By Coincidence, And To Get Things Into Perspective

[SatanGreavsie]

18 years ago today we played a league game against Chester in front of 1,867 fans (we won 1-0); today they face expulsion from the Blue Square Conference (unless they find money they owe) while we're 12th in the Premier League. Of course it's an unfair comparison in one sense - we should be doing better than them. But it does serve to put things into some perspective...

[MickyD]

Which is what the club ought to be telling those who got bored with Premier League football. Big crowds 8 years ago but dwindling off. This isn't inviting anti-Megson shite, I doubt folk would come back in their droves if he went and we got a big-name manager in.

[HR]

18 years ago today we played a league game against Chester in front of 1,867 fans

 

Yes but there was a better atmosphere then, we went to games to piss in each others pockets and get bitten by police dogs blah blah blah....

 

Or maybe some of us cant accept that we arent young and stupid anymore.

[MickyD]

Well, not young anyway!

[george]

Chester aren't as unpleasant a little club as Tranmere but they had a small band of mouthy supporters like Wigan's who wound me up slightly by singing "You're not famous anymore" at Burnden Park

I will shed no tears if they fold.

[Widnes Two Hats]

I may have made this up but

 

Weren't we the last team to play at their old ground and first team to play at their new ground?

 

Chester that is

[Sluffy]

I may have made this up but

 

Weren't we the last team to play at their old ground and first team to play at their new ground?

 

Chester that is

 

No.

 

The first competitive match at the Deva Stadium took place on 25 August 1992 against Stockport County, with the visitors running out 2?1 victors. The following Saturday saw the first League game at the new home of Chester City, which saw the Blues overcome Burnley 3?0. The Deva Stadium is notable for crossing the England-Wales border: while most of the pitch is in Wales, the main stand, a quarter of the pitch and club offices are in England.

[Gonk]

No.

 

The first competitive match at the Deva Stadium took place on 25 August 1992 against Stockport County, with the visitors running out 2?1 victors. The following Saturday saw the first League game at the new home of Chester City, which saw the Blues overcome Burnley 3?0. The Deva Stadium is notable for crossing the England-Wales border: while most of the pitch is in Wales, the main stand, a quarter of the pitch and club offices are in England.

 

What Sluffy is trying to say is - you made it up.

[onlyoneawalker]

Aren't Chester owned by some dodgy scouse drug dealer?

[Carlos]

Aren't Chester owned by some dodgy scouse drug dealer?

 

Unless you provide proof of that accusation you are taking a short break from WW.

[Carlos]

Back to the point, back in 1992 when Rioch had taken over and not got off to the best of starts, we played Chester and I think they went 2 up and we pulled 2 back, possibly McGinlay's first goal for Bolton??? Here's the league table from before that game:

 

http://www.boltonwanderers-mad.co.uk/footy...2&teamno=80

 

In the modern era, the current fanbase would have already hounded Rioch out, at 2-0 they'd have been shouting for his head and bombarding websites with abuse.

 

Had we not drawn that game and then away at Preston 2 weeks later, we could possibly have still been in that division now. At the time, we were both established lower division teams and no one thought we should be beating teams like them. Now people thing we should be beating everyone bar Man Utd et al, Chester are over 100 places behind us and heading lower. So people need to think about this next time they've got their bedsheets and paint out.

[DaveTheRave]

Back to the point, back in 1992 when Rioch had taken over and not got off to the best of starts, we played Chester and I think they went 2 up and we pulled 2 back, possibly McGinlay's first goal for Bolton??? Here's the league table from before that game:

 

http://www.boltonwanderers-mad.co.uk/footy...2&teamno=80

 

In the modern era, the current fanbase would have already hounded Rioch out, at 2-0 they'd have been shouting for his head and bombarding websites with abuse.

 

Had we not drawn that game and then away at Preston 2 weeks later, we could possibly have still been in that division now. At the time, we were both established lower division teams and no one thought we should be beating teams like them. Now people thing we should be beating everyone bar Man Utd et al, Chester are over 100 places behind us and heading lower. So people need to think about this next time they've got their bedsheets and paint out.

 

It was indeed Super Johns first goal for us. Remember it well. Reevesy got the other goal. Great day out

[jayjayoghani]

Unless you provide proof of that accusation you are taking a short break from WW.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Vaughan,_Sr.

 

Been investigated for money laundering but convicted of nothing

[Carlos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Vaughan,_Sr.

 

Been investigated for money laundering but convicted of nothing

 

Oh aye, I have no problem with him being described as dodgy.

[Traf]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Vaughan,_Sr.

