[Archived] Match of the Day 19 12 1981

[AllRoverAsia]

Yesterday whilst looking on the Web for video of old Rovers games v Aston Villa I found this link. I suppose it came up as Rovers and Villa are featured although not playing each other.

Chelsea v Rovers is the second game starting at 30 mins. Some great Rovers heros on show plus that good man Bobby Saxton. Played in very poor playing conditions in the then awful Bridge.

First up are Everton v Villa. Plenty of Rovers interest with Kendall and Irvine playing for Everton (Jim Arnold gets an early mention) and Cowans for Villa.

Nostalgia for us oldies and educational history for the younger. Can't be bad.

 

[Gav]

Always good to see old footage, didn't think much of the away support though.

[tomphil]

Some Chelsea fan waffled about this one once and said there were 10 away fans or something ?  I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Bburn area was under heavy snow and no coaches traveled, this was also maybe a rearranged game ? Not many Villa at Everton either.

That Chelsea guy had a good memory though.

[AllRoverAsia]

18 minutes ago, tomphil said:

Some Chelsea fan waffled about this one once and said there were 10 away fans or something ?  I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Bburn area was under heavy snow and no coaches traveled, this was also maybe a rearranged game ? Not many Villa at Everton either.

That Chelsea guy had a good memory though.

The UK was having its coldest and snowiest December in a century and had a lot of football match postponements. Travel was difficult and roads and trains were badly affected.

This game was played on a Saturday afternoon so I do not think that it was a rearranged game but not sure.

I think the reason it got on tv was because it was actually being played and in London and perhaps the tv needed a game?

Because of the travel problems and the earlier doubt that the match would take place I doubt many travelled down from Lancs.

Not that it affected this game just a few days before Chelsea fans had been banned from away games for the rest of that season after problems at their game at Derby.

What a dump the old Bridge was.

Good to see Ian Miller skinning his fullback and crossing to SG and a Miller headed goal too.

Same goes for Irvine in the Everton game. Right footed wingers playing on the right.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Stamford Bridge '81 would have been last on the list for many clubs away travellers who valued their safety tbh.

Just over 11,000 on...'where were you when you were shyte' indeed! 

[Mattyblue]

I remember the first day of the 93/94 season, cars parked behind the goals and empty ramshackle terraces...

Football aristocrats they weren't.

[MarkBRFC]

Remember going to that game in 93, we had a huge following on that open terrace behind the goal.

Good times.

[Colt Seavers]

Thanks for posting that AllRover. Really enjoyed the game. Just a few observations: I've said this before but  it was better to watch then. Full blooded tackles on a slippy pitch; lads earning a few quid more than the average working man, fighting for every ball. Ian Miller hadn't been here long at this point and that goal will have meant so much to him. Garner was a handful as always. I wonder if he might have flourished under a different type of manager. He clearly could have been a top division striker if things had worked out differently. Perhaps Saxton was an avuncular uncle whereas he needed a beastly step dad.

I loved Saxton in his Rovers hat and wasn't Arnott a decent player. Think we had him twice on loan. Funny to see Jim Bran at left back and both Hamilton and Stonehouse might have looked better a division down, whilst Bell's mind was hurrying to a date that his legs couldn't keep.

Mickey Droy looked tidied than I remember and I loved that away kit.

Jimmy Hill 's heart warming and genuine Christmas salutations was a reminder of better times!

 

[AllRoverAsia]

4 hours ago, renrag said:

With his natural goalscoring ability, I always thought it strange that none of the top flight clubs came in for Garner. Perhaps it was his life style or maybe he felt in a comfort zone at Ewood, Howard Kendall tried to ship him out to Halifax soon after Kendall arrived, which goes to prove even the best can get it wrong.

Just as an aside when Jimmy Hill introduced the match it showed the Rovers current club crest on the screen, but the players were wearing the Lancs rose on their shirts any ideas why this might be?  

The current Club crest had been used by Rovers on Club stationary and Match Day Programmes since the 1970s. However it only started being used on the Club team shirts in 1989. Before that the shirts had the Lancs Red Rose from the early 1970s until 1989.

So MoD in their match introduction used the more generally used Club crest.

I've no idea why Rovers had 2 Club crests in use for quite a few years. 

 

[duggy9197]

ding dong reminded me of how bad he was,that team would run away with this division,was this the yr chelski beat us iin the play-off.Bob your Dad looked a cool dude with the bobble hat,ps who was it with the tammy shanter in the rovers dug out.

[Gav]

3 hours ago, duggy9197 said:

ding dong reminded me of how bad he was,that team would run away with this division,was this the yr chelski beat us iin the play-off.Bob your Dad looked a cool dude with the bobble hat,ps who was it with the tammy shanter in the rovers dug out.

No that was late 80's, 88 I think.

Remember going down to Ewood thinking we had a chance, hot sunny day I seem to recall, but Chelsea so much better than us, and we'd beaten them the year before on route to the Full Members cup final, gutted I was.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkobMli93i8

[bob fleming]

4 hours ago, duggy9197 said:

ding dong reminded me of how bad he was,that team would run away with this division,was this the yr chelski beat us iin the play-off.Bob your Dad looked a cool dude with the bobble hat,ps who was it with the tammy shanter in the rovers dug out.

Great bobble hats!  Tony Long, Physio, with the Scottish head gear.

[Claytons Left Boot]

22 hours ago, MarkBRFC said:

Remember going to that game in 93, we had a huge following on that open terrace behind the goal.

Good times.

I hired and drove a minibus down for that game. Great day, great win and a great following at an absolute shytehole of a ground.

[McClarky]

Some great players in that side, exceptions being Stonehouse, Hamilton and Bell.  Garner just stands out a mile, a really fantastic player who we were so lucky to watch for all those years.