[Archived] Rovers Reminiscences

[Guest]

47 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Yuri Djorkaeff ? That Baggio guy who played for us ? 

 

28 minutes ago, Blue Cabbage said:

Was it not Duff?

Not bad guesses! But no... Keep trying.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Djouff ?

[J*B]

Roque?

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Djouff ?

 

4 minutes ago, J*B said:

Roque?

Nope! Nope!

[bazza]

Tyrone, it was the 158 bus. It ran from Rochdale to Blackpool. I used to catch it regularly from Preston to Blackpool. Part of that route now has the 152 Preston to Burnley bus running.

[Mike E]

Tugay for the World Cup Trivia? Can imagine him having a go from a kick off. Maybe Sukur?

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Maybe Sukur?

Correct. It was Hakan Sukur, scoring after just 11 seconds against South Korea in the 2002 World Cup third place match. Rovers signed him 5 months later. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

12 hours ago, bazza said:

Tyrone, it was the 158 bus. It ran from Rochdale to Blackpool. I used to catch it regularly from Preston to Blackpool. Part of that route now has the 152 Preston to Burnley bus running.

Thanks for that. It used to leave Rochdale about 12.40, got me into Blackburn around 1.50 as I remember.  A nice walk up to the ground and in to an empty Ewood for about 2.15. I knew every bump on that road over the tops. 5.15 back to Rochdale reading the print off my copy of the " Last Sports ".

For night matches I used to leave the ground about 10 minutes before the end of the game and run ( I could shift in those days ) up to Queens Park Hospital where I would meet the last bus back to Rochdale coming up the road. More than once I only just got to the stop in time , 

[HowieFive0]

22 hours ago, Phil T said:

And Ian Pearce. There's been quite a few, but it seems to be a thing of the past. Hence this thread!

Big Colin Hendry ..he could double up when required ..

5-4 v Palace ..id never seen owt like it 

 

[speeeeeeedie]

I cannot anoint a single player to being the best as there are too many different criteria to conclusively pick one.

I am too young for Pele, Best, Beckenbauer and the like.

Maradona, Messi, Zidane, and pre injury Brazilian Ronaldo are players in my football watching lifetime who are at the top table. They could turn games by themselves. van Basten, Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry, Shearer, and many others were/are great players but not as good as those 4.

One player who really surprised me when I saw them live was Tony Adams. Rovers first season up in 1992 for Arsenal at Ewood. He was the best player on the pitch. His organization, positioning, and passing were first class. All I knew about him previously what his stop start England career and his caricature as a bit of a donkey.

[HowieFive0]

Best keeper ? Arthur Woolfall..bit of bias here ..family...keeper in the late 1870s and early 1880s..cousin of Daniel Burley  Woolfall  also from Blackburn  who we all know was/is the only English FIFA  president

As for Arthur ..that pesky London  Underground. . 

[Gav]

Jim can you tell us about Tommy Briggs? 

Seriously though he scored 140 goals in 190 games for Rovers, my grandad said he was good un.

[bazza]

With regard to goalkeepers I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Manuel Neuer. He is one of the best keepers I have ever seen. And so is De Gea at Man Utd. 

[bazza]

19 minutes ago, Gav said:

Jim can you tell us about Tommy Briggs? 

Seriously though he scored 140 goals in 190 games for Rovers, my grandad said he was good un.

Briggs was just a big fella who could use his weight and chase balls down the middle and, what's more, he could shoot and head on target. He was just what Rovers needed at the time. His chances were created by Langton on the left and Mooney on the right. His two inside forwards were Crossan and the brilliant Quigley. Ronnie Clayton was right half and Bill Eckersley was left back. So Tommy played in a team of good players who created many chances for him.

That season of1954/55 was similar to this one in that we scored loads of goals but also conceded many as well.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Back on the subject of wingers Garrincha must have been the best ever, he was absolutely explosive. Jimmy Johnstone of Celtic was pretty special as well.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

12 hours ago, bazza said:

Briggs was just a big fella who could use his weight and chase balls down the middle and, what's more, he could shoot and head on target. He was just what Rovers needed at the time. His chances were created by Langton on the left and Mooney on the right. His two inside forwards were Crossan and the brilliant Quigley. Ronnie Clayton was right half and Bill Eckersley was left back. So Tommy played in a team of good players who created many chances for him.

That season of1954/55 was similar to this one in that we scored loads of goals but also conceded many as well.

Just before my time Bazza but bringing in Matt Woods a year or two later must have made a massive difference in the defence. What a good centre half he was. He retired at the top of his powers in my opinion, I suppose the writing was on the wall for him with the young Mike England coming through.

I went to his last game when we gave the all conquering Spurs team a 3-0 banging at home. It was the last game of the season so we all ran onto the pitch at the end. I gave his back a slap and it was like slapping a tree trunk !  My local coach company had run a coach over from Rochdale to see Spurs so I could stay behind for a short while after the game.

