West Ham 2 - 8 Rovers

[den]

Right, one of rovers greatest ever wins must have been this scoreline. Both teams were in the top division and it was played Christmas 1963ish. Anyone got the stats, or even better - anyone actually at the game?

Remember, this forum is not just for games from long ago, but any game that has real memories. We're not really after the "I remember us playing Bournemouth in 1971 because it was my first game" post. We're after games that stand in the memory because of what happened on the pitch, or was of relevance to all of us.

[colin]

Not exactly a match report, but there were some other astonishing scores on that day. Have a look here

You'll need to scroll down a bit.

[snatchymcsnatch]

Not exactly a match report, but there were some other astonishing scores on that day. Have a look  here

You'll need to scroll down a bit.

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Was this by any chance "keepers day" where they are given the day off and get breakfast in bed?

[jim mk2]

I interviewed Bobby Moore in the mid-1970s and dared to mention this game. Gentleman that he was, Bobby went into raptures about Bryan Douglas and the way Rovers played that day.

It remains the most astonishing away Rovers victory in my lifetime.

What Bobby did not say was that West Ham came to Ewood a few days later and won 3-1.

[den]

It remains the most astonishing away Rovers victory in my lifetime.

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It is Jim. The thing about it as well, is the fact that this was an excellent West Ham team [they won the FA cup in '64, at a time when the FA cup was so important to every side]. - just as it was an excellent Spurs side that rovers thrashed 7-2 at Ewood.

Someone on here must have the stats [teams and scorers, for both sides] for both of those games?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

How's this Den , West Ham

Standen, Bond,Burkett, Peters,Brown,Moore, Brabrook,Boyce,Byrne,Hurst,Sissons.

goals Johnny Byrne 2

Rovers

Else, Bray,Newton, Clayton,England,McGrath, Ferguson,McEvoy,Pickering,Douglas,Harrison.

goals Fred Pickering 3, Andy McEvoy 3, Bryan Douglas 1, Mike Ferguson 1.

Attendance 20,500

There were some good forwards out there on both teams, this win took us clear at the top of the old first division by one point, unfortunately it was a high water mark for the team.

[den]

Thanks TS.

Hmm, John Bond , Martin Peters, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst [world cup winners] and Peter Sissons. That's some team.

The rovers side of

Else, Bray,Newton, Clayton,England,McGrath, Ferguson,McEvoy,Pickering,Douglas,Harrison.

is the best rovers team I've ever seen.

Any stats on the rovers/Spurs teams who were involved in the 7-2 scoreline?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Hi Den, I think you mean John Sissons not Peter ( news reader ? ) In the return game at Ewood Rovers were unchanged, West Ham brought in Bovington ( a tenacious man-marker to mark Dougie) but apart from that I think they were unchanged. We played like we'd been celebrating since the first match and never really got going , West Ham were 2-0 up early in the second half when Andy McEvoy raced through to put us back in the game, 5 minutes later we allowed the Hammers a sloppy goal and it was game over.

As for the 7-2 game with Spurs-

Rovers fielded the same team as in the West Ham games -

Scorers- Andy McEvoy 4, Bryan Douglas 1, Mike England 1, Fred Pickering 1

Spurs - Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay, Saul, White, Smith, Greaves, Dyson.

Scorers- Jimmy Greaves1,Dave Mackay1.

Attendence 20,949.

Other great games I witnessed at that time were the 5-5 draw with Arsenal and another thrashing of Spurs in the last match of the season 1962/63, Spurs had just won the Cup-Winners Cup and paraded the trophy around the ground before the game. Rovers took them apart that night winning 3-0, our 8-9-10 for that game was Ferguson, Pickering and Byrom, all local kids who seemingly had the football world at their feet.

Like you said without a doubt the best Rovers team I've ever seen, I'll die happy having seen them at their best.

[den]

Hi Den, I think you mean John Sissons not Peter ( news reader ? )

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Probably. I saw the 5-5 draw with Arsenal as well. Didn't rovers go 3-0 up, then fall behind, finally to rescue a draw - or something vaguelly like that?

