SUMMARY
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| Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Ave Att: |
| 29 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 5,781 |
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Programme style 1995/96
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This issue is for the first home game of the 1995/96 season – a League Cup 1st Round 1st Leg game against Wexham which was won 1-0. It features Chris Beaumont who was starting his sixth, and what proved to be his final, season at EP. His contribution had been huge. His County career ended in the last game of the season, a scoreless draw at Swindon, leaving him with 49 goals from 300 (+25) games. He obviously retains a fair degree of fondness for the Club being seen at quite a few games recently.
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ECSTASY TO AGONY IN THE SPACE OF 60 SECONDS
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As noted in the post on Home Games: 1995 we were adrift of the promotion and play-off spots when the year opened with a trip to Brighton. We managed a point down at the Goldstone Ground but that was to be the last reward until the beginning of February. January was really taken up with the FA Cup ties with Everton.
Looking back over the years there have been many sensational games at EP, but very few which took us from the heights of ecstasy to sheer despondency within the space of 90 seconds. When Alun Armstrong made it 2-2 as the game approached the 90 minute mark it looked as though not only a shock could be on the cards but also a real reward for two magnificent performances against the Premier League outfit. There’s always an axiom about maintaining awareness, and I still wonder to this day whether concentration lapsed in the height of the moment. Whatever the case, John Ebbrell rifled it in and the depths of despair were explored to the very bottom of the pit.
By the beginning of February we were nearer the bottom than the top, having fallen to 16th. I even heard the word ‘relegation’ mentioned at the time, and with only a 8 point advantage over the teams then in the drop zone. A 13 point return in February eased matters, pushing us up to 9th and suddenly within reach of the play-offs. How quickly things can change, and they continued to improve. And there was a direct correlation between the improvement and a new signing.
Chris Marsden was rescued from the obscurity of Notts County reserves, made a debut at Burnley and was a fixture for the next 18 months. His partnership with Tom Bennett was one of the many joys that we were to see in that period. A return of 23 points from the next 12 games left us going to Swindon on the last day knowing that if we were to better Bradford’s result, (they were away at Hull), then we would be in the play-offs. A big following helped swell the crowd at the County Ground. It was their party day, having been crowned Champions a couple of weeks previously, so potentially County could take advantage.
It wasn’t to be. The scoreless draw was never going to be enough as already relegated Hull succumbed to the Bantams. It was a long weary trip back, but also one which led us to think that the improvement seen in the last third of the season could well be the foundations on which a successful 1996/97 campaign could be based.
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The 1996/97 Squad
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Back (l to r): Alun Armstrong; Jim Gannon; Matt Bound; Richard Williams; Paul Jones; Neil Edwards; Richard Landon; Tony Dinning; Adie Mike
Middle (l to r): Rodger Wylde, (physio); Jeff Eckhardt; Paul Jones; Lea Jones; Damon Searle; Tom Bennett; John Jeffers; Sean Connelly; Joe Jakub, (Youth coach)
Front (l to r): Andy Mutch; Keiron Durkan; Chris Marsden; Dave Jones, (Manager); Mike Flynn; Paul Ware; Lee Todd
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BLACKBURN, WEST HAM …. AND THE SAINTS TO COME
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Little did we know as we made the short trip to Gresty Road on the opening day of the 1996/97 season that the next 9 months were to be the best of times. There were 4 newcomers in the side at Crewe.
The signing of Paul Jones, from Wolves, raised some eyebrows form those who felt that Neil Edwards was sound enough between the sticks. Keiron Durkan came from Wrexham and was another who formed an integral part of the team that season. Damon Searle, a full back, started the campaign at left back, but was fairly quickly usurped by Lee Todd, with the other signing being Andy Mutch. Coming towards the end of his career at this point, Jones knew that he would be a good acquisition. By the time he arrived at EP he had around 140 goals under his belt, and he added some vital ones this season.
