| Steve Bull 10:21 - May 31 with 4020 views | mingthemerciless |
My son mentioned to me he'd been watching some old England games on the TV and Steve Bull had featured. I told him I'd seen Steve Bull playing at Spotland for Wolves in the old Fourth Division. I'm pretty sure he scored as well.
Anybody else remember that ? |  | | |  |
| Steve Bull on 10:29 - May 31 with 4002 views | D_Alien |
Yes |  |
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| Steve Bull on 10:29 - May 31 with 4002 views | 442Dale |
He was there when we played them in 86/87 and 87/88, lost them both but not sure if he scored.
Future Dale player Micky Holmes definitely did (in the 1-0 in 87/88 I think). |  |
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| Steve Bull on 11:42 - May 31 with 3911 views | PotterDale |
Scorers in 86/87 in 3-0 defeat were Kelly, Purdie and Dennison
I was mascot for the 87/88 match! |  | | |
| Steve Bull on 11:55 - May 31 with 3894 views | TVOS1907 |
| Steve Bull on 10:29 - May 31 by 442Dale |
He was there when we played them in 86/87 and 87/88, lost them both but not sure if he scored.
Future Dale player Micky Holmes definitely did (in the 1-0 in 87/88 I think). |
He was substituted for Barry Powell in the 3-0 win at Spotland in April 1987 where the scorers are as PotterDale describes.
In September 2007, he scored Wolves' second goal in their 2-0 win at Molineux and was in the team the following March at Spotland when Holmes got the only goal of the game. |  |
| When I was your age, I used to enjoy the odd game of tennis. Or was it golf? |
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| Steve Bull on 12:01 - May 31 with 3885 views | mingthemerciless |
| Steve Bull on 11:55 - May 31 by TVOS1907 |
He was substituted for Barry Powell in the 3-0 win at Spotland in April 1987 where the scorers are as PotterDale describes.
In September 2007, he scored Wolves' second goal in their 2-0 win at Molineux and was in the team the following March at Spotland when Holmes got the only goal of the game. |
I thought he might have got one in the 0-3 game but obviously not. I do remember him being a bit of a handful in that game. | | | |
| Steve Bull on 15:00 - May 31 with 3761 views | BartRowou |
I'd be surprised if we had a shot in either of those two home games.
The 87 one was desperate and relegation looked more likely at full time.
The one the season after was marginally less grim but at least we had Newport propping us up. |  |
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| Steve Bull on 17:42 - Jun 2 with 3506 views | Nigeriamark |
| Steve Bull on 11:55 - May 31 by TVOS1907 |
He was substituted for Barry Powell in the 3-0 win at Spotland in April 1987 where the scorers are as PotterDale describes.
In September 2007, he scored Wolves' second goal in their 2-0 win at Molineux and was in the team the following March at Spotland when Holmes got the only goal of the game. |
What was the date of the home game in the 87/88 season? I know I got married on one of the home games against Wolves, as I remember being a bit miffed to miss it, but I can't remember which one |  | | |
| Steve Bull on 17:52 - Jun 2 with 3495 views | mingthemerciless |
| Steve Bull on 17:42 - Jun 2 by Nigeriamark |
What was the date of the home game in the 87/88 season? I know I got married on one of the home games against Wolves, as I remember being a bit miffed to miss it, but I can't remember which one |
1st March 1988 according to " The Definitive Rochdale AFC " . | | | |
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| Steve Bull on 17:54 - Jun 2 with 3494 views | BartRowou |
| Steve Bull on 17:42 - Jun 2 by Nigeriamark |
What was the date of the home game in the 87/88 season? I know I got married on one of the home games against Wolves, as I remember being a bit miffed to miss it, but I can't remember which one |
Tuesday 1st March.
I wrote this about that game for the VOS programme a few years back.
The other day I was caught in the slipstream of an old bloke’s cigar smoke. It was passive smoking at its best, the kind that invokes the pleasure and pain of nostalgia, the positives the NHS won’t tell you about. Factor in the Uncle Joe’s Mint Ball I was negotiating and you’re halfway to the heady aroma that once enveloped football grounds across the land. The other vital ingredients were a splash of linament and something that smelt like soap. When I started going to Spotland it was this intoxicating smell that first grabbed hold of my senses, a glorious mix of adults, kids and footballers all brought together by their love of the beautiful game.
