20 Years Ago

NERVES frayed and tempers boiled over as the Division Three promotion battle reached fever pitch. Stuart Storer, who scored Wanderers’ goal in the 1-1 draw with bitter rivals Tranmere in the Easter Saturday duel at Burnden Park, was on the receiving end of a nasty attack by Rovers substitute Eddie Bishop – half an hour after the game. The belligerent Bishop, sent off after a clash with Storer four minutes from the end of the fiercely-contested game, confronted the Bolton winger while he was being interviewed outside the dressing rooms by the Bolton Evening News correspondent and grabbed him by the throat. Bishop accused Storer of “making a meal” of the incident that got him sent off and as he was being led away, challenged the Bolton man to settle the issue outside the ground. Storer dusted himself off and responded calmly: “It doesn’t bother me.” The point kept Phil Neal’s Wanderers in fifth place, well short of an automatic promotion place but still in with a chance of the play-offs but when they conceded two goals in the last four minutes to lose 2-1 at Blackpool 48 hours later, the manager doubted whether his players were capable of handling the pressure. Accusing Wanderers of “defending like pansies”, Neal said: The more games we play, the more points slip away, the more pressure there is. “Maybe we’ve got to look at whether the team is capable of coping with the pressure. It comes down to passion and character in the final five games.” Sam Ellis’s Bury were six points ahead of Wanderers after taking maximum points over Easter – David Lee scoring a late winner as they came from behind to beat Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road, then hammering Huddersfield 6-0 at Gigg Lane. The Shakers were on course for their highest finish for 21 years. Mark Robins was the man of the moment at Manchester United. Four days after scoring in the Reds’ FA Cup semi-final replay defeat of Oldham Athletic, the 20-year-old scored one goal and set up the other for Neil Webb in a 2-1 win at QPR that just about ended United’s relegation fears and eased the pressure on Alex Ferguson. Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins announced his retirement from professional snooker – but still faced serious punishment from the game’s disciplinary body after allegedly punching the tournament press officer as he crashed out of the Embassy World Championships at Sheffield. In an emotional retirement speech, the tempestuous 41-year-old said: “This game is the most corrupt game in the world. “I don’t want to be part of it, so you can shove your snooker up your ‘jacksey’. I’m not playing no more. It’s not sour grapes, it’s the truth. “The people who work within the game appal me.”

30 Years Ago

BOLTON Wanderers, already relegated from Division One, thought they had made Peter Reid an offer he could not refuse to stay at Burnden Park and lead the charge back out of the Second Division. But it was not enough to weaken the midfield general’s determination to move on when his contract expired at the end of the season. “I’ve got to play in the First Division next season – it’s as simple as that,” Reid said The word was that the Bolton directors were prepared to make Reid one of the highest paid players in the country, but they were evidently fighting a losing battle. “They’ve made me an offer and I can tell you it was absolutely fabulous,” he said. “It really shocked me. It showed that Bolton Wanderers mean business next season. I was flattered – it was a tremendous compliment.” But Reid insisted nothing had changed. He was still determined to move to a club where he could gain top domestic honours, play in Europe and increase his chances of an England cap. The consequence of a disastrous season Wanderers spent almost entirely at the bottom of the top division was the dramatic decline in attendance figures – illustrated when fewer than 9,000 turned up at Burnden Park to watch the 1-1 draw with Coventry City. The stayaways didn’t miss much. Wanderers made a promising start when Phil Wilson – one of four teenagers in the starting line-up – put them in front after 14 minutes and Gary Thompson equalised eight minutes later . . . but that was as good as it got. Bury’s hopes of avoiding relegation from the Third Division were hit when a flu bug swept through the club in the build up to their game against promotion-chasing Chesterfield at Saltergate.

45 Years Ago

THE last, lingering hope that Bolton Wanderers would bounce straight back into the top flight of English football disappeared with a 2-0 defeat at Newcastle United. A crowd of 60,000 – the vast majority being passionate Geordies – packed into St James’ Park to see the Magpies clinch promotion to Division One and, with Northampton Town destined to join them, Bill Ridding’s Bolton boys were resigned to another season in the second tier. That left supporters concerned about the futures of some of their star players. Rumours were rife that both Francis Lee and Wyn Davies could be sold as the Wanderers directors attempted to balance the books. There were no such problems at Leeds United where Don Revie’s upwardly mobile team had made a big impression in their first season back in the top flight and were preparing for an FA Cup final duel with Bill Shankly’s Liverpool. An illustration of how the Elland Road stock had soared in just one season was that their 34-year-old captain, Bobby Collins, was favourite to be named Footballer of the Year. The boxing world was buzzing with anticipation as the long-awaited re-match between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston approached. Liston, who had sensationally lost his world heavyweight title to Clay, was brimming with confidence as he predicted he would regain his title with a knockout. “Clay says he is retiring after the fight,” Liston said in a break from training in Denver. “Well, I’ll help him out.” In Miami, Clay responded: “Liston is so old and so slow that I can walk faster than he can run.” Boxing fans were furious on this side of the Atlantic when it was revealed the forthcoming British and Empire heavyweight championship fight between the holder, Henry Cooper, and Birmingham’s Johnny Prescott would not be televised live or screened on closed-circuit TV.