The directors gave him a canteen of cutlery as a going away present. How things change.

That night we were in awesome form and ran Spurs ragged. 8,9,10 for us that night were Byrom, Pickering, Ferguson. All really young guys and all three played brilliantly. My abiding memory is of thinking how well we were set up for the future !

[jim mk2]

 

Garrincha "The Little Bird" was a wonderful player, and Rivelinho with the bandit moustache too - he used to nutmeg players in defensive positions and midfield. Great wing play has been lost from football - think Duggie, Finney, Matthews, Peter Thompson, Waggie, and many more. Shame. Blame Alf Ramsey and Guardiola. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, jim mk2 said:

 

Garrincha "The Little Bird" was a wonderful player, and Rivelinho with the bandit moustache too - he used to nutmeg players in defensive positions and midfield. Great wing play has been lost from football - think Duggie, Finney, Matthews, Peter Thompson, Waggie, and many more. Shame. Blame Alf Ramsey and Guardiola. 

Every team had at least one then Jim. Cliff Jones at Spurs, the young Johnny Giles at Utd, Waggie at City, a Scots guy at Arsenal called Johnny Macleod, Connelly at Burnley, Brabrook at Chelsea, Parry at Bolton, Deeley at Wolves, Hellawell at Big Club. The guys you mentioned. A great time to watch football. No parking the bus then.

[bellamy11]

On 14/12/2017 at 08:40, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I remember watching the Pele/Banks incident on TV. As the ball came over you could see Pele poised to head the ball with Banks sort of stranded towards the near post. When he got up to head the ball I thought " If he gets a good head on this we're sunk ". When Pele headed the ball down into the corner I nearly had my head in my hands. Then Banks appeared from nowhere and miraculously managed to tip the ball up and over the bar. A truly amazing save.

Given the circumstances and conditions that was possibly the finest performance by an England team I've ever seen. They ran the best team this planet as ever seen very, very close.

I think I must be the only person on the planet on this one, but I just can't see why the Banks save is held in such esteem. Great save yes, but people talk about it being some sort of miracle. Perhaps an element of me not being "there" and therefore not watching the game with all the emotion that goes with it? Or the fact that perhaps the greatest player in the world was on the other end of it ?

I've heard the save described by loads of people and it usually involves the idea that Banks was at the other side of the goal when Pele headed the ball (he wasn't, he was in the middle) and the ball was bouncing into the top corner (it wasn't, it was below head height).

The Seaman save from Peschisolido is more remarkable, IMO.  To be honest I feel Friedel has made better saves than the Banks one. I remember one from Viduka when we played Leeds that was breathtaking.

You have to bear in mind I don't see the big deal with Led Zepplin, and Star Wars. So it's probably me. But I think I'm seeing a different save to everyone else!

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, bellamy11 said:

I think I must be the only person on the planet on this one, but I just can't see why the Banks save is held in such esteem.

It's a great save, but for me, this is the best I can ever recall.

 

[Gav]

The Gordon Banks save:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNLam4RAbg8

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Jim Montgomery's save in the Leeds v Sunderland  Cup Final was something special.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

28 minutes ago, bellamy11 said:

I think I must be the only person on the planet on this one, but I just can't see why the Banks save is held in such esteem. Great save yes, but people talk about it being some sort of miracle. Perhaps an element of me not being "there" and therefore not watching the game with all the emotion that goes with it? Or the fact that perhaps the greatest player in the world was on the other end of it ?

I've heard the save described by loads of people and it usually involves the idea that Banks was at the other side of the goal when Pele headed the ball (he wasn't, he was in the middle) and the ball was bouncing into the top corner (it wasn't, it was below head height).

The Seaman save from Peschisolido is more remarkable, IMO.  To be honest I feel Friedel has made better saves than the Banks one. I remember one from Viduka when we played Leeds that was breathtaking.

You have to bear in mind I don't see the big deal with Led Zepplin, and Star Wars. So it's probably me. But I think I'm seeing a different save to everyone else!

Looks at Bank's starting point, look how well Pele directs the header down into the corner, look how Banks got the ball up and over the bar. This was in the World Cup not the Dog and Duck v the Black Dog down the local rec.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Jim Montgomery's save in the Leeds v Sunderland  Cup Final was something special.

First time I've ever seen it, but that's a great shout. How he gets up from the first save and pulls off that second save is unreal. Skip to 1:32.

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Phil T said:

First time I've ever seen it, but that's a great shout. How he gets up from the first save and pulls off that second save is unreal. Skip to 1:32.

 

You normally see it from the other angle, it's even more impressive then. Leeds went down like a pricked balloon after that save. They just knew it wasn't going to be their day.