And that’s what would have hit you as you entered Spotland on March 1988 at 7.30 when Wolverhampton Wanderers came to town. Uniquely though, neither team was on the pitch because, fanfare, the kick off had already been put back to 7.45 because, second fanfare, the game was all-ticket and get this, final fanfare, there was even a VHS video recording being made of it, Betamax having by now been killed off as any Frank Sidebottom fan will confirm.
The things we take for granted today were big news back then. “7.30 unless stated”, was the traditional time for all matches to kick off; 7.45 has since become the norm mainly due to the combined forces of Sky, ITV and footy fans with a penchant for Emmerdale.
All-ticket games were rare too although they were becoming more prevalent due to the ongoing hooligan problem clubs were still facing. The Wolves tickets, hologram-free bits of yellow paper, were basic to say the least but forgeries weren’t an issue - this was a time before photocopiers and printers were coomonplace, when duplicating was done on what older people refer to as a “bander machine”, a hideous contraption which even Heath Robinson would have baulked at.
It’s unlikely that the video footage of the Wolves game will ever see the cold light of Youtube but who knows? A cassette may lie in a dormant state in an attic in deepest Dudley, wedged between a Slade LP and a four pack of Marston’s. It won’t make the headlines like reclaimed Dads Army episodes do but any clips of Spotland, in all its natural beauty before the 90’s makeover, are rare and to be treasured whenever they become available.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were unlikely opponents, the yoyo yam yams of yesteryear football: three league titles in the fifties, a UEFA cup final in the 70s, a league cup win in 1974 and a lucky one again six years later, followed by two disastrous spells in the eighties when they ran out of money while renovating their ground and nearly went out of business. This in turn led to three relegations in a row and as a result they found themselves slumming it at a fragrant Spotland in March 1988.
They had in their ranks probably the most potent strike force of the era. Andy Mutch and Steve Bull scored over 400 goals for the club including one apiece in Dale’s 2-0 defeat at Molineux earlier in the season.
The only goal of the game in a 1-0 win for the visitors came from a different source however, Wolves midfielder and future Dale player Micky Holmes getting the winner at the Sandy Lane end. Holmes is still highly regarded by their fans and continues to have a place in Molineux folklore, scoring in seven consecutive matches for the club which is still a Wanderers record.
Not to be outdone, Dale were breaking records of their own in terms of team selection. The recent formation in a 2-0 reverse at Carlisle was thought to be the youngest side the club had ever fielded, with an average age of just twenty. One of these players I knew as Foz. You might know him as Paul Hancock, Paul Hancocks or Paul Hancox, all of which were variants on his name given in the programme, the Ob and the Rothmans Football League Year book 1988. Actually you might not know him at all. A handful of substitute appearances and never to be seen again, Foz was a friend of
my mate Dennis’s older sister, plucked from the sixth form for a couple of weeks work experience as a professional footballer and then returned forthwith to the common room.
Hancock’s half hour versus Wolves summed up the team as a whole: full of sound and fury but ultimately signifying nothing. He joined a list of youth teamers like Mycock, Hunt, Hughes and even the hotly-tipped Stuart Mellish whose careers vanished almost as quickly as they began. But while they never had the career that dreams are made of, one day they’ll be able to sit down with the grandkids and let them know all about their time as a professional footballer. And that’s a bedtime story the rest of us can never tell. | |
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| Steve Bull on 19:09 - Jun 2 with 3439 views | dawlishdale |
| Steve Bull on 17:42 - Jun 2 by Nigeriamark |
What was the date of the home game in the 87/88 season? I know I got married on one of the home games against Wolves, as I remember being a bit miffed to miss it, but I can't remember which one |
I'd guess it was your second one... Do you like cake? | | | |
| Steve Bull on 19:15 - Jun 2 with 3426 views | D_Alien |
| Steve Bull on 19:09 - Jun 2 by dawlishdale |
I'd guess it was your second one... Do you like cake? |
That's the second question he's been asked about cake in the last hour | |
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| Steve Bull on 22:34 - Jun 2 with 3323 views | Nigeriamark |
| Steve Bull on 19:15 - Jun 2 by D_Alien |
That's the second question he's been asked about cake in the last hour |
Must have been the Saturday in 87 as I defo didn't get married midweek. A gloomy day all round. I think Wolves Tenure in the bottom division outlasted the marriage which was so short I think some guests asked for their presents back !!!
In terms of wedding cake, didn't like it as it has currents in it
In terms of cake from TMS, they can send any banana or carrot cakes left over round to my place. definitely my favourite | | | |
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