For April 1st I'm going back 41 years to 1980 and York City's Fourth Division fixture away at Walsall.
April Fool's Day? Well maybe the result of this game suggests that I was a fool to make such a long trip from Yorkshire on a school night but actually, as a groundhopper, I'm very pleased to have had the chance to visit Walsall's former home: Fellows Park. There had been only one brand new Football League ground built since Southend United moved to Roots Hall in 1955 and that was Scunthorpe United's Glanford Park in 1988. Since then, over a third of the 92 League Clubs have constructed new stadia but Walsall's move away from Fellows Park in 1990 was still something of a novelty. Fellows Park had been Walsall's home since 1896. Their new home, the Bescot Stadium, is almost in the shadow of the M6. Indeed you can clearly see the it from the motorway as you drive past and Walsall FC earn substantial revenues from the advertising boards situated at their ground but visible to the passing traffic.
Perhaps a more suitable nickname for Walsall these days might include a reference to the nearby motorway? But my favourite nickname for Walsall supporters that I have come across is "the Yam Yams", a reference in the local Black Country dialect that derives from "you am" e.g. "yam coming with me ay ya?". Gotta love dialect!
This match finished 3-1 to the Saddlers (Walsall is apparently the traditional home for saddle manufacture). Walsall, under player manager Alan Buckley included a future York City notable in their side that day: one Ricky Sbragia who would go on to be a key member of Denis Smith's all-conquering Fourth Division Championship side of 1983/84. Indeed Sbragia was one of the scorers for Walsall that day. The Minstermen were in transition under manager Barry Lyons and had Sbragia's future team mates Derek Hood and Gary Ford in their side that day as well as the less fondly remembered Roy Kay, scorer Steve Faulkner and Terry Eccles. The attendance was a healthy 4,897.
Walsall were promoted at the end of the season finishing in 2nd place behind Champions Huddersfield Town. For their own part, York finished 17th (out of 24) just 3 points outside of the bottom 4 re-election places. This was back in the days of 2 points for a win. The introduction of 3 points for a win came a year later in 1981 and is accredited to Jimmy Hill who believed that it would encourage greater adventure and risk taking to try to win a game rather than settle for a draw with the value of one point for a draw being comparatively reduced. England was the first country to take this approach and 3 points for a win has been adopted universally since then and is used in major international tournament Group Stages by both FIFA and UEFA.
CRB Match No. 86
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