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General Category => Altrincham FC First Team => Topic started by: oneedham on November 20, 2023, 08:28:49 AM
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Ross
Donawa Cooper Baines Jones
Osbourne Marriott
Newby CCC Amaluzor
Linney
Need more pace and threat up top.
Personally, and if available, still feel Donawa should be our right back. Defends equally to Banks, but attacks much better.
Amaluzor on his more natural side.
Need to be positive, have full-backs overlapping and get numbers into the box.
There is no reason why we can't take all 3 points. Just need to be more brave than Saturday.
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I would be surprised if Justin Donawa is available, given that Bermuda have another crucial game tomorrow evening.
The only other alternative (in my opinion) to your own lineup is bringing James Jones into the back line, asking Lewis Banks to push further forward, start with Linney and Newby leading the line and dropping Justin Amaluzor to the bench to give them something to worry about for the last half hour.
I do think Linney and Newby could make a good footballing partnership (alongside CCC) - they're both very good with the ball at their feet, and in this particular fixture Newby won't need any encouragement given he was released by Rochdale the summer before last.
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One game I really want a win more than any other this season . Perhaps I should let the 43 year grudge go now they are no longer a league side
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One game I really want a win more than any other this season . Perhaps I should let the 43 year grudge go now they are no longer a league side
Feel exactly the same TTB. I'll never be able to put it behind me until we're one division higher than them (possibly!)
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I would be surprised if Justin Donawa is available, given that Bermuda have another crucial game tomorrow evening.
The only other alternative (in my opinion) to your own lineup is bringing James Jones into the back line, asking Lewis Banks to push further forward, start with Linney and Newby leading the line and dropping Justin Amaluzor to the bench to give them something to worry about for the last half hour.
I do think Linney and Newby could make a good footballing partnership (alongside CCC) - they're both very good with the ball at their feet, and in this particular fixture Newby won't need any encouragement given he was released by Rochdale the summer before last.
Didn't realise that Donawa had another game.
Banks RB then.
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Dare I ask? What did Rochdale do 43 years ago? I have been an Altrincham fan since 1955 when I was eight. Life has interrupted my involvement with Alty on more than one occasion. So this must have happened during one of my out stages. My father was very good at keeping me updated on what was happening as I travelled the world.
But I do not remember this one.
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Dare I ask? What did Rochdale do 43 years ago? I have been an Altrincham fan since 1955 when I was eight. Life has interrupted my involvement with Alty on more than one occasion. So this must have happened during one of my out stages. My father was very good at keeping me updated on what was happening as I travelled the world.
But I do not remember this one.
This should fill you in a little bit.
https://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/1980-altrincham-suffer-voting-pain.html
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Dare I ask? What did Rochdale do 43 years ago? I have been an Altrincham fan since 1955 when I was eight. Life has interrupted my involvement with Alty on more than one occasion. So this must have happened during one of my out stages. My father was very good at keeping me updated on what was happening as I travelled the world.
But I do not remember this one.
This should fill you in a little bit.
https://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/1980-altrincham-suffer-voting-pain.html
Thanks for the link Amsterdam. I was wondering how to phrase it all without sounding bitter and nasty. 👍
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Dare I ask? What did Rochdale do 43 years ago? I have been an Altrincham fan since 1955 when I was eight. Life has interrupted my involvement with Alty on more than one occasion. So this must have happened during one of my out stages. My father was very good at keeping me updated on what was happening as I travelled the world.
But I do not remember this one.
This should fill you in a little bit.
https://that1980ssportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/1980-altrincham-suffer-voting-pain.html
Thanks for the link Amsterdam. I was wondering how to phrase it all without sounding bitter and nasty. 👍
Same, I wrote it, I hated how angry I sounded... I googled and checked for an article that was close to correct then sent :)
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I am sorry to stir up a hornet's nest. "Amsterdam." Your piece came across as a very fair statement in the circumstances.
I am speechless. That does not happen to me very often. I remember being told that Altrincham had lost the 1979/80 vote by one vote but nothing else. I was surprised to find out the events that led up to the result. Scanderless
My father never mentioned that Altrincham failed again in the 1980/81 season. Maybe he was speechless. For it to happen once is one thing, then again the following year. At the time, I think there was more than one rotten apple in the mix.
Thank you, Amsterdam, for your time. I will reread it later. It beggars belief. I am shocked and staggered as if it happened yesterday. Thanks also to Saughall for thinking about replying. Do not forget "S"; we must look after our blood pressure at our age. Lol
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I am sorry to stir up a hornet's nest. "Amsterdam." Your piece came across as a very fair statement in the circumstances.
I am speechless. That does not happen to me very often. I remember being told that Altrincham had lost the 1979/80 vote by one vote but nothing else. I was surprised to find out the events that led up to the result. Scanderless
My father never mentioned that Altrincham failed again in the 1980/81 season. Maybe he was speechless. For it to happen once is one thing, then again the following year. At the time, I think there was more than one rotten apple in the mix.
