First game you saw in Division 3

[paulhanley]

36 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Don't post that! We're riding a wave at the moment.

Alright then, how about I post a 0-0 draw against Bury. 🙂

[Tonge moor green jacket]

12 minutes ago, paulhanley said:

Alright then, how about I post a 0-0 draw against Bury. 🙂

Ok then. Just watched those play off semi highlights against wolves. Happy.

[jayjayoghani]

Some of us still have PTSD from the continual 80s Bury batterings 

[dusan nikolic]

1 hour ago, paulhanley said:

Alright then, how about I post a 0-0 draw against Bury. 🙂

Yes please mate , if it's the 0-0 from 1986/87 season , I went to that one.

[MancWanderer]

On 04/09/2019 at 22:22, Ros Coe said:

18 Sep 1971

Bolton Wanderers v York City

L

0-1

League Division Three

It was my first ever match with my older brother - in the Embankment & the steps were that steep you could sit down and still see the game! At least that’s my memory of it..

Blimey!!! That was my first game as well. Manny Road stand. 7 years old. Still remember walking up the steps to the seats and being amazed at how green the grass was and the smell of it . Wasn't the slightest bit bothered about the fact that we lost, in fact it probably didn't even register. 

[paulhanley]

9 hours ago, dusan nikolic said:

Yes please mate , if it's the 0-0 from 1986/87 season , I went to that one.

I'll try to get some stuff done soon....

[Ros Coe]

7 hours ago, MancWanderer said:

Blimey!!! That was my first game as well. Manny Road stand. 7 years old. Still remember walking up the steps to the seats and being amazed at how green the grass was and the smell of it . Wasn't the slightest bit bothered about the fact that we lost, in fact it probably didn't even register. 

Funny  you say that about us losing - when we got home my mum asked how we’d got on, “we won 1-0” I remember saying, until my brother corrected me!

i wasn’t bothered though because I was now hooked on the drug that is BWFC!

[enzo gambaro]

13 hours ago, jayjayoghani said:

Some of us still have PTSD from the continual 80s Bury batterings 

80s record v Bury:

P12 W1 D4 L7 F12 A20

The win came with around 31 hours and 20 minutes of the decade remaining!

One of the draws was in the Football League Group Cup - had to Google that.

 

Edited September 6, 2019 by enzo gambaro

[jayjayoghani]

57 minutes ago, enzo gambaro said:

80s record v Bury:

P12 W1 D4 L7 F12 A20

The sun came with around 31 hours and 20 minutes of the decade remaining!

One of the draws was in the Football League Group Cup - had to Google that.

 

Makes grim reading. The worst one I think was a gruesome 4-2 home defeat. One goal was an abysmal piece of defending from Winstanley when he took a massive air shot.

Our pal (SL) let out a scream of anguish about 5 secs long just after Elliot put it away. 

[paulhanley]

On 06/09/2019 at 09:20, jayjayoghani said:

Makes grim reading. The worst one I think was a gruesome 4-2 home defeat. One goal was an abysmal piece of defending from Winstanley when he took a massive air shot.

Our pal (SL) let out a scream of anguish about 5 secs long just after Elliot put it away. 

They did us 1-4, 2-3, 2-4 and 1-3 in four of the five home league games we played against them between 1985 and 1991. Obviously they were all horribly grim but the first was probably the worst because we didn't know what it was all about v Bury having not played them since the late 1960s. It was really early season, August Bank Holiday Monday and a night match I think. We'd made five summer signings and players like Asa Hartford, David Cross and Big Sam had made us feel optimistic. We'd had two draws in the first two games and then it was Bury at home. Craig Madden tore us apart. It was 0-4 until David Cross got a late consolation. I remember Big Sam chattering away with the ref on the halfway line and letting out a big laugh while it was 0-4. He got quite a lot of abuse for that.

The 2-3 was a very close game and we were a bit unlucky (I've got that on video) but the 2-4 was horrible, as described above and we all know about how SJM got his hat-trick in the 1-3. They've not won a league game at Bolton since although there were two embarrassing League Cup defeats, one at the Reebok. I enjoyed the 4-0 in 1998 and the 1-0 1991 play off win as partial payback. We also beat them 2-1 at Burnden in 1992 in Phil Neal's drifting last season with us, Andy Walker got two poachers goals. By that time Bury were on their uppers and on their way to Division 4. Peter Valentine was sent off - he always seemed an angry man when he returned to play against us.

Of course our record at Gigg Lane was hopeless as well although there were more draws than defeats and no heavy hammerings.

 

[paulhanley]

 

With Bolton slipping towards relegation to Division 4 and Lancashire derby at Gigg Lane loomed. From the late 1960s to 1985 the clubs never played. In the three league fixtures over 1985/6 and 1986/7, Bolton lost 1-4 and 2-3 at home and 2-1 at Gigg Lane. There was little room for hope. The 0-0 draw was therefore a surprise. Cold comfort nonetheless - the point did little to help in the relegation scrap.David Lee misses an absolute sitter in this for Bury! 

