Shrimpsvoices

keeping to todays theme ,
lets have a look at our season in 1985
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985%E2%8 ... ier_League
as a young nipper I attended a few games and I remember the Gateshead game but can someone tell Me how the hell did we draw 17 games?

That was the first full season under Joe Woj I think.
We had a really good defence, week in and out it was Peter McDonell in goal, Graham Jones at right back, Keith Kennedy at left back, Kenny Gordon and Steve Brookes at centre back with Dave Large as cover, so we were pretty solid.
In midfield we had one creative player in Peter Sayer, who didn't really score many, and the rest were all decent enough plodders in Jon Balm, Dave Woodburn, Large etc but they were not all creative like Wildig or Devitt. Our so called creative player was Graham Gill, a man so frustrating to watch in a Shrimps shirt that will never be beaten!!
He had so much talent but zero pace and was the laziest sod ever! One time he missed from an angle after somehow dawdling passed a man when Zsabo was unmarked for the tap in, a few fans berated him for not passing it and he answered by throwing V's at them from the goalkick!! ODD?

The wide men were not popular as 4-4-2 was king at the time, and we had Tibor Zsabo, Jim Thornton and Keith Galley to play up top.
Tibor was a good finisher in the box but again another who was slower than a wardrobe, Thornton was hot for half a season then was let go, so the only pace in the entire side was Gal.

He started a few games but generally he was the one sub, and that season he got us draws by coming on and rescuing games we were one nil down in.
We just didn't have the instinct to kill teams off, we were always looking to not get beat instead of winning.
However, that was easily our best season the NPL since 1968, so looking back it was refreshing to win 17 too!!

Hope that helps!

halftimeresults wrote:can someone tell Me how the hell did we draw 17 games?

Did we score the same number of goals as the opposition?

In the list of our managers it shows "Ben Hatrick" managing us in 1988. Can't remember a manager by that name

Wasn't Billy Wright in charge around then?

Hasn't the film Back to the future now become a film about the past?

Westgate Wanderer wrote:Hasn't the film Back to the future now become a film about the past?

It always was...

Freez wrote:Wasn't Billy Wright in charge around then?

Yes , Billy Wright did a few matches in late 1988 , early 1989

Joe Woj was manager until end of 1987/88 season.

I think Eric Whalley was the manager in between Joe and Billy Wright.

Joe Woj til May 1988

Eric Whalley then took over til November 1988.

Billy Wright was caretaker and then made permanent until being sacked in April 1989.

Larry Milligan then arrived from Fleetwood and took over.

Eric Whalley came and brought half of the Accy side with him, from a lower division, then was surprised it didn't work and left saying the club was too big!!!

What sort of crowds were we getting in 1985?

Freez wrote:Eric Whalley cam and brought half of the Accy side with him, from a lower division, then was surprised it didn't work and left saying the club was too big!!!

I went with Neil Marsdin to see Morecambe at Barrow during the brief Eric Whalley era.

We lost 4-1 and as we were close to the dug-out Neil asked Eric Whalley what he was going to do about it. Whalley's response was along the lines of "What can I do about it" ! Neil said "Well your the ***king manager" !

Still makes me laugh at our reported highest ever crowd is over 10,000, what we could do with an extra zero

http://www.11v11.com/teams/morecambe/ta ... ttendances

halftimeresults wrote:What sort of crowds were we getting in 1985?

Without checking I would have thought about 400 ish.

Gone_Shrimping wrote:I went with Neil Marsdin to see Morecambe at Barrow during the brief Eric Whalley era.

We lost 4-1 and as we were close to the dug-out Neil asked Eric Whalley what he was going to do about it. Whalley's response was along the lines of "What can I do about it" ! Neil said "Well your the ***king manager" !

Wasn't that the FA Cup replay game? We drew 0-0 at Christie Park in a Saturday lunchtime kick off and I think the replay score was actually 5-1 to Barrow.

Gone_Shrimping wrote:

halftimeresults wrote:What sort of crowds were we getting in 1985?

Without checking I would have thought about 400 ish.

That's about right, yes. 350 - 400 on average.

Best crowd at Christie that 1985/86 season was 850 v Gateshead.

We also drew 787 though v St Helens in the FA Cup 4th Qual.

Seasider9601 wrote:

Gone_Shrimping wrote:I went with Neil Marsdin to see Morecambe at Barrow during the brief Eric Whalley era.

