Kidd in at Burnden as Reid future is in limbo

THEIR top-flight dream was over and they were contemplating life back in football’s second tier, but Bolton Wanderers showed they still had a certain pulling power when they beat a number of rivals to secure the signature of Everton’s top scorer Brian Kidd.

Manager Stan Anderson did not have a great amount of cash to splash as his directors came to terms with the financial impact of relegation but he managed to negotiate a £150,000 fee with Everton and convinced the much-travelled Kidd – a European Cup winner with Manchester United and leading scorer in spells at Arsenal and Manchester City – to join his Burnden band.

There had been speculation that Kidd would join Wanderers in an exchange deal with the wantaway Peter Reid heading in the opposite direction.

But interest in Reid had waned. Everton manager Gordon Lee seemed uncertain as to his future requirements while Wolves manager John Barnwell had shown little interest after having an offer – much lower than Wanderers’ valuation – turned down.

The impasse on the Reid situation left Wanderers in limbo. Anderson had long been resigned to losing his best midfielder and had his eye on a quality replacement, but could not make a move.

“It’s like winning the pools,” the Bolton boss suggested, anticipating a windfall in excess of £600,000 from Reid’s sale. “You don’t know how much you can spend until the cheque arrives.

“If Peter goes, I’ll need to sign a replacement, but I can’t do that until he moves and I have the money in my hand.”

These were the days when Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest reigned supreme – retaining the European Cup with a 1-0 victory over Hamburg in Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium.

John Robertson scored the only goal of the final on 20 minutes but Clough’s Forest were all heroes – from the often-maligned striker Gary Birtles, who ploughed a lone furrow up front, to Peter Shilton, who defied injury to produce one of the most memorable performances of his career to frustrate the German attack led by his England team-mate Kevin Keegan.

England’s cricketers kicked off their Prudential one-day series against West Indies with a 24-run defeat at Headingley.

Despite a battling 82 not out from Chris Tavare in his first international, the England batsmen were unsettled by weather interruptions – only David Gower (12), Ian Botham (30) and David Bairstow (16) getting into double figures.

20 years ago

ENGLAND went into Italia 90 knowing the tournament would be Bobby Robson’s swansong as national coach.

Robson, who described the job as “the best in the world” when he was appointed eight years earlier, had been so brutalised by the English media that he would take up an offer to coach the ambitious Dutch club PSV Eindhoven once the World Cup was over.

Manchester City manager Howard Kendall, Spurs boss Terry Venables and Leeds’ Howard Kendall had all been touted as successors to Robson, but it soon became clear that Aston Villa’s Graham Taylor was the manager in waiting.

Jack Charlton, the Republic of Ireland coach and one of the heroes of England’s 1966 World Cup triumph, had been linked with the job but ruled himself out when he suggested anyone who wanted to step into Robson’s shoes “must be crackers”.

“After the way people have hassled Robson, anyone who puts himself up is asking for trouble,” he said.

Few people can have woken up to as many unpleasant headlines as Robson.

One tabloid newspaper called him a “Plonker” in a notorious headline, and after England had performed badly in the Middle East others followed suit as “In the name of God, go”, became “In the name of Allah, go”.

Pride in being appointed to one of golf’s most prestigious roles gave way to disappointment when new Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher complained that The Belfry had been chosen to stage the showpiece event for the third successive time.

Gallacher, mindful of the strong Spanish influence in the European team, had wanted the 1993 event to be held in Madrid.

Former Wales rugby union captain Jonathan Davies made a losing start to his international career in the 13-a-side code when he was in the Great Britain side beaten 20-18 by Papua New Guinea.

The match was marred by crowd trouble and was held up at one stage when police used tear gas to deal with trouble makers.

45 years ago

BOXING’S reputation suffered a major bodyblow when Cassius Clay – Muhammad Ali as he preferred to be called – retained his world heavyweight title in what was regarded the biggest fight fiasco in sporting history.

The Louisville Lip knocked out challenger Sonny Liston in the first minute of the fight with what he described as a “phantom” punch he had copied from Jack Johnson, another legendary boxer who held the world crown before the first world war.

“It was an overhand right, so fast it even scares me,” Clay said.

“I caught Sonny coming in. That made it twice as deadly. It’s like running into a truck.”

But there were widespread claims that former champion Liston, who had never previously been knocked down, had taken a dive.

Under questioning from reporters Liston insisted; “No I did not quit.”

But Jim Wicks, manager of British champion Henry Cooper, cast doubt over the validity of the fight as a genuine contest.

“This has done boxing a good deal of harm all over the world,” Wicks said.

“The fight was a joke and I can’t see how two coloured boxers fighting for a world title are ever going to attract any crowds or even television offers.”

Lancashire’s cricketers bowed to the superiority of county champions Worcestershire when they were bowled out for just 101 in the first innings of their three-day match at Worcester.

But things went from bad to worse when Brian Statham’s side were skittled for just 55 in their second innings, losing by 251 runs.

Spectators at Edgbaston saw Ken Barrington reach a century to help England reach 368-7 on the second day of their Test duel with New Zealand.

But it was no treat for the chilled Birmingham crowd as the notoriously slow Barrington surpassed himself, producing one of the most turgid innings of his career.

Despite England’s dominance of the Kiwis, Barrington’s stay at the crease was agonising to watch.

At one stage he went 62 minutes without scoring.