ISSUE #2
DECEMBER 18
A KICK IN THE PAST
FLEETWOOD TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB OFFICIAL FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
LATEST NEWS
the final third
CATCH UP ON THE LATEST FLEETWOOD TOWN FPA UPDATES
a gallery of images from the last three months of meetings
Birthdays We have some birthdays in the next few months: DECEMBER: Alan Goodall (37 on 2nd), Ken Moran (71 on 5th), Martin Moran (34 on 6th), Roy Atherton (63 on 6th), Peter Marshall (61 on 11th), George McIntrye (87 on 13th), Jamie Nay (31 on 14th), Lee Thorpe (43 on 14th), John Hay (61 on 14th), Tony Eaves (74 on 20th), Loz Walsh (61 on 24th), Alan Moyes (61 on 27th), Jon Parkin (37 on 30th), Lee Impett (43 on 31st). JANUARY: Alan Tinsley (67 on 1st), Jamie Milligan (38 on 3rd), Paul Dawson (57 on 9th), Allan Fish (66 on 15th), Matt Hilton (45 on 20th), Norman Moran (64 on 21st). FEBRUARY: Bert Hession (84 on 6th), Tom Willacy (71 on 6th), Steve Brooks (67 on 8th).
Home match tickets Throughout the current season, Fleetwood Town has again kindly agreed to offer complimentary tickets for home matches to members of the Former Players Association. This is subject to availability and to a maximum of two tickets per member, one of which should be used by the FPA member (please don’t get them for somebody else to use or to sell in the pub before the game!). The club has also kindly agreed to offer pre-match and half time hospitality to FPA members in the Red & Whites lounge (again subject to availability). Season passes to Red & Whites will be distributed to members shortly and members should also ensure they are wearing their membership lapel badges to gain entry. If any FPA member requires match tickets for any game, please contact Phil Brown ahead of the game by phone/text on 07976 054398 or by email to phil. brown@besutilities.co.uk. It’s great to see so many of our former players enjoying the match day experience at Highbury Stadium.
CAPPED OFF: Tony Mudie (centre) holding his Dad’s (Jackie) 1957 Scotland shirt. Roy Whitehouse (left) holds Jackie’s 1953 FA Cup winners medal whilst Jim Moseley (right) hold’s one of Jackie’s Scotland caps.
New members Membership of the Former Players Association is now rapidly approaching three figures and it’s wonderful see around half of the total membership regularly attending the monthly meetings at Poolfoot. We’re keen however to increase our membership still further so if you know anybody who has played for any of Fleetwood FC, Fleetwood Town or Fleetwood Freeport, please spread the word. It’s completely free of charge and apart from the host of benefits that membership brings, it’s mainly just a great opportunity to renew acquaintances with old team mates and to share memories of your playing days. Monthly meetings are held at the club’s Poolfoot Farm training complex on Butts Road, Thornton on the first Thursday of each month at 10.00am. Just turn up, tell us who you are and we’ll do the rest.
GROUP SHOT: 37 members of the FPA meeting at Poolfoot Farm for the November meeting
WINNER, WINNER CHICKEN DINNER: FPA member Roy Whitehouse and his European Championship Winners medal (Page 11)
Website The Former Players Association has its own area on the club’s official website www.fleetwoodtownfccom. Just click on the ‘Club’ icon at the top of the home page and then ‘Former Players Association’ from the drop down list to access lots of FPA content including the now famous former players’ interviews!
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FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
A HERO’S WELCOME: FPA Secretary Tony Collier meeting former Manchester United Busby Babe Harry Gregg at Frank Swift’s blue plaque unveiling in September FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
WE MEET AGAIN: FPA Chairman Stuart Murdoch and former striker Gareth Seddon
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IT'S THE DREAM OF EVERY FOOTBALLER! WORDS: PAUL COLLIER
Roy Whitehouse talks through his career, including the 1985 FA Vase Final at Wembley between Fleetwood Town and Halesowen Town.
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It is difficult to comprehend that almost 34 years have passed since the town’s club made its first appearance at Wembley. For those who attended the 1985 FA Vase final against Halesowen Town, it is a game which lingers long in the memory. Roy Whitehouse, who was substitute for Fleetwood on that April day is no exception. He recalled: “It was a dream for us all to reach Wembley. “It was a massive thing for the area, it was just fantastic. I remember that we travelled down by coach on the Friday and stayed overnight in a hotel which wasn’t a long drive to the stadium. “We had a tour around Wembley on the Friday and I thought it was unbelievable. We got to go on the pitch and I remember the stadium was a little bit eerie but in a nice way.
