Recalling Signs along the Way

Recalling Signs along the Way

A couple of weeks ago I met up with a Wigan Athletic fan that has a treasure trove of stories concerning our club, not all of them printable! His name is Brian Meadows and quite a lot of fans will already know him but for those who don’t you will have seen his handiwork around town and beyond because Brian is a sign writer and artist of some repute. Here is Brian’s story.

I first started going to the latics when I was 10 years old with Bob Smalley a well known dustbin man from Hindley. Bob was a regular in my Grandad’s first pub “The Bonnie Lasses” in Hindley and he was latics mad. I started going to the football on my own when I was old enough, round about when Allan Brown was the manager.

When I left school I went to Art College and my first job for latics was painting the signs for the Ladies and Gent’s toilets at Springfield. I got a job with a Design Studio in Manchester doing artwork for mail order catalogues but I got the sack because of football! The World Cup was being held in England in 1966 and on this particular day I was looking out the office window when I saw the Portugal squad being shown round the city. I asked the two lads I was in the office with to cover for me while I went out to get the squad autographs but they told the boss what I had done and I was sacked at the end of the week but I did get Eusébio’s autograph!

So I decided to go back to Art College and in the summer holidays I worked in a Travel Agents. The manager of the shop asked me would I paint some posters so I did. I ended up being offered a job by a local sign writers and it was there that I met Doreen my future wife. She was a sign writer too and eventually we set up our own business. One of our clients was Wigan Athletic and I did all the posters around town advertising their next home games. One day I was putting one up outside the old Bee’s Knee’s pub in town and a bloke going past said “Nobody reads them” So to prove a point I put it on upside down. The day after Derek Fuller, who was the Commercial Manager at Wigan, rang me up to say they had loads of complaints about the poster being upside down!

Back then all the posters were painted by hand not like today where you press a button. We finished up doing posters for Wigan Rugby, Bolton Wanderers, Preston NE, Rochdale, Blackburn Rovers etc. We had that much work that’s why we set up on our own. We had a little lad by now so Doreen worked from home doing the painting in the front room which we had converted and we had a shed out back.  We called our company DM Posters after Doreen Meadows. We painted everything on plywood so you had to prime it, undercoat it and top coat it before you even started with the lettering.

One of the biggest jobs we had was doing the “Port Petroleum” sign across the top of the old Phoenix Stand. We had to clear everything from the front room lounge, television, settee everything! The plywood was 10 foot tall. I said to Doreen “We need a bigger place” so we bought a premises in King Street Hindley and we were there for around 40 years. I did a lot of the signs at Wigan Athletic for nothing because I was a big fan. I got a phone call from Brian Hamilton one Thursday saying the Wigan Observer were sponsoring Saturday’s game but they wanted a sign up on the Popular Side cover. I told him we would be pushed for time to get that done but we’d sort it. Myself and Doreen were up all night painting and drying plywood with hairdryers! Dave Pinch the grounds man put the floodlights on for us on the Friday.

Here we were at 11-30pm at night on the top of the Popular Stand in the pouring rain putting this sign up when police sirens rang out about the place. Suddenly we were confronted by policemen with an Alsatian telling us we were under arrest for pinching lead! Anyway we got it done in time despite the police intervention. On another occasion we got asked to put up a “Welcome to Wigan” sign on one of the floodlights when we played Moscow Torpedo in a friendly but the sign had to be in the Russian language. My Dad put the sign on upside down much to the bemusement of the Russian players.

We did all the signs for the Wigan Casino Northern Soul nights too and Richard Searling the Northern Soul DJ recently asked me to do some for their upcoming anniversary shows. I started doing portrait painting with Doreen and the first one we did was for Graham Oates at Wigan Athletic followed by Dave Thompson and Alex Cribley. Then we moved onto boxing. The first boxer we did was Barry McGuigan but my boxing hero was Tommy Hearns and I did one of him for myself. Tommy found out about it and invited me over to America on an all expenses paid trip! We keep in touch to this day and I’ve been back a few times to see him. I’ve met many boxers including Muhammad Ali who kindly signed some prints for us.

