VENUE #7 BURY Gigg Lane

LEAGUE DIVISION 3

Saturday 30th November 1974


Gigg Lane

Ground Capacity:-  35,000

Kick Off:-  15:15

Entry Fee:-  £0.25p

Programme:-  £0.08p

Venue #7

     The day before my fourteenth birthday and I'm travelling up to greater Manchester by train to see, at the time, my beloved football team Walsall take on Bury at Gigg lane.  My companion of the day was an old school pal we nicknamed "Dicko" who had absolutely nothing to do with Wolverhampton Wanderers although he did live in the borough of Wolverhampton.

     We had a slight scare on the way back home while walking to Manchester Piccadilly station we were chased by some Manchester City fans which was odd for City were playing away at Newcastle that day.  We managed to escape jumping on our train to Wolverhampton which had just minutes before departing to our destination.

     The match ended 2-0 to Bury which moved them up to within a point of Walsall in mid-table.  The goalscorers were Derek Spence and Christopher Duffey both goals coming in the first half if my memory serves me well but as you can see it was a long time ago. 

     Gigg lane was mainly terracing back in 1974 and was re-built in the 1990's with the Cemetery End being the last stand to be completed in 1999. The new stands which are all covered, have vastly improved the overall look of the ground, whilst at the same time making it an all seated one. The only real disappointment is three of the stands contain a number of supporting pillars. On one side is the Main Stand. This all seated stand has its spectators area raised up above pitch level meaning that supporters have to climb a small set of steps to enter it. Part of the front has a small box like structure, with a number of windows running along the front, with the windows being almost at pitch level, I wonder just how many broken windows they get each season? Oddly the players tunnel and team dugouts are set to one side of the half way line, suggesting that at some point the pitch has been moved from its original position.

     Opposite is the Les Hart Stand, a single tiered affair which extends around to meet the Cemetery End, enclosing that corner of the stadium. In this corner there is a small Police control box suspended beneath the roof plus an electronic scoreboard. The Les Hart Stand also has a small TV gantry, plus there are a number of supporting pillars running across the stand that may impede your view. 

     The Ratio Law Stand (aka the Manchester Road Stand) at one end is of a fair size. However it does not run the full width of the pitch, with one side ending with the edge of the penalty box. There is also an electric scoreboard at this end. The stadium is completed with a set of modern looking floodlights. In November 2013, the ground was renamed the JD Stadium, after securing a three year sponsorship deal with JD Sports.

                   MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #6 ASTON VILLA Villa Park

LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Saturday 12th October 1974

Villa Park Stadium

Ground Capacity:-  55,000

Kick Off:-  15:00

Entry Fee:-  25p

Programme:-  10p

Venue #6

ASTON VILLA ... 1   BLACKPOOL ... 0

     I remember this one a couple of months before my 14th birthday went with a couple of friends from the street where I lived they were brothers and supported Aston Villa, I always aspiring to be different wanted Blackpool to win.  We watched the game from the terraces of the Holte end about ten steps from the front (pitch side) and with the goal slightly to our left.

     Blackpool played well for most of the game considering the amount of injuries they had and with the changes they made from the week before at home to Hull City with Glyn James acquiring the number 4 shirt from Paul Hart, Alan Ainscow coming into midfield pushing Wyn Davies out on the bench and also the long term injuries of Alan Suddick, Keith Dyson and Kevin Moore who were all waiting to see specialists.  Regular keeper John Burridge left out for the third game running in favour of George Wood, Burridge joined Villa the following year.

     Not in with the run of play as far as I was concerned Villa got the decisive goal through Ray Graydon in the second half his twelfth of the season and increasing his tally as top goal scorer in division two to the delight of my two friends causing anger to eat away at me and ending in a fight on the way home which I lost of course, well it was two against one.

     The stands were named then much as they are today with the Holte end behind the goal which is a large two-tiered stand and replaced one of the largest terraces in the country back in the day.  The stand opened in 1994/95 season and has a capacity of 13,500.

     The North Stand is at the other end of the pitch slightly older being built in the late 70's it is two-tiered with executive boxes running through the middle with the lower tier replacing terracing in the early 90's with the addition of nearly 3,000 seats.

     At one side of the pitch is the Trinity Road Stand which is three-tiered with a small tier at the front and two larger ones at the middle and back which are separated by executive boxes.  This newer version of the stand was opened in 2001.