Thank you, Amsterdam, for your time. I will reread it later. It beggars belief. I am shocked and staggered as if it happened yesterday. Thanks also to Saughall for thinking about replying. Do not forget "S"; we must look after our blood pressure at our age. Lol
Thanks, I didn't write this piece, this was the option over my expletive-filled rant about world injustice.
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Thanks also to Saughall for thinking about replying. Do not forget "S"; we must look after our blood pressure at our age. Lol
Already on tablets for that! Probably need to up the dose for a couple of days now! 😂😂
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It does go on a bit.....but for those who may be interested, here's my account of that 1980 Football League re-election farce from an Alty viewpoint, as printed in an issue of the Robins Review back in April 2011:
WHEN WE WERE KINGS:
ALTY IN THE APL 1979/80
PART 49: YEARS OF REFUSAL
On Wednesday, 7th May 1980, just four days after Alty had secured the inaugural Alliance Premier League (APL) title via their memorable 2-0 triumph at Gravesend & Northfleet, the Football League Management Committee visited Moss Lane in order to undertake an additional ground inspection.
Two days later, Altrincham FC received official confirmation that Moss Lane had attained the mandatory ‘A’ grading for membership of the Football League and, therefore, they were now authorised to proceed as the sole Non League club nominated for election to the Fourth Division at the League’s forthcoming AGM.
The Football League’s AGM was scheduled to be held at the Café Royal, Regent Street, Piccadilly, London on Friday, 6th June 1980, a date that the Robins’ Chairman, Noel White, had termed as Altrincham FC’s very own D-Day. The quartet of Fourth Division clubs who had finished the 1979/80 season in the designated relegation zone and, thus, were obliged to apply for re-election to the Football League comprised: Hereford United (21st position on 36 points); Darlington (22nd spot with 35 points); Crewe Alexandra (23rd place on 35 points) and Rochdale (24th position with a meagre total of 27 points).
Hereford United had only been voted into the Football League at the end of the 1971/72 season and were expected to receive ample backing for their re-election bid. Notwithstanding the fact that repeat offenders Darlington and Crewe Alexandra were both applying for re-election for the fifth time in the last 11 seasons, it was moribund Rochdale whose Football League membership was overwhelmingly adjudged to be in severe jeopardy.
The impoverished and regressive Spotland club, who were reportedly losing £2,000 per week, were entreating for their re-election for the second time in three years and had just endured an ignominious campaign, which had concluded in them being anchored to the foot of the Fourth Division with the ensuing abject statistics: played: 46; won: seven; drawn: 13; lost: 26; goals scored: 33; goals conceded: 79 and points accumulated: 27 from a possible tally of 92. Indeed, the nadir of their season had witnessed them endure a truly shameful sequence of fifteen league matches without a win, during which they had managed to score just a solitary goal in 1350 minutes (i.e. 22.5 hours) of playing time.
In addition, crowds at the decaying Spotland stadium were dwindling alarmingly and the home fixture versus SC**thorpe United on Friday, 18th April 1980 had attracted an attendance of merely 1,018 (a crowd of 2,653 congregated inside Moss Lane on the following day for the visit of AP Leamington). The apathy afflicting Rochdale’s supporters could be gauged by the revelation that a recent fundraising dinner with Jack Charlton and Lawrie McMenemy as the guest speakers had been cancelled after a total of only 23 tickets had been sold.
Tainted by this catalogue of debacles and decline, Rochdale adopted a re-election strategy that consisted of them resorting to attempts to evoke sentiment and sympathy in a campaign centred around their Club President and former Chairman, Fred Ratcliffe. “Mister Rochdale” was hoping to exploit his personal standing and the Boardroom links and friendships with other club Chairmen that he had forged over many seasons in a bid to influence voters and invoke the power of the ‘Old Pals’ Act‘ to preserve his club‘s tenure in the Football League.
Rochdale were also emphasising the continuing presence at the club of their current manager, Bob Stokoe, who had led Sunderland to that momentous 1-0 success against Leeds United at Wembley in the 1973 FA Cup Final and was well-respected in football circles. All this despite the fact that Stokoe had endeavoured to fine his players half a week’s wages after their mortifyingly inept performance in a 5-1 collapse at Tranmere Rovers and had recently depicted his onerous task at Spotland as being “a little bit like trying to raise the dead.”
In marked contrast, the progressive Robins could point to success both on and off the pitch. Their team had been crowned APL Champions; home attendances had increased to an average of just under 2,000; the club was financially sound, having made a record profit of £53,971 for the 1978/79 season, and further investment to the facilities at Moss Lane was planned in the shape of an estimated £100,000 face-lift, which included the extension and refurbishment of the dressing rooms and club offices; a brand new reception lounge for visitors and officials and the installation of new turnstiles as well as a gymnasium.
