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WINNING the Third Division championship in 1973 restored much of the pride Bolton Wanderers lost after hitting what was then an all-time low.
Years of turmoil and financial pressures culminated in relegation to Division Three for the first time in the club’s long and illustrious history and the mood at Burnden Park plumbed new depths.
But the arrival of former Blackpool and England full-back Jimmy Armfield in May 1971 — 18 days after a disastrous season — would prove the catalyst for a revival that ultimately took Wanderers back to the top flight.
It was a risk at the time since Armfield, who had a wealth of experience as a player, was untried as a manager. But it was a gamble which paid handsome dividends.
Within two years Wanderers were upwardly mobile again with a more than useful squad that had a good smattering of outstanding, young, home-grown talent.
They finished four points ahead of runners-up Notts County and six clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers but the seeds of that title success were sown the previous season when Armfield set about restoring confidence on the field and reviving the interest of long-suffering supporters.
“When I came to Bolton, the club was in the lowest position it had ever been,” Armfield recalled.
“I remember looking at the famous Railway Embankment and seeing grass growing on it. It was a sorry sight. But I knew Bolton, as a club, was far better than the Third Division.
“I’d been offered a couple of other jobs but I realised there was something I could do here. And it turned out to be a great move and a great time for me because I always felt I knew where I was going with the team and with the club.”
Despite his lack of experience, Armfield showed shrewd management skills right from the start. Offered the job after Jimmy Meadows — Wanderers’ fourth manager in three traumatic years — resigned a month before the end of the relegation season, he only made his mind up after checking out the team he would inherit from caretaker manager, Nat Lofthouse.
“Unbeknown to the players, I watched the last match of the season and also went to see the reserves,” he said. “I asked Nat if he would play some of the first team players and he did. I think they drew 2-2 at Aston Villa.
“I knew I had to lift the players but when we got to pre-season I also knew I had to do something to lift the fans as well, so I persuaded a couple of friends — Jimmy Adamson who was manager at Burnley, and Dave Sexton who was at Chelsea — to play us before the season started.
“It helped because we got off to a reasonable start and had a good win in the League Cup when we beat Manchester City 3-0. But I wasn’t happy. I still didn’t think the team was good enough. We lacked pace at the back and I thought we needed what you might call youthful exuberance.
“I knew the reserves well and the youth team because I used to coach them as well as the first team and they were quite good. I could see their potential.
“So come November when we started to slide into the bottom half of the table I knew what to do. I just needed to time it right.”
The decision was finally made to give youth a fling over a bowl of soup, courtesy of the wife of Wanderers chairman Jack Banks.
Armfield explained: “Jack used to come down at lunchtime with soup his wife had made and we used to chat about all sorts of things, just a small group of us: the chairman, the secretary Teddy Rothwell, first team coach Jim Conway, Eddie Hopkinson and Bert Sproston, the trainer.
“Jack said that instead of just talking about playing the reserves why didn’t I just play them? Driving home that night I made my mind up and decided I was going to play Don McAllister, Alan Waldron, Stuart Lee and Paul Jones.
“We already had Garry Jones in the side and John Ritson at right-back. I’d made Warwick Rimmer captain and signed Charlie Wright from Charlton because I thought we needed an experienced goalkeeper. I thought Charlie was one of my best signings because he cost nowt.
“It took a while for things to get going but by around March of that first season I could see we had a good team: Charlie in goal, Ritson, Jones, Rimmer and McAllister across the back; a midfield of Waldron, Roy Greaves, John Byrom and Ronnie Phillips with Byrom playing in a more advanced role and Stuart Lee and Garry Jones up front. I think we finished seventh that first year but I couldn’t wait for the new season because I knew we’d do well.
“In fact, we romped away with it. Notts County were the problem. Jimmy Sirrell had a team of giants but I always thought we were going to win it.”
Winning the title proved a painful experience for Armfield, however.
Wanderers, who were formidable at home, secured promotion and the Championship with a 2-2 draw at Port Vale in their penultimate game. But while players and supporters celebrated, their wounded manager was having treatment from trainer Sproston.
“The box had a concrete roof and when I jumped up I banged my head,” he recalled. “I was covered in blood and, while everyone else was celebrating promotion, I was being patched up.”
Within two years Wanderers were pushing for promotion to the First Division — something they achieved at the third time of asking in 1978 with so many of the players Armfield either recruited or groomed for stardom: Tony Dunne, Peter Nicholson, Paul Jones, Sam Allardyce, Peter Reid, Neil Whatmore, Ritson and the rest.
“Many of those young players were there when I arrived but I brought others in later,” he added. “It was so different to how things work today but I was really interested in developing young players. We had a code of conduct in place and they all knew they had to fit in with that. I know a few of the fans wanted me to sign certain players but the ones I brought in, like Charlie, Peter Nicholson, and others like Graham Rowe, did so well for us.
“Later I brought in players like Tony Dunne, Hughie Curran and Peter Thompson who all did well for us because we needed better players for the Second Division, but that Championship winning season was the springboard for what came later.”