We met Ali on several occasions through our role as the official artists for the Lonsdale International Sporting Club. Ali described myself and Doreen as “the greatest sporting artists of all-time” Many of the fight game’s all-time greats are proud owners of our paintings including Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson, Willie Pep, Floyd Patterson, Ali, Marvin Hagler, Julio Cesar Chavez, Naseem Hamed and of course the legendary Detroit hitman Thomas Hearns. I’ve also met Donald Trump and Prince (now King) Charles in the past and asked them both are they “awreet”

Thank you to Brian for agreeing to the interview, he’s a real gentleman who is definitely “Awreet”

Tony Topping

Derek Temple

(Wigan against Great Harwood. left to right, Bryan Douglas, Ronnie Clayton, Gordon Milne and Derek Temple. Four ex England_ Internationals)

The Derek Temple Interview

Picture the scene, it’s a couple of minutes before 10am on a Sunday morning and you’re about to phone one of your heroes to do an interview. Would you be a little nervous? I was though I don’t know why, after all I’d already spoken to this hero before but back then I was a 16 year old kid getting out of his car after he had given me a lift home from Springfield Park. I’ll admit my conversation with this latics legend back then only consisted of one word “thanks”.

The phone rang several times before the person on the other side answered “Hello” and so began my chat with the man who scored the winning goal in the 1966 FA Cup Final the great Derek Temple.

Derek you made your first league appearance for Everton aged 18 on Saturday 30^th March 1957 against Newcastle United at Goodison Park in a 2-1 win. Do you remember much about the game?

“Not really apart from their Captain Jimmy Scoular who was a rough so and so. I played centre forward that day and I kept challenging their keeper for the ball and he was dropping it. Scoular was going mad and he told the keeper to get his knees up against me. The next time I went up for the ball the keeper kneed me in the stomach knocking all the wind out of me. While I was lay there gasping for air Scoular stood over me saying how do you like that then? Later on in the game he took me out in a tackle and it’s a good job I was quick or I could have suffered some serious damage. Eventually I had to be carried off the field on a stretcher after I got kicked in the chin by one player and I was bleeding. Quite an introduction to league football and I did assist with the winning goal too.”

You were an established player in the Everton team and created a great partnership with Dave Hickson up front when you were called up to do your National Service. How frustrating was that?

“Well it was just part of life back then, you just got on with. In terms of my career it cost me a lot of games and I missed around three years in total. I ended up in Kenya with the Kings Regiment and I did learn a lot especially the discipline side of things. It was a good experience but on reflection those three years I missed playing football could have made a big difference to my career.

On the 12^th of May 1965 you gained an England cap making your debut against West Germany in Nuremberg and England won the game 1-0. What are your memories of the game and what was Sir Alf Ramsey like?

“Yes it was prior to the World Cup the following year and I did make the initial 40 man squad for the World Cup but Alf had a plan to play without wingers and that was my playing position now. I was put on standby just in case we had any injuries. My Everton teammate Ray Wilson did make the squad though and it would have been nice to been in with him. Sir Alf was a very good tactician and got his points across very well, I found him alright. Like most managers if you tried your best they treated you fairly. Certainly all the managers I played for treated you that way”

In 1966 you scored what every football loving kid dreams of, the winning goal in an FA Cup Final when Everton came from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

“I remember that goal very vividly, Colin Harvey played a long ball out of defence towards the right side of the field. I was a left winger but I’d wandered over to that side because you don’t stand still in a game. Gerry Young the Sheffield Wednesday player was favourite to get the ball but he tried to trap it and it rolled under his boot and ran loose. I latched onto it and ran towards the goal which at the time seemed a long way off. I had plenty of time to think what to do. Ron Springett the keeper didn’t come dashing out so I couldn’t chip him so I just aimed for the bottom corner and hit it and it went in. It was a feeling of utter relief when the ball hit the net”

After leaving Everton you joined Preston North End for a couple of seasons before joining non-league Wigan Athletic in time for the 1970/71 season. What attracted you to the club and did manager Gordon Milne play a big part in your decision to sign for Wigan?

“Well you know when your time is up at a club and that’s what happened at Everton. I was on the periphery of the first team and it was my time to go though I didn’t want to leave Everton. I met Jimmy Milne who was manager of Preston and I just took to him, he was a really nice man and another reason for signing was that I live in Ormskirk so I didn’t need to move house which was important. Unfortunately Jimmy left and we had another two managers in that short spell I was there. Gordon Milne got in touch with me and he was just like his dad Jimmy another gentleman who I got along with so I signed for Wigan. I liked Gordon’s attitude to the game, he didn’t think too much about the defensive side of the game. He used to say if they score 3 we’ll score four and he built a team to do that full of attacking players. The Northern Premier League was a good league with teams like Macclesfield, Altrincham, Stafford Rangers etc good sides”

What was that side like to play in?

