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[taxi Phil]

Didn't Gerry Quinn sign that Alty legend.....................................Ian Tunnacliffe ?

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Quinn had never managed at such a level, and came into a post Stan Allan Alty with a demoralised squad and a slashed budget.  He cleared the decks, took us to 10th in the Conference, the 2nd round of the cup and brought in some of the backbone of the next few seasons, Carmody, France, Harris etc. Yes he signed some dross and it was a stuggle at times but given how his predecessor and successor did, I thought Quinn did pretty well in the circumstances.

The above is a fair and accurate synopsis, in my view.

There are some parallels between the Summer of 1992 and our current situation.

Under Stan Allan's misfiring regime, Alty supporters endured a wretched 1991/92 Conference season.

However, unlike the season that has recently concluded, we did just manage to avoid being relegated.

Somewhat surprisingly, the club broke the cycle of recruiting former Alty players as the manager and turned to Gerry Quinn from Emley (in preference to Jim Harvey, as I recall).

He set about a major rebuilding of the Moss Lane squad and when his team played its first Conference match at Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday, 22nd August 1992 (a 1-0 victory, incidentally), the starting XI contained no less than eight players who were making their respective debuts for Alty.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility to envisage that particular statistic being emulated next August.

   
 

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Didn't Gerry Quinn sign that Alty legend.....................................Ian Tunnacliffe ?

Indeed he did....and what a transfer coup it was.

[Jezza]

I thought Gerry Quinn did very well for us in the first season......either because the board lost confidence in him and wouldn't back him with funds or because he lost his way a bit his 2nd season became a bit of a farce with the strange brothers etc and we would have been relegated had things not changed.

But I remember his tenure here with more fondness than some other tenures.

[PaulClementsLaments]

Gerry Quinn rebuilt the morale and spirit of the club when it was at a very low ebb after the Stan Allan debacle. I recall his team was defensively sound, particularly in his first season but played with little flair. There were some characters in that team and quite a few came with Quinn from his previous club Emley. I specifically remember a player called Carl Hodgert walking out because he wasn't being picked - Quinn memorably was quoted as saying "Hodgert has taken his bat home" or words to that effect.

I'm sure Mr Cult will correct if my memory has let me down with any of the specific facts above 

[Mrs Warbouys]

Was that the year we hammered high flying slough 1-4 at wexham park totally out of the blue? I remember the win at kiddy on the opening day and knowing hardly any of the first X1

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Gerry Quinn rebuilt the morale and spirit of the club when it was at a very low ebb after the Stan Allan debacle. I recall his team was defensively sound, particularly in his first season but played with little flair. There were some characters in that team and quite a few came with Quinn from his previous club Emley. I specifically remember a player called Carl Hodgert walking out because he wasn't being picked - Quinn memorably was quoted as saying "Hodgert has taken his bat home" or words to that effect.

I'm sure Mr Cult will correct if my memory has let me down with any of the specific facts above 

Paul,

A fine summary!

Carl Hodgert was a centre half (with dodgy blond highlights) who joined Alty from Hyde United.

He played in the opening three games of the season; was dropped for the fourth match and then refused to travel to the next fixture away at Slough Town unless he was guaranteed to be picked for the starting XI.

[TheCultOfIanTunnacliffe]

Was that the year we hammered high flying slough 1-4 at wexham park totally out of the blue? I remember the win at kiddy on the opening day and knowing hardly any of the first X1

Hughesy,

Indeed it was.

Saturday, 5th September 1992.

Cue: stories about Charlie Bradshaw and Spurs.....

Minor trivia question: name the Alty goalkeeper on that date.

[Paul Cain's Chip Pan]

Was it Tim Clarke?

[taxi Phil]

Another Quinn signing was Colin Alcide, who couldn't get a gig with us, but went on to play a shedload of games in the League for Lincoln !

[John Crewe]

Was that the year we hammered high flying slough 1-4 at wexham park totally out of the blue? I remember the win at kiddy on the opening day and knowing hardly any of the first X1

Hughesy,

Indeed it was.

Saturday, 5th September 1992.

Cue: stories about Charlie Bradshaw and Spurs.....

Minor trivia question: name the Alty goalkeeper on that date.

Joe Paladino

Also I had a trial that year but was not signed

[PaulClementsLaments]

Another centre half was Mick Farrar who is now Chief Executive of the NHS Federation. (useless info I know )

[PaulClementsLaments]

I seem to remember the chant of "Gerry Quinns Red & White Army" going on for almost the entire duration of the second half of one game. Was that the season Steve Carroll was substitute almost every game and hardly every got on?

[Paul Cain's Chip Pan]

Was that the season Steve Carroll was substitute almost every game and hardly every got on?

I think that was 1996/97, the first relegation season.

[PaulClementsLaments]

It begs the question which player has been substitute for Alty the most times but never got on - I reckon that honour would go to Peter Stanier, the keeper who looked clueless in the warm up.