The season started poorly though and going into a game with Plymouth in mid September we were next to bottom. There were murmurings about the tenure of Dave Jones as we faced the Pilgrims. A 3-2 win was delivered and from that point things took off, and the rest of the calendar year was about success. In the League and also the League Cup we got into a habit of winning. In three and a half months we played 27 games; won 18; drew 7 and lost only two. There were wins at Sheffield United; Blackburn and a great draw, followed by a replay win over West Ham. The full tale of this period was told in my contribution to Survival of the Fattest 1996/97
We ended the year in 5th place; with an FA Cup tie at Stoke and a League Cup quarter final at home to Southampton to look forward to. I suspect that not many County fans had the expectation, or indeed possibly hope, that what we would witness over the following few months would end up being writ large in Hatters folklore.
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Back to 1995 Forward to 1997 Home Games Summary Page Away Games 1996..
THE HOME GAMES I SAW THIS YEAR
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| Day | Date | Competition | Tier / Round | Opponents | Res | F | A | Crowd | Home Game |
| Wed | 10/01/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Bradford City | L | 1 | 2 | 6,030 | 501 |
| Wed | 17/01/96 (Highlights) | FA Cup | Round 3 (Replay) | Everton | L | 2 | 3 | 11,283 | 502 |
| Sat | 20/01/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Walsall | L | 0 | 1 | 5,870 | 503 |
| Tue | 13/02/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Wrexham | L | 2 | 3 | 4,688 | 504 |
| Sat | 17/02/96 (Highlights) | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Notts County | W | 2 | 0 | 6,179 | 505 |
| Tue | 27/02/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Blackpool | D | 1 | 1 | 7,711 | 506 |
| Sat | 09/03/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Peterborough United | L | 0 | 1 | 5,915 | 507 |
| Tue | 19/03/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Bristol City | D | 0 | 0 | 3,713 | 508 |
| Sat | 23/03/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Brighton & Hove Albion | W | 3 | 1 | 5,765 | 509 |
| Sat | 30/03/96 (Highlights) | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Oxford United | W | 4 | 2 | 6,096 | 510 |
| Mon | 08/04/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Hull City | D | 0 | 0 | 5,043 | 511 |
| Sat | 20/04/96 (Highlights) | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | York City | W | 3 | 0 | 6,286 | 512 |
| Sat | 27/04/96 | Endsleigh League Division 2 | Tier 3 | Bristol Rovers | W | 2 | 0 | 6,935 | 513 |
| Tue | 20/08/96 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Cup | Round 1 (1st Leg) | Chesterfield | W | 2 | 1 | 3,088 | 514 |
| Sat | 24/08/96 | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Notts County | D | 0 | 0 | 5,271 | 515 |
| Tue | 27/08/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | AFC Bournemouth | L | 0 | 1 | 3,446 | 516 |
| Tue | 10/09/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Wrexham | L | 0 | 2 | 4,244 | 517 |
| Sat | 14/09/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Plymouth Argyle | W | 3 | 1 | 5,087 | 518 |
| Tue | 17/09/96 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Cup | Round 2 (1st Leg) | Sheffield United | W | 2 | 1 | 4,004 | 519 |
| Sat | 28/09/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Gillingham | W | 2 | 1 | 6,049 | 520 |
| Sat | 12/10/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Preston North End | W | 1 | 0 | 8,405 | 521 |
| Tue | 15/10/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Luton Town | D | 1 | 1 | 5,352 | 522 |
| Tue | 29/10/96 | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Chesterfield | W | 1 | 0 | 4,831 | 523 |
| Sat | 02/11/96 (Highlights) | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Bristol City | D | 1 | 1 | 6,654 | 524 |
| Sat | 16/11/96 (Highlights) | FA Cup | Round 1 | Doncaster Rovers | W | 2 | 1 | 4,211 | 525 |
| Tue | 19/11/96 | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Blackpool | W | 1 | 0 | 4,572 | 526 |
| Sat | 30/11/96 | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Walsall | W | 2 | 0 | 5,333 | 527 |
| Sat | 14/12/96 | Nationwide Football League – Division 2 | Tier 3 | Peterborough United | D | 0 | 0 | 5,748 | 528 |
| Wed | 18/12/96 (Highlights) | Coca-Cola Cup | Round 4 (Replay) | West Ham United | W | 2 | 1 | 9,834 | 529 |
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