Boxing Day Memories

[philipl]

Well here goes.

First Boxing Day fixture won 1-0 v PNE 1969.

Did the 3-2 win at Oldham.

The 23,000 crowd in the 3-0 thrashing of PNE in the 74/5 Div 3 championship season. 

The 2-2 home draw with the dingles when Keith Newton was playing for them just before his retirement.

THAT 3-2 win.. The missed penalty which would have made it 0-4 at the start of the second half, Steve Kindon as sub for them running like an Alberto Juanterino- very big and very fast; Jim Smith racing onto the pitch at the final whistle to do his nut at the ref after he had added 8 minutes of injury time. Then being absolutely abused by a double decker full of Rovers fans while walking to get my car reasoning it was safer to keep my Rovers scarf hidden. Reckoned I wasn't far enough ahead of a group of dingles about 50 yards behind me to be able to leg it to safety and the bus window openings were too small for me to be in any danger of anything more than earache...

An astonishing Christmas fixture was the 4-1 hammering by Forest just after Clough had taken over. Easily the best performance by any club I had ever seen at Ewood at that time. Not entirely surprising they won promotion, then the First Division title, then the European Cup, then defended the European Cup in four successive seasons.

Favourite Christmas goal was being stood on the Riverside right behind John Bailey in the 79/80 bounce back at the first attempt from Div 3. Bailey smacked it from near the touch line on a counter attack. Mansfield Keeper went to collect it back post/six yard line and the swerve took it just inside the near post with the keeper making a despairing forward swimming dive.

 

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

34 minutes ago, philipl said:

''Then being absolutely abused by a double decker full of Rovers fans while walking to get my car reasoning it was safer to keep my Rovers scarf hidden. Reckoned I wasn't far enough ahead of a group of dingles about 50 yards behind me to be able to leg it to safety and the bus window openings were too small for me to be in any danger of anything more than earache"...

 

 

Cracked me up there philip 

[alcd]

Mansfield Town 0-0 at Ewood 26 December 1979 in an absolute deluge - the match should never have even started and was a total farce. Didn't realise it at the time but it was the start of a fantastic 18 month journey under Howard Kendall.

[philipl]

19 minutes ago, alcd said:

Mansfield Town 0-0 at Ewood 26 December 1979 in an absolute deluge - the match should never have even started and was a total farce. Didn't realise it at the time but it was the start of a fantastic 18 month journey under Howard Kendall.

Yes you are right. A case of never wanting to remember how drenched I got that day!

The Mansfield game in which John Bailey scored was the 3-1 home win in Division 2, November 1977.

The return game in that 1979/80 season at Field Mill saw Rovers win 1-0 sometime round about Easter with Duncan McKenzie scoring an astonishing goal flicking in an overhit corner from beyond the far post with his back to goal into the roof of the net right in front of the travelling Rovers fans. I think 32 coaches had made the journey down from Lancashire that day.