Since January 1980, Noel White and his fellow Director, Raymond Donn, had spent many hours on the road undertaking visits to Football League clubs and canvassing the votes of their respective Chairmen. In recent weeks, a ‘flying squad’ of Altrincham FC Directors had been touring the country on a mission to drum up support for the club’s nomination, chiefly amongst the First and Second Division clubs who would control the majority of the votes in the imminent ballot.
The Robins’ enterprising and sanguine Chairman averred: “This is the best chance and the strongest case that that we have ever had. The club is geared for Fourth Division football. The only thing that can defeat us is sympathy for the clubs who have finished in the bottom four again. On merit, we should get in.“
For the Robins’ third stab at gaining admission to the Football League, the club took a party of six officials down to the Café Royal although only two of them would be permitted to attend the actual AGM, which was scheduled to commence at 2.00pm. However, the prospect of a tension-filled few hours beckoned, as the re-election issue was to be the final item on the agenda.
The somewhat arcane re-election procedure read as follows. All of the 44 clubs comprising the First and Second Divisions were each granted a voting right. The remaining 48 Third and Fourth Division clubs had six voting rights between them and the President of the Football League (who, at that juncture, was the Newcastle United Chairman, Lord Westwood), also possessed one voting right. Each voting right entitled the holder to cast four votes i.e. to select four clubs from the five candidates seeking membership, namely Hereford United; Darlington; Crewe Alexandra; Rochdale and Altrincham. So, the sum of 51 voting rights equated to a total of 204 votes to be allocated.
The votes cast in the eventual Football League re-election poll for the 1979/80 season were as follows: Darlington: 49; Crewe Alexandra: 48; Hereford United: 48; Rochdale: 26 and Altrincham: 25. If the Robins had received just one additional vote and tied with the Spotland club, a second ballot featuring only those two candidates would have ensued, in which the eligible electors were then obliged to cast a single vote for the club of their choice. In the two preceding instances when it had proved necessary to hold a second round of voting, the Non League club had, indeed, prevailed on each occasion and, hence, had secured admission into the Football League (Hereford United defeating Barrow in 1972 and Wigan Athletic overcoming Southport in 1978).
Alty‘s initial emotions of intense heartache and sheer disbelief at this cruel news that they had failed to displace Rochdale by just two votes were subsequently exacerbated by disillusionment and the impression that they had been cheated, when it emerged that two clubs had actually omitted to vote and the absence of their ballot papers had not been detected until after the AGM had concluded.
The first of the culprits to be identified were Second Division Luton Town, whose delegation of representatives had been late in arriving for the meeting after ostensibly getting held up in London’s traffic. Their Chairman, Denis Mortimer, duly released a statement: “The traffic was bad and we were delayed. To be fair to everyone involved, I am not going to reveal who we would have voted for.”
Grimsby Town were later unmasked as being the second guilty party in this electoral chaos, when it was disclosed that the Chairman of the newly-promoted Third Division Champions, Dick Middleton, had contrived to sit in the main body of the hall in error, rather than proceed to his rightful place at the front amongst the voting members. Consequently, he was not handed his ballot paper.
The Manchester Evening News’ Non League Football correspondent, Doug Peacock, succeeded in buttonholing an unnamed Grimsby Town official as they scurried away from the AGM, who sheepishly divulged their account of the cause of this farcical confusion: “We understood that in previous years, representatives of newly-promoted clubs stayed among the non-voting-members of the Third and Fourth Divisions during the meeting. It was a misunderstanding.”
However, a radically different theory pertaining to the reason for the absence of four of this total of eight uncast votes was subsequently expounded by Graham Heathcote in Andy Mitten’s article on Altrincham FC in the November 2004 issue of Four Four Two magazine, when the Alty midfielder alleged that: “One bloke who promised to support us got pissed and fell asleep."
Just to add insult to injury, the Robins’ officials intimated that both of the clubs involved had previously indicated that they were in favour of electing Alty into the Fourth Division. A crestfallen Noel White remarked: “Two clubs did not vote and they were as near as you can get to being ones we could bank on. But they did not arrive and now we feel a little bit cheated. We are very, very disappointed because we went flat out for the league this time. We only asked to be judged on merit and I don’t think we have been.”
Almost 31 years on from this fiasco, at least there is some, albeit belated, consolation to be derived from the fact that both Luton Town and Grimsby Town now find themselves as Non League clubs playing in the same division as Alty.
Meanwhile, a dejected Tony Sanders was unable to mask his justifiable indignation and frustration at the Robins’ rebuff by the closed shop of the Football League: “What happened at this annual meeting was not only a dreadful setback for Altrincham FC, it was a slap in the face for the whole APL. We could win the APL again next season but, unless the present system is changed, we might as well not bother turning up at the AGM. It’s like playing in the FA Cup Final and being told you may not get the trophy even if you win the match.“
Alty’s burgeoning sense of injustice at this narrow rejection of their case for membership of the Football League was compounded by subsequent revelations that Rochdale had, in fact, sold their Spotland ground for £175,000 two months ago (with the anonymous buyer leasing it back to them at a rental of £35,000 pa) and yet were now about to launch a public appeal in effort to raise £50,000 to be directed to paying off debts and funding the team for the following season. There were also reports that only six players had been named on the club’s retained list at the end of the 1979/80 season and, to date, three of these had already declined terms to remain at Spotland for another year.