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We were all very excited and chuffed that we had got there.” Roy recalled his thoughts about when he awoke the following morning prior to arguably Fleetwood’s then biggest game in the club’s history “I didn’t sleep that well actually because of the excitement, I think. Obviously playing at Wembley isn’t something that happens every day. I was just hoping that we would play well and we would win. We had breakfast which I think was probably the full English. “I think ‘Tinny’ (then manager, Alan Tinsley) got us together late morning just before we got on the coach for a team talk and then off we went. If I remember rightly the mood (on the coach) was quite solemn. There was a mixture of nerves and excitement. ” Fast forwarding to being in the Wembley dressing room prior to
the match itself Roy recalled: “I remember there was banter among us. Loz Milligan was quite funny, Norman Moran was very dry (in terms of sense of humour) and Alan Kennerley was also a bit of a comedian and joker. We were all bantering really and trying to relax each other.” Roy took his place on the substitute’s bench and yet it wasn’t without a tinge of disappointment “I had played in every single match to get to the final and I was a bit gutted really that I was sub but I did get on for 20 or 25 minutes. “I was itching to get on and running out was just brilliant. Back then your name came up in lights (on the electronic scoreboard) so as I ran on, I was kind of looking at that. I think my first touch was alright. “I know there was a wee back pass I gave back to ‘Dobbo’ (Roy Dobson)
FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
which caused one of the goals. I think we were 2-0 down when I came on. I always maintain that Roy Dobson, the ‘keeper, was not quick enough off his line to get my back pass because the winger nipped in. “He (Roy) didn’t agree with what I was saying! I had only been on a few minutes when that actually happened. There was a ball sent over, it went over me and we had the chase, myself and this winger. “He was nippy, I got there just before him and tried to slide the ball back to ‘Dobbo’ and of course Roy didn’t come off his line and the winger nipped in and slipped it passed Roy.” On the plus side though, the former right back played a key part in contributing to Fleetwood’s consolidation goal as he recalled: “We scored when I was on because I laid the ball through for Norman Moran to get his absolutely brilliant goal. “He just swivelled and smacked it in from 25 yards or whatever it was.” When asked about the notorious large and energy sapping Wembley
playing surface Roy commented “The turf was very lush, and it did take it out of you. It was a massive pitch and the ball boys were quick throwing the ball back when I could have done with a rest!” Asked for his thoughts following the disappointing 3-1 loss Roy recounted: “We were all gutted really but it was a brilliant achievement getting to Wembley. “We gave a good account of ourselves I think, and we weren’t hammered but they (Halesowen) were certainly the better team on the day. “It was a pretty quiet dressing room, Alan Tinsley was trying obviously to boost us up.” The former defender also recalled the Fleetwood fans who had travelled south that day to cheer on their team “The support was absolutely brilliant, and we couldn’t have asked for anything better, it was a fantastic turn out. “I think three quarters of Fleetwood were there and they gave a great atmosphere for us.
“They were all still chanting at the end of the game when we went round obviously to wave to them and thank them and they were all just still jumping for joy even though we’d lost. It was just a great day out for everyone in Fleetwood.” Despite the immense disappointment of the side losing at Wembley, the Fleetwood residents came out in their droves the next day to welcome the team back home. Roy remembered: “The whole of the town was out, and they just did us proud. Everywhere we went people were coming up to the open top bus. “They were just all out on the streets and it was as if we had won. All the way it was just lined with people. We could not have asked for anything more.” Despite the passing of nearly three and a half decades, the affable one time sales representative smiled when he concluded: “It is a nice memory to say that I have played at Wembley as it is the dream of every footballer out there.”
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MEMORIES OF WEMBLEY:
1985 FA VASE FINAL WORDS: PHIL BROWN
In this feature, we take a step back to look at the 12 players who competed in the 1985 FA Vase final for Fleetwood Town against Halesowen Town.
