Thetownend.com

For those of you who haven't seen this yet, this was uploaded on Friday to youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYCixfR6eJk

  :)

 Oh for a team like that now...

3 days later came the 4-3 win over Arsenal. What a season that was. All ended in disappointment but some real highs on the way.

Was in the town end for that one. Never a great fan of miller but he was superb that game. Went up there as well 0 0. Great season with a shit end.

I was in the town end for that game. It felt like we'd score with every attack.Happy days.

It was certainly full of talent and should have gone up that season, but they were absolutely shit awful away from home. Only 4 away wins all season if I remember correctly. And they collapsed after getting knocked out of both cups in the space of a couple of weeks.

On their day, though, still up there with Hoddle and Ardiles' teams as the best Town team I've seen play.

The advantage the Ardiles and Hoddle teams had was only needing to finish in the top 6 and their seasons stayed alive after automatic promotion had gone.

If sides like 69/70 and 79/80 had the fall back of the play offs then as strong cup sides they might have won promotion.

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I loved Miller one of my favourite wingers alongside Bobby Barnes, only played well at home though apart from away at Brentford that season where he was like a man possesed.

I was in the Town End for the Bury game too, their keeper John Forrest kept the score down below a cricket score that day.

My God we were so good when playing like that under Smith, for me as good as anything we saw under Ardiles, Hoddle etc when it was going well, away from home was a different matter though where we crumbled too often under slight pressure.

With the possible exception of Russell Lewis at right back who for me was a better centre back, any of that side would walk into almost any Swindon team since then.

Jimmy ALLAN   
Russell LEWIS   
Andy FORD   
Ray MCHALE   
Billy TUCKER   
Ken STROUD   
Ian MILLER   
Chris KAMARA   
Andy ROWLAND   
Alan MAYES   
Brian WILLIAMS   
Substitutes
Roy CARTER

Miller was push and run. Not a great deal of skill but very quick. Although I wasn't a great fan I'd love to have someone like him now. You don't get wingers like that now. Push the ball past the defender, beat him for pace, get to the byline and cross.
Never a fan of Barnes either. Thought he was lazy and arrogant. But again, he'd piss all over anything we've had recently.
Brian Willams though, what a player. Absolute nails.
Mayes and Rowland up front. What a pairing. Mc Hale, one of my all time favourites. That really was a great team.  There were some seriously hard players in that team, they could also play a bit. Billy Tucker equaliser at Arsenal. Great memories of that season.

I would have McHale, Kamara, Mayes, Rowland, Williams, Stroud & (for me) Miller in almost any team, when they played together as a unit we were almost unstoppable, except for the ref away at Wolves that season and Gerry Armstrong away at Spurs!

What a season that was, still by far and away my favourite season as a Town fan, better than the season we got promoted to the Prem for excitement and entertainment.

Other highlights were Rowland scoring 4 (all with his head IIRC) against Rotherham in a 6-2 win, winning away at Wimbledon and an away draw then a win at home to Stoke in the LC, winning at Luton in the FA cup, the Arsenal and Wolves games in the LC.

I would love to be able to watch the whole matches again on TV but they never covered them other than very quick highlights on HTV back then.

What a season, if only we were better away from home but after Spurs away the team were sat in 4th place in the table and seemed to lose something and it went downhill from then onwards.

Its a shame the younger fans will never experience a true full house at the County Ground, we had 22,000 against Arsenal and 26,000 against Wolves and Spurs that season plus a few 15,000+ crowds. Although I think there was nearer 30,000 vs Spurs than the 26,000 official figure.

Agree with a lot of that. It was the first "successful" Town side I had seen. The football was a joy to watch. Went to all those games you mentioned. I do think Tucker was a bit underrated and I remember Andy Ford being crap for a while before he came good. McHale was also pretty shit until X Mas and then never had another bad game for us. I think Mc Hale was my first real Town hero. Even moreso after the Pikey game.

I still have it in my mind (almost certainly incorrectly) that after the 6th or 7th goal agin Bury, Bury were trying to waste time to try and avoid a 10-0 or worse drubbing.

That week, inc the Arsenal matches, is my favourite week as a supporter. I’ve still got a grudge against Wolves for the cheating (in my mind) at Molyneux, and can still remember the Spurs crowd, never a tolerant one at the best of times, baying for Gerry Armstrong to be subbed at half time, don’t know why. He then scores 2 in the last 10 mins and becomes a hero.

