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Firstly, a belated Happy New Year (and Merry Xmas even) to everyone. My self-imposed rule is to do these blogs matchday on a Saturday morning (frankly, because that’s the only time I have spare to do so), which means it has been a four week gap since our visit to the Racecourse before Christmas. There has of course been one other Saturday afternoon fixture since then, but that was last Saturday at the County Ground, and frankly I wasn’t giving up the opportunity to be there to witness Danny and Nicky’s first game in charge of the U’s – and what an awayday it was, almost perfect in every respect. Fantastic support throughout, a reinvigorated U’s playing a pressing game at every opportunity, a reborn Tom Hopper and Matt Jay, a late dramatic equaliser courtesy of debut boy Conor Wilkinson’s instinctive back-heel and Brad’s innate ability to be in the right place at the right time to unknowingly deflect it into the net. The celebrations were off the chart!
Honestly, will you look at the state of us 😊
The world outside U’s World I’m not going to try and recap the last four weeks of events around the world, though it is equally depressing and of no surprise that the wars in Ukraine and Gaza continue to rumble on without either looking anywhere near a resolution.
Technically unrelated to the Gaza conflict, Houthi rebels in Yemen have stepped up a drone-based campaign to attack merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. I say technically unrelated, but the common denominator is that both Hamas and the Houthi rebels (and Hezbollah) are backed by Iran. In response, US, UK, and other nations including Netherlands, launched a combined offensive two nights ago against nearly 30 key infrastructure targets in Yemen, followed yesterday evening by the US launching Tomahawk missiles at a radar site. Many are concerned that this allied response brings the possibility of another direct conflict with Iran closer, and risks completely destabilising an already pretty unstable Middle East.
In news you really couldn’t make up, eBay has been ordered to pay $3m in compensation after they were found guilty of waging a campaign of threats and harassment against a pair of bloggers who wrote articles critical of the auction website. Top executives were apparently upset by coverage on David and Ina Steiner’s e-Bytes blog, and proceeded to send them, and get this, live spiders and cockroaches in the mail, a funeral wreath, and a self-help book about surviving the loss of a spouse. Quite why those executives aren’t serving jail time baffles me.
Across the pond, Trump is throwing everything into his delay delay delay tactics to try and prevent any of his four separate indictments going to trial ahead of November’s presidential election. His purpose is clear, albeit morally bankrupt, if he can somehow win the election, he will immediately pardon himself of the two indictments he can, and the remaining two would have to be suspended until he’s no longer president. However, other smaller cases continue to chip away at the dwindling wealth his Daddy left him. A frivolous $100m lawsuit he bought against the New York Times and his estranged niece Mary Trump, claiming an insidious campaign to obtain his tax returns, was dismissed out of hand in court, and he has been ordered to pay $400,000 in legal fees to the New York Times.
U’s World In a move I certainly wasn’t expecting, though the U’sual Nostradamus Durham was bang on the money, Joe Taylor was indeed recalled by Luton Town first thing in January and has now gone out on loan to League 1 Lincoln City. The Imps do still have an outside chance of the play-offs, but losing the last four on the bounce has put a massive dent in that chance. I have no concern at all for their fate, but I do wish Joe all the best for this next step in his development. It would be lovely to see him back in the blue and white one day, but I suspect as a rising star with his talent as a goal-poacher, that might be some way off.
Out with the old and in with the new, and even before the managerial appointment news, in came Conor Wilkinson from SPL side Motherwell, and we paid a fee too! Conor started in the youth set-up at Millwall, before moving to Bolton Wanderers. He picked up a handful of first team appearances for the Trotters, but for most of the four years he was there he was out on a host of loans. In more recent years he’s had decent spells at Dagenham and Redbridge, Leyton Orient and Walsall before Motherwell signed him last summer.
…and then, of course, there was this!
Looking at his profile most saw Conor as more of a replacement for Tom Hopper, but with the benefit of hindsight, that was before the momentous events the following day. It's almost one of those “remember where you were when…” moments, when the news broke on 4th January that Robbie Cowling had appointed Danny Cowley as Manager of Colchester United, with his brother Nicky Cowley joining as Assistant Manager. It’s difficult to write anything about this without slipping into hyperbole, but in my 50+ years of following the U’s it is probably one of the most significant managerial appointments I can remember, with the club’s announcement on X having well over 1.4m views and still counting. That’s insane!