Compare these two sides:

Else, Bray,Newton, Clayton,England,McGrath, Ferguson,McEvoy,Pickering,Douglas,Harrison.

Flowers, Berg, Hendry, Pearce,Le Saux, Ripley, Sherwood, Atkins, Wilcox, Shearer, Sutton.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Den the scoring in the Arsenal game went as follows-

Douglas Rovers 1-0 10 mins

Pickering Rovers 2-0 14 mins

Douglas Rovers 3-0 28 mins

Baker Arsenal 3-1 34 mins

Skirton Arsenal 3-2 40 mins

Skirton Arsenal 3-3 47 mins

Lawther Rovers 4-3 57 mins

Baker Arsenal 4-4 76 mins

Pickering Rovers 5-4 85 mins

Eastham Arsenal 5-5 89 mins

A brilliant game , Rovers seemed to have the game won about 3 times but couldn't quite kill Arsenal off, I thought we'd done it at 5-4 with 5 mins to go but Bobby Jones ( deputizing for Fred Else) fumbled a Baker drive and George Eastham fired home from close range.

Compare the two teams,

Well - Flowers was better than Fred Else ( too small in my opinion ), Berg was more cultured than "The Tank", Newton was incomparable as a Rovers fullback ,but Le Saux could play. Clayton versus Sherwood ? no contest. England versus Pearce ditto. Hendry was better than the under rated McGrath . Much as I liked Rippers Fergie was a genius on his day, Harrison was a much better winger than Wilcox ( and who of all our penalty takers was better than Harrison from the penalty spot? ). Douglas V Atko , well that's not too difficult. Shearer v Pickering, well Big Fred was better on the eye but nobody could seriously could leave out Shearer. Last but not least Mac v Sutty, I've got to go with McEvoy, he was a goal scoring machine. Joint Team in a 4-2-4 or 4-4-2 formation-

Flowers, --Newton,England,Hendry,LeSaux,-- Ferguson,Clayton,Douglas,Harrison,--McEvoy,Shearer.

What a team that would be.

[philipl]

Just reading these threads brings home how fantastic that Rovers side was in the early '60s. I was too young to be allowed to go but I remember reading the match reports in the LET and Blackburn Times.

Tyrone shoelaces- I have no quibble whatsoever about the '60s midfield getting all four places over the Premiership winners in the combined team.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks Phil, on a good day the Rovers team of the early Sixties were something else, the football they played has never been surpassed, for skill , sheer excitement and goal mouth incident they really were the business.I,m sorry you were too young but at least you got to see the mid 1990's when we did actually win something.

The thing that made the midfield so potent was that they were the perfect blend, you had the drive and dynamism of Clayton, the unbelievable wizardry of Douglas, pace and trickery with Ferguson and the pure speed and power of Mike Harrison. none of the later midfields even come close although Batty,Bohinen,Berkovic and Warhurst would have been worthy substitutes.

[jim mk2]

to go but Bobby Jones ( deputizing for Fred Else) fumbled a Baker drive and George Eastham  fired home from close range.

Compare the two teams,

Well - Flowers was better than Fred Else ( too small in my opinion ), Berg was more cultured than "The Tank", Newton was incomparable as a Rovers fullback ,but Le Saux could play. Clayton versus Sherwood  ? no contest. England versus Pearce ditto. Hendry  was better than the under rated McGrath . Much as I liked Rippers Fergie was a genius on his day, Harrison was a much better winger than Wilcox ( and who of all our penalty takers was better than Harrison from the penalty spot? ). Douglas V Atko , well that's not too difficult. Shearer v Pickering, well Big Fred was better on the eye but nobody could seriously could leave out Shearer. Last but not least Mac v Sutty, I've got to go with McEvoy, he was a goal scoring machine. Joint Team in a 4-2-4 or 4-4-2 formation-

Flowers, --Newton,England,Hendry,LeSaux,-- Ferguson,Clayton,Douglas,Harrison,--McEvoy,Shearer.

What a team that would be.

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Great post, Tyrone, though Hendry cannot be compared with McGrath, the former a centre half and the latter an old-fashioned left half. Wasn't Bobby Jones an Aussie ?

