Today I'm going back 42 years to 1979 and York City's visit to Wigan Athletic's Springfield Park in Division 4 of the Football League. This was one of my earliest City away games (my third) and only the sixth different Football League ground that I had visited. It also turned out to be the biggest away win that I had ever seen (at the time) and remains as one of the highest scoring matches (the "scoringest"?) that I have ever seen. So a memorable day indeed!
Wigan Athletic, founded as recently as 1932, in a rugby League stronghold had only gained entry to the Football League in 1978 and were in their second season in the big leagues. They had finally broken into the 92-member old boys club via the re-election process for the teams finishing in the bottom four of Division 4 plus any ambitious non-league clubs who fancied their chances in the ballot for a place in the Football League. Wigan hadn't even finished their last season as a non-league side as Champions of the Northern Premier League (NPL). That honour went to Boston United but Boston's York Street ground wasn't felt to be up to scratch by the NPL management committee and Wigan's name went forwards instead. To be fair, alongside Wimbledon, unlike many, Wigan have probably been the biggest post war ex-non-league success story and have even graced the Premier League under the Chairmanship of Dave Whelan. Whelan could safely be regarded as a "proper" football man having been a player of note himself, appearing in the 1960 FA Cup Final for Blackburn Rovers, a game in which he broke his leg.
York City's line up that day was notable for containing the name of Peter Lorimer, the former Leeds United and Scotland legend who would go on to make just 29 appearances for the Minstermen, scoring 8 goals. Three of them came in this game! Nicknamed "Lash Lorimer" and renowned for the ferocity of his strikes, Peter died earlier this year at the age of 74. Speaking about his former team mate, Eddie Gray said that Lorimer was "the purest striker of a ball I've ever seen, he'd just blooter it into an empty net" and that there was "none of your stretching nonsense for Peter". Don't you just love the verb: to "blooter"? See if you can work that one into your next football conversation down the pub! Oh and you can stop your stretching routines too!
Despite the score line in this game, Wigan had the better of the 1979/80 season finishing in sixth place in the Fourth Division whereas York finished way down in 17th place just three points ahead of the bottom four re-election positions. York weren't done however and would finish the following season in rock bottom position.
CRB Match No. 53
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