5 Years Ago

CALL it psychology, call it luck but Sam Allardyce played a blinder when he talked down Wanderers’ prospects of causing an upset at Stamford Bridge.

Roman Abramovich’s cause was turning Chelsea into a formidable Premiership force and the bottom line for Big Sam, pictured, was that he was fielding a team he’d assembled for the princely sum of £3.4million against Claudio Ranieri’s Blues who boasted £95.2m worth of signings.

So he took the pressure off his players by saying publicly that he did not expect them to win.

It worked a treat as the Whites came from a goal down to snatch an incredible win at Stamford Bridge. Bruno N’Gotty got the equaliser and John Terry turned Henrik Pedersen’s left-wing cross into his own goal in the dying seconds to give the travelling Wanderers fans one of their most memorable results in the capital.

Eddie Davies was about to strengthen his hold on Wanderers by taking his shareholding in the club to 90-odd per cent but Allardyce was warned not to expect more cash to spend in the January transfer window.

That didn’t stop him being linked with a host of transfer targets as he approached the turn of the year – a stark contrast to the situation at Chelsea where Abramovich had already spent £110m and was lining up another £30m swoop for Juventus striker Pavel Nedved.

“Give me £140m and I’ll give you the title,” was Allardyce’s predictable response.

He was having problems of a different kind after the Nigeran FA announced their schedule for the African Nations Cup. They wanted to take Jay Jay Okocha out of Premiership action four weeks before the start of the tournament in Tunisia – a demand that infuriated Allardyce, who was struggling to get things resolved.

“We have not been able to contact the Nigerian FA – as usual,” he said, voicing his frustrations. “It’s hard enough getting hold of Jay Jay himself – and he’s our player.”

There were no club versus country problems at Manchester City after France coach Jacques Santini warned the Blues’ controversial striker Nicolas Anelka that he would not be considered for international selection until he apologised for ignoring a call-up the previous year.

Another Frenchman, Gerard Houllier, appeared to be under pressure at Liverpool after critical comments made by chairman David Moores at a shareholders’ meeting.

Anfield sources were quick to claim Moores’ remarks had been misinterpreted but there was still widespread discontent on Merseyside as the Reds struggled to get into a Champions League place.

25 Years Ago

FORMER Bolton boss Ian Greaves had a miserable afternoon on his return to Burnden Park, where his experienced Mansfield team were dumped out of the FA Cup by John McGovern’s novices.

Wanderers, average age 21, were expected to find it hard going against the vastly more seasoned Stags – albeit from a division lower – but the youthful alertness of Wayne Foster and Simon Rudge earned McGovern’s boys a 2-0 win that secured a third round tie at home to First Division Sunderland.

“In fairness Bolton were the best team on the day,” Greaves said. “But we were terrible. Five of my players have taken a roasting in the dressing room and they’ll be in the reserves next week.”

Wanderers, still struggling for cash, were preparing to re-launch the Lifeline scheme that saved the club from financial disaster a year earlier.

The innovative scheme, which boasted 1,800 members, pulled in around £70,000 in its first year and was described by Burnden chairman Terry Edge as “a life saver for the club as it exists today.”

England manager Bobby Robson used a visit to Bolton to reinforce his call for more preparation time ahead of major international matches.

Robson – appearing as a guest at a Wanderers Executive Club sportsman’s dinner – told the Bolton Evening News he was banking on improving relations between the Football League and Football Association to secure a safe passage to the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico.

He was still jealous of rival nations enjoying domestic breaks before key internationals but believed he was making significant progress as he prepared for the qualifying campaign.

Robson was wary that the Romanians – the dark horses in the group – would have a free weekend before their qualifiers and said it was essential he was given the same benefit.

50 Years Ago

WANDERERS were due to start their defence of the FA Cup at Scunthorpe United – not a particularly difficult third round tie but one which caused a headache for club officials.

The Old Showground’s capacity of 27,000 was adequate and an allocation of 7,000 was sufficient to cover the Wanderers travelling support. But confirmation that there would be only 650 seats in that allocation meant the club having to impose a strict rationing policy.

Roy Hartle’s recovery from illness allowed manager Bill Ridding to field his FA Cup-winning side for the visit of Newcastle United.

An entertaining match ended 1-1 but Wanderers left it late to claim the point, Dennis Stevens getting the equaliser seven minutes from time after Len White had put the Magpies ahead inside the first half-hour.

Down Under, England made a terrible start to the Ashes series, losing the first Test in Brisbane by eight wickets.

It was a slow, low-scoring grind – epitomised by Trevor Bailey taking seven hours to reach 68 in England’s second innings – and Australia hardly covered themselves in glory.

But, set a target of 147 with two days to bat, they were always in the driving seat, even against the twin spin threat of Laker and Lock, and lost just two wickets in the process.

The big fight in Montreal saw veteran Archie Moore show character and bravery to retain his world light-heavyweight title.

Moore, who claimed he was 42 but was believed to be approaching 45, was knocked down three times in the first round by Canada’s British Empire champion Yvon Durell before fighting back to knock him out in the 11th.

British middleweight champion Terry Downes was undaunted after being stopped after eight rounds of a tough contest against the American Spider Webb – the world number three.

Downes, who retired with a cut eye, still had his sights on a tilt at the world title. His manager, Sam Burns, said: “Downes has proved he is world championship class and is ready to fight any of the top men.”