Trying to keep my feet on the ground, they face a tremendous challenge just to keep us in the football league this season, and largely with the same set of players that put us in this perilous position in the first place. But those green shoots of recovery were clearly seen by c. 350 of the Faithful, including myself and Noah, at the County Ground last weekend, and if anyone can get us out of this mess it has to be the Cowley’s. It’ll take time, and they only have a few weeks left of the transfer window if they want to freshen up the squad, so right now I’ll be content with finishing 3rd from bottom if needs be, with the Cowley’s pushing on from there next season.
Their first signing (though I suspect they had some influence on Conor’s arrival) is another SPL draft, this time right back Jayden Richardson on a six month loan from Aberdeen. Jayden had spent the first six months of this season on loan to table-toppers Stockport County (he was on the bench for our visit back in November), but it’s been revealed the Cowley’s had been talking to Jayden back when they were in charge at Portsmouth, even though he eventually moved to Aberdeen. On that subject, and to go back to my comment regarding Hopper, on the day of their appointment Danny and Nicky confided that Tom was a player they had also been looking to sign in the past, so perhaps that Wilkinson in Hopper out scenario doesn’t hold water?
Welcome Conor and Jayden, I hope you both have an enjoyable and successful time here with us!
Match of the Day Colchester United v Bradford City 23rd August 1977 Football League 3rd Division (Tier 3) Attendance 4,371
Again, I am indebted to Graeson’s ColUData website for the programme cover image
Match of the Day for KMB17, and my instinct was to choose our record 9-1 victory over today’s opponents back in December 1961. However, pwrightsknees beat me too it, as he provided the material for the MoY38 blog, and excellent material it was too. So, keeping with the Bradford City special theme, I’m going for the Tuesday night visit of the Bantams to Layer Road back in August 1977, four years before I moved to Bradford as an undergraduate. I was at this game, though it doesn’t feature in my memorabilia archive collection – if I had a programme, it is long since gone – ironically probably left in Bradford when I moved down to Wiltshire 30+ years ago.
This Tuesday night fixture was less than a week after my fifteenth birthday and followed hot on the heels of an opening day 3-1 thrashing of Gillingham at the Priestfield on the Saturday. We had already played two other games, home and away in the first round legs of the League Cup against Aldershot, qualifying for the second round with ease after beating our 4th Division opponents 4-1 at Layer Road. Cup runs this season were going to be noteworthy in many respects, but more or than that later.
Bobby Roberts was in his third season as U’s manager, and in my opinion one of the more underrated managers for Colchester United. The previous season he had led the U’s to promotion to the 3rd Division. This was on the back of probably what I consider to be one of the best Colchester United squads I have had the please to watch. Just look at this line-up for the Bradford City match and tell me if any of these wouldn’t have a fighting chance of being in today’s matchday XI.
It’s poor quality, but managed to find this on t’internet
Ray Bunkell was in for the injured Steve Foley for this game. In the Bradford City line-up were a few names of note, not least Ces Podd in defence, one of the first black players to establish himself in the English football league, the tricksy Don Hutchins ploughing a lone furrow up the wing, rarely straying more than a few yards from the touchline, and of course manager to be Terry Dolan in the heart of their midfield. I had the pleasure of being at Valley Parade for Terry Dolan’s debut as caretaker manager of Bradford City, and what a night it was too, a 5-1 victory dumping high-flying Oldham Athletic out of the FA Cup.
It's also of note that the referee was Ron Challis, who would go on to referee at the highest level during his career. Probably the high point was less than two years after this game, when he would take charge of the 1979 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United. This match was noted for three goals being scored in the last four minutes. Arsenal were cruising at 2-0 before Man U scored twice in the closing minutes to set up extra-time, before Alan Sunderland snatched a last second winner for the Gunners.
For an August evening, I recall it was quite a chilly night as I took my place at the open end for kick-off (ah, the joys of being able to swap ends at half time). We’d finished the previous season (and gained promotion) with a 2-1 victory over Bradford City, despite which the Bantams were also promoted, so hopes were high that we’d get a similar result this evening. For a Tuesday night game, Bradford City still bought a decent amount of support – three coach loads as I recall, and the atmosphere under the lights at Layer Road was electric as ever.
