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Wanderers Ways. Neil Thompson 1961-2021

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Posted
6 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

Wasnt he one of these that "couldn't do a full 90"?

 

3 minutes ago, radcliffewhite1 said:

He was on our train back from Spurs one year so when it got into Manc me ,colonel, DG pulled him on the platform after a day on the ale 😀

had time for chat and wasn’t very complimentary of that wanker coyle 

Coyle was probably jealous.

Klasnic was the player he wanted to be.

Posted

Klasnic obviously had a right to start in the Stoke semi as he’d scored in every round.

Did he touch the ball in that game though? So much more effective off the bench. Scored a few with his back to goal.

 

Not sure if this has appeared on this thread before. I love footage of all of our games in 97/98 as it was my first proper season. 

Great following here. Missed a hatful of chances once again, when a point would’ve kept us up.

Also not the first time I’ve seen Branagan caught in no mans land in this season (Ketsbaia’s winner being another case of this). 

Posted
42 minutes ago, Marc505 said:

What did he have to say about him? I first read that as you got him out with you, fucking hell that would have been a sight 

Nearly did he was loving it

basically how he lost the dressing room and he baffled many players with certain selections 

 

Posted
2 hours ago, BWFC_LOVE said:

Klasnic obviously had a right to start in the Stoke semi as he’d scored in every round.

Did he touch the ball in that game though? So much more effective off the bench. Scored a few with his back to goal.

 

Not sure if this has appeared on this thread before. I love footage of all of our games in 97/98 as it was my first proper season. 

Great following here. Missed a hatful of chances once again, when a point would’ve kept us up.

Also not the first time I’ve seen Branagan caught in no mans land in this season (Ketsbaia’s winner being another case of this). 

Didn’t remember us having so many chances in that game!

Posted

I'm trying to post a couple of old games each weekend when normal footy should be happening. Today it's back to 86/7 and our relegation season to Div 4. Despite a dreadful season overall we had a great run in November and December and that included the early rounds of the FA Cup.

Many will remember the First Round trilogy v Halifax and the pitch invasion at The Shay in the first tie. The Third Round game is also on You Tube - a 3-0 defeat at eventual winners, top flight Coventry. This is the Second Round match in early December. Third Division Bolton defeat Fourth Division Tranmere 2-0 in the days just before the relationship between the clubs/fans became more toxic.

There's a good Tony Caldwell goal in the first half followed by a Steve Thompson long-range classic in the second. Thommo was just beginning to emerge from his fragile youthful days as a pro despite Bolton's continued decline. I suspect in a better side he would have matured more quickly. He plays wide right in this match, something that happened often in his younger days.

Frank Worthington made one of his three or four mid-80s Burnden returns for Tranmere and Stockport in this game. One on occasion (can't remember if it was this game) Phil Neal complained about the constant chanting of an opposition player's name. Other names on the visitor's teamsheet became more familiar in an annoying way in the three or four years following this - Mark Hughes, Johnny Morrisey etc.

 

Posted

Some great moves there and 2 cracking goals.  How did a team with Tomo, Hartford, Gavin and Caldwell etc get relegated from such a poor league at the time.

Loved the ticker tape after the 1st goal, that was a fashion at the time, the team came out to ticker tape receptions most games for a period!

Posted
25 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Some great moves there and 2 cracking goals.  How did a team with Tomo, Hartford, Gavin and Caldwell etc get relegated from such a poor league at the time.

Loved the ticker tape after the 1st goal, that was a fashion at the time, the team came out to ticker tape receptions most games for a period!

That team did look really good for a couple of months and then in New Year 87 it all went very sour. The goals dried up badly. We had loads of 0-0 draws, especially away from home. Hardly any wins. It was almost like we went ultra defensive and team spirit went sour with it.

I think the ticker tape thing started after the World Cup in Argentina in 78.

Posted
1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

Loved the ticker tape after the 1st goal, that was a fashion at the time, the team came out to ticker tape receptions most games for a period!

Remember going to Wolves fairly soon after Argentina hosted the 78 World Cup. We spent the whole journey down ripping up newspaper. Atmosphere at the game was moody as hell. Very little segregation and very few Bolton supporters. We decided that discretion was the better part of valour and reluctantly carried our shopping bags of paper back to the coach.

