallas Chaparrals was named MVP of the game, with a 19 points and 14 rebound performance.


1969 ABA All-Star Game, Progress of the game
The scoring was close, with each team winning two quarters. West was leading by 64–60 at halftime, and by 101–90 at the end of the third quarter.


1969 ABA Playoffs
The 1969 ABA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the American Basketball Association's 1968–69 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Division champion Oakland Oaks defeating the Eastern Division champion Indiana Pacers, four games to one in the ABA Finals. Warren Jabali of the Oaks was named the Playoff MVP.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Notable events
The Oakland Oaks won the ABA championship after finishing with the league's best record during the regular season (60-18, .769). The Pittsburgh Pipers had accomplished the same feat the year prior.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Notable events
Rick Barry, now eligible to play for the Oaks after being forced to sit out the previous season, averaged 34.0 points during the regular season. However, Barry only played 35 regular season games before injuring a knee and missing the playoffs.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Notable events
The Oaks, like the Pittsburgh Pipers before them, did not play in the following season as the same team. The Oakland Oaks became the Washington Caps for the 1969-1970 ABA season; the Pittsburgh Pipers had become the Minnesota Pipers after winning the ABA championship the prior season.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Notable events
The Oaks' 60-18 (.769) record in this season was the best in ABA history until the Kentucky Colonels finished the 1971-1972 season with a record of 68-16 (.810), a record that was never surpassed.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Notable events
Warren Jabali of Oakland was the Most Valuable Player of the ABA playoffs.


1969 ABA Playoffs, Western Division
(1) Oakland Oaks vs. (3) Denver Rockets:Oaks win series 4-3


1969 ABA Playoffs, Western Division
(2) New Orleans Buccaneers vs. (4) Dallas Chaparrals:Bucs win series 4-3


1969 ABA Playoffs, Western Division
(1) Oakland Oaks vs. (2) New Orleans Buccaneers:Oaks win series 4-0


1969 ABA Playoffs, Eastern Division
(1) Indiana Pacers vs. (3) Kentucky Colonels:Pacers win series 4-3


1969 ABA Playoffs, Eastern Division
(2) Miami Floridians vs. (4) Minnesota Pipers:Floridians win series 4-3


1969 ABA Playoffs, Eastern Division
(1) Indiana Pacers vs. (2) Miami Floridians:Pacers win series 4-1


1969 ABA Playoffs, ABA Finals
(1) Oakland Oaks VS. (1) Indiana Pacers:Oaks win series 4-1


1969 ABC Championship
The 1969 Asian Basketball Confederation Championship for Men was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Ten Asian teams participated in the competition but Laos played under special invitation and the games did not count in the championship standings.


1969 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1969 Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the original Charlotte Coliseum from March 6–8, 1969. North Carolina defeated Duke, 85–74, to win the championship. Charlie Scott of North Carolina was named tournament MVP.


1969 AFC Youth Championship
The AFC Youth Championship 1969 was held in Bangkok, Thailand.


1969 Adelaide Carnival
The 1969 Adelaide Carnival was the 17th edition of the Australian National Football Carnival, an Australian rules football interstate competition.


1969 Adelaide Carnival
Four teams competed in the carnival, South Australia, the Victorian Football League, Tasmania and Western Australia. Victoria finished on top of the table after winning all of their games. Peter Hudson kicked 17 goals in the carnival, the next best was Austin Robertson with 15.


1969 Adelaide Carnival
The Victorian Football Association was scheduled to have competed in the Carnival, but was disqualified after it allowed players to cross from the VFL to the VFA without formal clearances during the 1969 season, in defiance of an ANFC directive from the previous year.