The U’s started in a confident mood, passing the ball around neatly on the immaculate Layer Road turf, with Bradford City struggling to keep us contained. However, in the 26th minute John Froggatt (I’m sure it was a header) eased us into a 1-0 lead, much to the delight of those of us behind the goal. It didn’t take long for his partner in crime Bobby Gough to get in on the act either, doubling the U’s lead with an instinctive strike on 38 minutes. This did spur Bradford City into action to a degree, but nothing that Walker, Packer et al couldn’t contain.
Half-time and we seemed to be coasting, as supporters from both sides embarked on their pilgrimages to the other ends of the ground, as I made my way to up the back of the Layer Road end, close to the dividing fence.
Into the second half, and the atmosphere in the stand was (literally) bouncing. Bradford City, managed by Bobby Kennedy at the time (no, not that one) had clearly worked on some stuff during the interval, and were proving much more resilient second half. However, resilience in defence wasn’t being translated into dominance in attack, and the U’s seemed comfortable to contain them at 2-0 if that was necessary.
However, mercurial and diminutive Steve Leslie had other plans, and with 13 minutes to go put the cap on a comfortable performance to give the U’s an unassailable 3-0 lead, and that was that. At the final whistle there was a half-hearted attempt by the City support to charge the Layer Road end, which as I recall was thwarted by a single steward telling them to behave and get the f’ck off the pitch – which they did.
Colchester United 3 (Froggatt 26’; Gough 38’; Leslie 77’) Bradford City 0
Not content to have had their pitch invasion curtailed by a lone steward, as we filed out of Layer Road into the night, I managed to catch the eye of a City supporter on one of the coaches and gave him the customary “3-0” finger gesture. That didn’t appear to please him, and he seemed determined to get off the coach and discuss this matter – but it didn’t appear to take that much for one of his fellow travellers to tell him to sit down and shut up.
That victory took the U’s top of the table, and we would stay there or thereabouts through to the end of October before falling away to finish 8th – Bradford City were relegated straight back to the 4th Division. Our drop in league form probably wasn’t helped by two half-decent cup runs. In the League Cup we travelled to Jim Smith’s 2nd Division Blackburn in the second round, drawing 1-1 at Ewood Park and thrashing them 4-1 in the bald eagle’s first return to Layer Road (I was at both of those too), before a third round 4-0 exit at Elland Road against 1st Division Leeds United (and watched by a travelling army of over 1,000 U’s supporters, again including myself).
In the FA Cup, although we only made the second round, it was a bit of a marathon to be honest. In the first round we drew 1-1 at 4th Division AFC Bournemouth, and then drew the replay 0-0 at Layer Road. This required a neutral venue for the second replay, and Vicarage Road was chosen. Me and a couple of mates went to this one as well, and despite the coach getting lost and missing the first ten minutes or so of the game, we beat Bournemouth 4-1. Our second round reward was a trip back to Vicarage Road to face Watford, when we weren’t as fortunate, losing 2-0 to the then 4th Division side.
Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 16:28 - Jan 13 by gerry_us
You really should have gone with the 9-1 defeat of City. That was only time I have joined in a chant "We want ten". Shame we didn't make it.
There you go Gerry, courtesy of pwrightsknees from almost exactly four years ago - enjoy!
This one is a special for the Matches of Yesteryear series, as we step slightly outside the original concept of blogs related to my football memorabilia collection. I am delighted that our very own pwrightsknees approached me with an absolutely fantastic idea just before Christmas, and an idea that really deserves this specific slot in our football calendar. It is also particularly appropriate given the terrible coincidence that Martyn King sadly passed on Christmas Day, the all-time record league goal-scorer for the U’s with 130 goals (1959-64).
Colchester United v Bradford City Saturday 30th December 1961 Division 4 (Tier 4) Attendance 4,415
Match #38, and we go back to a time before I was even born (though I was on the way, arriving about eight months later). Danny Williams was no. 1 with his version of Mancini’s Moon River, a year before Andy Williams (no relation, obviously) made his own recording, and the Empire State building had just been sold for $65,000,000. The Vietnam War had officially started earlier in December, with the arrival of USS Core in Saigon Harbour, Marina Oswald and her husband Lee Harvey had been granted exit visas to travel to the US from Minsk, and on this actual day Ben “Billy the Whizz” Johnson was born (presumably drugs were involved?). In the world of football, their first season in the top-flight was going well for our country cousins at Portman Rd, who at the time were in 4th place.