Once safe we emptied the lot, about four or five bags, out of the coach skylight where all just whirled around the coach and pissed the locals off... a lot.

Great result then.

Posted
9 hours ago, paulhanley said:

I'm trying to post a couple of old games each weekend when normal footy should be happening. Today it's back to 86/7 and our relegation season to Div 4. Despite a dreadful season overall we had a great run in November and December and that included the early rounds of the FA Cup.

Many will remember the First Round trilogy v Halifax and the pitch invasion at The Shay in the first tie. The Third Round game is also on You Tube - a 3-0 defeat at eventual winners, top flight Coventry. This is the Second Round match in early December. Third Division Bolton defeat Fourth Division Tranmere 2-0 in the days just before the relationship between the clubs/fans became more toxic.

There's a good Tony Caldwell goal in the first half followed by a Steve Thompson long-range classic in the second. Thommo was just beginning to emerge from his fragile youthful days as a pro despite Bolton's continued decline. I suspect in a better side he would have matured more quickly. He plays wide right in this match, something that happened often in his younger days.

Frank Worthington made one of his three or four mid-80s Burnden returns for Tranmere and Stockport in this game. One on occasion (can't remember if it was this game) Phil Neal complained about the constant chanting of an opposition player's name. Other names on the visitor's teamsheet became more familiar in an annoying way in the three or four years following this - Mark Hughes, Johnny Morrisey etc.

 

Always remember Bolton winning at Stockport 2-1 on a Friday night and frankie scoring for Stockport in the last minute,  biggest cheer of the night

Posted
8 hours ago, MickyD said:

Remember going to Wolves fairly soon after Argentina hosted the 78 World Cup. We spent the whole journey down ripping up newspaper. Atmosphere at the game was moody as hell. Very little segregation and very few Bolton supporters. We decided that discretion was the better part of valour and reluctantly carried our shopping bags of paper back to the coach.

Once safe we emptied the lot, about four or five bags, out of the coach skylight where all just whirled around the coach and pissed the locals off... a lot.

Great result then.

That must have been 78/9. We seemed to go from taking huge away followings everywhere in Div 2 to very average followings when we were in Div 1. The only logical explanation is that at the higher level we were losing far more games than we won. I struggle to think of us taking a really big away following in those two seasons in the top flight under Ian Greaves

Posted
7 hours ago, marple whites said:

Always remember Bolton winning at Stockport 2-1 on a Friday night and frankie scoring for Stockport in the last minute,  biggest cheer of the night

I think he scored at Burnden in the 2-1 for us over Christmas. He was in to the second half of his 30s by this point. With the lifestyle he led he could hardly be said to have taken care of himself - yet he had a very long career!

Posted
2 hours ago, paulhanley said:

That must have been 78/9. We seemed to go from taking huge away followings everywhere in Div 2 to very average followings when we were in Div 1. The only logical explanation is that at the higher level we were losing far more games than we won. I struggle to think of us taking a really big away following in those two seasons in the top flight under Ian Greaves

This has always puzzled me too, even the first away game at WBA the following was only okay, it was rough as fuck, we went on the service train to Smethwick station, big mistake. Think we got beat four nil, the only notable feature was the Johnston is a junky chants.

We got so many twattings on and off the pitch at this time , that in the second year in the top flight away support was down to a trickle. 

 

Posted
Just now, nantwichwhite said:

This has always puzzled me too, even the first away game at WBA the following was only okay, it was rough as fuck, we went on the service train to Smethwick station, big mistake. Think we got beat four nil, the only notable feature was the Johnston is a junky chants.

We got so many twattings on and off the pitch at this time , that in the second year in the top flight away support was down to a trickle. 

 

That was our first saturday game in the first division and we went expecting a really big Wanderers following that day 

When we had last played them in 1975/6  we had taken a really decent following there - and I had gone there expecting similar - this was Bolton back in the big time -  we filled probably just a quarter of the away end 

We got totally outclassed on the pitch, was the start of the Regis and Cunningham era at West Brom - and you are right we did lose 4-0

Can remember a few skirmishes on the walk up to the ground and a large gang of carribean extraction stood rather menacingly outside the away turnstiles 

After that day and the Liverpool game can remember a reasonable turnout at Bristol but after that our followings dropped right off.

