SUMMARY

..

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
23	8	8	7	3,252

..

..

This issue is from the game against Doncaster, and is undated. (It was eventually played on 21st February, only the second home game of the year). I wonder whether this was done to enable it’s use at a later date should that game have been postponed because of the weather that winter.

The cover picture features action from the Cup loss at Wrexham which was eventually played at the NINTH time of trying. It’s mentioned in my thoughts on the Racecourse in Away Trip 32

..

OSHOR WILLIAMS AND TONY COYLE ARRIVE

..

It was a middling sort of year at home for me. 8 wins; 8 draws and 7 defeats is almost perfect symmetry. It started off the a harsh winter. We beat Bradford at home on 12th January. It was a game played with snow lying thick on the pitch, and a County shirt swap was needed, as the white in which we played then was visually lost in the conditions, We wore dark blue and the kit cupboard had to be explored to find an orange ball! Conditions clearly worsened and other than defeat at Wrexham in the much postponed FA Cup game, (referred to in Away Day 32), we were not in action again until late February. It wasn’t a good return to action as Doncaster took the spoils away from EP.

We started off the year in 9th place, and the average level of performance at home allied to a miserable run away led to a final 17th spot.

The 1979/80 season started off poorly but we were treated to a first appearance of Oshor Williams in a League Cup game against Crystal Palace. It was a brilliant start for him as he ran Kenny Sansom ragged, and contributed hugely to a creditable draw.

The nadir at home was the 5-0 whipping at the hand of Newport, (for whom a very youthful John Aldridge hit a hat-trick). It was a salutary baptism for new manager Jimmy McGuigan. Four weeks later my home year ended with the 4-0 destruction of Torquay, a game when Tony Coyle, one of my favourite players over the years, made his debut after the club record signing, (at the time), for £25,000 from Albion Rovers.

1979 was also the first year when I had a 100% attendance at home games. It was the first of many to come

..

..

Back to 1978 Forward to 1980 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1979

..

THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

..

Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Home Game
Fri	12/01/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Bradford City	W	1	0	3,573	59
Wed	21/02/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Doncaster Rovers	L	0	1	2,907	60
Mon	26/02/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	L	0	2	2,676	61
Fri	02/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Northampton Town	W	2	1	2,929	62
Mon	05/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Crewe Alexandra	W	4	3	3,102	63
Fri	09/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Reading	D	0	0	3,560	64
Fri	23/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Halifax Town	L	1	2	3,033	65
Fri	30/03/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	L	0	1	2,710	66
Mon	09/04/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Aldershot	D	2	2	2,190	67
Mon	16/04/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Rochdale	W	3	0	2,863	68
Fri	27/04/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Port Vale	D	0	0	3,345	69
Mon	20/08/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Rochdale	D	1	1	3,554	70
Wed	29/08/79	Football League Cup	Round 2 (1st Leg)	Crystal Palace	D	1	1	6,293	71
Fri	14/09/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	AFC Bournemouth	D	1	1	3,146	72
Mon	17/09/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	D	1	1	2,579	73
Fri	28/09/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Huddersfield Town	L	1	2	5,369	74
Fri	05/10/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hereford United	W	2	1	3,119	75
Fri	19/10/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Doncaster Rovers	L	0	3	3,222	76
Mon	22/10/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Hartlepool United	D	0	0	2,639	77
Fri	02/11/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Walsall	W	1	0	3,323	78
Fri	16/11/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Newport County	L	0	5	3,407	79
Fri	30/11/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Crewe Alexandra	W	2	1	2,936	80
Fri	21/12/79	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	W	4	0	2,310	81