As best as I can tell, Colchester United programmes for that season didn’t indicate which match was being played on the front cover, so I have shown a version I found on a Wrexham FC programme archive.
PWK will take it from here…
1961/62 was the U’s first in League Division 4, having been relegated from Division 3 the previous season. Although eventually finishing 2nd in the table behind Millwall, the season kicked up a mixture of results, suggesting that the U’s were far from dominant. This game took place just four days after the 4-1 Boxing Day defeat by Bradford City at Valley Parade (managed by Bob Brocklebank at the time), which left the U’s in 2nd place in the table behind Wrexham. At the turn of the year, most thought that Wrexham were the class team in the division, but they faded in the second half of the season, finishing only third, while Millwall became much more dominant and won the title by just 1 point from the U’s.
That 4-1 defeat to Bradford City was typical of the U’s away performances that season, with many (league) defeats by at least 3 goals. In addition to our battering at Bradford City, there were heavy defeats at Southport (3-0), York City (5-0), Mansfield Town (4-0), Tranmere Rovers (5-2), Chesterfield (4-1), Barrow (4-0), and Crewe Alexandra (4-0). The only defeats by less than 3 goals were (and I attended all four) at Gillingham (2-1), at home to Wrexham (2-4, and our only home defeat that season), at Millwall (2-0), and at Aldershot (1-0)
As for the match itself, Christmas had gone, and the New Year beckoned. It was a cold, grey day, and I had walked the mile and a quarter from my parents’ home just off the Mersea Road, along Circular Road South, through the barracks to Layer Road. My pals and I stood just to the right of the main stand with the Layer Road turnstiles further to the right. As far as I can remember, I took up my usual spot, halfway up, leaning on a crush barrier, and about level with the edge of the 18-yard box.
There were no changes to the team as printed in the programme: Goalkeeper Percy Ames 2 Right Back - Tommy Millar 3 Left Back - John Fowler 4 Right half - Trevor Harris 5 Centre Half - Brian Abrey 6 Left Half - Ronnie Hunt (Capt.) 7 Outside Right - Mike Foster 8 Inside Right -Bobby Hill 9 Centre Forward - Martyn King 10 Inside Left - Bobby Hunt 11 Outside Left - Peter Wright
This was Benny Fenton’s (U’s Manager) preferred first eleven line up that season. No substitutes in those days, and proper numbers, i.e. no goalie number, then 2-11 on the outfield players and not squad numbers. Percy Ames, John Fowler, Bobby Hill, Martyn King, Bobby Hunt, and Peter Wright were U’s stalwarts over many seasons, but some names may seem unfamiliar, even to regular board readers.
Tommy Millar: Had been signed from Scottish non-league a couple of seasons previously and converted to attacking full-back. He scored a number of goals for the U’s but was also noted for being fierce in the tackle. Tommy had replaced Alan Eagles following his departure after Benny’s clear-out at the end of the relegation season. Tragically, Tommy’s year-old son had drowned in the garden and Tommy was released and returned to Scotland soon after this match.
Trevor “Chopper” Harris: Yes, we had a “Chopper Harris” a decade before the better-known Chelsea player. Colchester-born Chopper was an attacking wing-half, renowned for his aggressive playing style. Chopper had been promoted from the reserves the previous season to replace an out-of-form Derek Parker.
Brian Abrey: A new signing from Chelsea reserves in the close season to replace U’s stalwart Chic Milligan at centre-half, who had been released at the end of the relegation season. Brian was a strong centre-half, and a good footballer and passer of the ball. Sadly, a knee injury caused him to miss the last few games of the season and he was replaced by a young Duncan Forbes. The knee injury caused Brian to retire from football at the beginning of the following season.
Ronnie Hunt: U’s captain that season and elder brother of U’s hero Bobby. Colchester-born Ronnie was a defensive wing-half, tough in the tackle. He, too, had been promoted from the reserves in the previous season to replace an out-of-form Cyril “Squib” Hammond.
Mike Foster: A new signing from Leicester City reserves in the close season to replace the U’s hero Tommy Williams who had been released at the end of the relegation season. A pacey outside right who seemed to glide over the pitch, and who could deliver a good cross. He was sold to Norwich City at the end of the season for £3,000 + Roy McCrohan, but never played a first-team game for them.