1969 Adelaide Carnival, All-Australian team
In 1969 the All-Australian team was picked based on the Adelaide Carnival.


1969 Adelaide Carnival, Tassie Medal
Peter Eakins of Western Australia and Graham Molloy of South Australia won the Tassie Medal after both tallying four votes.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Afghanistan between August 29 and September 11 1969. They were the second elections after the introduction of the 1964 constitution, with 2,030 candidates standing for the 216 seats of the House of the People and for one-third of the House of Elders. The single-member plurality electoral system was used.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Results
Many conservative local landowners who had shunned the previous elections in 1965 and 1967 campaigned for office and won seats. Since political parties were not legalized in time for the elections, most of the candidates were men of local prominence again chosen for their personal prestige rather than their political views.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Results
Whilst four PDPA members had been elected in the 1965 election, in 1969 only 2 were elected; Babrak Karmal in Kabul, and Hafizullah Amin in Paghman. The Parcham faction of the PDPA, favoured by Karmal, was particularly disappointed with the result, being supportive of gradual moves towards socialism. In the face of the results Parcham resumed their alliance with "progressive" elements in the Afghan ruling elite. Amin had been the only member of the Khalq faction elected to parliament, and his election increased his standing within the group, which opposed the kind of broad collaboration advocated by Parcham.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Results
Islamic revolutionary groups only began formally organizing after the election, and had no representation in the parliament. The parliament did however contain an Islamic conservative bloc.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Results
Other than the dominance of conservative landowners and businessmen, the election also saw the parliament become more ethnically representative, with a far greater number of non-Pashtuns being elected. The election also saw the decline of liberal voices, with most urban liberal losing their seats, and all female delegates losing their seats. Other than Karmal and Amin, there were few leftists in the new parliament, with Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal, the former Prime Minister and a vocal democratic-socialist, losing his seat as a result of government interference.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Results
The Kabul Times reported that turnout was 60% of registered, though with only 16.6% of the country as registered voters. ; Nur Ahmad Etemadi became the new Prime Minister.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Aftermath
Whilst somewhat more reflective of Afghanistan as a whole, the new parliament was plagued by lethargy and deadlock, with only 1 minor bill being passed in the 1969/1970 session. Amid growing polarisation in politics, the King came under increasing criticism (although he maintained his personal popularity) over his political decisions, such as not putting forward his own Prime Ministerial candidate, and from withholding consent from legislation such as the political parties bill.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Aftermath
Some critics focused not on the King, but other members of the royal family, particularly General Sardar Shah Wali Khan, the Kings cousin; son-in-law; and a prominent military figure. Wali was particularly hated by Afghan leftists for having ordered Afghan troops to fire on demonstrations in October 1965. Other major issues involved the governments poor response to the 1972 famine, which had left up to 100,000 Afghans dead. Simultaneously, there was increasing public dissent over the lack of stable governance, with Afghanistan having had 5 Prime Ministers since 1963.


1969 Afghan parliamentary election, Aftermath
Amid this atmosphere of instability and dissent Mohammed Daoud Khan launched the 1973 coup d'état, ending the Afghan monarchy.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs
The African Cup of Champions Clubs 1969 was the 5th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CAF region (Africa), the African Cup of Champions Clubs. It determined that year's club champion of association football in Africa.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs
The tournament was played by 20 teams and used a knock-out format with ties played home and away. Ismaily SC from United Arab Republic won the final, and became CAF club champion for the first time, beating Congo-Kinshasa's TP Englebert, who made their third final in a row.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs, Quarter-Finals
1 Asante Kotoko won after drawing of lots. When a coin was flipped and before it landed while still on air , the Asante Kotoko captain deceived Yanga captain by quickly  jumping  and celebrate providing a victory gesture. Referee deceived by  the trick and  without cross checking declared a victory to Kotoko  and hence that cruel decision went in favour of Kotoko.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs, Top scorers
The top scorers from the 1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs are as follows:


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs Final
The 1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs Final was the final of the 1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs Final
It was a football tie held over two legs in December 1969 and January 1970 between TP Englebert of Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ismaily  of United Arab Republic.


1969 African Cup of Champions Clubs Final
Ismaily won the final with aggregate 5–3, became the 1st Egyptian club to win the cup.