We lost 4-1 and as we were close to the dug-out Neil asked Eric Whalley what he was going to do about it. Whalley's response was along the lines of "What can I do about it" ! Neil said "Well your the ***king manager" !

Wasn't that the FA Cup replay game? We drew 0-0 at Christie Park in a Saturday lunchtime kick off and I think the replay score was actually 5-1 to Barrow.

Could have been 5-1 , I know it was awful ! I think it might have been his last match before the trigger was pulled !

Average attendances

1980 ..300
1981..247
1982..288
1983..284
1984..274
1985..240
1986..411
1987..371
1988..332
1989..351
1990..314
1991..343
1992..385
1993..451
1994..422
1995..743
1996..1128
1997..1045
1998..1534
1999..1150
2000..1494
2001..1198
2002..1288
2003..1464
2004..1783
2005..1752
2006..1781
2007..1598
2008..2677
2009..2153
2010..2262
2011..2648
2012..2144
2013..1954
2014..1939
2015..1998
2016.. 4765

Gone_Shrimping wrote:

Seasider9601 wrote:

Gone_Shrimping wrote:I went with Neil Marsdin to see Morecambe at Barrow during the brief Eric Whalley era.

We lost 4-1 and as we were close to the dug-out Neil asked Eric Whalley what he was going to do about it. Whalley's response was along the lines of "What can I do about it" ! Neil said "Well your the ***king manager" !

Wasn't that the FA Cup replay game? We drew 0-0 at Christie Park in a Saturday lunchtime kick off and I think the replay score was actually 5-1 to Barrow.

Could have been 5-1 , I know it was awful ! I think it might have been his last match before the trigger was pulled !

The trigger was pulled, by Eric himself, a few weeks later on a Tuesday night away at Mossley.

We got beat 0-2 in the pi$$ing down rain and Eric quit.

Going back to Barrow, we played them 5 times in 1988/89.

Twice in the HFS League, twice in the FA Cup, and once in the Lancashire ATS Trophy losing 2-4 at Christie Park.

marky No.1 wrote:Average attendances

1980 ..300
1981..247
1982..288
1983..284
1984..274
1985..240
1986..411
1987..371
1988..332
1989..351
1990..314
1991..343
1992..385
1993..451
1994..422
1995..743
1996..1128
1997..1045
1998..1534
1999..1150
2000..1494
2001..1198
2002..1288
2003..1464
2004..1783
2005..1752
2006..1781
2007..1598
2008..2677
2009..2153
2010..2262
2011..2648
2012..2144
2013..1954
2014..1939
2015..1998
2016.. 4765

Crikey if we're getting that many we should move stadiums

Freez wrote:Eric Whalley cam and brought half of the Accy side with him, from a lower division

Chris Grimshaw, Neil Hanson, Neil Rowbotham, Dave Sharples, Mick Ashcroft and Steve Parry all arrived from Accy (who were in the Northern Premier League 1st Division at the time, one league below us) along with Tony Woodworth, Charlie Pawsey, Gary Buckley and Carl Burdon. Graham Byram also made a welcome return.

The bringing in also of Malcolm Poskett and Billy Wright in the November was the last player movement before Eric quit.

That 5-1 defeat at Barrow was memorable. Barrow were getting huge crowds at the time as they had a great team, the nucleus of the side that won the Trophy under Ray Wilkie a season or two later.
My mate and I drove round the Bay early and arrived in the biggest cul-de-sac in the world around 6.45pm. It was a good job as there was a massive accident on the road near Ulverston or somewhere and anyone from Morecambe setting off at 6pm got caught in the traffic.
Consequently, at kick off, there were two of us from Morecambe and 1500 from Barrow, my mate was having a slash at kick off, so when Mal Poskett intercepted a back pass from the kick off and rounded the keeper to pop it in the empty net at the open end after 25 seconds, there was just me on the side terrace going berserk wondering where everyone else was as the Bluebird faithful eyed me suspiciously from the covered terrace.
My mate came out of the loo and was gutted he missed the goal, as were the fifty or so others who gradually filtered in late.
We never got another kick as they took us apart, Kenny Lowe scoring late on to complete the fistful!!

Strange what you remember.
Now where do I work again?

In this 1985-2015 League Table our difference must be top 4 in the League?

http://www.football-league.co.uk/news/a ... 56415.aspx