     On the other side of the pitch is the Doug Ellis Stand which is the only stand to have changed it's name since 1974 when it was known as the Witton Lane Stand.  This stand has two tiers and was opened in 1996 prior to the European Championships of which Villa Park was a host venue.

                              MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #5 COLCHESTER UNITED Layer Road

LEAGUE DIVISION 3


Saturday 28th September 1974

Layer Road Stadium

Ground Capacity:-  19,000

Kick Off:-  15:00

Entry Fee:-  £0.30p

Programme:-  £0.10p

Venue #5

     Layer Road was built in 1907 originally to stage home games for Colchester Town who were dissolved in 1937 and  Colchester United were formed to take their place and play as a professional outfit.

     The U's spent the first 13 years playing in the Southern league finally being elected to play in division 3 south for the 1950/51 season.  Their first game at layer Road that season ended in a 0-0 draw against Bristol Rovers on the 26th August.

     Colchester United's biggest attendance at Layer Road was 19,072 against Reading in a F.A. cup first round match on 27th November 1948, the match was abandoned with the score at 4-2 to Reading.

     The ground was sold in 2008 to create a housing estate after being the venue for Colchester's football for 101 years.  Colchester United now play their home games at Colchester Community Stadium which opened in August 2008 at a cost of £14 million.  The Community stadium has a capacity of just over 10,000 and is approximately 6 miles north of where the old Layer Road ground used to be.

     

COLCHESTER UNITED ... 1   WALSALL ... 2

     The talk before this game was the rivalry between Colchester and Walsall's top marksmen, Bobby Svarc was the u's main man although his first season at Layer Road was marred by injury he was starting to show signs of why Jim Smith paid £6,000 for him from Boston utd.  Steve Leslie was top goal scorer at the time with four goals three of them of which were penalties while Svarc scored the only goal of the game away at Aldershot the weekend before bringing another much needed two points.

     Alan Buckley was Saddlers star man with nine goals from twelve games three braces included in the tally and looking one of Walsall's best buys ever in the goal scoring department.  With scouts from top clubs following his progress there were fears that the Saddlers would not be able to keep hold of the Mansfield born striker.

     And as the result shows both these marksmen had a say in the outcome with all three goals coming in the space of eight minutes early in the second half, Buckley opened in the 50th minute with his tenth of the season but Svarc levelled for the U's six minutes later only for Buckley to have the final say in the 58th minute with his fourth brace of the campaign and taking his tally to eleven.

    Walsall's defence were well spoken of in the press after the game with the Saddlers keeper Mick Kearns named as the official man of the match.

                            MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #4 WEST BROMWICH ALBION The Hawthorns

LEAGUE DIVISION TWO

Saturday 17th August 1974

The Hawthorns

Ground Capacity:-  50,000

Kick Off:-  15:00

Entry Fee:-  £0.80p

Programme:-  £0.10p

Venue #4

    I remember going with my brother Malcolm and his friends to see this one, I was 13 years old and soon to start the second year of senior school.

      From what I can recall it was a wet day and I was thrilled at the possibility of seeing some household names playing for both sides such as John Osborne, Len Cantello, Willie Johnston and Tony & Ally Brown for West Bromwich Albion.  On the Fulham sheet were Alan Mullery who I saw five years previously playing for Tottenham at Walsall, Bobby Moore ex West Ham and the man who lifted the world cup for England in 1966 and Viv Busby who was starting to be a prolific goal scorer at the time since his move from Luton town to Fulham.

     The game was dominated by Fulham for large periods the goal coming early in the second half when Les Barrett crossed the ball into the Albion penalty area where Viv Busby arrived late to scuttle the ball into the back of the net.

     The Hawthorns as been West Brom's home for the last 116 years and has the highest altitude above sea level than any other ground in the premiership or football league.  Originally and at the time of visiting the ground was almost all terracing with a much higher capacity than it has now.

     Halfords Lane Stand which is now known as the West stand has been refurbished a couple of times since my visit there are plans to demolish this stand to build a single tier all seated stand to house 10,000 people thus increasing the overall capacity to 33,000. 

     Birmingham Road End or the Brummie road end as it's better known was a big terrace behind the goal which housed up to 14,000 spectators but now is a large single tired stand with a capacity of just 8,000, this includes the famous Woodlands corner.