1969 Air Canada Silver Broom
The 1969 Air Canada Silver Broom, the men's world curling championship, was held at the Perth Ice Rink in Perth, Scotland.


1969 Air Canada Silver Broom, Teams
Skip : Erik GylenhammarThird: Sverre MichelsenSecond: Nils Anton Riise-HanssenLead: Kai Dyvik


1969 Air Force Falcons football team
The 1969 Air Force Falcons football team represented the United States Air Force Academy in the 1969 NCAA University Division football season as a University Division Independent. They were led by twelfth–year head coach Ben Martin. The Falcons played their home games at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They outscored their opponents 267–177 and finished with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses (6–4).


1969 Akron Zips football team
The 1969 Akron Zips football team represented Akron University in the 1969 NCAA College Division football season as an independent. Led by ninth-year head coach Gordon K. Larson, the Zips played their home games at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio. They finished the season with a record of 9–1, ranked third in the AP NCAA College Division poll, and outscored their opponents 316–103.


1969 Alabama 200
The 1969 Alabama 200 was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on December 8, 1968, at Montgomery Speedway in Montgomery, Alabama. Seven lead changes were exchanged amongst three different leaders.


1969 Alabama 200
The transition to purpose-built racecars began in the early 1960s and occurred gradually over that decade. Changes made to the sport by the late 1960s brought an end to the "strictly stock" vehicles of the 1950s.


1969 Alabama 200, Background
Montgomery Motor Speedway is a half-mile (.805 km) oval race track just west of Montgomery, Alabama. It opened in 1953, and is the oldest operating race track in Alabama. It held six Grand National Series races between 1955 and 1969.


1969 Alabama 200, Summary
Bobby Allison managed to defeat Richard Petty by a distance of 4 feet (48 in). Two hundred laps were done on a paved oval track spanning 0.500 miles (0.805 km). Eleven laps were given two cautions flags due to various racing issues. Only 2800 people would attend this live race with the average racing speed being 73.200 miles per hour (117.804 km/h). However, the event was a "crowd pleaser" with most fans going home in a pleasant mood after the ending. Sherral Pruitt would be the last-place finisher due to his 1966 Chevrolet Chevelle overheating. Other finishers in the top ten were (in reverse order): Dave Marcis, Cecil Gordon, Henley Gray, Ben Arnold, John Sears, Neil Castles, Bobby Isaac, and James Hylton.


1969 Alabama 200, Summary
Elmo Langley, Red Farmer, and Roy Tyner were also notable NASCAR drivers who attended this event. It took one hour and twenty-one minutes to go from the first green flag to the checkered flag. Bill Ervin would retire from NASCAR after this race was held while Lee Gordon would start his NASCAR career here. Hylton still races regularly in the ARCA Series (currently being sponsored by Menards).


1969 Alabama 200, Summary
While the winner of the race got to take home a thousand dollars in winnings ($6,971.87 when considering inflation), the bottom nine finishers of the race were lucky to receive a paycheck for $100 ($697.19 when considering inflation).


