..

..

..

Little did we know as we travelled into South Yorkshire on a more than chilly Tuesday December evening in 1996, that the game we were to see, (the 24th of the season), and almost half way through in terms of time, would be followed by another 43 matches in a campaign which brought not only a run to the semi final of the League Cup but also promotion back into the 2nd tier.

It was for an Auto Windscreens Trophy first round game. After reaching the final in both 1992 and 1993, and the Northern semi-final the following year we had made precious little impression on the competition for a couple of years. The match came a couple of weeks after we had beaten Doncaster in the FA Cup, with that played at EP. After a dreadful start to the season a win against Plymouth in early September was the first game in a run of 22 matches which saw 15 wins and 5 draws. They also included wins at Bramall Lane; Ewood Park and a draw at Upton Park in the League Cup. There was a real impression that a head of steam was being generated.

Given the competition it would have been no surprise if Dave Jones had given some of his squad players a run out. Neil Edwards, (no appearances to that point that season); Matt Bound, (5); and Damon Searle, (7) might have thought they would get a game, but Jones kept faith with those wh had been the core of the team. Paul Ware did come in for Tom Bennett, and John Jeffers replaced Alun Armstrong. It was a strong team, and it was somewhat of a surprise when Donny went into the break with a 1-0 lead. An own goal drew us level with 20 minutes to go, and only 60 more seconds had elapsed when Cavaco struck what turned out to be the winner.

We did also see a first appearance from both Kiko Charana and Martin Nash. I describe in greater detail on the Belle Vue post the impact that Charana had. we went away thinking a start had been born, but it was illusory. We saw him only a handful of times after that.

It was progress in the competition. We got to the Northern Final but there were far bigger fish to fry. Eight days after the Doncaster game we beat West Ham at EP – one of the great nights. There was Southampton and Middlesbrough to follow, and then the night at Saltergate. Belle Vue was just one game, but still formed an integral part of the greatest season in my 57 years.

..

Memories of trips to Belle Vue

..

THE GAMES

..

Where the date is in bold click for highlights of the game

..

	Date	Venue	Ground	Competition		F	A	Att:
Fri	09/09/77	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	1	1	3,614
Sat	07/10/78	a	Belle Vue	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	2	9,054
Wed	21/02/79	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	1	2,907
Fri	19/10/79	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	3	3,222
Sat	01/03/80	a	Belle Vue	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	1	1	3,332
Fri	07/11/80	h	Edgeley Park	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	1	2,474
Fri	10/04/81	a	Belle Vue	Football League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	2	6,120
Sat	31/12/83	a	Belle Vue	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	2	3,736
Mon	07/05/84	h	Edgeley Park	Canon League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	2	2,993
Sat	01/10/88	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	2	0	1,959
Sat	15/04/89	a	Belle Vue	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	2	2	1,363
Sat	02/12/89	a	Belle Vue	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	1	2	3,023
Fri	16/02/90	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	W	3	1	3,609
Fri	21/12/90	h	Edgeley Park	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	D	0	0	3,347
Mon	01/04/91	a	Belle Vue	Barclays League Division 4 (Tier 4)	L	0	1	3,372
Sat	16/11/96	h	Edgeley Park	FA Cup (Round 1)	W	2	1	4,211
Tues	10/12/96	a	Belle Vue	Auto Windscreens Trophy (Northern Round 1)	W	2	1	988
Sat	20/11/04	a	Belle Vue	Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 (Tier 3)	L	1	3	6,697
Sat	16/04/05	h	Edgeley Park	Coca-Cola Football League – League 1 (Tier 3)	L	2	4	4,508

..

Back to Opposition Team Index