Blackburn lads who played for rovers

[speeeeeeedie]

18 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Not James Beattie, Jim.  He was an apprentice and played for the reserves....I played in the A and B team with him.

 

14 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

According to Mike Jackman’s book  he started 1 league game and was sub 3 times, he was sub 1 time in the FA Cup and started 2 games in the League Cup. No goals.

I'm not mistaken they are 2 separate people. Jim Beattie and James Beattie. Jim was an apprentice who never played for the first team. James went to Southampton not too long after turning pro. 

@Sparks Rover, was Jim Beattie a central defender? 

[Mercer]

2 hours ago, Wheelton Blue said:

The name 'Briggs' sounds familiar.

I'm thinking of Peter Briggs, who was a PE teacher when I went to Pleckgate.

Might be wrong here but when Alan Bradshaw coached the town's schoolboy team Peter Briggs would still be at school - think there was a 15+ age difference.

'Braddy' as he was known was an excellent youth coach and I think Howard Kendall made him Rovers' youth coach when he joined the club.  Seem to recall Liverpool chasing a couple of Braddy's lads from his school but lost track of where they ended up.

Used to watch the town's schoolboy team a couple of times a season (dad's mate did some scouting for a First Division club) and well remember Stuart Metcalfe playing and he was outstanding at that level and looked a real prospect. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Mercer

[oldjamfan1]

4 minutes ago, Mercer said:

Might be wrong here but when Alan Bradshaw coached the town's schoolboy team Peter Briggs would still be at school - think there was a 15+ age difference.

'Braddy' as he was known was an excellent youth coach and I think Howard Kendall made him Rovers' youth coach when he joined the club.  Seem to recall Liverpool chasing a couple of Braddy's lads at his school but lost track of where they ended up.

Used to watch the town's schoolboy team a couple of times a season (dad's mate did some scouting for a First Division club) and well remember Stuart Metcalfe playing and he was outstanding at that level. 

Alan Bradshaw coached the town team for many years - nothing unusual about a 15 year age gap between teachers. It was definitely Pete Briggs. They both ran the very successful Blackburn and Darwen schools sides of the early 80s that contained the likes of our kid, Mark Brennan and others. I think they won all the local and regional trophies and got through to the last 8 of the English Schools Trophy.

[Sparks Rover]

24 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

 

I'm not mistaken they are 2 separate people. Jim Beattie and James Beattie. Jim was an apprentice who never played for the first team. James went to Southampton not too long after turning pro. 

@Sparks Rover, was Jim Beattie a central defender? 

Midfield really in his youth.  Big burly lad from Darwen, could have played a few times as CH for the reserves.....played same age.as Dylan Smalley, who I think might have also made an appearance...again, another darrener 

Edited February 15, 2022 by Sparks Rover

[Sparks Rover]

10 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

Alan Bradshaw coached the town team for many years - nothing unusual about a 15 year age gap between teachers. It was definitely Pete Briggs. They both ran the very successful Blackburn and Darwen schools sides of the early 80s that contained the likes of our kid, Mark Brennan and others. I think they won all the local and regional trophies and got through to the last 8 of the English Schools Trophy.

A few years older than me, but yes I played u11s for B&D in 84 and onwards...I remember the names

[oldjamfan1]

18 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

A few years older than me, but yes I played u11s for B&D in 84 and onwards...I remember the names

My brother is Mick Young, he was a giant at the age of 13 and played centre half, but never really got any taller as he got older. He played a couple of games for Rovers Reserves and also for the Rovers youth team at Old Trafford directly against Norman Whiteside. Two bruisers there! That would have been I dunno, 81 or 82. 

Edited February 15, 2022 by oldjamfan1

[Sparks Rover]

21 minutes ago, oldjamfan1 said:

My brother is Mick Young, he was a giant at the age of 13 and played centre half, but never really got any taller as he got older. He played a couple of games for Rovers Reserves and also for the Rovers youth team at Old Trafford directly against Norman Whiteside. Two bruisers there! That would have been I dunno, 81 or 82. 

Mine was more the Ryan Wilson era....

[speeeeeeedie]

1 hour ago, Sparks Rover said:

Midfield really in his youth.  Big burly lad from Darwen, could have played a few times as CH for the reserves.....played same age.as Dylan Smalley, who I think might have also made an appearance...again, another darrener 

That was him. I nearly described him as a big lad when I asked. I do'nt know the other one.

I do know Briggsy though.

[Upside Down]

10 minutes ago, renrag said:

Don’t shout that out in Snuffy 

 

I didn’t think Harwood was past Rishton, always thought it was about level, but going more in the direction of Langho or Whalley, which I would also say was part of the Blackburn area. 

[HowieFive0]

Roy Isherwood 

[had.e.nuff]

Verdi Godwin

[rigger]

So quite a few really.

[bazza]

1 hour ago, had.e.nuff said:

Verdi Godwin

I recognise that name straight away. Never knew he was Blackburn born and bred. Was Verdi short for anything or what did it mean?