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
The 1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team (variously "Alabama", "UA" or "Bama") represented the University of Alabama in the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. It was the Crimson Tide's 75th overall and 36th season as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The team was led by head coach Bear Bryant, in his 12th year, and played their home games at Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama. They finished season with six wins and five losses (6–5 overall, 2–4 in the SEC) and with a loss against Colorado in the Liberty Bowl.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
Alabama opened the season ranked No. 13 and defeated VPI at Blacksburg and Southern Miss in the first regular season game played at Denny Stadium on AstroTurf. In their third game, the Crimson Tide defeated an Archie Manning led Ole Miss squad 33–32 in a record-breaking game before a nationally televised audience. Alabama then lost consecutive game for the first time during Bryant's tenure as head coach against Vanderbilt and Tennessee.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
After their loss to Tennessee, Alabama rebounded with victories at Clemson and at Mississippi State before they lost their third game of the season at LSU. They rebounded the next week with a homecoming victory over Miami but then lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl. In the December that followed, Alabama lost 47–33 to Colorado in the Liberty Bowl.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team
The 1969 season marked the 100th anniversary of the start of college football, and as such Alabama commemorated the event by altering their helmet design. Instead of the player number, the helmet for the 1969 season featured the number "100" inside a football to commemorate the anniversary of the first college football game.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, VPI
To open the 1968 season, Alabama defeated the Virginia Tech (also then known as VPI) Gobblers 17–13 at Lane Stadium in a back-and-forth game between the teams. After VPI took an early 3–0 lead on a 19-yard Jack Simcsak field goal, Alabama responded later in the first with a 40-yard Richard Ciemny field goal that tied the game 3–3. Alabama then took a 10–3 lead on a one-yard Johnny Musso touchdown run in the second quarter. The Hokies were then able to tie the game 10–10 at halftime with a five-yard Al Kincaid touchdown run.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, VPI
In the third quarter, George Ranager scored what was the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run and a 45-yard Simcsak field goal in the fourth provided for the final margin in the 17–13 Crimson Tide victory. The 42,000 in attendance was the largest crowd to date to witness a football game in the commonwealth of Virginia and required the addition of 7,000 temporary seats to accommodate demand. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Virginia Tech to 5–0.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Southern Miss
After their close victory over Virginia Tech, Alabama dropped into the No. 15 position in the AP Poll prior to their game against Southern Miss. In their home opener, Alabama defeated the Southerners 63–14 behind a ten-point rally in the fourth quarter. Alabama took a 9–0 first quarter lead on a five-yard Scott Hunter touchdown pass to Pete Jilleba and a 25-yard Richard Ciemny field goal. After Frank Johnston cut the Crimson Tide lead to 9–7 with his one-yard touchdown run, Alabama scored 26 second quarter points that extended their lead to 35–7 at halftime. The four second-quarter touchdowns were scored on runs of 11-yards by George Ranager, one-yard by Hunter, six-yards by Johnny Musso and nine-yards by Bubba Sawyer.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Southern Miss
Alabama opened the third quarter with a two-yard Musso touchdown run, and then Southern scored their other touchdown on a six-yard Danny Palmer pass to Billy Mikel that made the score 42–14. The Crimson Tide then closed the game with a pair of Neb Hayden touchdown runs from one and four-yards and by Benny Rippetoe on a four-yard run that made the final score 63–14. The game was the first played on an AstroTurf surface between Denny Field opponents as it was installed during the previous spring. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Southern Miss to 11–2–1.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
After their blowout victory over Southern Miss, Alabama retained their No. 15 position in the AP Poll prior to their game at Ole Miss. Before a nationally televised, prime time audience, Alabama defeated the Rebels 33–32 in an offensive shootout that saw the offenses combined to set one NCAA and nine SEC records. After the teams traded first-quarter touchdown runs of one-yard by Johnny Musso and two-yards by Archie Manning, Alabama took a 14–7 halftime lead on a 17-yard Bubba Sawyer touchdown run.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
