Post by hatter_in_macc on Sept 27, 2017 22:16:37 GMT
My 'Take Five' piece for COWS, ahead of this Saturday - and with a bit of a twist, so as to avoid repeating material in past (FA Cup) or future (FCUM) articles...
Enjoy - hopefully!
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TAKE FIVE… County on Last Days of the Month
By Hatter in Macc
1. So, rather a poser for you this week - what with the FA Cup already covered, and our opponents due back here in a few weeks!
Well, quite. FC United will indeed have a dedicated Take Five ahead of returning to Edgeley Park for our league meeting on 4 November. But for the sake of fresh subject matter, if nothing else, I was rather banking on their opponents in the last round getting through for today!
Ah, well - with Handsworth Parramore now knocked out, I now have to look at the tie through ‘Brand New Eyes’ (ask your little sister…).
2. Ooh (furiously checking Paramore discography…) - bit of an ‘Emergency’, then! ‘Ain’t It Fun’, this punning lark? Arf.
Yep - it’s a ‘Riot!’. But back, if we may, to the matter in hand. Seeing as County get to play on 30 September, how about checking out a few notable ‘last day of the month’ dates in our history?
3. Good days? Bad days? Or (let’s pretend I’m Cure-ious…) ‘Inbetween Days’?
Bit of a mixed bag. Although in very recent times, pretty decent. Last season saw the Hatters confound expectations (especially given that they had bowed out of the FA Trophy at the same ground a fortnight previously) by winning 3-0 at Brackley on 31 January 2017, while 31 August 2015 proved to be a happy Bank Holiday Monday when Jake Kirby’s added-time winner ensured an away-victory by the odd goal in five against Fylde.
But, going back a little further, County fans will forever wince at memories of losing not only the game but also manager Ian Bogie, who promptly resigned, at Harrogate on 31 August 2013. And any who made the midweek winter trek down to Oxford United’s old Manor Ground for a rearranged fixture, towards the end of Danny Bergara’s managerial reign, will have wished they hadn’t, after the team had Ian Helliwell sent off and conceded four without reply.
There were also touches of the bitter-sweet during the 1990s. Dave Jones’ dream spell at the helm began on 31 March 1995 when he was appointed manager - albeit in place of the much-loved Bergara. And exactly three months earlier, on New Year’s Eve 1994, another County legend - in this case, a player - checked out, as Kevin Francis came off the bench, at home to Bradford City, to make the final appearance of his first spell (before joining Birmingham), but did sign off by scoring a consolation goal for the Hatters in a 2-1 defeat.
And almost at the very beginning of time, County-wise, the club’s first-ever competitive season came to an end on 30 April 1892. The embryonic, pre-Football League Hatters might not have set The Combination alight that year - finishing 11th out of 12 - but did see their campaign out by thumping bottom-placed club Denton 7-2 at home. A gentleman-striker by the name of Jones also immortalised himself by scoring three times to claim the inaugural hat-trick by a Hatter and take home the leather-covered, inflated pig bladder from EP’s predecessor-venue, Green Lane.
4. Any entries from last days of the month for our record books?
A couple, at least. County shelled out £800,000 to Nottingham Forest for Ian Moore on 31 July 1998, and that remains to this day the club’s highest transfer fee paid. Nearly 50 years earlier, too, on 30 April 1949, a whopping 38,192 packed into Hull City’s former Boothferry Park home to watch the ‘Tigers’ well and truly maul the Hatters 6-1 and clinch the Third Division North title.
5. Any danger of Saturday’s date being added to the list to mark an earliest FA Cup exit?
No, thankfully - that particular nadir remains recorded as 26 September 2015, when a second visit to Fylde’s Kellamergh Park within just over three weeks saw the Hatters knocked out by a single goal. Hopefully, though, come 5pm this Saturday, we shall be setting our Cup sights into October… and possibly beyond!
Enjoy - hopefully!
*****************************************************************************************************
TAKE FIVE… County on Last Days of the Month
By Hatter in Macc
1. So, rather a poser for you this week - what with the FA Cup already covered, and our opponents due back here in a few weeks!
Well, quite. FC United will indeed have a dedicated Take Five ahead of returning to Edgeley Park for our league meeting on 4 November. But for the sake of fresh subject matter, if nothing else, I was rather banking on their opponents in the last round getting through for today!
Ah, well - with Handsworth Parramore now knocked out, I now have to look at the tie through ‘Brand New Eyes’ (ask your little sister…).
2. Ooh (furiously checking Paramore discography…) - bit of an ‘Emergency’, then! ‘Ain’t It Fun’, this punning lark? Arf.
Yep - it’s a ‘Riot!’. But back, if we may, to the matter in hand. Seeing as County get to play on 30 September, how about checking out a few notable ‘last day of the month’ dates in our history?
3. Good days? Bad days? Or (let’s pretend I’m Cure-ious…) ‘Inbetween Days’?
Bit of a mixed bag. Although in very recent times, pretty decent. Last season saw the Hatters confound expectations (especially given that they had bowed out of the FA Trophy at the same ground a fortnight previously) by winning 3-0 at Brackley on 31 January 2017, while 31 August 2015 proved to be a happy Bank Holiday Monday when Jake Kirby’s added-time winner ensured an away-victory by the odd goal in five against Fylde.
But, going back a little further, County fans will forever wince at memories of losing not only the game but also manager Ian Bogie, who promptly resigned, at Harrogate on 31 August 2013. And any who made the midweek winter trek down to Oxford United’s old Manor Ground for a rearranged fixture, towards the end of Danny Bergara’s managerial reign, will have wished they hadn’t, after the team had Ian Helliwell sent off and conceded four without reply.
There were also touches of the bitter-sweet during the 1990s. Dave Jones’ dream spell at the helm began on 31 March 1995 when he was appointed manager - albeit in place of the much-loved Bergara. And exactly three months earlier, on New Year’s Eve 1994, another County legend - in this case, a player - checked out, as Kevin Francis came off the bench, at home to Bradford City, to make the final appearance of his first spell (before joining Birmingham), but did sign off by scoring a consolation goal for the Hatters in a 2-1 defeat.
And almost at the very beginning of time, County-wise, the club’s first-ever competitive season came to an end on 30 April 1892. The embryonic, pre-Football League Hatters might not have set The Combination alight that year - finishing 11th out of 12 - but did see their campaign out by thumping bottom-placed club Denton 7-2 at home. A gentleman-striker by the name of Jones also immortalised himself by scoring three times to claim the inaugural hat-trick by a Hatter and take home the leather-covered, inflated pig bladder from EP’s predecessor-venue, Green Lane.
4. Any entries from last days of the month for our record books?
A couple, at least. County shelled out £800,000 to Nottingham Forest for Ian Moore on 31 July 1998, and that remains to this day the club’s highest transfer fee paid. Nearly 50 years earlier, too, on 30 April 1949, a whopping 38,192 packed into Hull City’s former Boothferry Park home to watch the ‘Tigers’ well and truly maul the Hatters 6-1 and clinch the Third Division North title.
5. Any danger of Saturday’s date being added to the list to mark an earliest FA Cup exit?
No, thankfully - that particular nadir remains recorded as 26 September 2015, when a second visit to Fylde’s Kellamergh Park within just over three weeks saw the Hatters knocked out by a single goal. Hopefully, though, come 5pm this Saturday, we shall be setting our Cup sights into October… and possibly beyond!