On Tuesday, 24th June 1980, the whole sorry travesty of justice then plumbed new depths when Bob Stokoe resigned as the manager of Rochdale FC. A report published in the Daily Express on the following day carried a quote from Stokoe in which he confessed that he had made up his mind to quit his role prior to the end of the season but had deferred the public announcement of his decision until now for a specific and all-important motive: “I held back because I didn‘t want to hinder the club’s application for re-election.”
This gradual unveiling of the turmoil at Spotland elicited the following pointed observation from Noel White: “I’m surprised that the true state of affairs that seems to exist at Rochdale was not explored before the annual meeting.”
Stokoe’s rather ignoble and equivocal resignation even prompted a trenchant censure from the Chairman of the APL (and then Chairman of Maidstone United), Jim Thompson, whose personal statement about the controversial affair accused the former Spotland boss of “a deliberate move to deceive the clubs voting into believing that Rochdale FC was going to have his services for the coming season and, thus, affect their decision.” His scathing rebuke went on to pose the question as to whether such a misleading action was “tantamount to bringing the game into disrepute and, if it is, whether any action is going to be taken against Mr Stokoe.”
In response, Bob Stokoe (in contradiction of a disclosure previously cited in the national press), denied these charges: “I have nothing to hide. Mr Thompson has been misinformed and I would willingly appear before any commission with a clear conscience.” The Football League did not take any subsequent action against either Rochdale FC or Bob Stokoe regarding this whole distasteful saga.
When the dust had finally settled, Tony Sanders turned his thoughts to the task ahead of him and issued the following resolute and passionate vow of intent: “Our aim, without doubt, is to surpass last season’s achievements and to knock on the door of the Football League so loud that notice has got to be taken.”
Indeed, the 1980/81 season would prove to be the most successful one in the history of Altrincham FC to date. But that’s another story.
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Thank you Cult for your article. As I said previously. "It beggars belief". How did Rochdale get away with it? Best we do not ask.
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One game I really want a win more than any other this season . Perhaps I should let the 43 year grudge go now they are no longer a league side
Certainly not! Like yesterday.😭
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It does go on a bit.....but for those who may be interested, here's my account of that 1980 Football League re-election farce from an Alty viewpoint, as printed in an issue of the Robins Review back in April 2011:
WHEN WE WERE KINGS:
ALTY IN THE APL 1979/80
PART 49: YEARS OF REFUSAL
On Wednesday, 7th May 1980, just four days after Alty had secured the inaugural Alliance Premier League (APL) title via their memorable 2-0 triumph at Gravesend & Northfleet, the Football League Management Committee visited Moss Lane in order to undertake an additional ground inspection.
Two days later, Altrincham FC received official confirmation that Moss Lane had attained the mandatory ‘A’ grading for membership of the Football League and, therefore, they were now authorised to proceed as the sole Non League club nominated for election to the Fourth Division at the League’s forthcoming AGM.
The Football League’s AGM was scheduled to be held at the Café Royal, Regent Street, Piccadilly, London on Friday, 6th June 1980, a date that the Robins’ Chairman, Noel White, had termed as Altrincham FC’s very own D-Day. The quartet of Fourth Division clubs who had finished the 1979/80 season in the designated relegation zone and, thus, were obliged to apply for re-election to the Football League comprised: Hereford United (21st position on 36 points); Darlington (22nd spot with 35 points); Crewe Alexandra (23rd place on 35 points) and Rochdale (24th position with a meagre total of 27 points).
Hereford United had only been voted into the Football League at the end of the 1971/72 season and were expected to receive ample backing for their re-election bid. Notwithstanding the fact that repeat offenders Darlington and Crewe Alexandra were both applying for re-election for the fifth time in the last 11 seasons, it was moribund Rochdale whose Football League membership was overwhelmingly adjudged to be in severe jeopardy.
The impoverished and regressive Spotland club, who were reportedly losing £2,000 per week, were entreating for their re-election for the second time in three years and had just endured an ignominious campaign, which had concluded in them being anchored to the foot of the Fourth Division with the ensuing abject statistics: played: 46; won: seven; drawn: 13; lost: 26; goals scored: 33; goals conceded: 79 and points accumulated: 27 from a possible tally of 92. Indeed, the nadir of their season had witnessed them endure a truly shameful sequence of fifteen league matches without a win, during which they had managed to score just a solitary goal in 1350 minutes (i.e. 22.5 hours) of playing time.
In addition, crowds at the decaying Spotland stadium were dwindling alarmingly and the home fixture versus SC**thorpe United on Friday, 18th April 1980 had attracted an attendance of merely 1,018 (a crowd of 2,653 congregated inside Moss Lane on the following day for the visit of AP Leamington). The apathy afflicting Rochdale’s supporters could be gauged by the revelation that a recent fundraising dinner with Jack Charlton and Lawrie McMenemy as the guest speakers had been cancelled after a total of only 23 tickets had been sold.
