A Bad Day 35 Years Ago.

[leigh white]

[Whitestar]

Remember going to Gillingham last game of the season and losing, think it was only 1-0 but for some reason never went to either of the play off games.

[Wullie]

I don't want to be reminded, just no fight against aldershot

[Biggish Dave]

Still my worst day watching Bolton an school was awful the following day with Blackburn scum gloating at us.

I've never forgiven Aldershot or any re-incarnation of them either

[SatanGreavsie]

The only consolation for walking away from Burnden that day, wondering what the hell the future would hold, was walking away from Fratton Park 18 years later having just qualified for Europe and wondering what the draw would hold. The former made the latter even sweeter, and I wouldn't have missed them 18 years for the world.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Fck me it pissed it down that day.

[jayjayoghani]

Aye that was one awful day. Pissed it down, Felgate was on one leg conceding their 2nd that sealed our relegation. Full time whistle went and I vividly remember the silence. 

[SatanGreavsie]

Burnley had just survived in the 4th on the last day (as it was the first season of auto relegation to the Conference) - so I remember thinking that could be use in a year's time. It was a bigger deal back then as it was being equated to extinction, even though Lincoln (?), who went down, actually came straight back up.

[Duck Egg]

34 minutes ago, SatanGreavsie said:

The only consolation for walking away from Burnden that day, wondering what the hell the future would hold, was walking away from Fratton Park 18 years later having just qualified for Europe and wondering what the draw would hold. The former made the latter even sweeter, and I wouldn't have missed them 18 years for the world.

Well said that man.

It's the shit we've put up with, that makes the good times so much better when they arrive.

[gonzo]

Pretty mad to think we were in the Prem 8 years later after a cup final. 

Reebok built and moved in to not long after.

How the fuck did we manage all that in ten years?

[DazBob]

Steve Elliott's haircut looks as bad now as it did back then.

[Leyther_Matt]

21 minutes ago, gonzo said:

Pretty mad to think we were in the Prem 8 years later after a cup final. 

Reebok built and moved in to not long after.

How the fuck did we manage all that in ten years?

Undoubtedly an age thing, but whereas the Rioch team, the stadium move etc are fresh in my memory, the late 80s might as well be ancient history.

[Johnnyrotten]

4 hours ago, jayjayoghani said:

Aye that was one awful day. Pissed it down, Felgate was on one leg conceding their 2nd that sealed our relegation. Full time whistle went and I vividly remember the silence. 

My memory of the final whistle is the fury of the fans, I was in Manny Road nearest Embankment (unusual for me) and there was loads of Warbys Out chants and general anger.  That spilled onto the car park with a demo in front of the offices. 

[Johnnyrotten]

A grim day, although I also recall it started with the excitement of a big match atmosphere for the time, it did have a play off atmosphere with a bigger crowd than normal and great backing from the fans.  I think it may have been the first time I'd ever been to a BW game on a Sunday.

Obviously play offs were a new thing, so all things considered it started as something I relished and the crowd was buzzing when Caldwell put us ahead.

We also missed out on a 2 legged play off v Wolves.  They got 20k on v Aldershot for the 2nd leg and lost.  Relative to that era, its interesting to think what the crowds would have been like for 2 legs, it would have been kicking off left right and centre.

[Johnnyrotten]

I never realised the league was sponsored by Today (a newspaper), according to that programme cover.  Voucher on the front as well, as if they were ever needed!

[Biggish Dave]

Who's the blonde lad next to Warren Joyce? He's 1 of 2 i'm struggling to name (i'm thinking the keeper was called Malley or Mallet?)

[Casino]

Kevin mailey

[Casino]

Only names and i dont think it is

Paul Hughes

Dean Roberts

[dusan nikolic]

1 hour ago, Biggish Dave said:

Who's the blonde lad next to Warren Joyce? He's 1 of 2 i'm struggling to name (i'm thinking the keeper was called Malley or Mallet?)

Paul Clarke is next to Warren Joyce and Paul Allen on the front left.

[dusan nikolic]

[Benny The Ball]

1 hour ago, Johnnyrotten said:

A grim day, although I also recall it started with the excitement of a big match atmosphere for the time, it did have a play off atmosphere with a bigger crowd than normal and great backing from the fans.  I think it may have been the first time I'd ever been to a BW game on a Sunday.

Obviously play offs were a new thing, so all things considered it started as something I relished and the crowd was buzzing when Caldwell put us ahead.

We also missed out on a 2 legged play off v Wolves.  They got 20k on v Aldershot for the 2nd leg and lost.  Relative to that era, its interesting to think what the crowds would have been like for 2 legs, it would have been kicking off left right and centre.

Remember going down to Aldershot for the first leg expecting our fans to turn out in numbers , 

Thought we would treat it like a cup tie , get behind the team and somehow escape the drop .

We'd had a superb turn out at Coventry for the FA Cup tie a few months earlier and ok it was a night game 200 miles from home but it was the realisation that night that most fans had given up on us. 

Could not have been more than 300-400 there

Looking back at the results that season from mid December we won just 4 League games from 27 , 2 of which were against  teams (Carlisle and Darlington) that finished below us, but it was losing at York who finished a place and 4 points ahead of us ,with 3 games to go and then at home to Doncaster in the following game were our fate was sealed  . 

 

[Johnnyrotten]

I grew up living near Steve Carroll when he was a player for Halifax, he used to train on Hesketh Fletcher school pitch in Atherton and I spent half my days on there.  He was the 1st pro footballer I'd ever seen away from a stadium, he was fit as a fiddle.  Had a good career in coaching, unlike the other one on there Colin Irwin who was only 30 when he left us and didn't get another job in football.  Phil Neal obviously knew him from Liverpool, his playing career was cut short through injury.

[Johnnyrotten]

45 minutes ago, Benny The Ball said:

Remember going down to Aldershot for the first leg expecting our fans to turn out in numbers , 

Thought we would treat it like a cup tie , get behind the team and somehow escape the drop .

We'd had a superb turn out at Coventry for the FA Cup tie a few months earlier and ok it was a night game 200 miles from home but it was the realisation that night that most fans had given up on us. 

Could not have been more than 300-400 there

Looking back at the results that season from mid December we won just 4 League games from 27 , 2 of which were against  teams (Carlisle and Darlington) that finished below us, but it was losing at York who finished a place and 4 points ahead of us ,with 3 games to go and then at home to Doncaster in the following game were our fate was sealed  . 

 

I think we'd been beaten into submission by the time the play offs came around (and as you say if it had been nearer home and not on a Thursday night we would have had more support).  We were in dire form, in last 17 games we won 2 and scored 7!  Then to lose a huge 6 pointer at York with only 2 more games left was the last straw for many, if we'd just drawn that and got 1 point in the last 2 games we'd have stopped up.  But of course we lost the last 3 without scoring.  Another season when we snatched relegation from the jaws of survival.

[bwfc2003]

York game was that the one the club put a load of free coaches on??

[SatanGreavsie]

5 hours ago, Johnnyrotten said:

My memory of the final whistle is the fury of the fans, I was in Manny Road nearest Embankment (unusual for me) and there was loads of Warbys Out chants and general anger.  That spilled onto the car park with a demo in front of the offices. 

aye, at the demo someone put a brick through the Aldershot Team coach windscreen. Proper shook the driver up and he was being checked out. I remember thinking, "yeh, he's the main man at fault for all this, clearly.... the poor sod"