Even the likes of Hargreaves and Ribble stopped running coaches 

Think looking back now ,  it highlights for me  how relative to fans of other clubs , how badly disorganised as a fan group we were at that time - we were very much out of our depth 

 

 

 

 

Posted (edited)
5 hours ago, paulhanley said:

I think he scored at Burnden in the 2-1 for us over Christmas. He was in to the second half of his 30s by this point. With the lifestyle he led he could hardly be said to have taken care of himself - yet he had a very long career!

Worthy scored in both league matches for stockport against us that season ( both 2-1 wins for us ) , but didn't feature in the Sherpa van match (3-1 win for us). Regarding Tranmere , he was a used substitute in March 86 in the Freight Rover , and obviously played in your video from yesterday.  Rather fitting that he scored in his last Official game that he played at Burnden , albeit for Stockport.

Edited by dusan nikolic
Posted
23 hours ago, paulhanley said:

I'm trying to post a couple of old games each weekend when normal footy should be happening. Today it's back to 86/7 and our relegation season to Div 4. Despite a dreadful season overall we had a great run in November and December and that included the early rounds of the FA Cup.

Many will remember the First Round trilogy v Halifax and the pitch invasion at The Shay in the first tie. The Third Round game is also on You Tube - a 3-0 defeat at eventual winners, top flight Coventry. This is the Second Round match in early December. Third Division Bolton defeat Fourth Division Tranmere 2-0 in the days just before the relationship between the clubs/fans became more toxic.

There's a good Tony Caldwell goal in the first half followed by a Steve Thompson long-range classic in the second. Thommo was just beginning to emerge from his fragile youthful days as a pro despite Bolton's continued decline. I suspect in a better side he would have matured more quickly. He plays wide right in this match, something that happened often in his younger days.

Frank Worthington made one of his three or four mid-80s Burnden returns for Tranmere and Stockport in this game. One on occasion (can't remember if it was this game) Phil Neal complained about the constant chanting of an opposition player's name. Other names on the visitor's teamsheet became more familiar in an annoying way in the three or four years following this - Mark Hughes, Johnny Morrisey etc.

 

Great video Paul , always good to see us beat them . Another decent showing from us during that good spell we had that season .

Posted
53 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Worthy scored in both league matches for stockport against us that season ( both 2-1 wins for us ) , but didn't feature in the Sherpa van match (3-1 win for us). Regarding Tranmere , he was a used substitute in March 86 in the Freight Rover , and obviously played in your video from yesterday.  Rather fitting that he scored in his last Official game that he played at Burnden , albeit for Stockport.

I think I've posted that Freight Rover win over them ... 2-1. We beat them in the FA Cup after a replay at Burnden in 83/4 as well. However ..... as I have repeated ad nauseum on here, ain't no footage around of 83/4 at all!

Posted
3 hours ago, nantwichwhite said:

This has always puzzled me too, even the first away game at WBA the following was only okay, it was rough as fuck, we went on the service train to Smethwick station, big mistake. Think we got beat four nil, the only notable feature was the Johnston is a junky chants.

We got so many twattings on and off the pitch at this time , that in the second year in the top flight away support was down to a trickle. 

 

We didn't even seem to take major followings to City or United. Couple of thousand at most. Really odd.

Posted

On April 23, 1983 Bolton won 2-0 at home against Cambridge in a second tier fixture - Dave Hoggan scored both goals. There were no further wins in the final four league games of 82/3 and so it was to be Bolton's last win at this level until August 31, 1993.

After promotion the previous May BWFC had finally made it back to the upper reaches of English football. Three games in to the new campaign and we still nervously awaited our first win. Two draws - away at Grimsby, 0-0 and at home to Stoke, 1-0 were followed by a 3-0 defeat at Charlton. Anxiety that we may have to strive to maintain our hard won new status had risen a notch. 

Up next was Oxford United at home. They were tipped for relegation - and so it proved. On a Burnden Tuesday night Bolton dominated proceedings and took a welcome 1-0 lead halfway through the first half. It was a classic John McGinlay goal deflecting a well-directed cross in to the far corner.

As the game wore on Bolton could not find the second goal they deserved and a neat and tidy Oxford side grew in to the match. As injury time beckoned nerves set in on the terraces. It was our day though and our first win at our new level. The following Saturday we won 0-2 at Luton despite Julian Darby having to play at centre-back ... and suddenly the old Division Two felt like home.