Tainted by this catalogue of debacles and decline, Rochdale adopted a re-election strategy that consisted of them resorting to attempts to evoke sentiment and sympathy in a campaign centred around their Club President and former Chairman, Fred Ratcliffe. “Mister Rochdale” was hoping to exploit his personal standing and the Boardroom links and friendships with other club Chairmen that he had forged over many seasons in a bid to influence voters and invoke the power of the ‘Old Pals’ Act‘ to preserve his club‘s tenure in the Football League.
Rochdale were also emphasising the continuing presence at the club of their current manager, Bob Stokoe, who had led Sunderland to that momentous 1-0 success against Leeds United at Wembley in the 1973 FA Cup Final and was well-respected in football circles. All this despite the fact that Stokoe had endeavoured to fine his players half a week’s wages after their mortifyingly inept performance in a 5-1 collapse at Tranmere Rovers and had recently depicted his onerous task at Spotland as being “a little bit like trying to raise the dead.”
In marked contrast, the progressive Robins could point to success both on and off the pitch. Their team had been crowned APL Champions; home attendances had increased to an average of just under 2,000; the club was financially sound, having made a record profit of £53,971 for the 1978/79 season, and further investment to the facilities at Moss Lane was planned in the shape of an estimated £100,000 face-lift, which included the extension and refurbishment of the dressing rooms and club offices; a brand new reception lounge for visitors and officials and the installation of new turnstiles as well as a gymnasium.
Since January 1980, Noel White and his fellow Director, Raymond Donn, had spent many hours on the road undertaking visits to Football League clubs and canvassing the votes of their respective Chairmen. In recent weeks, a ‘flying squad’ of Altrincham FC Directors had been touring the country on a mission to drum up support for the club’s nomination, chiefly amongst the First and Second Division clubs who would control the majority of the votes in the imminent ballot.
The Robins’ enterprising and sanguine Chairman averred: “This is the best chance and the strongest case that that we have ever had. The club is geared for Fourth Division football. The only thing that can defeat us is sympathy for the clubs who have finished in the bottom four again. On merit, we should get in.“
For the Robins’ third stab at gaining admission to the Football League, the club took a party of six officials down to the Café Royal although only two of them would be permitted to attend the actual AGM, which was scheduled to commence at 2.00pm. However, the prospect of a tension-filled few hours beckoned, as the re-election issue was to be the final item on the agenda.
The somewhat arcane re-election procedure read as follows. All of the 44 clubs comprising the First and Second Divisions were each granted a voting right. The remaining 48 Third and Fourth Division clubs had six voting rights between them and the President of the Football League (who, at that juncture, was the Newcastle United Chairman, Lord Westwood), also possessed one voting right. Each voting right entitled the holder to cast four votes i.e. to select four clubs from the five candidates seeking membership, namely Hereford United; Darlington; Crewe Alexandra; Rochdale and Altrincham. So, the sum of 51 voting rights equated to a total of 204 votes to be allocated.
The votes cast in the eventual Football League re-election poll for the 1979/80 season were as follows: Darlington: 49; Crewe Alexandra: 48; Hereford United: 48; Rochdale: 26 and Altrincham: 25. If the Robins had received just one additional vote and tied with the Spotland club, a second ballot featuring only those two candidates would have ensued, in which the eligible electors were then obliged to cast a single vote for the club of their choice. In the two preceding instances when it had proved necessary to hold a second round of voting, the Non League club had, indeed, prevailed on each occasion and, hence, had secured admission into the Football League (Hereford United defeating Barrow in 1972 and Wigan Athletic overcoming Southport in 1978).
Alty‘s initial emotions of intense heartache and sheer disbelief at this cruel news that they had failed to displace Rochdale by just two votes were subsequently exacerbated by disillusionment and the impression that they had been cheated, when it emerged that two clubs had actually omitted to vote and the absence of their ballot papers had not been detected until after the AGM had concluded.
The first of the culprits to be identified were Second Division Luton Town, whose delegation of representatives had been late in arriving for the meeting after ostensibly getting held up in London’s traffic. Their Chairman, Denis Mortimer, duly released a statement: “The traffic was bad and we were delayed. To be fair to everyone involved, I am not going to reveal who we would have voted for.”
Grimsby Town were later unmasked as being the second guilty party in this electoral chaos, when it was disclosed that the Chairman of the newly-promoted Third Division Champions, Dick Middleton, had contrived to sit in the main body of the hall in error, rather than proceed to his rightful place at the front amongst the voting members. Consequently, he was not handed his ballot paper.
The Manchester Evening News’ Non League Football correspondent, Doug Peacock, succeeded in buttonholing an unnamed Grimsby Town official as they scurried away from the AGM, who sheepishly divulged their account of the cause of this farcical confusion: “We understood that in previous years, representatives of newly-promoted clubs stayed among the non-voting-members of the Third and Fourth Divisions during the meeting. It was a misunderstanding.”
