5 Years Ago

EL-HADJI Diouf was facing the biggest challenge of his career as he battled to restore his reputation after shamefully spitting in the face of Portsmouth captain Arjen De Zeeuw.

The Senegal international — on loan to Wanderers from Liverpool — had long been the player opposition fans loved to hate, but was now regarded as the most reviled player in English football.

His club bosses wasted no time in fining him two weeks wages and the FA hit the two-time African player of the year with a three-match ban. And the revulsion was universal with Bolton fans joining the rest of football in condemning the striker — many calling for Wanderers to sack him.

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, dealing with a section of the Reebok crowd jeering his team at the end of the Portsmouth defeat, Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce spent much of the week fielding questions over whether Diouf had a future in the Premiership, never mind at Bolton.

And worse was to come when tabloid rumour-mongers stoked things up with a story that Wanderers were planning to convert Diouf’s loan into a permanent deal by letting Liverpool take Ivan Campo in an exchange deal.

Allardyce’s answer was: “It’s rubbish and it won’t be happening.”

He also promised Wanderers would give Diouf all the help he needed to try to restore his reputation.

“This whole business has put a big question mark over him,” the manager said. “He’ll not only be taunted by the fans but by the players he plays against. He’s got a big responsibility on his hands — a responsibility to himself and to the football club, but we’ll probably be the first people to offer him the right support to deal with his problem.”

Allardyce was equally forthright in his comments on the group of supporters who jeered Wanderers. He had taken the club to unprecedented heights in five successful seasons, but was apparently suffering the backlash for raised expectations.

“I wasn’t happy with the fans, the minority, who started to boo or jeer the team that played the opposition off the park,” he said angrily.

“On a day when they had to show patience, the team got frustrated and that turned into anxiety because the fans didn’t have enough patience with a team that has served them well over the past four years.

“When I got home I felt like we were bottom of the league fighting relegation, not in the top seven or eight trying to stay in that department and getting into Europe. People are expecting too much.”

On a happier note for the manager, Jussi Jaaskelainen spelled out his commitment to Wanderers by pledging his future to the club — as long as Sam Allardyce stayed as manager.

A survey confirmed that David Beckham — now playing for Real Madrid — was the richest player involved in English football with a fortune worth £65million.

Walter Smith, the former Rangers and Everton manager, was confirmed as the new manager of Scotland in succession to Berti Vogts, who quit the post a month earlier after picking up just two points from the first three World Cup qualifiers.

Bolton’s Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan made a successful return to the ring after a three-month absence with a massive 35-13 victory over American lightweight champion Michael Evans at Liverpool.

25 Years Ago

THE decline of George Best — one of football’s greatest ever talents — was the hottest news in town as the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland star was sent to prison for 12 weeks.

Best winced in the dock when he was sentenced by Bow Street Magistrates after admitting assaulting a police officer, driving with excess alcohol and failing to answer to bail.

On the field, John McGovern adopted a defensive strategy at Brentford, but it was still not enough to cure Wanderers’ bout of travel-sickness.

A 2-1 defeat made it 13 successive away defeats and extended to 26 the number of unsuccessful Bolton raids on London — a run that stretched back six miserable years.

Keith Cassell and Chris Kamara got the Brentford goals — both from defensive errors — before Warren Joyce put McGovern’s young side in with a shout of a point with more than 20 minutes still to play.

England’s cricketers were furious with the standard of refereeing in their eight-wicket defeat in the first Test in Bombay, but skipper David Gower insisted on maintaining a diplomatic silence.

“We have the facility to make our comments to the Indian Board when we submit our umpiring reports,” Gower said.

“That is where I shall have my say and they will have plenty of reading to do when I have finished my report.”

The tourists never fully recovered from being bowled out for 195 in the first innings. India rattled up 465-8 declared in reply, and although Mike Gatting hit a maiden Test century in the second innings, the total of 317 was nowhere near enough to prevent England’s winless streak extending to 13 matches.

Steve Davis claimed his third United Kingdom Snooker title with a comfortable 16-8 victory over Alex Higgins at Preston’s Guild Hall.

And such was the Romford man’s dominance that Higgins — one of his arch-critics down the years — was full of praise for his rival. “You cannot take anything away from him,” the Irishman said.

“He is world number one and I’ll have to settle for being number two.”

50 Years Ago

NAT Lofthouse — missing all season with an ankle injury — suffered a setback to his hopes of a Christmas return when he was ordered back to bed after breaking down in training.

Wanderers’ inspirational captain had given fans a boost when he resumed light training and was expected to step up his programme on a daily basis.

So it was a blow to morale — not least to the player himself — when the medical men ordered him to rest.

Full-back Tommy Banks was in a similar situation as he nursed himself back from a ruptured muscle, leaving Wanderers to solider on without two of their 1958 FA Cup winning team.

Over at Old Trafford, Matt Busby caused a sensation when he reacted to a poor run of results by dropping four of Manchester United’s star internationals — Harry Gregg, Wilf McGuinness, Bobby Charlton and Warren Bradley.

David Gaskell, Seamus Brennan, Alex Dawson and Mark Pearson took their places.

British boxing fans were disappointed when Dave Charnley failed in his bid to take the world lightweight title from American Joe Brown. The referee stopped the Texas fight at the end of the fifth round as Charnley, the 24-year-old British and Empire champion sat bowed in his corner with blood streaming from a cut eye.

The former boiler-maker from Dartford claimed the eye had been damaged by an unintentional head-butt and his management demanded a re-match against the 34-year-old Brown.

Former British heavyweight champion Brian London was also humbled when he retired after seven rounds of his non-title bout against giant Cuban Nino Valdes at Wembley.