 

 

[dusan nikolic]

1 hour ago, paulhanley said:

 

With Bolton slipping towards relegation to Division 4 and Lancashire derby at Gigg Lane loomed. From the late 1960s to 1985 the clubs never played. In the three league fixtures over 1985/6 and 1986/7, Bolton lost 1-4 and 2-3 at home and 2-1 at Gigg Lane. There was little room for hope. The 0-0 draw was therefore a surprise. Cold comfort nonetheless - the point did little to help in the relegation scrap.David Lee misses an absolute sitter in this for Bury! 

 

 

Thanks Paul , a bit more action than my young self remembers .

4 points wasn't a bad bank holiday return , but it looked obvious the attack had become toothless alongside an error prone defence.

David Lee's mis-hit shot proving he was a Wanderer in the making.

[paulhanley]

21 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Thanks Paul , a bit more action than my young self remembers .

4 points wasn't a bad bank holiday return , but it looked obvious the attack had become toothless alongside an error prone defence.

David Lee's mis-hit shot proving he was a Wanderer in the making.

David Lee missed a few of those snatched sitters when he joined us. He used to frighten us to death in the 80s though. 

[leigh white]

Some decent crowds at Burnden in Div 3 in 72/73.

 

[paulhanley]

Another Bolton v Bury game - the final game of the 1980s. Bolton 3 Bury 1 and the game we finally put an end to the jinx Bury had maintained over us since 1985 - six league games, two league cup ties and various Freight Rover games without a win. Including 1-4, 2-3 and 2-4 home defeats. No win over Bury since 1968 (although we didn't play them in the 70s or first half of the 80s.

David Reeves scored a quickfire brace in the first half but Stuart Storer sealed it for us in the 89th minute. The sound is poor for the first 30 seconds of this. 

 

[dusan nikolic]

1 hour ago, paulhanley said:

Another Bolton v Bury game - the final game of the 1980s. Bolton 3 Bury 1 and the game we finally put an end to the jinx Bury had maintained over us since 1985 - six league games, two league cup ties and various Freight Rover games without a win. Including 1-4, 2-3 and 2-4 home defeats. No win over Bury since 1968 (although we didn't play them in the 70s or first half of the 80s.

David Reeves scored a quickfire brace in the first half but Stuart Storer sealed it for us in the 89th minute. The sound is poor for the first 30 seconds of this. 

 

Thanks Paul , 2 good finishes from David Reeves and Bazza Cowdrill doing sterling work going forward.

This team seemed light years ahead of the team just 2/3 years earlier .

Paul , what reason did we tail off in the last 3rd of this season after playing so well for most of it , I remember we hammered Notts County 3-0 as late as mid March but finished 18 points behind them .

[paulhanley]

24 minutes ago, dusan nikolic said:

Thanks Paul , 2 good finishes from David Reeves and Bazza Cowdrill doing sterling work going forward.

This team seemed light years ahead of the team just 2/3 years earlier .

Paul , what reason did we tail off in the last 3rd of this season after playing so well for most of it , I remember we hammered Notts County 3-0 as late as mid March but finished 18 points behind them .

From memory it was lack of squad depth that found us out. They had a bad spell after the League Cup ties v Swindon earlier in the season having picked up injuries and not coped. Martin Pike played in the game against Bury but he was on loan and didn't sign permanently. You're dead right -we never looked "on it" after that Notts County game. The next game was a Friday night at Wigan and a grim 2-0 defeat.

[Casino]

Did pike have 2 loan spells

Or was that just Ian Bailey?

[enzo gambaro]

Pretty sure Pike was just one. Seem to recall Sheffield United wanting £60k for him and us not having it.

[dusan nikolic]

12 minutes ago, Casino said:

Did pike have 2 loan spells

Or was that just Ian Bailey?

According to the book , 1 spell , 6 appearances 1 Goal , 4 wins 2 draws .

Just our luck not to be able to sign him.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

31 minutes ago, enzo gambaro said:

Pretty sure Pike was just one. Seem to recall Sheffield United wanting £60k for him and us not having it.

At this moment, not sure much has changed!

[jayjayoghani]

4 hours ago, enzo gambaro said:

Pretty sure Pike was just one. Seem to recall Sheffield United wanting £60k for him and us not having it.

My recollection is we offered 60k, but Sheff Utd wanted 70k, so it fell through. He was decent and our results improved. Cowdrill played in midfield to accommodate him. 

[paulhanley]

Yes all of those recollections about what happened with Pike are the same as mine. When he played, Bazza could play left midfield and it gave the side fantastic balance.

[enzo gambaro]

4 hours ago, jayjayoghani said:

My recollection is we offered 60k, but Sheff Utd wanted 70k, so it fell through. He was decent and our results improved. Cowdrill played in midfield to accommodate him. 

Might be right, that. Either way, he went on to play 200+ games for Fulham. 

[Duck Egg]

12 hours ago, jayjayoghani said:

My recollection is we offered 60k, but Sheff Utd wanted 70k, so it fell through. He was decent and our results improved. Cowdrill played in midfield to accommodate him. 

My noggin isn't what it was but I'm certain it was to do with his wages not the fee.  I seem to recall a senior player quoted in the BEN bemoaning the then  chairman's reluctance (Chaytow? ) to break the wage structure to sign him.

That was the Xmas period when we won 3-1 at Tranmere too.  Pike at left back meant Bazza was at left midfield, avoiding his annual mauling by Lee and offering solidity with no little creativity.