The Crazy Gang by Dave Bassett

Author:Dave Bassett
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473526907
Publisher: Transworld

Wally

For me, 1984–85 was another season of hurt and frustration, but as Harry says, we adapted well to life in the Second Division. We got the first win under our belts at Shrewsbury, then another at Middlesbrough just three days later. We had a settled line-up: Ketts, Corky and Stewart Evans were all finding the net, with Leo Sayer chipping in with a few too, and a first home win in this division came against Brighton, thanks to a goal-line clearance by Steve Hatter at the death. Mid-table we remained. We were particularly solid at Plough Lane, where a win over Steve Coppell’s Palace put a big smile on Harry’s face, and Midget’s too. Three goals in the space of six second-half minutes sealed that one.

It was following a game against Grimsby at the end of November that Harry was the centre of attention again – for attending the press conference without an item of clothing in sight. The story goes that Harry was naked as the day he was born, but he assures me there was a pair of Y-fronts involved. Why he did it was anyone’s guess, but then I’m hardly one to talk, am I?

There was arguably less excitement on the pitch, although away from home we were once again leaking bucketfuls of goals: three at Sheffield United, Fulham and Wolves, then five at Leeds in front of the TV cameras. Harry wasn’t happy, accusing us of lacking professionalism, and neither were some of the players. John Kay and Steve Hatter asked for transfers; Corky was dropped for Micky Welch, signed from non-league Grays Athletic and soon on his way back there again despite two decent games. He was paired up front with Fish, who had been sent out to Sweden again to get games – there was always one or two out there, or in Finland or wherever. Harry said it helped the players’ confidence, as well as broadening their horizons. Luckily for me, I mostly got to stay in London. Funny that.

Much more significant was the signing of Lawrie Sanchez. Wimbledon seemed to be a recurring factor in Sanch’s career – as Harry said earlier, he had made his debut against us for Reading in October 1977 – one of many midfield battles he had had over the years at both Elm Park and Plough Lane – and after he left the Dons, his last start for Swindon was against Wimbledon. As it turned out, Liverpool were to be a recurring theme too, as he reminded me recently: there was a certain goal at Wembley, of course, but then as a manager he took Wycombe to the FA Cup semi-finals before losing to the Reds, and then kept Fulham in the Premier League with his first win as a manager over Liverpool in 2007. He’s got a good memory, Sanch.

Sanch was now 25, with loads of games under his belt, and that experience would prove to be invaluable – five goals in 20 games was his tally for the second half of the season with us.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.