SUMMARY

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Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Ave Att:
20	14	1	5	2,506

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The front cover reflecting the “Argentina” shirt, (which of course didn’t make it until the end of the season) and features Dave Sunley in the bottom picture. This issue was for the game against Crewe on 16th October. It was a 2-0 win, (Oshor Williams and Tony Coyle on the scoresheet).

The game featured Mike Wardrobe, signed in the summer from Burnley. Purportedly a striker this was his 10th start and we hadn’t yet seen a goal from him. Neither did we for a further 15 months. In January 1983 he got a brace against Tranmere – the only goals of his County career!

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A STRONG FINISH TO THE YEAR

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1981 was a bit of a thin year for home games. I saw all 20 of them, but the weather was such that we weren’t in action until the end of January, and after the visit of Torquay at the end of November that was it for the year.

We played one game in December, (a trip to Bootham Crescent), before a much postponed FA Cup game at Port Vale was eventually held on January 2nd 1982. The latter game was a real debacle.

We went down, (4-1 as it turned out) and all sorts of tales about the players having had a somewhat ‘enthusiastic’ New Year were circulating on the terraces at Vale Park that afternoon. Once again the prospect of a 3rd round tie, albeit at Shrewsbury, had disappeared.

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Back: Andy Thorpe; Steve Uzelac; Brian Lloyd; Andy Stafford; David Booth

Middle: John Rutter; Martin Fowler; Tommy Sword; Nigel Smith; Steve Sherlock

Front: Tony Coyle; Terry Park; Oshor Williams; Dave Sunley; Mike Wardrobe

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It was, however, a decent year at home. There were 12 wins in the last 15 home games. One of these was an FA Cup tie against Mossley. I’d spent a fair bit of my non-County time up at Seel Park watching what I still regard as the best non-league team I’ve ever seen. Led by Bob Murphy, they were a joy to watch.

In that team was Leo Skeete, (the finest player I have ever seen in non-league), Eamonn O’Keefe, (later to play for Everton), and Davy Moore, a natural goalscorer. But by 1981 that team had broken up and the game ended as a comfortable victory for the Hatters. The downside was that Tommy Sword, (who had become an integral and some may say a talismanic part of the team in his two years at the Club), broke his leg. He wasn’t to be seen again for over 12 months and it was a sore loss.

The highlight home game of the year was a 1-0 win against Sheffield United, courtesy of a Tommy Sword strike. The game started with the two teams separated by a single point. A night game under the lights drew by far the largest crowd of the year, (5.450), with a more than sizeable Blades contingent. Victories are always good to see, but when they come against a ‘big’ club, (and Sheffield had been in Division 1, the top Tier, only 5 years previously), it’s even better!!

It also marked the second of a seventeen game spell when Eric Webster was in charge. Jimmy McGuigan had fallen ill, and Eric stepped up to the plate. He took over when we were 15th, and a record of 6 wins and 3 draws from the 15 League games pushed us up to 11th. The Board must have been sufficiently impressed that after McGuigan’s brief return in January 1982, and departure in mid April, Webster was appointed to the job permanently. I have long believed that his work in the following 3 years was absolutely crucial to the continuation of our existence.

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Back to 1980 Forward to 1982 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1981

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THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

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Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Home Game
Fri	30/01/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Darlington	L	0	1	1,911	110
Fri	13/02/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Wimbledon	D	0	0	1,772	111
Mon	16/02/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	W	4	1	1,431	112
Fri	27/02/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Scunthorpe United	W	2	0	1,675	113
Fri	06/03/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Northampton Town	L	1	2	1,945	114
Fri	20/03/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	York City	W	2	0	1,903	115
Fri	03/04/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Southend United	W	1	0	2,278	116
Mon	20/04/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Tranmere Rovers	W	1	0	2,311	117
Fri	01/05/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Mansfield Town	W	2	1	2,236	118
Fri	04/09/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Aldershot	W	4	2	2,239	119
Mon	14/09/81	Milk Cup	Round 1 (2nd Leg)	Wigan Athletic	L	1	2	2,913	120
Fri	18/09/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Peterborough United	W	3	0	2,382	121
Mon	21/09/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Sheffield United	W	1	0	5,450	122
Sat	03/10/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	AFC Bournemouth	L	1	2	2,718	123
Fri	16/10/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Crewe Alexandra	W	2	0	2,669	124
Mon	19/10/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Bradford City	L	2	3	3,684	125
Fri	30/10/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Mansfield Town	W	3	0	2,081	126
Fri	13/11/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Halifax Town	W	2	1	2,493	127
Sat	21/11/81	FA Cup	Round 1	Mossley	W	3	1	4,216	128
Sat	28/11/81	Football League Division 4	Tier 4	Torquay United	W	2	1	1,821	129