“We had some good players, a few of them coming to the end of their careers but a lot of experience on the field. I was talking to Mike Summerbee a few years ago at Ray Wilson’s funeral and he reminded me about the time Manchester City played Wigan in the FA Cup at Maine Road in 1971. Mike said he remembered the game well and went through the Wigan team. He said “Bobby Todd was like a little dynamo in midfield, the City players thought it was going to be a replay and they didn’t fancy playing at Springfield Park, City would have had their work cut out there”

“We had a really good team for a non-league club, Graham Oates was a good seasoned professional who had played for Blackpool, we used to call him “Titus Oates”. Geoff Davies a lovely lad, big raw boned striker who could score goals, he put himself about. Big Dougie Coutts our centre half was a good friend of mine. He lived near me so we would have it turns driving to Wigan and back. The team was a happy band Ian Gillibrand had a good engine on him, got around the pitch, stocky and strong.  Billy Sutherland another good player, Bobby Todd and Kenny Morris could get stuck in, Jim Fleming was a very good footballer a Scottish lad as were a few in our team David Breen being another, a little tricky winger. Jim Savage was good but like Breen they couldn’t get in the side on a regular basis.”

“All the staff were great at Wigan Kenny Banks our trainer was a really good man, always had a laugh with him. Frank Postlethwaite the Secretary of the club was a nice man, it was a good atmosphere at the club. Mr Arthur Horrocks the Chairman had a travel agency and at the end of the season we went on a 10 day trip to Majorca that was good, we enjoyed it.”

Did any games stand out for you at Wigan?

“Apart from the Manchester City game I would think the game against Peterborough United at home in the FA Cup was special. The supporters were brilliant but of course if you are playing exciting football they will take to you. The fans want to see goals and of course good results. On the other side of the coin we were disappointed to lose at home to Hillingdon Borough in the FA Trophy. They were managed by Jimmy Langley who I knew quite well from his Fulham days. Winning the Championship was a highlight but it was disappointing when we didn’t get enough votes to get into the Football League. Wigan should have got in the Football League years before they did it was a closed shop with all the clubs looking after one another. You vote for us and we’ll vote for you kind of thing. Thankfully Wigan did eventually get in and they’ve done very well since, good luck to them.”

The following season 1971/72 you got an injury in pre season and it eventually led you to retire from the game.

“Yes I got a bad groin injury and I couldn’t shake it off, in the end I had an operation to try and sort it out. I felt great after that, no pain at all. I trained well and I think I was selected to play at Chorley but sadly it went again in that game when I tried to move quickly. I went to see a specialist and he told me I needed complete rest and that I had to be careful because my abductor muscle could rip anytime and it could spread to my stomach muscles and I would have problems then. So that was it, I decided to call it a day and I had a little Post Office near Aintree Racecourse. I was a qualified football coach and with hindsight I wish I had stayed in the game but I didn’t. People used to say to me “Why didn’t you go into management?” and I’d reply because there’s easier ways of getting ulcers” “I also did some work at Everton in the hospitality suites, on the microphone and answering questions from the fans and I really enjoy that and I get a warm welcome.”

Have you been to watch Wigan Athletic recently Derek?

“I haven’t been to the new ground, well I say new it’s been there a while and I would love to go back sometime . I did play for the Wigan Athletic ex player’s association bowling green team and I enjoyed that but we’ve not played for a while. We had some good bowlers at Wigan, we played Bolton Wanderers, the Wigan Rugby team St Helens rugby etc but it’s tailed off recently because of the pandemic. I enjoy my Crown Green bowling and it would be great if we started playing again.”  

I’d like to thank Derek for his time and his great memories of a wonderful career. He played in my favourite Wigan Athletic team and created a lasting impression on the 16 year old me even though he doesn’t remember giving me a lift home. All the very best Derek and hope to see you at a Wigan game soon!

Special thanks to George Chilvers and Rob Sawyer of the Everton FC Heritage Society for help with contacting Derek.