 

Posted

Loving all these videos paulhanley 

82-85 I was a student in Sheffield so only really saw us at away games in Yarkshire or home games at Xmas and Easter

86-89 I was living in Warrington. By that time Burnden had become a shithole, attendances were awful and games weren’t fun. I had a company car though so me and my mate in Liverpool did 2 or 3 seasons of pretty much aways only. That era was when our away support was unbelievable. 1000’s of Wanderers taking over towns and cities. Dominating grounds and properly backing the team. Amazing days 

Posted
7 hours ago, MancWanderer said:

Loving all these videos paulhanley 

82-85 I was a student in Sheffield so only really saw us at away games in Yarkshire or home games at Xmas and Easter

86-89 I was living in Warrington. By that time Burnden had become a shithole, attendances were awful and games weren’t fun. I had a company car though so me and my mate in Liverpool did 2 or 3 seasons of pretty much aways only. That era was when our away support was unbelievable. 1000’s of Wanderers taking over towns and cities. Dominating grounds and properly backing the team. Amazing days 

We seemed to take half our home support to lots of away games in those days. 3 or 4,000 to local derbies wasn't uncommon and you'd occasionally get that further afield as well if something was riding on it.

Posted (edited)
On 17/05/2020 at 12:33, paulhanley said:

We didn't even seem to take major followings to City or United. Couple of thousand at most. Really odd.

I think these sterile grounds and largely trouble-free matchday experiences helped swell away crowds massively.  Unless you were an absolute barnpot who went mostly for the aggro the pre and post game experience was enough to make you think twice about going, especially as a group of teenagers. It was probably much more bearable for those whose dads went too.

Edited by MickyD
Posted (edited)
On 17/05/2020 at 12:33, paulhanley said:

We didn't even seem to take major followings to City or United. Couple of thousand at most. Really odd.

I think there was fear factor going to the big city clubs, we hadn’t been in the top league since 64 and football hooliganism was rife back then , Man U, City, Anfield and goodison were rough as fuck, anyhow this BWFC daft kid aged 15 did City on the bus crossing Salford flats which was as dangerous as swimming across shark infested waters back then, also saw the 2-1 OT win (just checked it was 2 days before my 15th birthday, what a present that was)  and the Liverpool 3-0, at this time the anfield road end was famed for chucking darts at away fans, needless to say my parka hood remained up all game. 

Edited by Mounts Kipper
Posted
On 16/05/2020 at 20:22, paulhanley said:

That team did look really good for a couple of months and then in New Year 87 it all went very sour. The goals dried up badly. We had loads of 0-0 draws, especially away from home. Hardly any wins. It was almost like we went ultra defensive and team spirit went sour with it.

I think the ticker tape thing started after the World Cup in Argentina in 78.

Globally the ticker tape thing did start then as you say, but I'd say it had died out by the time we for some unknown reason resurrected it around 1986.  The first I saw of it was at Derby (you posted highlights, 2-1 defeat) and someon had printed off bits of paper saying BWFC Wembley 86 on!  We'd got to the dizzy heights of the Northern Quarter Final where we were due to go to Darlington.  We were relatively safe in the league and focused on some cup excitement, there was loads of ticker tape at most games leading upto Wembley.  It must have been carrying on the season after looking at that Tranmere video, I swear no other clubs were doing it for routine matches, very odd!

Posted
On 15/05/2020 at 20:15, BWFC_LOVE said:

Klasnic obviously had a right to start in the Stoke semi as he’d scored in every round.

Did he touch the ball in that game though? So much more effective off the bench. Scored a few with his back to goal.

 

Not sure if this has appeared on this thread before. I love footage of all of our games in 97/98 as it was my first proper season. 

Great following here. Missed a hatful of chances once again, when a point would’ve kept us up.

Also not the first time I’ve seen Branagan caught in no mans land in this season (Ketsbaia’s winner being another case of this). 

after those first 2 or 3 games, I thought Beardsley was a very astute signing

fuck knows what went wrong

few months later, seem to remember an article around the time that Newcastle were crying out for a player like him in the Champions League whilst he'd been relegated to our reserves

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