The referee that day was Jim Finney, later an international referee with FIFA and who, at the end of the 1961/62 season, refereed the FA Cup Final between Spurs and Burnley (Spurs won 3-1). Finney had a somewhat colourful career. He is believed to be one of only five freemasons to have refereed an FA Cup final (of course, how would we know for certain), and it certainly broke with convention when Danny Blanchflower presented him with the match ball at the end of the final. He achieved international notoriety in 1963 when he abandoned the match between Scotland and Austria in the 79th minute, with Scotland winning 4-1 at the time. According to Finney, he called the game off for “persistent fouling”, with Horst Nemec already dismissed for spitting, and Erich Hof for a “diabolical tackle at waist-height”. Finney reported afterwards “I felt that I had to abandon the match or somebody would have been seriously hurt”.
We didn’t know any of that at the time of the U’s v Bradford City match, of course.
And so to the action:
The U’s kicked off towards the uncovered clock end. The ball went out to Mike Foster on the right wing. He took on the Bradford City full back and crossed the ball low. Bobby Hill nipped into the near post and scored - WITH HIS KNEE. The U’s were a goal up inside the first minute. The next quarter of the match was fairly even and uneventful. Then on 18 minutes, Tait scored an equaliser for Bradford City. Ten minutes later, Bobby Hunt scored to put the U’s 2-1 up and on 34 minutes Martyn King scored the U’s third, so at half-time the U’s led by a relatively modest scoreline of 3-1.
For the first 20 minutes of the second half, the U’s sat comfortably on their two-goal lead. Then they put the match completely beyond doubt by scoring twice in rapid succession via Bobby Hunt (65 minutes) and Martyn King (68 minutes). 5-1 to the U’s, who were dominant now, and on 80 minutes we were awarded a penalty. Some in the crowd called for it to be taken by Percy Ames, who had had very little to do second half, but Bobby Hunt wanted every goal he could get so that he could remain in contention for the League’s top scorer. He duly despatched the penalty to put the U’s 6-1 up.
But the fun hadn’t finished yet. Bobby Hunt scored again a minute later (7-1), followed by two more from Martyn King (85 and 88 minutes), the U’s eventually running out 9-1 winners. Following Bobby Hill’s early goal, Bobby Hunt and Martyn King had then weighed in with four goals each.
Colchester United 9 (Bobby Hill 1’, Bobby Hunt 28’, 65’, 80’p, 81’, Martyn King 34’, 68’, 85’, 88’) Bradford City 1 (Barry Tait 18’)
Ipswich Town did not have a match that day and some of their players came to watch the U’s. Andy Nelson, the Ipswich captain, rather ungraciously suggested most of the goals had come from defensive mistakes rather than good play by the U’s. The comment infuriated Hal Mason the local reporter, and it should also be noted that a largely unchanged Bradford City defence only conceded three goals to Arsenal at Highbury the following week in their FA Cup match.
By the end of the season, top goal-scorer in the football league was Roger Hunt of Liverpool (then 2nd Division) with 41 goals. Bobby Hunt (4th Division) was runner-up alongside Cliff Holton of Watford and Northampton Town (3rd Division) with 37 goals each – Bobby obviously top scorer for Division 4. Top 1st Division scorers were Ray Crawford (Ipswich Town) and Derek Kevan (West Bromwich Albion) both with 33 goals each, with Ipswich winning the title in their first season in the top-flight.
The U’s finished one point behind champions Millwall, and were promoted straight back to Division 3 at the first time of asking, alongside Wrexham and Carlisle – Bradford City missed out by one point in 5th place. Doncaster Rovers, Hartlepools United and Chester finished in the relegation zone, but as was so often the case then, were all re-elected. Not so fortunate was Accrington Stanley, who after financial difficulties following the purchase of the new Burnley Road stand, were declared bankrupt and resigned from the league in March of that season.
As we all know, this remains our record win in the league, matched only by our 9-1 victory over Leamington in the 2005 FA Cup 1st round match. Only three players have ever scored four goals in a game for the U’s, Bobby Hunt and Martyn King in this game, and of course Chris Iwelumo against Phil Parkinson’s Hull City when we were in the Championship. In addition to his four goals here, Martyn King also jointly holds the record for scoring the most hat-tricks (five), shared with Arthur Pritchard, Arthur Turner and Tony Adcock. King was a magnificent footballer, and he will be sorely missed.
