Summerdeep

Blackburn away, 23 August 1975. This footage is described as missing on the first page of the thread, but here it is..... Great link up between Groves and Blair to put us in the driving seat at half time. All thrown away after the break by some appalling defending. This kind of performance was sadly all too common in some away games during our first three seasons in the old Second Division (1974-77), and with a record of just 5 wins from 63 away fixtures, it was always a bit of a mystery to me how we managed to avoid being relegated in that period. See also Bolton away later on in the same season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwV1nrgP5uc

I don't disagree with that assessment at all. I just meant that the circumstances of Frizzell's appointment owed something to luck, not that he lacked ability in any way. I'd rate him as our best post-war manager, some way ahead of Royle.

As well as the somewhat bizarre mini-saga involving Frank Lord prior to Frizzell's appointment as manager in 1970, there was the even more bizarre saga of Jim Lyness: I wonder if anyone else has any recollections of it.... Lyness was a private detective with no background in football management or coaching, though I think I can vaguely remember reading that he once played at schoolboy level for Leeds United. His application for the manager's job caused a real stir, and a surprisingly large number of fans wrote letters to the Chronicle and the Green Final urging the club to take a punt on him. Jim Williams wrote a scathing anti-Lyness piece in the Chron, provoking a furious response from the latter which may have included the threat of legal action. It'd be interesting to know whether he got an interview, though I think it's unlikely. Lyness came briefly to public attention again in the late 1970s with some controversial theories about the Yorkshire Ripper, though I'm not entirely sure what they were - I think he claimed to know Peter Sutcliffe personally and to have been aware of some of his activities well before he was arrested. There was also quite a bit of speculation about other possible applicants for the manager's job, most notably the Rochdale manager Dick Conner and Alan Ball Senior, who was with Halifax at the time. One man who definitely seems to have applied was Workington's Brian Doyle, who later went on to manage Stockport. I'm glad we didn't get him.

^ Just wondering, how many of the players are Oldhamers, and how many actually live in the borough?

^They need someone a bit younger, surely? If he had any significant managerial magic, it would have been obvious before now, wouldn't it?

^ 'Luck' is a factor that can be at least as important as coaching abilty and management skills in some situations. If you go all the way back to Frizzell, he almost didn't become our manager, and where would we have gone from there? Two of his first three home games early in 1970 were against Bradford PA and Lincoln. Bradford were rock bottom in Div 4 and hadn't won an away game for three years, but we struggled to create more than a few half-chances against them and they had two goals disallowed for offside, and we all know how marginal many of those decisions can be (final result 0-0). In the Lincoln game we only scraped a point with an equaliser in the third or fourth minute of injury time. If we'd lost those games I don't think Frizzell woud've lasted much longer as caretaker manager. In any event, the man the club wanted as manager was Frank Lord, who was coaching in South Africa at the time. The board had already agreed terms with him and offered him the job, but for some reason he didn't show up to sign his contract. If Lord had got onto the plane that day in Cape Town, it would have been all over for Frizzell. I don't think we missed out on much with Lord - I remember him briefly turning up as caretaker manager of Preston in the 1972-73 season, but other than that he seems to have made no impact on the managerial scene. Frizzell capitalized on the situation by guiding the side to their first away win in six months (2-0 at Exeter), and seven days later to a 1-0 win against league leaders and champions-elect Chesterfield, which was enough to persuade the board to offer him the job after the rebuff from Lord.

And by the way, that record of Rowley's was very similar to that of Frizzell when he took over for the second half of the 1969-70 season and steered us away from the re-election zone (W9, D6, L7 from 22 games).

^ To be fair to Rowley though, he did get the side playing some decent stuff over the second half of the 1968-69 season, it's just that it was a bit late by then. From late December his record was W11, D6, L9 from 26 games. If they'd shown that form from the start they'd have finished in the top half of the table. I started watching Latics in February 1969, and never saw them lose a game that season.

Hitler apparently used to have a much larger moustache, but it made wearing his gas-mask in the WW1 trenches uncomfortable, so he adopted the 'toothbrush' style. That's what I've read anyway.

And on Saturday we face the Dog-and-Duck and Redbridge, lol.

Chesterfield and Solihull both losing!

Chelsea v Latics, March 3 1984. I think the only version on YouTube is a 59 second one. This recording is the one originally shown on 'Match Of The Day' and is taken from an old Betamax tape in my private collection. Enjoy, or at least try to! This game came during a run of just one win in eleven matches, and by late April we looked odds-on for relegation, but we then managed a run of three straight victories which hauled us into nineteenth place and safety.

I followed every minute of the Kidderminster away game on BBC radio, and thought we were a bit lucky to come away with three points, but on the other hand we hung on in there and took our chances. Away form is a big deal on the whole. Just look at the Latics 1974-75 season, when they didn't win a single away game but somehow managed to avoid relegation. Still don't know how we managed that. Has there been any other season in our history when we haven't won even once away from home?

I've got to say that on the evidence of what I heard on the radio commentary I'd agree with that summary. The team didn't seem to dominate at any stage in the game, and didn't create very much. Still, eh?

I'm not even into the twentyfirst century when following Latics games, never mind the 2020s. I listened to the whole game tonight on BBC radio via the internet, but had the impression that some of you were watching a video feed of some sort. Is that the case, and if so how do I do likewise? Is it possible without some kind of subscription arrangement?

Oxlade-Chamberlain: that can't be the former Arsenal guy, can it? Surely a relation though?

Yessss!

First time I've listened to one of these radio commentaries - we seem to be under the cosh a bit here!

If true, he would've been around 26 years old at the time. A bit late in life to be entertaining hopes of a career in professional football for someone with no track record in that field thus far?

Hasselbaink had five managerial appointments in seven years, and only once lasted more than 12 months. Unlikely to provide stability in the Frizzell or Royle tradition.

Ouch!

Dennis Urwin? (Joke)

Our 3-2 win at Scunthorpe was in the 4th Division promotion season (1970-71) and was a midweek match played on 1 September. Clemence couldn't have played in that one as he had moved to Liverpool in 1967. Keegan definitely played in the match however. We drew 1-1 at Scunthorpe on 15 November 1966, also a midweek game, Frank Large our goalscorer. I think that's more likely to be the game in question.

Not a bad idea. Also, remove all the seats (this is football, not the opera) and charge £5 admission at the turnstile.

Unsworth In, for at least the next fortnight eh, guys?