Tony Topping

The Jigsaw Man

The Jigsaw Man

It’s no secret that my favourite Wigan Athletic team of all time is the one that was crowned champions in 1970/71. One of the final pieces of the jigsaw in that incredible season was the signing of Graham Oates. He slotted into that inside/outside right position so quickly it was like he’d always been there. I managed to catch up with Graham recently and here’s what he had to say about that marvellous season and his career.

How did you end up signing for Blackpool when you lived in Scunthorpe?

I played for Scunthorpe United Reserves as an amateur when I was still a schoolboy at 15 but I wanted to move away so I applied for a trial at Blackpool. So I travelled over to Blackpool and there were 300 trialists and for some unknown reason they signed me on as an apprentice. I was Blackpool’s first professional apprentice it had only come in that year 1960. Because I had experience at Scunthorpe they put me into the reserves at 16yrs of age which was quite a good thing. The Central League was a great experience; we travelled all over Aston Villa, Wolves, Newcastle, Manchester United and City etc. It was a good league and you were playing against experienced internationals every week. I spent eight years at Blackpool which I absolutely loved and I didn’t want to leave but eventually I did and I finished up at Grimsby Town which was the biggest mistake of my life. From there my next move was a fantastic one when I came to Wigan!

Blackpool had some great players at the club at that time including a certain Stanley Matthews

Yes I finished up playing in the last five games Stan played at Blackpool, he was 46 and I was 17 and at 46 years of age Sir Stan was quicker than most 25yr olds. He was way ahead of his time regarding fitness and diet and he was a great influence on me besides being a lovely fellow as well. Stan moved on to Stoke and I stayed at Blackpool until 1968. I believe I played 130 first team games which were mostly in the top division. I was at the club when young players Alan Ball and Emlyn Hughes arrived and left. Ball was phenomenal so enthusiastic and I never met a player who had he fitness levels he had. We wouldn’t have won the World Cup in 1966 if he hadn’t been playing, he was superb. Emlyn was a raw recruit but Liverpool saw the potential in him and developed him into a great player. The best person the world for me was Jimmy Armfield, he was my idol. Jimmy was voted the best full back in the world in 1962. I’ve still not got over his death I’ll never know another person like him, a wonderful man.

And then you moved to Grimsby Town

Yes I had to move on and the time was right to leave but unfortunately I made the wrong choice. The manager at Grimsby was Bill Harvey, smashing guy and I really signed for him. Now Grimsby paid quite a bit of money for me but what I couldn’t understand was why they sold their best players in the following three weeks after I arrived? I thought I was signing for an ambitious club but they were really badly run. Another thing was it was never warm! I was there two year and it was always freezing over there! At the end of the season I told the board I couldn’t stay any longer and I wanted to move away.

Then came your move to Wigan Athletic

Yes fortunately my old mate Gordon Milne brought me to Wigan. He kept ringing me up saying “I’m doing my best to get you to Wigan but I’m struggling with the people at Grimsby” I said “Gordon you’ll always struggle with the people at Grimsby” I did have the chance to go and play in South Africa but I’m glad I chose Wigan. I just felt at home when I arrived at Wigan, the people of Wigan were absolutely brilliant with me.

How did the training at Wigan Athletic differ from your days in the First Division?

Well I think I was the only full time professional at the club at the time but Gordon was brilliant. If you remember we always had two games every week back then with Lancashire Cups etc which was brilliant for me because it kept you fit. At Grimsby they would have me doing cross country runs on a Thursday and they did a lot of weight training. Weight training? I had a job picking the kettle up! I lost all my speed doing this kind of work and that was my main asset. At Wigan Gordon did everything the Liverpool way and the training was geared up to become fitter after Christmas until the end of the season. After two or three weeks at Wigan I got my speed back and I felt great.

You mentioned the supporters at Wigan being brilliant with you?

Back in the those days after matches we would go into the supporters club at Springfield Park and have a chat with the fans about the game. I’d just have a shandy and people would be coming up to me wanting to buy me a drink but I’d refuse because I had to drive back home to the Fylde. The amount of Wigan people who said “Nay Graham tha’s not gooin home toneet tha can stay at our house lad” It was brilliant I really felt wanted at Wigan and of course we were playing great football. Wigan were the best non league side in England at the time. At Grimsby Town the spectators would moan before we even came out on the pitch “Oh what’s he playing for?” but when you came out at Wigan the atmosphere was fantastic, it seemed like I couldn’t do wrong.