Up till January, a brilliant season. As for the crowds, I’ve been told by an ex-Director is was common to undercount the declared crowd by about 4,000 in them days for the big matches. That’s why it always seemed packed! I feel very lucky to have followed the Town in those days - never to be repeated nowadays cos the big clubs will never play their first teams against the likes of us in the cups.

Russell Lewis was an honest trier, 300-odd senior matches for us and the Cobblers, with us in a poor team for 2 or 3 years. It didn’t surprise me when I came across this:

https://www.ntfc.co.uk/news/2015/june/community-hero-presented-with-outstanding-contribution-accolade/

The comment about the attendance does not come as a surprise I have never been so crushed in at a match, you couldn't move an inch in the Town End for the Spurs game, the only real bit I remember was them setting fire to the programme kiosk behind the bank...oh and about 200 of them on top of the Shrivvy Road roof and up the floodlights.

Russell Lewis was a solid defender but wasn't really a fullback, when he moved to centre back he had a few great games (and a few awful ones!) for us.

The other right back John Templeman was a bit lightweight so RB was a difficult spot to fill all season really I remember we signed him on a free from Exeter, only played 27 times for us before being released.

McHale and Kamara....what a pair of hard nuts in midfield we had then, both great tacklers, took no prisoners, could both pass and shoot, McHale had one of the hardest shots in football back then.

Andy Ford was solid not brilliant but good enough, but then Smith looked on him as a weak link which is why we paid the silly £150k for Peach which was a massive amount at the time, probably the equivalent of several million these days because the same season Trevor Francis became Britains most expensive footballer at £1m, no Div 3 club got anywhere near that sort of fee for a player.

But we all know that didn't end well.

Tucker was definately underrated, massive lump signed from Bury for £5k

Don’t think I will ever see such times again.
The TE was loud, very loud.
Not forgetting the games against Swansea, Watford (motd) and Gillingham.
Sadly I took it for granted. Still remember like it was yesterday.
Being a Pompey family Kamara was my hero and joint favourite all time player with Andy Rolland.
McHale, Mayes, Windy, Animal.......fucking hell.
Arsenal home and away and that Tucker header at Highbury the Clock End to this day was moving.

Kamara scoring on his home debut, a diving header in the Bank and running to celebrate in front of the TE against the team he signed from.

And and and.......... what an era.
Home we were good, away hit and miss. Defence if anything was not the best but Midfield and up front not many could live with us.

Great times . Brilliant memories. I was in the shrivvie road for bury and Spurs,Town end v arsenal and Stratton bank v wolves. Remember arsenal lining up on the half way line but swindon had more numbers ,wolves fighting amongst themselves and Spurs? 6 coach loads came up the Sunday before to buy tickets in the town end . They had a massive mob . The only time I have ever felt concerned at a game at home. Our fans though we're really loud even at 7k games. And my best times as a fan

Oh and David peach was as big a waste of money as jason drysdale ( who once bought me beer all night at the tavern melksham ) joey cry baby beau champ and Glenn cocker ill

I remember those days - Miller & Williams pouring down the wings, McHale creating everything and big Chris Kamara bossing the midfield.
And I haven't even mentioned Rowland/Mayes up front, and Stroudy at the back.

We were spoilt in them days

For those of us of a certain age this was the first half decent team we'd ever seen, having had to live with the fact that we'd missed the '69 era yet had to live with being reminded of it week in week out by the slightly older generation. Before Macari turned the club round my mates and I used to refer to '79/80 reverentially as 'The Season' and we never believed we'd see the likes again. The biggest crowds we were now seeing had become those for the annual firework display in November!
Hopefully the lesson for us all now is to hang on in there and hope?

Spare a thought for the previous season 78-79 as well.

Three points for a win would have seen us promoted.
Or a win & a draw from the final two games.
Ending the season with 3 away games was always going to be difficult though.
So near and yet so far in the pre play off years.

The cup runs of 79-80 were a fantastic experience.
Well remember the second goal against Wolves and still celebrating on the Stratton Bank when Rowland so nearly made it three.
A couple of Noddy Holder lookalike Wolves fans turned around, shaking their heads and saying that a one goal lead would not be enough.
Sadly they were proved correct but maybe not in the manner they had envisaged.

Great thread, great memories. I was on the Stratton bank for that one. Thanks.