50 YEARS AGO

TEN years after signing for Bolton Wanderers and, after seven impressive years as a regular in one of the most respected teams in Division One, Doug Holden finally got the recognition he deserved.

He was selected by the Football League to play against the League of Ireland in Dublin.

For those who had championed the wide man’s cause, it was a case of better late than never. Craft had always been the cornerstone of his game and, like Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney, he was regarded as a chance-maker rather than a marksman.

But he had become more assertive in recent times and his scoring ratio had increased accordingly.

In the FA Cup, one guinea stand tickets for the semi-final at White Hart Lane between Third Division Norwich and First Division Luton were changing hands for £15.

It seemed the whole of East Anglia had descended on London in the hope of seeing the Canaries become the first Division Three team to play at Wembley. But the day ended in defeat.

The protectionists at the Football League were so worried about declining attendances that they considered trying to persuade television companies to stop broadcasting sport on Saturday afternoons.

Tyldesley’s Olympian, Fred Norris, rolled back the years to win the English cross-country championships.

The 37-year-old Bolton United Harrier who competed at the 10,000 metres at Melbourne in 1952 and then in the marathon at Helsinki in 1956, led the race after a mile and went on to complete the nine-mile course in 46mins 57secs.

25 YEARS AGO

NEIL Whatmore was back at Burnden Park for a third spell as Wanderers boss John McGovern turned to experience to help his young charges through a difficult period.

Whatmore, scorer of more than 100 goals in 260 games in his first nine-season spell, joined the Whites on a month’s loan from Oxford United.

The theory was that the 28-year-old striker might provide McGovern with a double-edged sword by reproducing his old scoring form at the same time as bringing the best out of young Wayne Foster, as he had done the previous season when he spent two months on loan.

Wanderers still harboured hopes of getting into the Third Division promotion shake-up, but were so hard-up financially that there was talk of holding a collection at the home game against Exeter City to help raise cash to sign Whatmore on a permanent basis.

They didn’t go through with the bucket collection in the end, but McGovern stressed that he was still looking for public donations and was hoping to persuade local business people to pay Whatmore’s wages the following season.

“I’m only asking people to contribute if they have been happy with what they have seen this season,” he said.

“I want to sign Neil Whatmore for the future. He is the best available at the right price. I’m sure he can justify my choice.”

Over at Gigg Lane, Martin Dobson ended days of speculation by taking the job as Bury’s player-manager.

Frank Bruno recorded his 21st professional win by knocking out heavyweight champion of Argentina, Juan Antonio Figueroa, in one round at Wembley.

5 YEARS AGO

IT was almost unthinkable, in view of Jay Jay Okocha’s impact since arriving at the Reebok, but Sam Allardyce was considering dropping his captain after his slump in form after the African Nations Cup.

Okocha, whose contract talks had stalled, was disgruntled after being substituted during Wanderers’ 2-0 defeat at Birmingham.

“When I left the field I was very disappointed – not with anybody else but myself,” he said.

“I was disappointed with my performance. I deserved to be changed.”

Allardyce, meanwhile, issued a reality check as he compared his spending power to Bolton’s next three opponents, Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle.

“Collectively they’ve got £300million worth of talent,” he said. “We’ve spent £4.5million in four years. They are the teams we have to compete against: Chelsea have spent £120m this season; Arsene Wenger’s spent about £100m building his squad and Sir Bobby Robson’s spent nearly £100m at Newcastle.”

Wanderers were being linked with England midfielder Owen Hargreaves.

Still starring for Bayern Munich, Hargreaves, whose father was once on Wanderers’ books, said he would definitely play in the Premiership one day and, alluding to his family connections with Bolton, said: “I’m sure my family would like to see me at Bolton Wanderers.”