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LaticsPete

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David Eyres

David Eyres (10/15)

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  1. Nicknames are a crucial part of football history, reflecting club origins, or the local community and industry, and provide a lasting link to times when it wasn’t oligarchs and nation states that dictated the ebb and flow of the game. Some clubs, and the media, seem to have eschewed their early names : when was the last time Manchester City were referred to as “The Citizens” on tv? Or Preston North End as “The Invincibles” or even “The Lilywhites” Others have maintained them, and on the cover of their programmes. That’s where we’ll be looking this month, Oldham matches with “nicknamed” covers (and they are all FA Cup ties). In chronological order, I’ll begin with Oldham versus Tranmere Rovers on 2nd January 1993, a third-round game , and with “Latics” in script right across the top of the cover. When the club, then named Pine Villa, moved to the “Athletic Grounds” it was then that the name changed and, the local corruption of “athletics” became “Latics”. The “Blast from the Past” page coincidently records that the first match Latics played there was on 1st September 1906, was against Colne, and had a crowd of 3454. Anyway, it was the first season of the Premier League when this game took place and Latics, as founder members, hosted Tranmere, pushing for promotion from Division 1. In fact, Joe Royle, in his programme notes, reckoned the Merseysiders “must be very confident” of promotion. The visitors had a squad that included Pat Nevin, John Aldridge, and ‘keeper Eric Nixon, with over 400 games under his belt. The two clubs had shared , in 1935, an epic game that saw 17 goals. Unfortunately, Tranmere scored 13 of them and it’s only briefly mentioned in the “It’s A Fact” column! There’s a range of features , from Junior Latics , “Where Are They Now “, Youth team news, away travel , and the usual fixtures and results spread. There’s also a “Fan File” item, and many programme collectors will recognise the supporter featured – Jim Kirton. Sadly, now deceased, Jim ran the Programme Shop at Boundary Park for many years. His pet hate was “forecasters predicting Latics for relegation”. Jim, they got it wrong as Oldham stayed up , winning their last three games in what was genuinely a “great escape”. A 2-2 draw with a crowd of 13389, and Tranmere won the replay 3-0, although missed out on promotion, losing to Swindon in the Play-Offs. Over the border into Wales, and just over five years later on 3rd January 1998, Cardiff City the home team in Another 3rd Round tie. The club’s name had begun in 1908, and that’s when blue became the kit colour, leading easily to the Bluebird(s) nickname, proudly heading up the front cover. A 32pp programme that had plenty of reading matter, beginning right away with two pages called “Bluebird View” from a club Vice-President, comment on club and wider football issues but he also introduces the day’s referee, match sponsor, and mascots. Cardiff were then in the bottom tier, Latics in the third and one of Neil Warnock’s seats in his managerial odyssey. The Welsh club, had a Director of Football, Kenny Hibbitt , whilst the Manager was Russell Osman, and it was the former who contributed the “Team Talk” page, whilst both Youth and Commercial activities got pages to themselves. A nice spread, including, photographs from two earlier Cardiff v Oldham Cup matches, in 1920 and 1949, both had gone the Bluebirds’ way , and it was to be the same in this match, a 1-0 home win. A problem with one turnstile’s automatic return not working properly led to the attendance changing from an announced 6623 to 6808, the biggest of the season. A clean sheet for Cardiff ‘keeper Jon Hallworth who’d played for Latics for eight seasons , and there were two other Cardiff players with links to Oldham, although later in their careers. Captain Dave Penney went into management and was boss at Boundary Park in 2009/10, and midfielder Tony Carss played 75 times for them between 2000 and 2003, a real favourite with fans. The South Wales Echo seemed to go into overdrive with its match coverage, a four-page supplement on the following Monday. Warnock was “devastated” at his team’s poor showing, there was lots of praise for the Ninan Park groundsman, goal scorer Jason Fowler dedicated his strike to the aforementioned Hibbitt and Osman, nine of the City players were marked as 7/10, one got 8/10 and one 6/10, and the support from the home crowd apparently sent shivers down the spine of Kenny Hibbitt. The First Round FA Cup of the year 2000 and Oldham travelled down to Staffordshire and the former coalmining town of Hednesford, to play the Town , or “The Pitmen” as they were known. A strong cover to the programme, match details, teams, officials, and an action photo are all there, and the Conference club had produced an issue that had interest to regular supporters, away fans, and those who’d come for the glamour of Hednesford v Oldham! There had been just two home attendances of over 1000 that season, so the 2053 who turned up for this match hopefully got their money’s worth from the 4-2 Oldham win. Talking of money, the welcome “Setting the Scene” apologises for putting up admission prices but says that extra stewarding and police costs amounted to £6000. The visitors are directly welcomed over three pages, including photos from their win just up the road at Stoke the previous Saturday. The Pitmen were struggling in the league and their last match had been a 5-1defeat at Nuneaton Borough, and their last win had been in the 4th Qualifying Round, a 2-1 victory in a replay against Billericay Town with just 390 to see it at their Keys Park home. Player Profile for the Pitmen was Neil Pointon, former Everton, Manchester City, and Latic (95 games) and now player-coach, whilst one of his teammates was a certain Mark Cooper now, as at writing, in his 11th managerial posting , at Yeovil. There is a good deal of reading focused on Hednesford’s earlier FA Cup exploits, non-league giant killing stories, and Cup stats from the previous season, and the £2 cover price seemed a reasonable price. Unfortunately, relegation followed for Hednesford, and they’ve never got further than the 1st Round since, although won the FA Trophy in 2004. We stay in the Midlands and a coalmining area, albeit in Nottinghamshire this