45 years ago tonight

[Bryan Tregunna]

I was there too. 29,000 was a big crowd even in those days and am I right in remembering that it was 32,000 for the Saturday afternoon game against Charlton?
And travelling up in a compartment full of your mates in the Football Special!

 

[Green as Grass]

It is incredible to think this was 45 years ago. I remember it like it was yesterday. As others have said the 28,744 crowd created a tremendous atmosphere. I was in the Grandstand with my father. A few seats away from us was Rita Tushingham and her husband. At the time they were living in Polperro and were regular visitors to Home Park. For those of you too young to remember Rita Tushingham you might like to google her.
Argyle won 2-1 with the Blackburn goal coming in injury time. The Derek Fazackerley who played for Blackburn that night is the current Oxford United Assistant Manager. He was a great stalwart at Blackburn Rovers making 596 appearances for them over a period of nearly 20 years.
Tony Waiters had Home Park buzzing that season with several attendances over 20,000 the highest being 38,000 against Everton in the FA Cup 4th Round just 10 days prior to the Blackburn match.
Great memories.

 

[mercedes]

I too was there. What a match! And what a performance from Billy Rafferty!

 

[Pogleswoody]

I wasn't there. In my final year at Uni (well Poly then!! ) in East London.
Actually had to do some work and go to a few lectures!! :sad:
Obviously went to a few games that year. Good team eh? :scarf:

Btw: Rita Tushingham (looking a mite older) is in Agatha Christie's A Pale Horse on BBC this weekend.

 

[Kentishgreen]

I think you’d be hard pushed to get a third tier game with such a crowd these days. Almost seems like yesterday. Note to the Thatcherites and Luddites who think you have to sit down and constantly feed yourself at a football match, the vast majority of that crowd stood safely and considerately and enjoyed an effing brilliant football match.

 

[Larry David]

Yes I was there 15 years old in the Mayflower. Brilliant game just a couple of years earlier Brian Johnson was my dinner monitor at school

 

[Balham Green]

I was there too. 29,000 was a big crowd even in those days and am I right in remembering that it was 32,000 for the Saturday afternoon game against Charlton?
And travelling up in a compartment full of your mates in the Football Special!

Pretty sure it was biggest League crowd of the season. Curiously bigger than the promotion night v Col. U

 

[Balham Green]

I think you’d be hard pushed to get a third tier game with such a crowd these days. Almost seems like yesterday. Note to the Thatcherites and Luddites who think you have to sit down and constantly feed yourself at a football match, the vast majority of that crowd stood safely and considerately and enjoyed an effing brilliant football match.

Sunderland regularly get such crowds and bigger.
Seeing the packed terraces its amazing a tragedy didnt happen somewhere before Hillsborough.

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

I think you’d be hard pushed to get a third tier game with such a crowd these days. Almost seems like yesterday. Note to the Thatcherites and Luddites who think you have to sit down and constantly feed yourself at a football match, the vast majority of that crowd stood safely and considerately and enjoyed an effing brilliant football match.

Sunderland regularly get such crowds and bigger.
Seeing the packed terraces its amazing a tragedy didnt happen somewhere before Hillsborough.

Indeed. Sunderland's average home attendance is over 30,000 this season

So what happened to that team? Argyle left my lot behind in the Third Division that season and it took us another two years to get our promotion but Argyle and Palace didn't meat again until 1986. Why were they not a building block?

 

[Andy Maidenhead]

I was thirteen...probably the greatest game I ever saw at HP....brings tears to.my eyes now. Recollect their manager ..Gordon Lee..terrified me as he looked like Dracula!
3 phenomenal teams got promoted that year...Blackburn n Charlton subsequently got to top tier..
We Pilgrims patiently wait!

Digressing slightly..Waiters had a tremendous team..and also next season in Old Div 2...all ruined by sly old fox Ipswich manager Bobby Robson exchanging 2 crocked players (John Peddelty n Terry Austin) for Mariner.
That was start of our demise for many decades tbh

 

[Green as Grass]

I was thirteen...probably the greatest game I ever saw at HP....brings tears to.my eyes now. Recollect their manager ..Gordon Lee..terrified me as he looked like Dracula!
3 phenomenal teams got promoted that year...Blackburn n Charlton subsequently got to top tier..
We Pilgrims patiently wait!

Digressing slightly..Waiters had a tremendous team..and also next season in Old Div 2...all ruined by sly old fox Ipswich manager Bobby Robson exchanging 2 crocked players (John Peddelty n Terry Austin) for Mariner.
That was start of our demise for many decades tbh

I agree absolutely. Tony Waiters had done a great job at Argyle but at the end of the 75-76 season he started to lose the plot. Firstly he sold Billy Rafferty to Carlisle for the giveaway price of £20,000 when Rafferty had no wish to leave and was still a fans favourite. Then at the start of the 76-77 season Paul Mariner had become a hot property. We had cash offers of £300.000 from West Ham and West Brom but Mariner wanted to go to Ipswich who were unable to match the cash offers. Instead they offered £100.000 plus John Peddelty and Terry Austin which Tony Waiters agreed to. Neither of those players did well at Argyle. Peddelty eventually had to retire because of an injury he sustained prior to joining Argyle. Austin was a very poor replacement for Paul Mariner. There is no doubt we were stitched up over the deal and in my opinion Tony Waiters acted in Paul Mariners interest and not Plymouth Argyles. There is no way in normal circumstances that Waiters would have signed those players.
Waiters relationship with the Board deteriorated and he was sacked before the end of the season and Argyle were relegated back to the 3rd Tier of the Football League where they would remain for the next 9 seasons.

 

[IJN]

West Ham actually signed Mariner, over a weekend, but Tony Waiters overruled the Chairman and the rest is history.

West Ham reported us to the FA calling us a 'Horrible little Club'.

This was according to Graham Little and his recent 'Evening With............' at the GT Suite.

 

[Tynan One Nil]

I was there in the Mayflower- now there was a rousing song still remembered by all to this day - Oh Billy, Billy- Billy Billy Rafferty!

 

[Kentishgreen]

I always thought it was Robert Daniel who sold Rafferty not Tony Waiters.

 

[Ron Tate]

I remember being there in that crowd standing in the popular side as it used to be known. Now the Lyndhurst of course. Interesting times for me. It was the year I managed to get out of the Navy.