You Tube Bolton Stuff

[paulhanley]

Back to adding games from our previous Div 4 season in 87/88 to You Tube. 

After our FA Cup Second Round success at Wrexham on the first weekend of December the second saw the first of a few Friday night games for Bolton during this season. A long trip to Colchester offered us a chance to put points on the board after a draw and defeat in the two previous league fixtures. However our hopes perished on a cold Essex night with ex Bury nemesis Winston White scoring twice. Dave Higson's sighs are audible.

The defeat meant we'd won 9 drawn 5 and lost 6. After a good run in October and early November our form was dipping once more. The following Tuesday we lost 2-0 at Tranmere (I've got this game but its not being posted as I am not giving the skiprats the pleasure of seeing an old win over us) and it began to feel like the season was crumbling. 

The Colchester defeat was our first visit to play them. The 2-0 defeat there a couple of weeks ago was our second! We beat them 4-0 at home in the penultimate game of this season so let's hope we hammer them at home this season too! 

 

[jayjayoghani]

Neal's touch on that first goal... 

[paulhanley]

12 minutes ago, jayjayoghani said:

Neal's touch on that first goal... 

England International 🙄

[dusan nikolic]

21 hours ago, paulhanley said:

Back to adding games from our previous Div 4 season in 87/88 to You Tube. 

After our FA Cup Second Round success at Wrexham on the first weekend of December the second saw the first of a few Friday night games for Bolton during this season. A long trip to Colchester offered us a chance to put points on the board after a draw and defeat in the two previous league fixtures. However our hopes perished on a cold Essex night with ex Bury nemesis Winston White scoring twice. Dave Higson's sighs are audible.

The defeat meant we'd won 9 drawn 5 and lost 6. After a good run in October and early November our form was dipping once more. The following Tuesday we lost 2-0 at Tranmere (I've got this game but its not being posted as I am not giving the skiprats the pleasure of seeing an old win over us) and it began to feel like the season was crumbling. 

The Colchester defeat was our first visit to play them. The 2-0 defeat there a couple of weeks ago was our second! We beat them 4-0 at home in the penultimate game of this season so let's hope we hammer them at home this season too! 

 

Cheers Paul , we looked well beaten in this one , in Fairness they zipped it around really well and scored some good goals. 

[paulhanley]

2 hours ago, dusan nikolic said:

Cheers Paul , we looked well beaten in this one , in Fairness they zipped it around really well and scored some good goals. 

Yes things felt quite pessimistic at this stage. One of those dodgy little runs of 3-4 games that we kept having during the season.

[Wullie]

I have to be honest, i was 16, in my first year at college and actually got permission to leave college at lunch to see this one. I didn't go to another away until late Jan after this one, my memory isn't so good but they really made us look a poor side, and I was fed up with our be good one match, be disappointing next.

[paulhanley]

3 hours ago, Wullie said:

I have to be honest, i was 16, in my first year at college and actually got permission to leave college at lunch to see this one. I didn't go to another away until late Jan after this one, my memory isn't so good but they really made us look a poor side, and I was fed up with our be good one match, be disappointing next.

We were certainly like that in various phases of the season. Inbetween we had enough good runs to grab 3rd.

Of course 5 months later we trounced these 4-0 at Burnden. 

We won 7 away games this season but lost 10. It really was our home form that saw us through. 

[Casino]

4 hours ago, Wullie said:

I have to be honest, i was 16, in my first year at college and actually got permission to leave college at lunch to see this one. I didn't go to another away until late Jan after this one, my memory isn't so good but they really made us look a poor side, and I was fed up with our be good one match, be disappointing next.

Gave it a swerve as we were banned

[paulhanley]

 

Back to postings from 1987/88

 

With Christmas on the horizon Bolton had slipped from their Autumnal promotion threatening form and gained one point from their previous four league games. A dismal 2-0 midweek defeat at Tranmere followed a 3-0 Friday night reverse at Colchester leaving us on Won 9 Drawn 5 Lost 7. 

 

Next up (December 19) was a home game with Wrexham whom we had defeated away in the FA Cup Second Round a fortnight previously. League points were badly needed. A reflection of the loss of confidence in the promotion push from the Bolton public was the 3700 Burnden attendance. Although this was also the last Saturday before Christmas and a day of downpours. 