 

Been investigated for money laundering but convicted of nothing

 

The allegations are that the money being laundered was from drug dealing.

 

These are, however, unproven at present.

[Casino]

re Rioch - i do believe it got a bit nasty at both chester and preston aways played in and around that time

 

trailed by 2 in both

 

but, point taken

[onlyoneawalker]

The allegations are that the money being laundered was from drug dealing.

 

These are, however, unproven at present.

 

Sorry did I miss out alledged - apologies MODS no stress intended

[Carlos]

re Rioch - i do believe it got a bit nasty at both chester and preston aways played in and around that time

 

trailed by 2 in both

 

but, point taken

 

Agreed but it was directed towards the Warbies not Rioch.

[Smiffs]

There was lots of pissing and moaning at that Chester game when we were 2-0. I cant remember who at or why, but there was moaning and huge relief/celebration when we came back to draw. I can't remember going to the Preston game, but I cant remember going to many Preston games to be honest.

 

My contempt for Chester goes back to an AutoPaintVans Cup game when Mark Came (I think it was) had is leg broken by some part time binman and the Chester manager, may have been Frank Burrows, said 'Tis a mons game, the big soft cunt' or words to that effect.

[Casino]

can't remenber who did his leg, whether it was benjamin or bennet

 

frank burrows has a reputation of being old school gent....was it not your mate barrow?

[SatanGreavsie]

Back to the point, back in 1992 when Rioch had taken over and not got off to the best of starts, we played Chester and I think they went 2 up and we pulled 2 back, possibly McGinlay's first goal for Bolton??? Here's the league table from before that game:

 

http://www.boltonwanderers-mad.co.uk/footy...2&teamno=80

 

intersting thing about that table is that a quarter of the teams in it are now in the Premier; add to that WBA and Reading have very recent PL experience and Preston have made the playoffs many times and are quite likely to again.

Meanwhile, if you look at the PL at the end of that year, the entire bottom half - bar Everton - are now outside of the Premier.

So it shows how things change.

Thing is though if you could go back to the week of that table and ask for a comment on our current situation 17 years later, the response would depend on the info given.

e.g. if back then you'd have asked for my reaction to us being in PL in 2009 I might have said summat to the effect of "bloody hell, how did we manage that? let's hope we don't embarrass ourselves too much...".

BUT if you had added that it was out 9 th consecutive season in PL and that in the process we'd amassed prize and TV money of at least a quarter of a billion quid, then - once I'd been revived from the shock - I'd have said summat to the effect of "well somehow we've established ourselves at the top table, now let's build on that".

For all the fact that we have to keep the perspective that the past presents, we equally have to modify expectations based on more recent events.

Possibly the most important point is not how far the side slumped - that can change quite quick as we've seen - but how far the crowds slumped. In terms of hard core support that's harder to claw back.

[Smiffs]

can't remenber who did his leg, whether it was benjamin or bennet

 

frank burrows has a reputation of being old school gent....was it not your mate barrow?

 

Aye, could have been actually, thinking about it wasn't Burrows at Cardiff? Same era.......

[Carlos]

intersting thing about that table is that a quarter of the teams in it are now in the Premier; add to that WBA and Reading have very recent PL experience and Preston have made the playoffs many times and are quite likely to again.

Meanwhile, if you look at the PL at the end of that year, the entire bottom half - bar Everton - are now outside of the Premier.

So it shows how things change.

Thing is though if you could go back to the week of that table and ask for a comment on our current situation 17 years later, the response would depend on the info given.

e.g. if back then you'd have asked for my reaction to us being in PL in 2009 I might have said summat to the effect of "bloody hell, how did we manage that? let's hope we don't embarrass ourselves too much...".

BUT if you had added that it was out 9 th consecutive season in PL and that in the process we'd amassed prize and TV money of at least a quarter of a billion quid, then - once I'd been revived from the shock - I'd have said summat to the effect of "well somehow we've established ourselves at the top table, now let's build on that".

For all the fact that we have to keep the perspective that the past presents, we equally have to modify expectations based on more recent events.

Possibly the most important point is not how far the side slumped - that can change quite quick as we've seen - but how far the crowds slumped. In terms of hard core support that's harder to claw back.

 

I don't agree with you completely, the complete story would also have to include the fact that we were ?50m+ (?) in debt and that although the Premier league money is astronomical, the lower leagues are pretty much unchanged. And the half the top division teams were in foreign hands with teams such as Chelsea and Citeh being bankrolled almost without constraints.

[onlyoneawalker]

I think Frank Burrows was Megsons Assistant at WBA?