I was at school with a lad called Verdun. He must have been named after a battle ground of the First World War.

[had.e.nuff]

13 hours ago, renrag said:

I vaguely remember him when I first started going to Rovers, he was a winger I think. The older fans used to reckon he could go the full length of Ewood heading a ball all the way without losing control. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t do it in a match. Ah well!

are you sure it was verdi godwin and not freddie goodwin one played in the forties and the other in the seventies .

[Spartakfenni]

On 13/02/2022 at 20:47, matt83 said:

They won’t do that. I did make strong enquiries. All new parents want the young uns to have the best start in life and most east Lancs parents have to saddle them with a born in Burnley stigma. 

My daughter lives in Feniscowles and when she was pregnant we made sure our grandchild was born in Preston. I would never forgive her if the little’un had Bumley on her birth certificate. We are waiting on a second one in a couple of months and it will be Preston again, whatever the sex both will be Rovers through and through. Hopefully both will play for us.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

A Verdi Godwin played  27 games for us and scored 6 goals in the seasons 1946-47 and 1947-48. He later played for 9 other clubs ! Rothmans gives his birth place as Blackpool.

[had.e.nuff]

27 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

A Verdi Godwin played  27 games for us and scored 6 goals in the seasons 1946-47 and 1947-48. He later played for 9 other clubs ! Rothmans gives his birth place as Blackpool.

most places have him down as born in blackburn

https://peoplepill.com/people/verdi-godwin

https://www.where-are-they-now.co.uk/footballer/Godwin+Verdi/20310

[lraC]

Does anyone remember a Padiham lad called Dave Byrom? He didn't make the first team, but made the reserves and was offered a pro contract I think around 1983.

He went to school at St Augustine's Billington and I remember playing against him, when I was around 15 and thought he was a real talent.

I also remember him playing for England Schoolboys V Scotland, when they showed that match annually live on the BBC. I did hear he got into some sort of trouble after he left Rovers and never made it as a full time pro.

[oldjamfan1]

1 hour ago, lraC said:

Does anyone remember a Padiham lad called Dave Byrom? He didn't make the first team, but made the reserves and was offered a pro contract I think around 1983.

He went to school at St Augustine's Billington and I remember playing against him, when I was around 15 and thought he was a real talent.

I also remember him playing for England Schoolboys V Scotland, when they showed that match annually live on the BBC. I did hear he got into some sort of trouble after he left Rovers and never made it as a full time pro.

I played against Dave many times. He had a year at Rovers but never got a game. Think he went to Stockport or Crewe, somewhere like that, afterwards but faded quickly and played non league footie for a while. He was a bit of a handful by all accounts......

[speeeeeeedie]

On 15/02/2022 at 10:48, Sparks Rover said:

Mine was more the Ryan Wilson era....

I was thinking about this. There weren't many lads who I played against in my age group who went on to big things. Two I can remember are Phil Neville and Kevin Kilbane.

Phil was a class above - better than his brother. I reckon that Phil would have been at Man U his whole career but Gary beat him to it and never looked back.

Kilbane surprised me. He was nothing special at all. He must have been a late developer.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Back in my time there were a few opponents who made it that weren’t anything special as lads. David Cross, who had good career at West Ham, City etc, Chris Catttlin, who played Div 1 at Coventry, Les Chapman , Oldham and Huddersfield etc he’s been in football all his life. Last I heard he was the kit man at City.

[Sparks Rover]

46 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

Kilbane surprised me. He was nothing special at all. He must have been a late developer.

Point of interest.  Strange you say that, I've had his nephew since he was 11, he's now 14 and Oldham have just taken him on....late developers indeed them kilbanes 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Sparks Rover

[Sparks Rover]

48 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

I was thinking about this. There weren't many lads who I played against in my age group who went on to big things. Two I can remember are Phil Neville and Kevin Kilbane.

Phil was a class above - better than his brother. I reckon that Phil would have been at Man U his whole career but Gary beat him to it and never looked back.

Kilbane surprised me. He was nothing special at all. He must have been a late developer.

I played v Ryan a few times at town and county....one game was even televised👍  Scholes used to play for Oldham boys my age....

Chris casper he went on to have a bit of a career...

 

 

 

[oldjamfan1]

15 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I played v Ryan a few times at town and county....one game was even televised👍  Scholes used to play for Oldham boys my age....

Chris casper he went on to have a bit of a career...

 

 

 

Was that the game at Anfield mate?

[speeeeeeedie]

21 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

I played v Ryan a few times at town and county....one game was even televised👍  Scholes used to play for Oldham boys my age....

Chris casper he went on to have a bit of a career...

 

 

 

You were a few years ahead of me.

There were two lads from Leeds tipped for big things who would have been about your age. They both went to Auxerre in France.

34 minutes ago, Sparks Rover said:

Point of interest.  Strange you say that, I've had his nephew since he was 11, he's now 14 and Oldham have just taken him on....late developers indeed them kilbanes 

They must be. I played against Kilbane regularly and never walked off the pitch thinking that that he was special.