45 Years Ago

AS supporters queued at Burnden Park to snap up an allocation of 10,000 tickets for the fourth round tie at Preston, manager Bill Ridding made it clear his priority was to get Wanderers back in the First Division rather than progressing in the FA Cup.

A run of eight matches without defeat had put the Whites in contention with the Second Division pacemakers and, with the top three of Newcastle, Northampton and Norwich all losing, Ridding was more than happy to take a point from a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Preston at Deepdale — even though North End’s first goal came from a dubious penalty decision.

“It’s the league that matters most to us — for the present anyway,” the manager said. “We are so handily placed we must press our claim to the limit of our ability while we are in with such a good chance.”

Alex Dawson converted the penalty — harshly awarded for handball against Roy Hartle — to wipe out Wyn Davies’s headed opener for Wanderers who were back in front at half-time courtesy of a Freddie Hill header. Howard Kendall’s strike midway through the second half earned Preston a point in a game watched by 19,000 who were left with good reason to expect a similarly entertaining re-match in the FA Cup a fortnight later.

Never far from controversy, world heavyweight champion Cassius Clay said boxing needed “more white hopes” to keep interest in the sport alive.

Clay told the Boxing Writers Association in New York: “It seems that the darker men are dominating boxing.

“This must seem a little sad to white men. I’m not talking hate, I’m talking about what everyone says, but nobody says out loud.

“If we had more white men like Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey (who were present at the dinner) and me fighting them, we would draw a 30million dollar gate.”

30 Years Ago

IAN Greaves took advantage of a mid-winter break to take himself and his unhappy Wanderers away from the increasing pressures of what was becoming a desperate struggle to avoid relegation from the First Division.

The big freeze forced the postponement of the league game at West Brom and with conditions no better at Bolton, Greaves took his players off to Blackpool to prepare for their FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Fourth Division Halifax Town.

“We’ll train on the beach and get some sea air,” Greaves said of the seaside break. “It’s simply a case of having somewhere to work. That’s our only problem at the moment.”

Geoff Boycott stirred up a storm with a televised attack on skipper Mike Brearley and the England selectors ahead of the crucial second match of three in their World Series Cup final against West Indies in Australia.

Boycott said he was fed up with the England selectors for forcing him to play in matches when he had an injured left hand.

“They have had me out there on one leg if it suited them,” he said.

“I tell the selectors I am not fit and they don’t listen. They are taking it out on me because no one else has got any runs.

“You’d think I didn’t know anything about cricket wouldn’t you.

“I play best when I am surrounded by people who appreciate me. Now I am just fed-up with the whole set-up.”

Boycott was England’s top scorer again the following day but his 63 in a total of 208-8 failed to prevent the West Indies winning by eight wickets with three overs to spare to take an unassailable 2-0 lead to win the World Series.

20 Years Ago

PHIL Neal’s Wanderers boasted the most in-form attack in the Third Division — as Cardiff City discovered when they were thumped 3-1 at Burnden Park.

Top scorer Tony Philliskirk scored twice in the first half and Paul Comstive added a third — his first league goal for the Whites — in the second half as Neal’s men made it 18 goals in seven unbeaten games that kept them up with the promotion contenders as well as into the last-eight of the North’s contenders in the Leyland DAF Cup.

Cardiff manager Len Ashurst had the satisfaction of knowing his players had contributed to an exciting encounter, but had no complaints, acknowledging: “We were well beaten by a better side — a very good side indeed.”

Wanderers were going so well that midfield ace Steve Thompson decided to delay an operation to clear up a lingering groin problem until the end of the season.

Neal, meanwhile, was becoming increasingly irritated with Sheffield United in his attempt to tie up the permanent transfer of Martin Pike – the left-back who had impressed during a loan spell at Burnden. The clubs were not far apart in their valuations but the Wanderers boss took exception to Blades manager Dave Bassett trying to conduct negotiations through the media.

Elsewhere, Diego Maradona – the Argentine genius – got so upset after seeing he had been given just 3.5 out of 10 in an Italian newspaper’s match ratings that he threatened to make the reporter eat every page of his own publication.

Recently appointed Manchester City manager Howard Kendall hit out at the spoiling tactics that had crept into English football during the two years he had been away managing in Spain.

Kendall moaned: “Since I returned to English soccer I have noticed that when teams try to string passes together the other side try to stop the game by pushing, pulling and tripping.”

Not that City were stringing all that many passes together. Blues fans were already starting to complain of the effective but dour football being played under Kendall’s management.

Down Under, John McEnroe became the first player to be kicked out of a Grand Slam tennis tournament after throwing one of his famous strops at the Australian Open.

Mac the Mouth was leading his fourth round match against Mikeal Pernfors when he was defaulted by an umpire for throwing down his racket. The three-time Wimbledon champion received code violations for swearing at the officials, smashing his racket, intimidating a female line-judge and insulting two ball-boys.

Over in New Zealand, a threatened boycott of the Commonwealth Games by 11 African nations in protest over England’s rebel cricket tour to South Africa was called off just 48 hours before the opening ceremony.

The Africans had earlier demanded England’s expulsion from the Auckland Games.