HOME GAMES: 1987

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SUMMARY

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PlayedWonDrawnLostAve Att:
28107112,155

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Programme Style 1986/87

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It had changed to a landscape format. This particular issue is for the game against Wrexham just before Christmas. It was a 2-1 win. Vernon Allatt is featured on the cover. He was on target against Wrexham, with Clive Evans getting the second. The cover also notes that the League then was sponsored by the Today newspaper. It was a short lived arrangement, lasting only one season.

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THE GREAT ESCAPE ACHIEVED

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With things seemingly changing on the field as the New Year arrived there was hope that we could climb away from the foot of the table and avoid what everyone thought would be the end of the world – a drop into Non-League. The first 8 games of 1987 saw the decent form continue. There was but a single defeat, (at Wolves in early February which is mentioned in Away Trip 43), and with a haul of 13 points we had established a 7 point gap over bottom of the table Rochdale. There then followed a 4 game losing streak which dropped us into the bottom spot as the men from Spotland and Plainmoor picked up from. It had started to look grim again.

The turning point for the season was, for me, the home game against Cambridge in late March. It was played in the teeth of a howling gale. Debris from the woodyard behind the Cheadle End, (then of course only a small open terrace), was blown across the ground. Football was nigh on impossible. The whole game was played in one half and Cambridge took a 2-0 half time lead. It looked like a 5th consecutive loss, but County, with the wind at their backs clawed things back and Andy Hodkinson, who had entered the action as a sub, clinched things. A vital win.

There followed five more, and 2 draws in the next 8 games. The 3-1 win over Swansea on 27th April was the clincher for me. We weren’t mathematically safe but it would take a strange turn of events for us to fall through the trapdoor. Burnley went into the last day bottom but rescued themselves with a win over Orient, whilst Lincoln continued their freefall. We had played them on Boxing Day and since then they had secured the grand total of 17 points from 24 games. On the last day they lost at Swansea, fell to bottom place for the first time that season and headed off to the Conference. It had been a close call for County and one that no-one wanted again. 24 years later the outcome was somewhat different…..

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MURPHY DEPARTS (AGAIN!) AND HARTFORD ARRIVES

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The 1987/88 Squad

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Back (l to r): Les Robinson; Wayne Entwistle; Chris Marples; David Mossman; Ian McKenzie

Middle (l to r): Len Cantello (Asst Mgr); Clive Evans; Bill Williams; Steve Bullock; Tommy Sword; Mike Pickering; Mark Sertori; Denis Cronin; Chris Wych (Physio)

Front (l to r): Andy Hodkinson; Paul Hendrie; Asa Hartford (Player Mgr); Levi Edwards; Neil Bailey

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Asa Hartford came in to replace the departed Murphy. It was his first managerial appointment, and he set off with a whole raft of new players. The team that took the field for the opening day of 1997/98 had many new faces. After losing to Swansea on the opening day 4 of the next 5 league games were won, and things looked fair. There then followed an absolutely desperate run which garnered a miserly 2 points from 10 games. The mumblings started. But a couple of wins and finally putting the Telford hoodoo to bed, as we beat them in an FA Cup replay led to a better feeling.

If I was to pick one game out of this period then not many would bet on it being a 1-1 draw with Colchester in late November. But that night I witnessed one of the great entertainers of English football in my lifetime turn out in the white and blue. Frank Worthington made his County debut.. One of my favourite all time players. He didn’t score that evening but no matter, it was a privilege to be present as he displayed some of the skills we had seen from him on far greater stages. There’s a longer reflection about him in Away Trip 44 when he contributed to an FA Cup win at Runcorn which saw us into that most rare of places – the FA Cup 3rd Round.

I missed but the one home game in 1987 – once again the call of cricket on the opening day proved pre-eminent. But it wasn’t to be for much longer. My cricket playing days ended a couple of years afterwards. The New Year dawned with the Hatters in 3rd bottom place. 1988 promised to be yet another relegation fight.

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Back to 1986 Forward to 1988 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1987

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THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR

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DayDateCompetitionTier / RoundOpponentsResFACrowdHome Game
Thurs01/01/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Crewe AlexandraW212,955251
Fri23/01/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Exeter CityD003,038252
Sat14/02/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Halifax TownW201,835253
Fri27/02/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Torquay UnitedD002,437254
Mon02/03/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Leyton OrientD221,840255
Fri13/03/87Today League Division 4Tier 4BurnleyL012,500256
Fri27/03/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Cambridge UnitedW321,622257
Fri03/04/87Today League Division 4Tier 4AldershotD001,975258
Mon13/04/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Scunthorpe UnitedW101,773259
Mon20/04/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Lincoln CityW102,529260
Mon27/04/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Swansea CityW312,216261
Fri01/05/87Today League Division 4Tier 4Hartlepool UnitedL022,228262
Fri08/05/87
(Highlights)		Today League Division 4Tier 4Southend UnitedL022,853263
Tue18/08/87Littlewoods Challenge CupRound 1 (1st Leg)Carlisle UnitedL011,476264
Fri28/08/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Tranmere RoversL122,229265
Fri04/09/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Carlisle UnitedW302,257266
Tue15/09/87
(Highlights)		Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Leyton OrientL122,560267
Sat19/09/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Wolverhampton WanderersL022,234268
Fri02/10/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Cardiff CityL012,332269
Sat10/10/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Peterborough UnitedL011,594270
Fri23/10/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Hereford UnitedL021,566271
Tue03/11/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Hartlepool UnitedW101,408272
Fri06/11/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Torquay UnitedW211,697273
Tue17/11/87FA CupRound 1 (Replay)Telford UnitedW203,083274
Tue24/11/87Sherpa Van TrophyPreliminary RoundBolton WanderersL132,123275
Fri27/11/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4Colchester UnitedD111,703276
Sat19/12/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4ScarboroughD111,779277
Sat26/12/87Barclays League Division 4Tier 4WrexhamD112,504278
Category: 1980's

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