Agree with the rest of your joint 1960s/1990s team though many on here would never have it.

Did you see the game at Villa when Ferguson dribbled round the entire defence and walked the ball in the net ? Even the Villa supporters applauded.

That team had everything and to think, ten years later, the attack was being led by John O'Mara !

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It,s great to reminisce Jim, weren't we lucky to see all these great players from both era's.I know you couldn't compare Hendry with Mick McGrath but they both wore the same shirt number so that was my starting point. I really rated Mick , he was a very consistent, quiet un- assuming player who kept the game simple and played to his strengths. My favourite memory of him is when he opened the scoring in the 3-0 win at Old trafford in the early 1960's

Unfortunately I wasn't at Villa Park that day for Fergie's wonder goal but I've heard plenty about it since , seems like it's up with the Bryan Douglas wonder goal against West Brom in 1963. It's interesting to hear you mention the Villa fans applauding the goal , if somebody scored a similar goal today all you would hear would be silence mixed with a few boo's.

The Bob Jones you referred to was a Scouser who played for Southport and Chester before signing for Rovers as understudy to Harry Leyland in 1958, he played about 50 games for us without really establishing himself before leaving in 1966. I suspect the Aussie goalie you mentioned was John Roberts who played 3 games for the first team at the end of the dreaded relegation season of 1965-66, he later played for Chesterfield.

Some things never change, I noticed the other day that 2 weeks before the famous West Ham 8-2 away win we played Liverpool at Anfield and won 2-1 (Andy McEvoy got both goals), now as you know NOBODY beat Liverpool at Anfield in that period. The following week we played Villa at Ewood and duly won 2-0(Pickering 2 ). In the previous 8 games we had won 6 and drawn 2, scoring 19 goals in the process, so how many turned up at Ewood to watch this scintillating team ,paying 3 bob to get in ?????????????????? ----------------------------------------------------------17,095, makes you sick doesn't it !

[jim mk2]

I suspect the Aussie goalie you mentioned was John Roberts who played 3 games for the first team at the end of the dreaded relegation season of 1965-66, he later played for Chesterfield.

In the previous 8 games we had won 6 and drawn 2, scoring 19 goals in the process, so how many turned up at Ewood to watch this scintillating team ,paying 3 bob to get in ?????????????????? ----------------------------------------------------------17,095, makes you sick doesn't it !

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Roberts, that's the chappie. Went to his house on Shadsworth once. How many Rovers players live on Shadsworth now ?!!

Rovers' crowds of that period were generally 17,000 to 20,000 as I recall with more for the Lancashire derbies.

Interesting that Rovers' gates are slowly reverting to that level now, showing that the inflated crowds of the Walker years were an aberration.

[sodgers]

Hi Den, I think you mean John Sissons not Peter ( news reader ? ) In the return game at Ewood Rovers were unchanged, West Ham brought in Bovington ( a tenacious man-marker to mark Dougie) but apart from that I think they were unchanged. We played like we'd been celebrating since the first match and never really got going , West Ham were 2-0  up early in the second half when Andy McEvoy raced through to put us back in the game, 5 minutes later we allowed the Hammers a sloppy goal and it was game over.

As for the 7-2 game with Spurs-

Rovers fielded the same team as in the West Ham games -

Scorers- Andy McEvoy 4, Bryan Douglas 1, Mike England 1, Fred Pickering 1

Spurs - Brown,  Baker,  Henry,  Blanchflower,  Norman,  Mackay,  Saul,  White,  Smith,  Greaves,  Dyson.

Scorers- Jimmy Greaves1,Dave Mackay1.

Attendence 20,949.

Other great games I witnessed at that time were the 5-5 draw with Arsenal and another thrashing of Spurs in the last match of the season 1962/63, Spurs had just won the Cup-Winners Cup and paraded the trophy around the ground before the game. Rovers took them apart that night winning 3-0, our 8-9-10  for that game was Ferguson, Pickering and Byrom, all local kids who seemingly had the football world at their feet.

Like you said without a doubt the best Rovers team I've ever seen, I'll die happy having seen them at their best.

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