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n the same way as the eleven players who represented England in the 1966 World Cup Final are forever etched in English football folklore, the 12 players who represented Fleetwood Town in the 1985 FA Vase Final will be part of the club’s history for eternity. The result wasn’t the same as the “Boys of ‘66” achieved – Town were unlucky to come up against the previous year’s losing finalists in Halesowen Town – but to get through a gruelling competition to reach the final at the most iconic stadium in the world, Wembley, was a remarkable achievement for a club from a small coastal town on a peninsula which had been at a low ebb since the demise of its fishing
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industry a decade earlier. The 1984-85 FA Vase competition actually started for Fleetwood some seven months earlier, in October 1984 with a 3-2 win at Maghull in the Preliminary Round, leaving Town with another seven rounds to negotiate before Wembley became a reality. They made hard work of it at times with two replays and even a second replay (remember those?) before a two legged semi-final against Exmouth Town took the club within touching distance of the final. Fleetwood returned from a 580 mile round trip to the south Devon coast with a narrow 3-2 defeat and still everything to play for at a packed Highbury just seven days later. Goals from Ian Cain and an own
goal gave Town a 2-0 victory and sent most of the huge 2,914 crowd home to start planning a trip to the capital. A fleet of coaches and even a special train took around a third of the town’s population down to Wembley on the 27th April 1985. The Fleetwood officials proudly representing their club in the Royal Box included Chairman Frank Whelan, Vice-Chairman Ted Lowery and Secretary Robin Atkinson. Manager Alan Tinsley took a 20 man squad and had to take some difficult decisions in selecting his starting eleven. The final selection for the big game was Roy Dobson, Norman Moran (captain), Glen Hadgraft, Mike Strachan, Stuart Robinson, Loz Milligan, Jimmy Hall, Ian Cain,
Howard Taylor, Steve Trainor and Alan Kennerley. Roy Whitehouse was named as substitute. The game started badly for Town – Geoff Moss put Halesowen ahead as early as the 9th minute but Fleetwood responded well and had their share of chances going into the break 1-0 down. Manager Tinsley’s half time team talk fell flat however just five minutes into the second half when Lee Joinson doubled the Midlands club’s lead latching onto a cross from his brother Paul and when Joinson scored his second and Halesowen’s third goal with just over 10 minutes remaining, the game was all but over for Town. Captain Norman Moran scored the final and best goal of the game however in the closing minutes to give Fleetwood a well-deserved consolation as he curled a Jimmy Hall Cross into the roof of the net from 20 yards. Defeated but not disgraced, Town’s players received a hero’s reception from their travelling supporters in the stadium and the following day from thousands more
in the pouring rain back upon their return to Fleetwood. Seven of our Former Players Association members were involved on the day – manager Alan Tinsley and trainer Alan Tuson along with captain Norman Moran, Stuart Robinson, Roy Dobson, Jimmy Hall and Roy Whitehouse. Fellow FPA members Keith Bowey and Dennis Wann both cruelly suffered broken legs before the final having played in earlier rounds of the Vase. Back in 1985, playing at Wembley was a rare honour as very few games were held at the national stadium unlike today when cup semi-finals, play off finals and even Premier League games are staged there. Very few players therefore at any level were able to grace the hallowed turf and manager Alan Tinsley described it as “the biggest day of my life”. Just over 33 years later, the memory of the day Fleetwood went to Wembley still burns brightly in the minds of every player, official and supporter who was there.
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CAPTIONS Image 1 : Match action – Steve Trainor heads for goal. Image 2 : Fleetwood captain Norman Moran prior to kick off. Image 3 : Defeated but not disgraced.
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MEMORABLE MATCH
BACK IN TH E D AY
RONNIE BELLWOOD'S MOST MEMORABLE MATCH FROM HIS CAREER
a gallery of RETRO IMAGES FROM DECADES GONE BY
ROSSENDALE UNITED 11 FLEETWOOD 2 LANCASHIRE COMBINATION LEAGUE 25TH OCTOBER 1958 Fleetwood’s team that day: Perkes, Bellwood, McIntyre, Gordon, Forbes, Pendlebury, Hollingworth, Bainbridge, Wood, Hatsell, Molyneux Fleetwood’s goalscorers: Wood and Hollingworth We caught up with Ronnie recently who selected the above game which stays predominant in his mind more than 60 years on. It was far from a good afternoon for Bellwood and his team mates. The Fleetwood Chronicle match report headline at the time screamed “No – spirit team gives worst ever display.” Dick Easton, who covered the game for the local paper lambasted the away side in his report “It was just too bad to be true. I rank this spineless dispirited display the worst I have seen Fleetwood give in the five years I have watched the team in action.”
