Ten Years Ago

THE winds of change were sweeping through the Reebok Stadium where new chairman, Phil Gartside, appointed a new manager, Sam Allardyce, and recruited new talent into the Bolton Wanderers boardroom.

Money was still tight and, as the Millennium approached, Allardyce knew he would not have a fortune to spend as he set out to revive Wanderers’ fortunes in the aftermath of their failed attempt to win promotion back to the Premier League.

But Big Sam was already having a positive impact on results while changes behind the scenes generated a new mood of optimism in the boardroom.

Local businessmen David Speakman and Eddie Davies, both aged 53 and lifelong Wanderers fans, were appointed directors while Brett Warburton, the fourth generation of the famous Bolton bakery family, became vice-chairman.

“David and Eddie are both successful businessmen who will bring new blood and new ideas to the boardroom,” chairman Gartside said, announcing the appointments.

Things were certainly starting to look up on the field with successive 2-0 wins over Swindon and Crystal Palace putting the smiles back on the faces of players and fans alike.

Wanderers had an inspirational performance by Iceland defender Gudni Bergsson to thank for laying the foundation for the victory over Swindon, which was secured by late goals from Bob Taylor and Bo Hansen, while Eidur Gudjohnsen starred and scored the first goal in the defeat of Palace. Claus Jensen scored the second.

Cost-cutting was still very much on the Reebok agenda — skipper and full back Neil Cox the latest player on the way out after Wanderers accepted a £500,000 bid from Watford, the team that pipped them for promotion to the Premiership in the Wembley play-off six months earlier.

But Derby County’s attempt to lure Gudjohnsen to Pride Park was doomed to failure. The Rams were understood to have tabled a £3million bid for the young Iceland striker, but Allardyce was insistent.

“He’s going nowhere,” the manager said. “I know I have no open cheque books but I also know that Phil Gartside and the board are getting the finances right so that I can avoid fire sales.”

Colin Todd — the manager whose resignation paved the way for Allardyce’s return to Bolton where he had two spells as a player — was one of the names in the frame to become manager at Blackburn Rovers following the sacking of Brian Kidd, who spent just 11 months in the Ewood Park hotseat.

Leigh Centurions chairman Mick Higgins quit the Hiilton Park club just three weeks after standing down as chief executive.

But he denied that he had been forced out. “The decision to resign was entirely mine.” Higgins said.

Eddie Irvine was philosophical after missing out on the Formula One drivers’ championship by just two points.

Irvine finished third behind the victorious Mika Hakkinen, who won the Japanese Grand Prix to retain his title, but as he prepared to move from Ferrari to Jaguar, the Ulsterman shrugged off the disappointment. “There’s no point in crying about it,” he said. “We put up a really good fight over the season but made a couple of little mistakes and that cost us.”

15 Years Ago

THE talent spotter who put Wanderers boss Bruce Rioch on the trail of Richard Sneekes and Fabian DeFreitas reckoned there were more quality products on the Dutch production line.

Rioch was studying tapes from Holland as he looked to reinforce his squad for an assault on promotion to the Premiership.

He was keen on a number of players based on the continent but was wary of the rule that permitted clubs to field a maximum of three foreigners.

Sneekes, the sharpshooting midfield player signed from Fortuna Sittard for a bargain £200,000, underlined his value by scoring twice in a 2-1 victory at Charlton — a third successive league win that kept them fifth in Division One.

Bury boss Mike Walsh celebrated his second successive Division Three manager of the month award with a 1-0 home win against Scarborough.

Former top boss Brian Clough, now retired after guiding Derby County and Nottingham Forest to glory, threw out a challenge to Tottenham chairman Alan Sugar to repeat his controversial “bung” allegation in public.

The Spurs chief famously claimed under the protection of High Court privilege that Clough had taken illegal payment to set up a transfer deal.

But in a radio interview, Clough countered: “There’s not many wishes I’ve had since retired but one wish is that he had said that outside the High Court. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed.”

Clough, who also faced questions over his alleged drink problem, said: “If I’d drunk as much as people thought, I would not be here talking to you now. I’d be six feet under.

“Sometimes I drank. Possibly on occasions I was the worse for wear. Possibly I drank too much.”

Down Under, Graham Gooch hit a century as England warmed up for their Ashes Test series with a win against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

40 Years Ago

SIR Alf Ramsey was in pensive mood after seeing England beat Holland 1-0 in Amsterdam.

The man who guided England to World Cup glory in 1966 was planning for the defence of the title in Mexico in seven months’ time and was worried he might not get the co-operation he needed from some of the clubs whose players would make up his squad.

Sir Alf knew that, if he didn’t get his preparation right — and that meant as much time as possible with his players — England would be at a distinct disadvantage against their main rivals in Mexico.

How he must have envied Brazilian team manager Joao Saldanha, who completed his European spying mission by watching the Holland-England game.

Saldanha had already arranged for his entire squad to be kept together for four months in the build up to the finals and had asked the Brazilian federation to buy a large house to use as a hostel for his players.

Wanderers manager Nat Lofthouse was keeping his fingers crossed that strikers John Manning and Paul Fletcher would soon be fit to return to action.

Manning had an ankle injury while Fletcher had been laid low by a mystery bug.

The team did pretty well in their absence, beating Bristol City 3-1 at Burnden Park, but with a number of tough fixtures in the offing, Nat knew he would need a strong squad at his disposal.

Former Wanderers centre-half Bob Matthewson, who was progressing impressively through the refereeing ranks, was appointed to the job of linesman for the top European Cup match between Standard Liege and Real Madrid.