However, a radically different theory pertaining to the reason for the absence of four of this total of eight uncast votes was subsequently expounded by Graham Heathcote in Andy Mitten’s article on Altrincham FC in the November 2004 issue of Four Four Two magazine, when the Alty midfielder alleged that: “One bloke who promised to support us got pissed and fell asleep."
Just to add insult to injury, the Robins’ officials intimated that both of the clubs involved had previously indicated that they were in favour of electing Alty into the Fourth Division. A crestfallen Noel White remarked: “Two clubs did not vote and they were as near as you can get to being ones we could bank on. But they did not arrive and now we feel a little bit cheated. We are very, very disappointed because we went flat out for the league this time. We only asked to be judged on merit and I don’t think we have been.”
Almost 31 years on from this fiasco, at least there is some, albeit belated, consolation to be derived from the fact that both Luton Town and Grimsby Town now find themselves as Non League clubs playing in the same division as Alty.
Meanwhile, a dejected Tony Sanders was unable to mask his justifiable indignation and frustration at the Robins’ rebuff by the closed shop of the Football League: “What happened at this annual meeting was not only a dreadful setback for Altrincham FC, it was a slap in the face for the whole APL. We could win the APL again next season but, unless the present system is changed, we might as well not bother turning up at the AGM. It’s like playing in the FA Cup Final and being told you may not get the trophy even if you win the match.“
Alty’s burgeoning sense of injustice at this narrow rejection of their case for membership of the Football League was compounded by subsequent revelations that Rochdale had, in fact, sold their Spotland ground for £175,000 two months ago (with the anonymous buyer leasing it back to them at a rental of £35,000 pa) and yet were now about to launch a public appeal in effort to raise £50,000 to be directed to paying off debts and funding the team for the following season. There were also reports that only six players had been named on the club’s retained list at the end of the 1979/80 season and, to date, three of these had already declined terms to remain at Spotland for another year.
On Tuesday, 24th June 1980, the whole sorry travesty of justice then plumbed new depths when Bob Stokoe resigned as the manager of Rochdale FC. A report published in the Daily Express on the following day carried a quote from Stokoe in which he confessed that he had made up his mind to quit his role prior to the end of the season but had deferred the public announcement of his decision until now for a specific and all-important motive: “I held back because I didn‘t want to hinder the club’s application for re-election.”
This gradual unveiling of the turmoil at Spotland elicited the following pointed observation from Noel White: “I’m surprised that the true state of affairs that seems to exist at Rochdale was not explored before the annual meeting.”
Stokoe’s rather ignoble and equivocal resignation even prompted a trenchant censure from the Chairman of the APL (and then Chairman of Maidstone United), Jim Thompson, whose personal statement about the controversial affair accused the former Spotland boss of “a deliberate move to deceive the clubs voting into believing that Rochdale FC was going to have his services for the coming season and, thus, affect their decision.” His scathing rebuke went on to pose the question as to whether such a misleading action was “tantamount to bringing the game into disrepute and, if it is, whether any action is going to be taken against Mr Stokoe.”
In response, Bob Stokoe (in contradiction of a disclosure previously cited in the national press), denied these charges: “I have nothing to hide. Mr Thompson has been misinformed and I would willingly appear before any commission with a clear conscience.” The Football League did not take any subsequent action against either Rochdale FC or Bob Stokoe regarding this whole distasteful saga.
When the dust had finally settled, Tony Sanders turned his thoughts to the task ahead of him and issued the following resolute and passionate vow of intent: “Our aim, without doubt, is to surpass last season’s achievements and to knock on the door of the Football League so loud that notice has got to be taken.”
Indeed, the 1980/81 season would prove to be the most successful one in the history of Altrincham FC to date. But that’s another story.
It’s still shocking all these years later how we were cheated twice in two years. Hope this gets reprinted in full for the home game. It’s brilliantly written to boot.
Onto the actual match, they’ve only won 3/10 on their own ground & managed to concede 17 in the process. Both sides play a similar style & I’d expect goals at both ends. Ideally 2-1 to us but maybe a Desmond. Newby to score for us & Sinclair for them (obviously). Suspect we’ll take about 400ish, think we’ve sold about 160ish so far but pay on the day costs the same so suspect a lot will just sort tomorrow.
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PS. Round about 58 years since the last time at Spotland. Wonder if it's changed much? 🤔😂
Hope the result is the same as last time! 😉
Come on you Supers 👍 🇦🇹 🏆 🥇 🇦🇹 🍷
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I refuse to pay £24, criminal.
Will stream the game and hope for better coverage than Saturday gone at Eastleigh.