 

On a bog of a surface the game was a real arm-wrestle. Bolton's nerves were settled when Steve Thompson repeated his recent habit of scoring from a free-kick. This time he partly had the keeper to thank for fumbling his low and powerful shot. The game remained at 1-0 and on a knife edge until injury time when Trevor Morgan rose unchallenged to meet a corner and seal the game. A much required three points saw Bolton enter the festive period on a more even keel. 

 

Apologies for the commentary not being in sync with the footage for some of these clips.

One other point of note from a personal perspective. I saw many, many games from the Burnden Paddock in my time. This was the one and only game I ever watched from the Burnden Stand.

 

 

[dusan nikolic]

3 hours ago, paulhanley said:

 

Back to postings from 1987/88

 

With Christmas on the horizon Bolton had slipped from their Autumnal promotion threatening form and gained one point from their previous four league games. A dismal 2-0 midweek defeat at Tranmere followed a 3-0 Friday night reverse at Colchester leaving us on Won 9 Drawn 5 Lost 7. 

 

Next up (December 19) was a home game with Wrexham whom we had defeated away in the FA Cup Second Round a fortnight previously. League points were badly needed. A reflection of the loss of confidence in the promotion push from the Bolton public was the 3700 Burnden attendance. Although this was also the last Saturday before Christmas and a day of downpours. 

 

On a bog of a surface the game was a real arm-wrestle. Bolton's nerves were settled when Steve Thompson repeated his recent habit of scoring from a free-kick. This time he partly had the keeper to thank for fumbling his low and powerful shot. The game remained at 1-0 and on a knife edge until injury time when Trevor Morgan rose unchallenged to meet a corner and seal the game. A much required three points saw Bolton enter the festive period on a more even keel. 

 

Apologies for the commentary not being in sync with the footage for some of these clips.

One other point of note from a personal perspective. I saw many, many games from the Burnden Paddock in my time. This was the one and only game I ever watched from the Burnden Stand.

 

 

Cheers Paul . A good win to stem the tide and Steve Thompson showing what an important cog he was starting to become , Phil Neal certainly missed him in the 91/92 season no doubt. Did Morgan and Elliott jockey for the same position all season or did Morgan make it his own at any stage?

[Biggish Dave]

8 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Cheers Paul . A good win to stem the tide and Steve Thompson showing what an important cog he was starting to become , Phil Neal certainly missed him in the 91/92 season no doubt. Did Morgan and Elliott jockey for the same position all season or did Morgan make it his own at any stage?

Memory tells me J.T had a month/6 weeks out in Feb or March time and we had to run with both of them at the same time? What a mobile strike force 

[paulhanley]

1 hour ago, dusan nikolic said:

Cheers Paul . A good win to stem the tide and Steve Thompson showing what an important cog he was starting to become , Phil Neal certainly missed him in the 91/92 season no doubt. Did Morgan and Elliott jockey for the same position all season or did Morgan make it his own at any stage?

As the season wore on Morgan did predominate. Or at least that's my memory. 

Oh for a Steve Thompson in our current midfield!

[dusan nikolic]

6 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

As the season wore on Morgan did predominate. Or at least that's my memory. 

Oh for a Steve Thompson in our current midfield!

Thompson and Darby , these 2 certainly knew were the net was.

[paulhanley]

6 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Thompson and Darby , these 2 certainly knew were the net was.

Julian Darby got a lot of stick latterly but he was certainly third tier standard and when Steve Thompson matured (which he had by 1987) he was shaping to be better than third tier standard. They'd both get in our current XI.

[dusan nikolic]

15 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

Julian Darby got a lot of stick latterly but he was certainly third tier standard and when Steve Thompson matured (which he had by 1987) he was shaping to be better than third tier standard. They'd both get in our current XI.

Without a doubt , I think after us Tommo had a good few years with Leicester and Darby had a spell in the top flight with Coventry .

[paulhanley]

7 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Without a doubt , I think after us Tommo had a good few years with Leicester and Darby had a spell in the top flight with Coventry .

He was a late developer. And that was partially due to the fact he was chucked into the side too young and not shielded when going through poor form. From 83-6 he certainly contributed but you could see he was a boy in a man's game. He was often out on the right too. In the side that got relegated to Div 4 he started to shine and once in Div 4 he became central. Then in the years thereafter he got better and better. The one thing that his game really lacked was a yard of pace. If he'd possessed that he'd have been top flight class for a good while.

In that early to mid 80s side though him, Warren and Joyce and one or two others were over-exposed and it set them back.