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WINNING the Third Division championship in 1973 restored much of the pride Bolton Wanderers lost after hitting what was then an all-time low.
Years of turmoil and financial pressures culminated in relegation to Division Three for the first time in the club’s long and illustrious history and the mood at Burnden Park plumbed new depths.
But the arrival of former Blackpool and England full-back Jimmy Armfield in May 1971 — 18 days after a disastrous season — would prove the catalyst for a revival that ultimately took Wanderers back to the top flight.
It was a risk at the time since Armfield, who had a wealth of experience as a player, was untried as a manager. But it was a gamble which paid handsome dividends.
Within two years Wanderers were upwardly mobile again with a more than useful squad that had a good smattering of outstanding, young, home-grown talent.
They finished four points ahead of runners-up Notts County and six clear of third-placed Blackburn Rovers but the seeds of that title success were sown the previous season when Armfield set about restoring confidence on the field and reviving the interest of long-suffering supporters.
“When I came to Bolton, the club was in the lowest position it had ever been,” Armfield recalled.
“I remember looking at the famous Railway Embankment and seeing grass growing on it. It was a sorry sight. But I knew Bolton, as a club, was far better than the Third Division.
“I’d been offered a couple of other jobs but I realised there was something I could do here. And it turned out to be a great move and a great time for me because I always felt I knew where I was going with the team and with the club.”
Despite his lack of experience, Armfield showed shrewd management skills right from the start. Offered the job after Jimmy Meadows — Wanderers’ fourth manager in three traumatic years — resigned a month before the end of the relegation season, he only made his mind up after checking out the team he would inherit from caretaker manager, Nat Lofthouse.
“Unbeknown to the players, I watched the last match of the season and also went to see the reserves,” he said. “I asked Nat if he would play some of the first team players and he did. I think they drew 2-2 at Aston Villa.
“I knew I had to lift the players but when we got to pre-season I also knew I had to do something to lift the fans as well, so I persuaded a couple of friends — Jimmy Adamson who was manager at Burnley, and Dave Sexton who was at Chelsea — to play us before the season started.
“It helped because we got off to a reasonable start and had a good win in the League Cup when we beat Manchester City 3-0. But I wasn’t happy. I still didn’t think the team was good enough. We lacked pace at the back and I thought we needed what you might call youthful exuberance.
“I knew the reserves well and the youth team because I used to coach them as well as the first team and they were quite good. I could see their potential.
“So come November when we started to slide into the bottom half of the table I knew what to do. I just needed to time it right.”
The decision was finally made to give youth a fling over a bowl of soup, courtesy of the wife of Wanderers chairman Jack Banks.
Armfield explained: “Jack used to come down at lunchtime with soup his wife had made and we used to chat about all sorts of things, just a small group of us: the chairman, the secretary Teddy Rothwell, first team coach Jim Conway, Eddie Hopkinson and Bert Sproston, the trainer.
“Jack said that instead of just talking about playing the reserves why didn’t I just play them? Driving home that night I made my mind up and decided I was going to play Don McAllister, Alan Waldron, Stuart Lee and Paul Jones.
“We already had Garry Jones in the side and John Ritson at right-back. I’d made Warwick Rimmer captain and signed Charlie Wright from Charlton because I thought we needed an experienced goalkeeper. I thought Charlie was one of my best signings because he cost nowt.
“It took a while for things to get going but by around March of that first season I could see we had a good team: Charlie in goal, Ritson, Jones, Rimmer and McAllister across the back; a midfield of Waldron, Roy Greaves, John Byrom and Ronnie Phillips with Byrom playing in a more advanced role and Stuart Lee and Garry Jones up front. I think we finished seventh that first year but I couldn’t wait for the new season because I knew we’d do well.
“In fact, we romped away with it. Notts County were the problem. Jimmy Sirrell had a team of giants but I always thought we were going to win it.”
Winning the title proved a painful experience for Armfield, however.
Wanderers, who were formidable at home, secured promotion and the Championship with a 2-2 draw at Port Vale in their penultimate game. But while players and supporters celebrated, their wounded manager was having treatment from trainer Sproston.
“The box had a concrete roof and when I jumped up I banged my head,” he recalled. “I was covered in blood and, while everyone else was celebrating promotion, I was being patched up.”
Within two years Wanderers were pushing for promotion to the First Division — something they achieved at the third time of asking in 1978 with so many of the players Armfield either recruited or groomed for stardom: Tony Dunne, Peter Nicholson, Paul Jones, Sam Allardyce, Peter Reid, Neil Whatmore, Ritson and the rest.
“Many of those young players were there when I arrived but I brought others in later,” he added. “It was so different to how things work today but I was really interested in developing young players. We had a code of conduct in place and they all knew they had to fit in with that. I know a few of the fans wanted me to sign certain players but the ones I brought in, like Charlie, Peter Nicholson, and others like Graham Rowe, did so well for us.
“Later I brought in players like Tony Dunne, Hughie Curran and Peter Thompson who all did well for us because we needed better players for the Second Division, but that Championship winning season was the springboard for what came later.”
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