Hoping for a good result. let's get at them from the off. Come on Alty
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Saw our reserves play there in the woeful Rigby era , lost 2-1, our best player by a mile was called Steve Conaghan , no idea what happened to him !!! Last time there in the noughties against Macc with a friend who supports them ( guess who i favoured ) . Very nice ground Spotland , going despite the scandelous £24 , come on Alty 🤞
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Last time I was there I saw Rochdale play Stoke in the FA Cup, about 10 years ago. Two things impressed me: what a massive and powerful bloke Arnautovich was and how universally ridiculed is Robbie Savage. He was there in some commentating capacity and he was heckled and sung about all throught the match. The sound editor must have had to work overtime to eradicate the expletive- ridden chants.🤣🤣
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Kick off now 2000 hrs
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Gez Sithole starts and good to see Kossy back in the match squad
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Will Radio Robins be transmitting this evening?
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Is the video feed as bad for everyone else as it is for me?
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Yes it's crap, oh and we're one down
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Off completely now
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Watched the stream for the first half, I'll only comment on what I saw:
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We were as poor as the stream! Poor penalty miss, should be level. Lets hope we do better second half, many off form performances thus far
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We are bad tonight.
I wrote a long breakdown of why, then I realised it was good for me to do and not for you to read.
One thing though, Newby is not a left winger.
The game isn't even over yet.
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Not sure why the Alty commentator mentioned that the delay to the kick off could have had a bearing on the result.
Clutching at straws a bit there fella. Bit of a must win game on Sat now or the early momentum to the season will be lost. I do acknowledge our fixtures of late have been tough.
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Poor tonight, they wanted it more. Not sure why we persist with Gez, he's poor in my eyes. Subs that came on were poor also. Need a response on Saturday.
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Other than the penalty I don't think the 'Dale keeper had much to do all night. Rochdale were solid defensively and took their chances well. Similar to the Eastleigh defeat, we had a lot of possession and naff all end product. When it gets to the forwards it is usually slow, ponderous and over elaborate. Basically no threat against well set defences. Rochdale saw our goal only a few times and bang, bang, goals and that's it, game won.
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Of all the teams against whom to offer up such an abject performance. That was unforgiveably substandard.
That's Rochdale's first clean sheet since August.
Sithole looked totally out of his depth. Why on earth wasn't he withdrawn at half-time?
Newby was utterly lightweight and Amaluzor was equally ineffective (he appeared to give the ball away in the build-up to Rochdale's opening goal, but the unreliable and stuttering stream made the first half difficult to follow).
Some woeful defending for their goals, too.
I have to say that I didn't think it was a penalty. Conn-Clarke duly lost out to the keeper's mind games though.
We are trying to walk the ball into the net and what's with all of these entirely unproductive short corners?
The solitary consolation was that Kosylo got a few minutes under his belt.
The last two matches have been a reality check.
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Of all the teams against whom to offer up such an abject performance. That was unforgiveably substandard.
That's Rochdale's first clean sheet since August.
Sithole looked totally out of his depth. Why on earth wasn't he withdrawn at half-time?
Newby was utterly lightweight and Amaluzor was equally ineffective (he appeared to give the ball away in the build-up to Rochdale's opening goal, but the unreliable and stuttering stream made the first half difficult to follow).
Some woeful defending for their goals, too.
I have to say that I didn't think it was a penalty. Conn-Clarke duly lost out to the keeper's mind games though.
We are trying to walk the ball into the net and what's with all of these entirely unproductive short corners?
The solitary consolation was that Kosylo got a few minutes under his belt.
The last two matches have been a reality check.
Good summary Cult.
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Shambles from start to finish. How does a full time team arrive late to ground 20 miles away.
Why he started with Sithole is anybodys guess.
How did Con-Clarke miss the follow up to his piss poor pen?
Out played from 1 to 11 for 90 mins.
Only positive is we surly won't be signing Newby on a permanent.
Onwards and upwards
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Cult’s summary probably rubber stamped by the perfectly disguised set piece we executed to allow our right sided player to cross into the six yard box, except they were left footed and had to cut back.
Who on earth rubber stamped that one?
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I'd have pulled Justin at half time. He didn't seem to be able to control the ball tonight.
Didn't give Linney any chance to make a difference
All round poor performance. Glad it didn't cost me £24. £19 was bad enough.
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I called for a change up top, but it was a bad call on that performance by Sithole.
We need to somehow speed up Linney's return to match fitness. He is our main man and we need him now. Hopefully he is putting extra sessions in.
That was a really poor performance, first 25 mins was embarrassing.
Having wingers that cut in makes the edge of the box congested. Amaluzor would be better on the left, take people on the outside, would open up the middle. We do all these fancy edge of the box passing, but it hardly ever penetrates defences. We run out of ideas and lose the ball.
We really need players down the wings, putting balls across the face of the goal, with more than one player in the 6 yard box.CCC was often in a wide position, picking up the ball, as we didn't have any ideas. His penalty technique is now known, no idea why it took him so long to react to the save.
Need to start Donawa at RB. Baines and Cooper were so slow at everything tonight. Worst game I have seen Ethan have, we looked tired and low in confidence.
Our set pieces all night were crap, like they so often are. Rochdale were a small team, should have been balls into the box and attacked.