     The Smethwick End is where away supporters are housed these days although only part of the stand is allocated the other part is used by the most vocal of Albion's supporters although there are plans to enlarge the capacity of the stand and make entirely for visitors.

     East Stand or the Rainbow stand as it's also known was named because of the bright colours that the seats were painted in.  Originally the stand consisted of seats in the upper section with standing accommodation in the lower but was refurbished in 1977.  Above the Woodlands corner which joins the Birmingham road end to the East stand there is a effigy of a giant throstle which has been a familiar feature at the Hawthorns for generations.

                         MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #3 YORK CITY Bootham Crescent

LEAGUE DIVISION 3

Monday 10th September 1973

@ Bootham Crescent

Ground Capacity: 23,600

Kick Off:  19:30

Entry Fee:  £0.25p

Programme:  £0.06p

Venue #3

York City ...1   Walsall ... 1

York City 1973/74

     This was the first of two visits to Bootham Crescent I remember it as the family were on holiday close to York and my Dad took me to this game.  Walsall had just signed Alan Buckley from Nottingham Forest and was already proving to be a goal machine at the Saddlers but no-one then knew what a legend he would become at the club through his two spells there.

     Bobby Shinton was playing number 9 for the Saddlers he joined Walsall as another childhood hero of mine Jimmy Seal left Fellows Park to go back to the club who loaned him out Wolverhampton Wanderers. Seal was playing centre forward for York for this game.

     York City manager Tom Johnston was born in Coldstream which is 50 miles south-east of Edinburgh in Scotland.  His senior playing career started in England at Peterborough in 1939-40 season as a winger before moving to Nottingham Forest the following season and ending his playing career at Notts County in 1956. 

     It didn't take him long to turn coach for in 1958 he took charge of Rotherham United before moving on to Grimsby in "62" and two years later had the first of three spells at Huddersfield Town. He took charge at York City in 1968 where he had seven years as manager of the Minstermen helping them gain two promotions.  In the 1970-71 season they were promoted from division 4 to division 3 and in 1973-74 they reached the second tier of English football.  Clive Baker took over from Johnston as caretaker manager in January 1975 during the season that York reached their highest position ever in English football 15th in division 2.  Tom Johnston sadly died in 1994 at the age of 75.

                       MATCH DETAILS

     
     

VENUE #2 EVERTON Goodison Park

FA CUP 4th ROUND

Saturday 5th February 1972

@Goodison Park

Ground Capacity:  56,000

Kick Off:  15:00

Entry Fee:  £0.50

Programme:  £0.07

Venue #2

     In February 1972 I was 11 years old and in my last year of junior school and so accompanied by my Dad, God rest his soul, we took the train (nothings changed much) to Liverpool where I remember searching around for the bus to take us to Goodison Park.

     It was a wet, dull day and very cold, I remember being very surprised at the amount of Walsall fans there were as we arrived at the ground more than there are usually at home games.  The ground was very noisy with both sets of fans trying to make themselves heard over the other and with a total gate of over 45 thousand it was something to behold, I had never seen the like before and was a little scary but exciting at the same time.

     The Walsall line up was quite familiar to me Frank Gregg and Mick Evans at full back Stan Jones centre half Willie Penman wing half, Brian Taylor and Colin Harrison on the wings and big bustling Bernie Wright up front supported by Manning and Woodward.  Mind, this was the Bernie Wright era before his trade mark bustling beard he just had long side burns instead.  Wright had a good game this day so good that Everton bought him off Walsall but he only lasted a season with the division one team and was back at Fellows park for the 1973/74 season to make up that great little and large partnership with Alan Buckley.

     In contrast you look at the team sheet at the Everton side and wonder if Walsall should be on the same pitch as these guys, Gordon West in goal 2 first division league titles, a FA cup winners medal and 3 caps for his country, Howard Kendal at number 4 the man was a legend in his own lifetime on the pitch and later on in management, Joe Royle centre foward the only member of the Royle family to play for England and I could go on all night.  The one player I didn't know much about was David Johnson but I certainly knew about him during and after the match for he was the best Everton player on the pitch on the day.

     The first half was lively with both teams having chances to take the lead but not capitalising on them.  Considering Walsall were two leagues lower than Everton they seemed comfortable and were more than holding their own.  There was no luck that they went in at half time at a 0-0 stalemate with the division one giants.