EVEN HAS A STAND NAMED AFTER HIM: Fleetwood Town legend Percy Ronson playing for the Cod Army back in the 1950s
Easton continued to be scathing with his analysis “Never has covering been so bad. In fact, at times it was completely non – existent. There was no bite in the tackle, no willingness to chase and worry opponents. Nothing in fact to stop Rossendale scoring 20 if they felt like it. Mercifully the score stopped at 11. Six of the 11 came in the last 12 minutes which gives you some idea of how completely Fleetwood had given up the ghost.” A LASTING (UNI)BOND: Jamie Milligan playing for Town, with Nathan Pond in the Unibond Leagues
UNITED TOGETHER: Billy Porter in the 1920s
The Chronicle journalist did though save praise for a Rossendale debutant “For inside right Clifford Greaves it was a typical story book debut. A product of local junior football, he cracked in six goals with the ease of an international scoring against a local amateur team which was just how Rossendale made the match seem.” Ronnie, with a somewhat embarrassed tone in his voice remembered “We were getting beat 5-1 at half time though I think Fleetwood had managed to equalise. Everyone just packed in playing and they (his Fleetwood team mates) were just kicking it (the ball) anywhere. I was struggling to try and make a good game of it. It was a disgrace (the result) and I don’t think it has ever happened before or since. I daren’t go out that night in Fleetwood. The team was doing alright at the time, about half way the way up (the league) but Rossendale weren’t a good team. I was ashamed actually. I have got to be ashamed of myself as I was part of it. The game sticks in my memory more than any other. Terrible it was.”
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FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
MATCH ACTION: Fleetwood beat Horwich RMI 2-1 in a FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round replay at Highbury in the 1965/66 season, with Strachan and Dilworth scoring the goals
FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
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NOTICE BOARD Congratulations go to FPA member Roy Whitehouse for securing a European Championships over 60’s winner’s tennis medal in August. He did this whilst representing Great Britain in the finals in Spain. Diary dates for the next three meetings: Thursday 3rd January 2019 (10am), Thursday 7th February 2019 (10am) & Thursday 7th March 2019 (10am). If any FPA members who may have changed their personal details, please notify Tony Collier (FPA secretary) accordingly. Please note that Tony himself has a new email address tonycfpa@outlook.com which should now be used for any future electronic correspondence. Please note that the personal details which FPA members have supplied are held in strictest confidence and not passed on to any third party. Additionally, we will not/cannot pass on the personal details given to us by any of our members to fellow members. If you need to contact a Former Players Association member out with the monthly meetings, please get in touch with Tony Collier who will happily contact the fellow member on your behalf and ask them to get in touch with you. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
FTFC FPA OFFICIALS WHO TO CONTACT AT FLEETWOOD TOWN'S FPA
FTFC FPA MEMBERS A LIST OF NEW MEMBERS OF THE FLEETWOOD TOWN FPA SINCE ISSUE 1
Chairman Stuart Murdoch Email: stuart.murdoch@fleetwoodtownfc.co.uk Phone number: 07921 934775 Vice-chairman Phil Brown Email: phil.brown@besutilities.co.uk Phone number: 07976 054398
Dave Beech - Years playing for Town (1977-1980), Barry Buckley - Years playing for Town (1967), Phil Clarkson - Years playing for Town (1987-1991), Jimmy Hall - Years playing for Town (1982-1985), Steve Holden - Years playing for Town (1987-1989), Tony Monks - Years playing for Town (1970-1971), Tony Mudie - Years playing for Town (1980-1982), David Roach - Years playing for Town (1972), Gerry Stephen - Years playing for Town (1957), John Whiteside - Years playing for Town (1960-1961)
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FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
Secretary Tony Collier Email: tonycfpa@outlook.com Phone Number: 07931 415844 Front cover photograph: George McIntyre (left) and Ronnie Bellwood (right), who are senior members of the FPA. FLEETWOOD TOWN FORMER PLAYERS ASSOCIATION
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