Their 18 year old from Fleetwood was very good.
Would like to.see James Jomes ( for Cooper ) Linney and Donawa start on Sat.
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CCC's penalty was dreadful. Can we please give the job to somebody who can just put their laces through the ball, instead of performing a weird dance routine before scuffing it?
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CCC's penalty was dreadful. Can we please give the job to somebody who can just put their laces through the ball, instead of performing a weird dance routine before scuffing it?
Poor penalty as it was (and the follow up) but you can't complain about his conversion rate from the spot
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Rochdale do have a good young side (begrudgingly) and I'd be surprised if they weren't in the playoff picture come the end of the season. They recruited well in midfield with Clayton, Gilmour and East - with Cian Hayes from Fleetwood another great addition and Nevett in defence has a bright future.
That said, I watched what turned out to be our best spell (that led up to our penalty) and they seemed happy to let us have it. We weren't moving the ball quick enough, which just encouraged them to press further forward with every pass. Just like the Bromley game at home.
It was a soft pen and I did think he needed to mix it up given he'd gone the same way with a lot of recent pens. I know his young lad's unwell so I hope he's OK.
Not sure why some have clamoured for Sithole up front (the 'James Hardy effect') - even before today he looked well short of the standard required.
Perhaps the three at the back system would have helped to mask the performance a bit like it did at Oldham, especially given players like James Jones are losing sharpness each week.
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Work commitments meant that I was unable to go last night but having reminded myself of the shambolic injustice when Rochdale kept us out of the football league, I'm glad I didn't pay the scandalous £24 to watch what was, but all account, a very poor Alty performance.
I think that our league position maybe flatters us a bit and now teams around us are starting to show a bit of form, I'm less sure of where we will end up at he end of the season - I'd be delighted with a play-off stop.
No use crying though, and a big response is needed this weekend to galvanise and bring back a bit of confidence to the squad. Onwards.
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As Cult has said, that was a reality check for us.
They put us in our place and gave us a big question to answer.
Namely have we got what it takes to stay in the play off spots?
Imho, the next few games will surely provide the answer. We're still where we want to be but we've really got to fight now if we're going to stay there.
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Not much to add really as what's been said pretty much sums it all up. What i will say is that the support from the Alty faithful was tremendous , outsinging the home fans all night and even at the end of a game that had few positives . Brilliant effort and deserving of a better response on the pitch .
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We definitely need to change the way we play when it’s obvious that plan A isn’t working.
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Tell players not to take more than 2 touches unless it moves us at least 5 yards forwards. The number of times someone had 3,4,5 touches to stand still at Eastleigh was infuriating. We did it much less second half and things improved markedly
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The short corners were a loss of hard earned territory last night.
You can't change history but we need a reset for Saturday. From Parky's post match interview it sounds like there's going to be some squad rotation going on.
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The grim footage (devoid of all of those first-half glitches on the National League TV streaming service):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5re_YdHxdg (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5re_YdHxdg)
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Really tough night. Don’t know if the long slog to Eastleigh on the weekend caught up with us but we lacked zip in the attacking third & Rochdale picked us off far too easily. Only really the second time this season (Barnet away) where we’ve properly been done. Crucial now we get back on the horse on Saturday against a Solihull side who’ve just lost two on the bounce too (but both at home in their case) so suspect we are in for a scrappy one on Saturday.
Only bonus was the unexpected return of Kosylo. Need him & Linney to get back up to full speed ASAP.
As an evening out football aside it was decent. Good pint in the new Victoria Tap & then into the Baum in the town centre which is a magnificent pub. The ground & food was very decent too. Not £24 decent mind. Lovely ground but 3 sides of it acres of empty seats. Too big for Rochdale I think.
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Cheered up by Barnet's performance tonight. They weren't at the races at all and they were the home team!
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We definitely need to change the way we play when it’s obvious that plan A isn’t working.
Then why have we ditched the back three as soon as it showed signs of actually working - especially given it allowed us to play without a recognised striker where we've been struggling?
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May I add how impressive the Alty fans were is their support at Rochdale. I was unable to make the game as Tuesday nights are difficult for me away from home. I purchased the stream and all the way through the game I could hear the Alty fans as they easily outshouted Rochdale.
My last comment was they deserved more on the pitch, but suggest the club and us now put closure on what happened and move on to next Saturday's game. Last time we played Solihull Moors at home we had a big win if I remember rightly, they are also turning in some poor results and a home win will put us well into the play-offs again.
We really are masters of our own destiny this season, I have confidence in Phil, Neil and the lads that they can end our poorer run on Saturday and start heading uo the table again. The following Saturday we play Dorking at home which again is a winnable game. We have everything to play for, the last two games have been a minor glitch which Phil has warned us about already.
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Not sure if its just my imagination but when we fall behind in some games the players seem to give up and you can tell we aren't going to get back into it. This was a prime example.
We also need Linney to get his shooting boots on, his replacements aren't up to the job. Two very disappointing losses.