time, and Mansfield Town played Oldham at the same stage on 7th November 2015. Sherwood Forest stretched over much of the area, a royal forest that was popular for hunting with King John and others and, hence, the association with Stags and so on to the football club’s nickname. A wonderfully simple front cover, basically the nickname, match details, and a massive photo of the FA Cup, with lots of the club’s blue and yellow colours. The latter dominates inside pages too, all of which are cleanly laid out and designed. And the 2886 spectators hopefully appreciated the quality of this. A good deal of content was allocated to the Lancashire club, seven of the 32 pages, including historian Leigh Edwards’ “Unlikely Lads” , six ex-Latics players some folk might not associate with club, including Albert Quixall (missed a penalty against West Ham in 1966) , Tony Hateley (just five league games) , and Asa Hartford (seven matches). Blink and you could have missed the last two, similarly with the then Manager David Dunn. When there was revolving door policy of managers at Boundary Park, Dunn was in charge for just four months. “Famous Fan” was noted as Prof Brian Cox and “Best Ever Manager” as, no surprise, Joe Royle. Nice to see something that was once a staple of many programmes – the “Face in the Crowd” feature, circling a supporter’s head and winning them a prize. The “Parting Shot “in the programme was a black & white photo from “the Stags’ greatest ever cup shock”, beating West Ham United 3-0 in 1969. Two young lads, scarves aloft are chased off the pitch by “a member of the Nottinghamshire constabulary” , but he looks as though he is about to fall over! Nothing as exciting in 2015, a 0-0 draw, Oldham winning the replay 2-0.
  2. The African Cup of Nations Ben Jackson Pitch Publishing 2023 Softback 318pp £14.99 It’s ironic that it has taken the development of European football to build the importance of what the author calls an “unappreciated tournament”. It’s fair to say that, without the reliance of clubs in the UK and the European mainland upon African talent, then the significance of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) would be far less than it is. The departure of players from their clubs to play in AFCON may have irritated managers and supporters but it emphasised the fact that the tournament is an established and respected part of the international football calendar, and as long as we call it “the global game” , then it must be worked with and around. It’s been a journey of over 60 years to the recent hosting of, and victory by, the Cote d’Ivoire. From an initial four countries that set about launching a tournament was almost immediately whittled down to three. South Africa, and its encompassing apartheid policy, refused to send a team of mixed races; either an all-black or an all-white team was its stance. Unsurprisingly the other nations - Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia – said no , and the last was drawn a bye into the Final. The very first AFCON match saw Egypt win 2-1 in Cairo and the Pharaohs then trounced Ethiopia 5-0 to win the first tournament . It was the first of their seven triumphs. Probably even more so than elsewhere in the world, AFCON has been influenced by politics. It was the rise of decolonisation in the 1960s that saw many African nations become independent states, keen to demonstrate that identity in many ways including sport. National football teams became symbols of progress and, in some instances, were personally backed by Heads of State. Kwame Nkrumah, who led the Gold Coast to independence as Ghana, was instrumental in the country’s footballing progress, from a colonial state to AFCON winners in 1963. For those of us who enjoy a derby match then the “Jolloff” one should be remembered; it’s named after a spicy rice dish cooked in different ways in Nigeria and Ghana Wars between Egypt and Israel also led to disruption but there was steady and irresistible expansion of AFCON. Now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zaire evolved as a dominant force in the 1970s, and in 1974, had become the first sub-Saharan nation to qualify for the World Cup Finals, Zambia came strongly , whilst the North Africans remained competitive. A decade later the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon won the trophy twice, in 1984 and 1988 (as well as on three later occasions), and, in 1996 a multi-racial South Africa were victorious on home soil. Despite the efforts of Hollywood to portray the 1995 Rugby world Cup as the major sporting victory of the period, it is accepted the triumph of “Bafana Bafana” had a much more widespread impact upon South African society. Ben Jackson has written an excellently researched book, telling the story of AFCON with keen analysis and understanding of African history; cultures, and football. There is a comprehensive narrative about what is a still growing tournament, one that will exert an ever-larger influence over the rest if international football, and, if there is possibly a shortage of photographs from the earlier years, which is amply compensated by the detailed story.
  3. But not the supposed game you reference at Maine Road in a European tie when Keegan apparently “didn’t give Cruyff a kick”. That match never happened. Nobody disputes the Nou Camp friendly but that’s not what you claimed! , nor did you see that game, and Cruyff scored in it! By all means make your opinions known on past events but please make sure the facts are accurate.
  4. Not when Keegan was at City and Cruyff at Ajax. Just didn’t happen, this marking master class in a European tie.
  5. But City never played Barca in a European tie when Keegan was at Maine Road and Cruyff in Spain. Other than that , good story.
  6. If you’re interested in buying a pub, it is for sale - and the price has been reduced https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/24096178.maltings-tanners-moat-york-still-market/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwAR1Qa1J7fKv8rGs-oPIiqRjrvkS5l3rVhetzb5XWJaXcvOS-BQczTgmoS8s_aem_Aakcnx3cLY-wJfGJo1QdPPTgVoH4oRxqIpR1YtotoULNeMhU9g9x7M29rOnnUl5wCaQ
  7. They are slightly downhill, the Atlantic is on a slope according to my globe.
  8. Although they both played left side so not the right/left partnership as others were. C joined as left winger but with the arrival of W switched mainly to an inside left role.
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