[BWFC_LOVE]

I’m fascinated with the case of Julian Darby, a player before my time but is largely renowned for being a local boy made a scapegoat. 

I presume he was one of Neal’s favourites and nowhere near good enough for the top flight, but he obviously had something about him?

[Biggish Dave]

18 minutes ago, BWFC_LOVE said:

I’m fascinated with the case of Julian Darby, a player before my time but is largely renowned for being a local boy made a scapegoat. 

I presume he was one of Neal’s favourites and nowhere near good enough for the top flight, but he obviously had something about him?

Think Josh Vela with a bit more about him and you’re not far off the mark.

Went through a bad patch towards the end of Neal’s rain to the point when a sub was being made, a couple of folk on the paddock were holding up his number.

Stepped up to the plate in our 92/93 promotion season, scored important goals against Bournemouth and Stoke.

Never my favourite player but well worth his place in the team back then but top end of what is currently L1 was his level imo

[Biggish Dave]

Just now, Biggish Dave said:

Think Josh Vela with a bit more about him and you’re not far off the mark.

Went through a bad patch towards the end of Neal’s reign to the point when a sub was being made, a couple of folk on the paddock were holding up his number.

Stepped up to the plate in our 92/93 promotion season, scored important goals against Bournemouth and Stoke.

Never my favourite player but well worth his place in the team back then but top end of what is currently L1 was his level imo

 

[BWFC_LOVE]

6 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

Think Josh Vela with a bit more about him and you’re not far off the mark.

Went through a bad patch towards the end of Neal’s rain to the point when a sub was being made, a couple of folk on the paddock were holding up his number.

Stepped up to the plate in our 92/93 promotion season, scored important goals against Bournemouth and Stoke.

Never my favourite player but well worth his place in the team back then but top end of what is currently L1 was his level imo

Thanks; the Vela comparison is exactly what I had in mind.

On the subject of players punching above their weight, I note that Ream, Basham and Robinson all started in defence in the same game this afternoon in the Premier League. Which would’ve seemed outrageous to me two years ago, so what do I know. 

[Biggish Dave]

4 minutes ago, BWFC_LOVE said:

Thanks; the Vela comparison is exactly what I had in mind.

On the subject of players punching above their weight, I note that Ream, Basham and Robinson all started in defence in the same game this afternoon in the Premier League. Which would’ve seemed outrageous to me two years ago, so what do I know. 

Noticed that myself and with Cahill also playing for Palace, shows how far we’ve fallen in a short time especially as 3 of the 4 played prem for us

[MancWanderer]

1 hour ago, Biggish Dave said:

Think Josh Vela with a bit more about him and you’re not far off the mark.

Went through a bad patch towards the end of Neal’s rain to the point when a sub was being made, a couple of folk on the paddock were holding up his number.

Stepped up to the plate in our 92/93 promotion season, scored important goals against Bournemouth and Stoke.

Never my favourite player but well worth his place in the team back then but top end of what is currently L1 was his level imo

Agreed. He did nothing wrong. Did the job he was asked to do and helped get us out of that division. Never understood the stick that he got. That Stoke game when he scored was the last game I went to with my Dad. 

[Traf]

Darby was unlucky IMO. Local lad who would have run through walls for the club. A very good cricketer with a virtually guaranteed county career found it impossible to turn the Wanderers down.  

His role was to break up play, give it to the playmaker (Thompson) and maybe chip in with a few goals.
And it went well enough until Thompson left and Darby was expected to fill the void, whilst still being a tackler. It was too much to ask and his form naturally suffered, but he was very harshly treated by the fans IMO.

[bolton va va]

Julian Darby was a prime example of a player being singled out for abuse simply because he was a local lad. In fact, he was one of our better players from that period....always gave it everything, scored a good few goals & even played well in defence a few times.

[Duck Egg]

Darby was a great player for us, up until the Tranmere play off loss.  Some of the goals he scored for us were Scholes'esque.

As the teams form suffered the following season, so did his and he was singled out for stick by the fanzine at the time (Here we go again?) which eventually worked its way onto the terraces.  Unbelievable to think he was getting booed by some when his name was read out.  His style of play wasnt suited to the Rioch era and it was the right time to move on but his name deserves to be up there with the best of our lower division players.

At his lowest ebb he scored a goal that still gives me goosebumps today.  Southampton away in the FA cup.