     The second half started much the same but as time moved on it seemed that Everton were starting to get the upper hand as a tired looking Walsall were pushed back and conceding corner kicks they were finding themselves rather fortunate to still be level and it was mainly thanks to keeper Mark Wallington who was having a fine game.

     But the inevitable happened half way through the period as tired legs were giving away free kicks and Henry Newton took one from the left and placed it on Joe Royle's head who flicked the ball into the Walsall penalty area finding David Johnson on his own to half volley the ball along the floor and into Mark Wallington's left hand corner of the net.

     Everton continued the pressure for a while but never say die Walsall found a lease of life from somewhere and began to push Everton back in search of an equaliser and should have had one with Woodward missing two headed chances.  With Walsall pushing forward Everton were finding space in midfield and the Walsall danger area a ball played by John Hurst down the right wing found Howard Kendall who's cross was intercepted and found it's way to Mick Evans who tried to play a back pass to his keeper through Joe Royle the ball jumped up off Royle's boot who tried an overhead kick which landed in the path of Alan Whittle who looped a header over the Walsall keeper and finding the net via the under side of the crossbar. 

     2-0 down and suffering adversity Walsall still kept going although all seemed lost.  Everton player Henry Newton joined in with Walsall's fight when he sent a 25 yard back pass to his keeper just past the right hand post to force a corner in injury time.  The ball was pumped into the Everton box  but was dealt with resulting with a throwing on the left which was whipped out to the edge of the toffee men's 18 yard box where Mick Evans was waiting to blast the ball goalwards it hit two Everton players, Whittle and Wright and ended up in the back of the net just before the ref blew for full time.  No time to restart the game the match ended Everton 2 Walsall 1, Everton went through to the fifth round where they went out losing 2-0 at home to Spurs.

MATCH DETAILS

VENUE #1 WALSALL Fellows Park

FA CUP 3rd ROUND

Saturday 4th January 1969

Fellows Park, Walsall

Ground Capacity:-  20,000

Kick Off:-  15:00

Entry Fee:-  2'- 6d (12 1/2p)

Programme:-  1'-  (5p)

Venue #1

     This wasn't my first visit to Fellows Park but it was my first big game there as it was a FA cup 3rd round match against first division opposition in the form of Tottenham Hotspur in fact they're only meeting in football league and cup history.  I was only 8 years old at the time and not long being a regular at the ground, Walsall was the team of my parents they were Walsall born and bread and of course my Dad used to take me in those days.  I did follow Walsall through the 70's and parts of the 80's but then developed a passion to visit other grounds and watch other teams.

     Fellows Park isn't there now demolished to build a Morrisons superstore back in the early 90's and that was, for me, the end of my infatuation with the team but it had been dwindling for a while before.

     I've never considered Bescot stadium the home of the team I once supported for me Walsall lost their identification since moving from Fellows park, so far as I'm concerned Walsall f.c. ceased to exist when the old ground was demolished and they moved half a mile away to play in Bescot.

     It was a big part of my childhood spent most of every other Saturday there plus games in mid week, had some great times and some bad times as most football fans will be familiar with the various teams they support.  It was the place where I took my now Wife of 28 years for our second date and was a defining moment in our relationship.

     In 1988 when my Dad died the hearse passed the ground so they could both pay respects to one and other as Fellows park only had 2 more years left as the venue to entertain the towns footballing followers.  If I could go back in time I would love to watch one last game there I really do miss the place it was a big part of my life for so many years.    

     MAIN STAND (Wallows lane)

     The Wallows Lane stand or the Main stand as it's better known had the only seating at Fellows park it was a covered block of seats which straddled the half way line with terracing to either side and in front of the seating area.  Called the Wallows Lane Stand after the road that ran behind it.  This was the only part of the ground that I never went in to watch a match or just to look around.

THE POPULAR TERRACE

     I've never heard of this title for this particular terracing for this side of the pitch to my family and friends and majority of Walsall fans of the time was called the Laundry terrace.  When the Laundry was knocked down in 1960 and a small terrace built and called the Railway end because of the Walsall to Birmingham railway track running behind it.  People didn't want to loose the name Laundry End and so called the Popular Terrace by the name.  A partition was built so as two thirds of the terrace could be used by away supporters as this terrace was covered were the Railway end was not and so the visitors support had some cover from the weather.  

