meatpaste

Incidently, does anyone recognise themselves?

I was so thin (sob!!)

I'm afraid the last of the spare copies disappeared some time ago. I've been in the loft and found the 'Best of' artwork so I'll knock a couple up and see if anyone's interested. Frankly Mr Shankly - I'm really sorry to hear about Mike, I remember you both well. I don't know if you'd get Harry to contribute, he's not very computer literate. I'd be happy to have a look through some old BTB's to see if there's anything you can use that isn't too dated and I can probably alter some material to suit the present. You're right about warning people against hatchet jobs. There were a few times when I had to get the red pen out. Good luck anyway, I'll keep a note of your email address.

There have been a number of occasions when I've thought "BTB would have a field day with this", but the thought of knocking an issue together again fills me with dread. It's also pretty expensive to produce and I'm pleased to say that I never had to dip into the housekeeping to pay the printer but there were times when it was pretty close! I'm going to have a look in the loft for the 'Best of BTB' I knocked together, if it still looks OK I might knock a few more out.

Joe apparently didn't like BTB but I suspect Alan Hardy had more to do with it. We were mentioned in the programme notes as being "anti-club and anti-player" which was completely untrue. It went on to say that we were perhaps Blackburn Rovers fans "determined to undermine the success at BP". It was really quite pathetic but we countered it by putting 'The voice of Blackburn Rovers Fans' on the front cover with Blackburn Rovers crossed out and Oldham Athletic written in. It is worth pointing out that Joe dislikes fanzines, radio phone-ins, messageboards and their ilk and famously, is not overkeen on female officials. "I'm not sexist but I don't approve of female officials in professional football. How can they make accurate decisions if they have never been tackled from behind by a 14st centre-half"

Blimey, you go away for the weekend and everybody starts talking about you! I've only just been told about this thread. I think I should explain that I'm Pete, formerly of BTB. There are some very kind comments on here about the fanzine, thanks very much, I appreciate it. Harry and Brian Green who were also involved are still big Latics fans and are ST holders in the Main Stand. Brian was responsible for Away Goals Count Double on the inside back page as well as writing other stuff. Harry mainly did View From the Terraces, which was the double page photo captions that were very popular. We all chipped in with other stuff but essentially it was for Latics fans to contribute to. I remember going to Blackburn away and in the pub before the game, we were handed various bits of paper from people eager to contribute. We were also given a series of photos of Latics fans on the Town Hall steps showing their backsides ("If Latics ever get to Wembley I'll show my a*** on the Town Hall steps etc"). We used that on the front of issue 16 (my personal fave by the way). I like to think we used everything we were given. I'm sorry to hear about Andrew 'losing the faith', he wrote one of the best articles we ran in the early days, 'A Series of Misfortunes' about Latics exploits (or the lack of them) in the FA and League Cup. It was written in September 1989 and we all know what we went on to after that! I'm sure Andrew wouldn't mind me quoting from it now - "1967 arrived and we bedecked ourselves in kaftan and lovebeads for a journey to the land of the beautiful people, Workington, a struggle which necessitated a second replay on a neutral ground. The Football League studied their atlas carefully to find a spot equidistant from the two clubs and naturally enough chose Carlisle. Just up the road in fact. Their knowledge of geography was equal to our expectations. We lost" Classic. I did once knock together a 'Best of BTB' which I think I've still got the artwork for. If I thought there was enough interest in a reprint, I'd be happy to dig it out. Once again, thanks for your kind comments. I really enjoyed being the Editor but far too many days in the pouring rain had to bring it to an end.

Signed. Best of luck.

You must be gutted

Ah, that sort of Marina, I was getting worried.

I've been asked what our post war attendance record is and I thought it might be the 41,733 v Liverpool in the FA Cup 4th round in 1962. Rather than trawl through various books, I thought I'd ask on here. Pretty sure I'm right though. While I'm on the subject, what's our highest post-war attendance for a league game?

Beckett leaves 'Udders.

Vic Halom, King of all Geordies - he was born in Burton on Trent (that's in Staffs for you RREnders)

What's the most another club has paid for a League One player?

I've got a special fondness for a song an Ipswich fan told me. To the Addams Family tune............. Your sister is your Mother Your Father is your brother You're all shagging each other The Yorkshire (etc) family

Jim Williams is/was a God. I've got loads of examples e.g "Beardall went down the wing like a drunk falling down an escalator" but for me, this takes some beating. Taken from the match report when we beat Bristol Rovers 3-2 in September 1971, this was the opening paragraph of his report:- "Boundaries snare all our lives. The borders of talent or the twin ties of apathy and indifference lie hidden, like the unseen trip-wire in the fog of everyday life, to hold us to our alloted course. The frontiers of personal achievement are hard to find and even harder to conquer. Occasionally, the frontiers are crossed, the shackles removed and, for all too brief moments, there is fresh territory to explore, new horizons to gaze upon. When one of these occasions graces professional football - at any level - the effect is totally magnetic, demanding the attention and holding it with an unseen yet almost tangible force." If my memory serves me correctly, he was referring to David Shaw's match winning performance!

Hollands puddings, Holts Bitter

99p at the moment. Here

Fancy me forgetting that one. I remember all the French journalists in t-shirts and slacks, freezing their nuts off.

I was just looking through the programmes for sale on Ebay and came across a Leicester v Latics prog which claims that Gary Linekar made his debut at that game. I seem to remember that Ian Wright made his debut for Palace against us and Steve Mcmanaman made his Liverpool debut against us. Their respective clubs obviously wanted to ease them into league football gently! Any other (well known) ones?

Is it not true that one of Latics worst FA Cup results, at the hands of the mighty South Shields in 1969 is also remembered because the opposition all wore different coloured socks?

Scunny coming down is great news for the L.O.A.F massive.

Because you once told me no prog existed from that game!

I've updated my 'wants list. All Latics FA Cup or League Cup games. 59-60 FA SHILDON AWAY 60-61 FA CHESTERFIELD HOME 60-61 LC HARTLEPOOL HOME 61-62 LC CHARLTON HOME 62-63 LC SUNDERLAND AWAY 63-64 LC WORKINGTON HOME 64-65 LC GRIMSBY AWAY 65-66 LC PORTSMOUTH HOME 69-70 FA SOUTH SHIELDS AWAY 73-74 FA CAMBRIDGE HOME 73-74 FA CAMBRIDGE NEUTRAL 75-76 LC WORKINGTON AWAY 77-78 FA LUTON HOME 91-92 FA LEYTON ORIENT AWAY 92-93 LC CAMBRIDGE AWAY 94-95 FA READING AWAY 96-97 LC GRIMSBY HOME 96=97 LC GRIMSBY AWAY 97-98 LC GRIMSBY HOME 97-98 LC GRIMSBY AWAY 97-98 FA CARDIFF AWAY 98-99 LC CREWE AWAY 98-99 FA GILLINGHAM HOME 99-00 LC STOCKPORT AWAY 99-00 FA SWANSEA HOME 99-00 FA PRESTON AWAY 00-01 FA PETERBOROUGH AWAY 01-02 LC STOKE AWAY 01-02 FA BARROW HOME 2002-03 LC DERBY AWAY 2003-04 LC SCUNTHORPE AWAY

This was the photo you saw in BTB. Not the best in the world but proof nonetheless!