Mid January and Burnley, bottom of the league, have won one league game all season. If that were us, we’d be miles adrift and cut off from the rest. If Burnley win on Tuesday, they’re out of the bottom three. Unbelievable. Come on Watford. Absolute key game for both clubs.

It was Waggy, hadn’t realised it was on that day, 2 Jan 1971.

I went to the FA Cup tie at Goodson in January 1971 and sat in their (fairly new at the time) triple decker stand down the side. Everton won 2-0.

Too right. Players wore Adidas in the 1958 World Cup but it wasn’t until the 1962 competition that the style of Adidas boots morphed into the more modern version and what became the ‘industry standard.’

Shamelessly nicked from a local Facebook site. April 1960, a month before the FA Cup final. What would this team be worth today? Millions upon millions.. Bryan Douglas, Ronnie Clayton, Dave Whelan, Mick McGrath, Matt Woods, Peter Dobing, Derek Dougan, Ally MacLeod, Louis Bimpson, John Bray, Eddie Thomas, Harry Leyland.

I was sat square behind the nets, fifth row up from the front. I got to witness the Pears horror show from very close quarters. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing. In fact, I’ve never seen ‘owt like it in my 55 years following the lads. As a season ticket holder at the DW for the Rugby League, I generally come away from the stadium in a happy mood. Not very often when watching the Rovers. Wigan have become a bit of a bogey team, especially at their place.

Great couple of nights in Ross-on-Wye which we used as a base. Spurs thought that they only had to turn up to get the trophy. What a shame. We shifted our allocation of 30k tickets without them going on general sale. Crawled out of Cardiff after the game, it seemed to take an age, even when we reached the M4. When we reached the A449, we went our way, the Spurs fans carried on down the M4. There was a services type area with eateries at that junction which was absolutely awash with Rovers fans in their shirts. Never seen so many away from any stadium we’ve played at, looked superb. Top game too, watched it in full a couple of months ago. Small town, big history, big trophy cabinet. Can’t take away the memories.

It was always Burnley for us Darreners but Bolton were a very close second. In the early 70s, there was load of trouble at a youth club near the railway station when a group from Bolton came over. I also remember, early to mid 70s, a big banner being strung up over Bolton Road saying, ‘Last Chance Bolton.’ Never sure whether it meant for Bolton beating us or some reference to a fight between the fans. You can also throw into the mix the fact that many Boltonians come over the hill to live in Darwen and also that Darwen Grammar School/Darwen Vale’s catchment area included Turton which, strangely, is part of Blackburn with Darwen. Despite all that, main rivals have always been the Clarettes.

Don’t think that’s correct mate. The only thing they’ve got on us is that their highest average attendance for a season is higher than ours. 32k when they won the league in 1960, against our 30k in 1958-59. Other than that, old Ewood was bigger than old Turf Moor, new Ewood is bigger than new Turf Moor, our record attendance is bigger than theirs and our major honours blow them out the water, 10 to their paltry 3. Their trophy cabinet is full of dust.

Here’s an entry from a kits website, showing the ‘Maltese Cross’ shirts. Not sure I’ve seen any photos of us in those kits but I’ll have a look at some point.

This style, without the badge.

I know of a coach going from one of the Darwen pubs. Apparently, we’ve sold ‘just short of a thousand.’

A few days ago, I heard of two Darreners who each had a £20 bet @ 1000 to 1. They’ve agreed to share winnings, so have cashed out at £10,000 on one bet (£5k each) and are keeping the second bet alive, hoping that it comes in by the end of the season.

A stalwart. Happy Birthday Faz.

Can someone please drag Micah Richards out of the studio and then keep on dragging him away from punditry altogether.

After recently seeing Genesis in Liverpool, then Steve Hackett in Carlisle, I’m giving both some serious airplay. Away from his solo stuff, Steve Hackett generally concentrates on the early Genesis numbers, so that gig was certainly special.

You’re forgiven my son.. But your penance will be three hundred Hail Marys before the ninety minutes are up.

For me, Newcastle needs to done in stages. Firstly a half decent manager to keep them up, then stabilise them. No doubt they’ll then jettison that guy and throw money at some foreign manager/coach to try and elevate them to a Man City or Chelsea. Trouble is, there are now several PL clubs owned by multi billionaires who are more than prepared to splash the cash and, as each year goes by, that number is increasing. Chelsea, the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Aston Villa. Not sure of the wealth behind Leicester, Wolves and Everton but they could well be in the ‘billions’ bracket as well. And now Newcastle. It just needs another two or three take overs at this sort of level and there will then be around 14 clubs in the PL who will probably never be relegated because of the money behind them. The remaining 6 clubs will end up as ‘yo yo’ clubs between the PL and the Championship. The likes of Palace, Southampton, Watford etc. Virtually a closed shop. Anyway, let’s hope it takes Newcastle years or better still goes t!ts up. Unfortunately, it won’t.

My lad cashed in his bet, by the way, for £6k. Not bad for a £10 stake. Sensible decision, I think.

To lighten the mood somewhat..

Everything about Newcastle is a cross between a pantomime and a circus.

The useless, stay away owners adopt a strategy of silence. Despite everything thrown at us since November 2010, we the supporters, adopt a strategy of silence. If the status quo remains, how are we ever going to get out of this mess? You couldn’t make it up. Fans of other clubs must look at us and think we’re getting what we deserve.

It was mayhem bazza! Rocks, bricks were being hurled around and fights were breaking out everywhere. Bolton away was always a nightmare, partly because their fans are a set of knuckle dragging Neanderthals and partly because the police never gave two hoots.

This is a photo from our defeat to Manchester United in May 1966. At first glance, it looks like a full scale pitch invasion but it’s just fans moving from the Blackburn End to the Darwen End at half time.

It was in the early 70s as hooliganism was taking hold. As a Darrener, I used to enter the ground at the Darwen End turnstiles and if we were kicking towards that end in the first half, we stayed put. Otherwise, we stood on the Riverside, about two thirds the way to the half way line. I started going in 1966 and you could get to the Blackburn End from the Riverside but it was through a relatively narrow gap. I remember us playing a ‘friendly’ versus the Clarettes in 1970 and winning 2-0. Rovers fans came from the Blackburn End, through the Riverside and into the Darwen End, late in the game, to attack the Burnley fans, so you could still change ends then. Even for a fight 😆. Certainly, by the mid 70s there was a fence inbetween the Darwen End and the Riverside and the small gap inbetween the Bburn End and the Riverside had been removed. To answer your question, I would guess in 1971 or 1972.