John Coddington ( anybody remember the penalty he took against Palace ? I've never seen anything like it , he had a longer run up than any fast bowler and when he actually got to strike the ball his shot was so soft the goalie could have saved it by throwing his cap on the ball !!! Unbelievably the ref made him take it again because the keeper had moved and he did exactly the same thing, the ball only just made it to the goalkeeper he had to dive forward to save it !!!!!!!!)

Remember it well,in fact better than 90% of the goals we scored from that era. He was once aptly described as the rock on whom rovers floundered. his other claim to fame was than in over 300 appearances for huddersfield he never scored, within a few weeks of joining us he rectified that by scoring an own goal when we met them in the league!

I couldn't face the long journey there and back in a day so i've gone for a guest house in newport on the friday night and train into cardiff on the sat morning,hope to set off early friday afternoon. Has anyone got any idea which is the better route M5/M4 or M5/M50/A40?

On the other points raised i too am unhappy with time and venue and the extra expense that i will incur. I have to take time off work as well.On the other hand its our biggest FA cup game in 45 years and tickets for me and my daughter only cost £52.50 so i got a better deal than most.

What is of concern for the future is that london based teams will have an inbuilt advantage if all subsequant semis are played at the new wembley.

I couldn't face the long journey there and back in a day so i've gone for a guest house in newport on the friday night and train into cardiff on the sat morning. Rather than catch B/ham at friday teatime i offered my daughter the option of half a day off school on the friday but she doesn't want to miss any lessons!!! - the youth of today!

At £50 for a twin room its not bad value compared to the £130 i was quoted for a hotel in the centre of newport.

the worthington cup final was 3pm kick off but there was not a full fixture list that day as is the case for the semi's

Just to cap it off, on the Friday evening the M6 Southbound is due to be closed for 7 hours from 2200 junctions 29 - 23.

This is another pointer in the match scenario re time/date etc.

Have you a link for this, i have been on the dept of transport website and it says that all work around J22 will be finished by easter. Or is just it a wind up? (in which case it worked)

agree with you there daveyb, the further any of our teams get the more money they recieve and therefore are in an even stronger position than the rest of the league

1. Bob lord's spirit, should it be floating round the Martin dobson stand

2 George courtney

3 ferguson [ the old trafford one, not our recent failure]

4 Whichever high profile/ top earning referee i have just witnessed giving a diabolicle decision in favour of the "bigger" club. today it happens to mr frisk, he has his own agent and website!

5 paul stretford and his ilk, for draining money out of the game

Ted Harper signed for the rovers in 1923 and scored18 goals in42 games during his first season, he had a poor second season and lost his place. then after losing their first three matches of the 1925/26 season he was recalled and scored five against newcastle. by the end of the season he had scored 43 league goals from 37 games, at the time a football league record and still the club record.

He played once for england and was then sold in 1927 to sheff wed.returned in 1933 and retired in 1935 to join the coaching staff.

In all for the rovers he scored 122 goals in 177 games

Looking at the list i think he deserved to be shortlisted ahead of some of the people in there, but my computer has been in for repair and i couldn't stake a claim for him earlier.[ but should you run a poll for the 5 on the bench spare him a thought]

voted for garner on the grounds of loyalty to the club and his contributions during difficult times. just shaved it over briggs and southworth.

why no ted harper on the list anyway?

he has to rationalise his failure to make an impact on the premiership somehow. in the spl he was a big fish in a small pond, down here it was the opposite

Forrest for me over latheron, because of the uniqueness of his 5 medal haul. Sherwood was our most consistant performer in midfield in the 90's but it doesn't make him an all time great

so much better today, i left the ground happier than at anytime this season. emerton ferguson and reid were tremendous and for long periods the defence were not enducing panic in everyone around me. stead is getting closer and dickov/botheroyd ran there socks off.tugs passing was hit and miss but his passion is still there. i think last weeks slating in the media had a positive effect on them

3-2 to the rovers, thats from the heart not the head mind, just hope that liverpool have one of there so-so days and recent humblings puts more passion into our lot.

Obviously Duggie but does no one rem boy wonder Mekky playing rw?  Personally speaking he'd be my 3rd choice.

indeed i do , particularly the game against city in the cup. at the time he was being touted as the next bryan douglas!

dougie should win this easy, am i right in thinking that he got over 20,000 for his testimonial?

mike england for me and in a perfect world he would have colin hendry beside him. neither of them could hold a torch to faz in terms of service to the club but he wasn't in the same class on the pitch as the other two (and for that matter allan hunter but he didn't even make the shortlist!!)

in response to dr rich the 60's team didn't win anything but they did make it to the top of div 1 before selling pickering to one of our main rivals everton. from the 1960's to the arrival of uncle jack we were a selling club and that is why we didn't win anything not because of any lack of quality on the players part.england, newton and pickering all went for record fees for there positions at the time so they couldn't have been that bad eh?

The one major omission from the list is allan hunter who went on to be as good for ipswich as colin hendry was for us.

I saw mike england play and although i was too young to be able to compare him to hendry i do remember being gutted when he left for spurs, a quote from him at the time which went something along the lines of "wanting to play for a big city club with an opportunity to play in europe" set me up for an anti-spurs bias for the rest of my life. still colin buggered off twice and while i remain a big fan of his, england would get my vote as he was widely regarded as the best centre half in britain in the mid to late sixties

i would prefer to be able to pick 2 central defenders anyway as having a three man defence that included le saux would look a bit vunerable

Just out of interest, is this the first time we have had a world cup winner playing for us?

John Connelly, a member of England's World Cup-winning squad in 1966, joined Rovers from ManU in 1968 (I think).

John Connelly interview, just for Jim.

there was also ossie ardiles

i voted yes on the basis that i am just handing over to a bolton fan at work and he is less than happy about it, - sorry no he says he is bloody furious

Interesting

We have 2 left wingers and we don't bother playing either.

neither of them have settled in yet and jansen is worth a shot

2=1 to rovers, i was thinking 1-1 but i can't bring myself to agree with rodney marsh

3-1 to the reserves i hope, i would expect anyone with first team experience who didn't play on saturday to get a run out as long as they are fit,jansen will hopefully get 90 minutes. there is a good chance that young garner will get a spot on the bench as well.

like other people on this thread i am not over excited at the prospect of paying to watch a game that we are not giving 100% in, but i thought that was going to happen last year against liverpool and i ended up taking the kids to blackpool instead only to regret it when i heard that both teams were at full strength

le saux and bailey are the two best iv'e seen,le saux shading it. however i will go with eckersley as he was blackburn through and through, and he was not known for belting one of his own players during an important cup tie watched by millions on t.v. and making us a laughing stock throughout europe

we should go for hughes even if it means he stays part-time with wales.if he does come to us no doubt thoughts of eventually managing utd will already be in his mind but what the hell, if he does end up there via ewood at least we will have had some relatively successful season's[or they wouldn't want him]

newton was the best i've seen but the history books would all point to crompton as the most influential player we have ever had and thats not just rightbacks either.so for me its crompton as captain and rightback

had the news broken to me by a burnley fan and i was stunned to say the least. on one hand he has been our most successful manager since kenny but his transfers have left us in a weaker position of late. with another season already begining to look like a struggle maybe he needed to move on before his stock fell further. in fact i am surprised that newcastle have gone for him, but you can see it from souey's point of view this is probably his last chance at a bigger club.

wether it is good for us depends on who takes over and how they do of course but in the short term his depature is not good