Alan Buckley, Walsall and 7-0

[Elderly William]

I see that poor old Alan has been sacked.

This momentus moment will not be the highpoint of his career however. That came in October 1976, when, as the captain of Walsall and playing at the Goldstone, his team were drawing 0-0 at half time.

28 minutes into the second half, he then had to place the ball on the centre spot for the eighth time.

Ward 4, Mellor 3. Wonderful evening.

Elderly..........

 

[El Presidente]

Small boys, jumpers for goalposts, Spider Mellor.......those were the days

 

[bhaexpress]

I see that poor old Alan has been sacked.

This momentus moment will not be the highpoint of his career however. That came in October 1976, when, as the captain of Walsall and playing at the Goldstone, his team were drawing 0-0 at half time.

28 minutes into the second half, he then had to place the ball on the centre spot for the eighth time.

Ward 4, Mellor 3. Wonderful evening.

Elderly..........

It was a Saturday afternoon ...... I'm sure .......

 

[Elderly William]

5th October 1976 was a Tuesday. We beat York the previous month 7-2.

That was on a Saturday.

Elderly...........

 

[cheeseroll]

It was definately a Tuesday night game. Spider !!! a name from the past. where did he go to when we got in the second

 

[bhaexpress]

I stand corrected, my memory's not what it used to be !

 

[Henfield One]

A brilliant night indeed - I was a season ticket holder in the North Stand and we went straight from school to the Goldstone. Weather was sleet and windy. Watched the first half with the Albion attacking the North Stand goal. 0-0. Then left the North Stand, round into Newtown Road paid 50p and into the South Stand. Stood right behind the goal. The best 45 minutes of football I have ever seen. We were flying.

 

[Gwylan]

I posted about this game on another thread. It was the worst weather I can remember watching the Albion in - I was totally drenched.

Marvellous night though, one of my best Albion memories. Wardy and Spider were on fire that night and would have scored against any defence.

 

[cheshunt seagull]

Walsall were a bogey team for us at the time and Buckley always played well against us. At half-time things did not look good....

 

[Blackadder]

Remember it well.

The weather was so bad that night we only had a crowd of


14,000 odd.

The barman in the pub at Pycombe wouldn't believe me afterwards. Can't remember the name of the pub but it's gone now!

 

[The Large One]

It's one of my first Albion memories.

When Peter Ward was in Brighton last year, he was telling us the tale of that game. Everyone has heard of the fact that Mullery gave his team a half-time blasting - and it obviously had the desired effect.

However, Wardy and Mellor were both on two apiece, when Mellor had a simple task of knocking in No 5. He made a complete pig's ear of it and hit the post. Up pops Wardy to get the hat-trick. Mellor's face , apparently, was an absolute picture.

 

[NMH]

A clear memory for that game - mainly because it was so spectacularly dull that I was seriously making my first early exit from the Goldstone at half-time. It was a crap night of rain, which had practically stopped at h/t - it was fairly cold in the South even under the roof. I just thought it was the worst game ever, but decided to give it 10 minutes of the second half to see if it stayed the abject bore that it was in the first.

The fireworks really started in that ten mins, and I recall their defence was completely awol, as Mellor and Ward totally ran amok for 7 goals!

I was at the York match too, another rout. We were just having a laugh, they were so over-run by the brilliance of the Albion. Imagine the poor lugs that had to drag their boots into the away dressing room as victims of Ward and Mellor !

It's about time we had a team that could do that sort of thing again to some unsuspecting lot in this division.

 

[Brovion]

I was there! It was most definitely a Tuesday night. Just another routine 'Day of Wonder' in the days of Bamber, Mullery, Ward and Mellor. BHAexpress you're not confusing it with Charlton a few years later are you? We beat them 7-0 on a Saturday in the old Div 2.

 

[sully]

That night of wonder certainly remains etched on my mind.

Definately in my top 5 Albion experiences.

I was 14 at the time. Great days......