The expunging of Accrington Stanley’s results is part of U’s folklore, but a bit of a red herring as far as that season was concerned. Yes, it cost Bobby Hunt a goal in his chase for top scorer across all four divisions, but his namesake Roger Hunt (Liverpool, then remarkably in Division 2) would have won that anyway. Accrington’s demise did cost the U’s 4 points, and Millwall only 2 (they had only played Accrington Stanley once at the time), but Millwall would probably have won the second match anyway, and still finished a point above the U’s even if the Accrington results had stood.
Anyway, to finish, enjoy the delightful talent of “Britain’s Johnny Mathis” Danny Williams, no. 1 on the day we made history.
It is good to see Graeson back on his feet and back in the South Stand after his serious illness. I am sure all U’s fans will join with me in wishing him a full and complete recovery. It was also good to see Lauren Baker back after her traumatic health issues. Her bravery is an inspiration for all and she fully deserved the pre-Match recognition last Saturday.
2. Four goal U’s stars.
PWK’s report predates this, but McCauley Bonnie also scored four FA Cup goals against Wealdstone, which was an I was there match for me. I recall the puddle/bog in one corner which would have rendered any match today unplayable and hence denied us of a goal- fest.
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Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 07:43 - Jan 16 with 1066 views
Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 06:28 - Jan 16 by noah4x4
Two things arising…..
1. You mention Graeson Laitts website.
It is good to see Graeson back on his feet and back in the South Stand after his serious illness. I am sure all U’s fans will join with me in wishing him a full and complete recovery. It was also good to see Lauren Baker back after her traumatic health issues. Her bravery is an inspiration for all and she fully deserved the pre-Match recognition last Saturday.
2. Four goal U’s stars.
PWK’s report predates this, but McCauley Bonnie also scored four FA Cup goals against Wealdstone, which was an I was there match for me. I recall the puddle/bog in one corner which would have rendered any match today unplayable and hence denied us of a goal- fest.
I had no idea that Graeson was seriously ill and am pleased that he has returned to be able to watch our beloved U's.
His Colu Data site is the definitive place for all stats Colchester.
I have also enjoyed re-reading the classic 9-1 Bradford City game. I didn't start watching the U's until 1970 and so such reports are invaluable for context.
Wessex excellent report of the 3-0 game was also well received. I don't know why I wasn't at that game having been present for the 2-1 game the season before.
I look forward to a high scoring victory under the Cowleys. Perhaps a more modest 4-0 would do nicely.. FGR would be the ideal side to hand out a caning to.
Up the U's
[Post edited 16 Jan 9:59]
Durham_exile
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Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 09:51 - Jan 16 with 1047 views
Does anyone else remember the 0-0 against Bradford at Layer Road in April 2005? Donovan Ricketts was in goal for them and he put on an incredible performance, one of the best opposing goalkeeping performances I've ever seen live.
Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 07:43 - Jan 16 by durham_exile
I had no idea that Graeson was seriously ill and am pleased that he has returned to be able to watch our beloved U's.
His Colu Data site is the definitive place for all stats Colchester.
I have also enjoyed re-reading the classic 9-1 Bradford City game. I didn't start watching the U's until 1970 and so such reports are invaluable for context.
Wessex excellent report of the 3-0 game was also well received. I don't know why I wasn't at that game having been present for the 2-1 game the season before.
I look forward to a high scoring victory under the Cowleys. Perhaps a more modest 4-0 would do nicely.. FGR would be the ideal side to hand out a caning to.
Up the U's
[Post edited 16 Jan 9:59]
Yeah, sadly Graeson was very poorly a while back, but appears to be on the slow road to recovery thank goodness. Great too to see Lauren carrying out the match ball as well!
Annoyingly, I missed the previous 2-1 to win promotion, which I think was the only home game I missed that season. I was on a school trip to Edale at the time, so our celebrations came courtesy of James Alexander Gordon via a hand-held radio on top of Kinder Scout.
Knees-up Mother Brown #17 on 09:51 - Jan 16 by RSCOSWORTH
Does anyone else remember the 0-0 against Bradford at Layer Road in April 2005? Donovan Ricketts was in goal for them and he put on an incredible performance, one of the best opposing goalkeeping performances I've ever seen live.
Yes I do!
Also, Brentford goalie (Nelson I think) had a blinder at Layer Rd - I recall!
Best GK witnessed though has to be Davidson at Luton!
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