50 Years Ago

THERE was good news and bad news for Bolton Wanderers when the England team was named for the forthcoming international against Northern Ireland at Wembley.

Inside-left Ray Parry — the youngest player to represent Wanderers when he made his league debut at the age of 15½ — was handed his first senior cap after the selectors dropped Manchester United’s Bobby Charlton.

But Parry’s joy was tempered by the decision to drop his Burnden Park team-mate Eddie Hopkinson, who had been barracked by a section of the crowd for his performance in England’s previous international match — a 3-2 defeat by Sweden. Sheffield Wednesday’s Ron Springett, who impressed in a recent match for the Football League Xl, replaced the Bolton keeper.

Parry and Springett were among four new caps given a chance after the selectors reacted to the Sweden defeat by making five changes in all and axing all three of their inside forwards — Charlton, Middlesbrough’s Brian Clough and Jimmy Greaves of Chelsea.

There was a buzz around Burnden, where Wanderers were preparing for their derby duel with arch-rivals Manchester United on the back of a stunning win at White Hart Lane. They produced their best performance of the season to beat league leaders Spurs — the most expensive team in England — 2-0.

Parry and Dennis Stevens got the goals but it was Hopkinson and his defenders — in particular stand-in captain John Higgins — who took the honours with a magnificent rearguard action to earn back-page praise for their “indomitable courage”.

British boxing was also enjoying a purple patch with Henry Cooper’s performances suggesting he was a genuine contender for the world heavyweight title.

Cooper, the British champion, was preparing to defend his title against Joe Erskine at London’s Earl’s Court with the promise of a crack at Sweden’s world champion, Ingemar Johansson.

Cooper’s manager, Jim Wicks, received a cable from Johansson’s representative in America that read: “Providing Cooper whips Erskine decisively, I am authorised to negotiate with you for a Johansson title match next summer in New York.”

Bolton United Harriers distance runner Fred Norris — Britain’s international cross-country champion — finished a disappointing 26th in the Asahi Marathon in Japan.

Tyldesley hero Norris was one of the pre-race favourites but finished 21 minutes behind the race winner Kurao Hiroshima of Japan.

25 Years Ago

LIFE was turning sour for John McGovern’s Wanderers, whose away day problems were highlighted when they went down 3-2 at Newport County.

The Whites had not won on the road since March and had suffered 12 successive away defeats. So the travelling fans had good reason to fear a serious hiding was on the cards when they trailed 3-0 at Somerton Park.

But they were not that poor a side — in fact they were much the better team and a late rally that featured goals for Wayne Foster and Steve Thompson prompted Newport manager Colin Addison to rip into his players at the end, acknowledging how close Wanderers had come to salvaging a point.

Nevertheless, McGovern was considering changes for the FA Cup tie at Hull and indicated that if injured front men Jeff Chandler and Tony Caldwell could prove their fitness, they could be back in the starting line-up.

Things were looking up at Gigg Lane where Bury showed their promotion credentials with a 2-2 draw with fellow Fourth Division high-flyers, Crewe Alexandra.

Crewe led 2-0 but Shakers skipper Joe Jakub pulled one back on the stroke of half time and Wayne Entwistle rescued a well-deserved point with an equaliser two minutes from the end.

A young Shaun Edwards made an effective switch from scrum-half to stand-off to inspire Wigan to a 28-2 victory at Workington.

Injury problems were piling up at Hilton Park where Ellery Hanley produced a dazzling display to lead Bradford Northern to a 30-28 win.

The previous week Leigh suffered a major blow when international winger Des Drummond broke his leg and this time it was player-coach John Woods who was in the wars. He was stretchered off two minutes from the end with a suspected broken ankle.

Sandy Lyle, the rising star of British golf, scooped the biggest prize of his career when he won the 450,000 dollar Kapalua PGA tournament in Hawaii.

5 Years Ago

THE Premier League made a dramatic U-turn when they pulled controversial referee Barry Knight out of the Reebok firing line.

Whites manager Sam Allardyce had expressed fears in the Bolton Evening News that Knight’s appointment to take charge of the game against Aston Villa would create a hostile atmosphere that might distract his players.

It was the first time Knight had been appointed to officiate at a Bolton game since the infamous promotion play-off semi-final at Ipswich in May 2000 when the Kent ref awarded the home side three penalties and issued 12 yellow cards and two red cards — all against Wanderers, who lost 7-5 on aggregate.

Allardyce denied complaining officially about the appointment and the Premier League gave no explanation about their change of heart, but they confirmed that Essex referee Andy D’Urso would replace Knight.

The image of Jay Jay Okocha sporting a broad smile on that day’s back page suggested the Wanderers captain was delighted with the decision.

But the Nigerian international was actually laughing in the face of a new wave of criticism of the style of play that had made Big Sam’s Whites such a force in the Premiership.

Rival managers — notably Newcastle’s Graeme Souness — opposition players and media pundits clearly didn’t like the way “Little Old Bolton” were making a nuisance of themselves. But Okocha was not taking the jibes seriously. “It’s funny,” said the Nigerian international.

“We’re happy because we are getting results.”

Henrik Pedersen, who scored his eighth goal of the season in a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough, also took a swipe at the Bash Bolton Bridage.

“We are playing with more quality than people give us credit for,” said the dashing Dane.

Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had his controversial bowling action cleared by the International Cricket Council.

Murali, who had signed to play for Lancashire the following summer, had always maintained he could not fully straighten his bowling arm.

On the local cricket scene, it emerged that three Bolton Association clubs had applied for one vacancy in the Central Lancashire League.

Reigning champions Elton and their Bury neighbours Walshaw had previously shown an interest in joining the rival league and had now been joined by Clifton.