At the end of the third quarter, Alabama retained a 21–20 lead after the teams again traded touchdowns. The Rebels scored first on an 11-yard Manning pass to Floyd Franks, followed by a one-yard Musso run and a 17-yard Manning run. Both teams then traded fourth-quarter touchdowns with the Crimson Tide coming out on top 33–32. Ole Miss touchdowns were scored on a two-yard Manning pass to Riley Myers and a one-yard Manning run, and Alabama touchdowns were scored on a one-yard Scott Hunter run and 14-yard Hunter pass to George Ranager.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Ole Miss
Records set in this game included a new national record for passes completed between both teams with 55. Conference records set in the game by Rebels quarterback Archie Manning included most passing yards, attempts and completions in a single game by going 33 of 52 for 436 yards in addition to most total offense by a single player with 540 yards. The victory improved Alabama's all-time record against Ole Miss to 21–4–2.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
After their victory over the Rebels, Alabama moved into the No. 13 position of the AP Poll prior to their game against Vanderbilt. At Nashville the Commodores upset Alabama 14–10 and ended a nine-game losing streak against the Crimson Tide. After Alabama took a 3–0 first quarter lead on a 19-yard Mike Dean field goal, Vanderbilt responded in the second quarter with an unexpected halfback pass by Doug Mathews from six yards out, to wingback David Strong, who was standing all alone in the end zone, giving them the halftime lead 7–3.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt opened the second half with possession of the football. Mathews fumbled the ball and Alabama's defensive end, Wayne Rhodes made the recovery at the Vanderbilt 19-yard line. On the first play, George Ranger swept around the right end for a Crimson Tide touchdown. With just 1:35 elapsed in the third quarter, Dean's conversion gave Alabama a 10-7 margin. In the third quarter, Vanderbilt, chewed up the clock, combining on short passes and running the ball, cutting nine minutes off the clock in a 25-play drive.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
With the ball on the 1-yard line, the Commodores failed to get the ball into the end zone. Vanderbilt's field goal attempt, sailed to the left of the uprights. The Commodores defense, led by Pat Toomay, put pressure on Alabama throughout the game. Vanderbilt began its march to the winning touchdown with 7:30 left in the game. Denny Painter began the drive at quarterback for Vanderbilt and hit Curt Chesley on passes of 18, 6, and 17 yards to get the drive rolling, then a key pass to David Strong of 19 yards extended the drive.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Watson Brown, who turned down a scholarship from Bryant, came into the game for Painter in a first-down situation at the Tide's 21-yard line. On Brown's first play, he handed off to Mathews who bulled his way for 11 yards down to the 10, but on the next play, Daniel Lipperman failed to gain a yard on a running play, setting up a second-and-long situation. Brown turned to his right, faked a hand-off, quickly turned and threw a strike to tight end Jim Cunningham. Cunningham, stayed on the line of scrimmage, caught the ball and ran into the end zone. Pandemonium broke out in the stands as the crowd reacted to the dramatic finish. The conversion was successful and Vanderbilt took the lead, 14–10.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
However, there were still two minutes on the clock, plenty of time for gunslinger Scott Hunter (American football) to move the ball into scoring range. Vandys' defense forced Alabama into a fourth down situation on its own 21-yard line. On Alabama's final desperation pass attempt, Commodore defender Les Lyle broke through the line and slammed Hunter to the ground for a sack. Vanderbilt fans believed the game over, yet a flag was thrown on Lyle for being offsides. Alabama still needed two more yards for a first down, since the offsides penalty did not give Alabama the much-needed first down.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
The next play, defensive tackle, Buzz Hamilton exploded through the line hitting Hunter and forcing him to throw an underhanded pass that landed untouched on the ground. Vanderbilt won the game, 14–10. This would be the last time that Vanderbilt has won a game against Alabama in Nashville as of 2017.


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
Years later Watson Brown said in a 2007 interview of coach Bryant. “Coach Bryant, before the game, walked by and was cutting up with me.”  “He said, ‘you couldn’t throw when I recruited you, you can’t throw now and you’ll never be able to throw.’ He just kept walking and patted me on the head. Then after we won the game, he found me in all the melee and it was melee. He gave me a hug and didn't say anything and strolled into the locker room.”


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
“When I couldn’t play anymore and decided I wanted to coach, Coach Bryant really got me started and I called him for advice on every job I was offered until the day he died. He kind of took me under his wing and said, ‘I’ll help you go here, maybe don’t go here.’ It was real neat that I didn't play for him, but he took care of me until he passed away.”


1969 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Game summaries, Vanderbilt
The loss brought Alabama's all-time record against Vanderbilt to 26–17–4.