     My Mother worked in this terrace back in the 30's/40's as her Uncle ran the refreshment stall and my Mom used to serve tea here during games..

HILLARY STREET END (Street End)

      Hillary street was the name of the ground from when Walsall first played there until the 1930's when it was renamed Fellows park after their director. This is where I watched most of the games at Fellows park from.  On this particular occasion I was standing on the corner of the Hillary street end that adjoins the Popular terrace, I usually sat on the wall by the corner flag but couldn't get anywhere near this day with the vast crowd that was attending.

     Hillary Street was the name of the street that ran behind the terrace it had a school that was attended by my Mother and 3 of my elder siblings back in their day.  It was the main terrace for Walsall supporters although I have known this end given to away supporters with a large following such as Manchester United back in 1975 for a replay 3rd round FA cup tie.  We were put in the Railway end but after about half a hour of the gates opening we were spilling over the wall and marched into the Hillary street end which was mainly empty.  Great night Walsall won 3-2 and went on to beat Newcastle in the 4th round.

RAILWAY END

       As I've mentioned earlier this was known as the Laundry End up until 1960 as it had a Laundry and a big partitioning wall built at the back of the goal.  Spectators weren't allowed to watch the game here until the Laundry and wall was knocked down and a small terrace was built and called the Railway end for obvious reasons.

     There have been some great events happen at this end especially around the time of this match for Walsall had a player who had a tremendous powerful shot with his left peg Colin "Canonball" Taylor a left winger who signed for Walsall on three separate occasions.  I remember one game against Shrewsbury and Walsall were awarded a penalty at the Railway end and Taylor placed the ball to take.  I swear you could hear the Shrews keepers knees knocking in the Street end as Taylor's reputation was known throughout the leagues.  Taylor ran up to hit the ball and the Shrewsbury keeper dropped to the floor to get out the way as Canonball Taylor struck the ball through the net and over onto the railway track and this was an old fashioned laced up case ball not the light plastic efforts they play with today.

WALSALL ... 0   TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR ... 1

     Once again faced by opposition from a higher league Walsall raised their game to an almost unparalleled degree in the third round of the F.A cup at Fellows Park on Saturday before going down to Tottenham Hotspur by a solitary goal scored by that prince of marksmen Jimmy Greaves.

     The irony of it was that the goal should appear so simple and should follow a move in which Walsall had almost taken what would have been a deserved lead.

     Tommy Watson cut inside just as the Spurs defenders were advancing up field to apply their offside trap.  For once it failed and Watson on his day the fastest man afield went racing down the middle.

     In his anxiety to make sure he took the ball that little bit too far forward, against a goalkeeper with an almost unbelievable reach and gigantic hands.  When Watson did decide to shoot the ball was smothered and it was from Jennings clearance that Spurs scored the only goal of the game 15 minutes from the end.

     The ball found the head of centre forward Mike England wandering out on the left.  He glanced the ball inside where right winger Jenkins was waiting.  Jenkins who had otherwise spent an undistinguished afternoon swayed past the ball taking two defenders with him and leaving Greaves on his own 12 yards out to strike the ball past a despondent Bob Wesson in the Walsall goal.

     Spurs like the England side that won the world cup are wingless these days and relied on the tall Mike England centre half turned forward for the day to create their attacking movements, only once was he able to turn his heading ability to good accounts but it was enough to sink gallant Walsall.

     Walsall created far more chances than their visitors and in the first half Jennings smothered a Watson shot, McMorron shot only a foot over the bar and right on the interval Beal kicked away when Jennings dropped the ball after being challenged by Watson.

     Kinnear lost the ball to Wilson just 8 minutes after the restart but Jennings spotted the danger and came right to the edge of the penalty area in an ungainly sprawl to prevent the ball getting into the goalmouth.

     The best move of the match came in the 62nd minute when Wilson gained possession on the touchline nearly on the half-way mark.  Cutting in swiftly the home centre forward beat 3 men including goalkeeper Jennings before sliding the ball towards goal.  Kinnear atoned for his earlier error by coming across to clear the danger.

     In the 70th minute Jennings went down to save a great shot from Morris.  Five minutes later after Watson had failed to beat Jennings came the Spurs winner and the end of Walsall's cup glory for another year.  Beaten but certainly not disgraced.

                        MATCH DETAILS