I’ll tell you something I wouldn’t have been presented with a painting at Grimsby like I was at Wigan! We were playing at Springfield Park one Easter and I was out on the field warming up for kick off when the tannoy announced “WILL GRAHAM OATES COME TO THE PLAYERS TUNNEL PLEASE!” I thought blimey what’s up, has something happened at home? When I got over there I was presented with this big portrait of me, I couldn’t believe it I was in tears, it was so emotional. I still have it 50 years later and tell Brian Meadows the artist I’m thinking of selling it to the National Gallery! I was just so honoured to receive it.

The stand out game that season was the FA Cup game away to Manchester City, what was that like?

To be quite honest I’ve never been has disappointed in my life because we should have got a result that day. We were unlucky with the goal we conceded and Geoff Davies had two great chances to score. Billy Sutherland didn’t give Mike Summerbee a sniff, Dougie Coutts sorted Franny Lee out, we definitely deserved something from that game. It wouldn’t have been played today. Half the pitch was in the shade and it was frozen solid and the other half was soft so what the hell do you wear on your feet? It was a great experience and we enjoyed it but the result was disappointing but that’s football for you.

What were your feelings at the end of the 1970/71 season when we didn’t get into the Football League?

It was a different system back in those days, a case of I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine and it was totally wrong. It was very disappointing but you just have to get on with it. I felt sorry for players like Kenny Morris who I felt could have played in the Football League but a lot of the players had jobs of course alongside playing football like Dougie Coutts and Billy Sutherland etc who might have been reluctant to give their jobs up. Jimmy Fleming was a great player, lovely lad, quiet never got upset about anything. Bobby Todd was totally different to Jim, I think he wanted to get sent off every game! Good aggressive ball winner. Then we had little Davy Breen who I think was probably a bit upset when Wigan signed me because I took over his position on the wing but he did well for us.

All good things come to an end unfortunately and you eventually moved on from Wigan.

Yes it was a very difficult decision to move on but I needed a job. My career in football was catching up with me a bit and I was feeling the strain a bit more with aches and pains. I wasn’t really into coaching etc and didn’t want to stay in football after I saw what happened at Grimsby Town plus I didn’t want to keep moving around the country like you do with football but I needed a full time job for the rest of my life. I enrolled in the licensing trade learning the ropes working part time and a full time position came up at the Guild Hall in Preston so I applied and I got the job. Big mistake!

My life is full of mistakes apart from my decision to join Wigan. I found myself working 70 hours a week and the responsibilities were enormous. I was in charge of six full time staff and 40 part time workers. I continued to play for Wigan’s reserve team whenever I could but it all got too much. I stuck at the job for 18 months and then left with no other job to go to. I was still at Wigan but we’d had changes in management and I lost a bit of contact with the club.

Anyway I finished up working two minutes from where I live. I was approached by the manager of British Aerospace AFC to play for their club. I told him I was applying for jobs all over the place so I couldn’t commit to playing until I had a job. Anyway the manager of the club asked round at the firm and he got me an interview with them. I remember going for this interview thinking “I don’t know anything about aeroplanes and I’ve never been in a factory in my life so I’ll have to keep talking to this bloke to stop him asking me any questions!” I went in the office all set for this interrogation and his first question was “When can you start?” So I thought this will do me until I get another job and I ended up staying there 26 years until I retired!

British Aerospace Football Club

So I ended up signing for the football club and we did really well. We won the cup for the first time and got promoted. Then the manager left and I took over but I didn’t enjoy coaching. I wasn’t good at team tactics but I could improve individual players. I played until I was 40 in local leagues but I should have retired earlier. What I really wish I had done was to take up cycling earlier. I started when I was 40 and I’ve had some wonderful trips cycling. I still go out now on my bike doing 50 or 60 miles so if you see me wobbling about and you’re driving your car give me plenty of room!

Do you still look out for Wigan Athletics’ results and what was your favourite game of that 70/71season?

Always, I look for Blackpool’s first and then Wigan’s and my favourite game was against Peterborough United in the FA Cup second round at Springfield Park in front of over 17,000 spectators. I loved Springfield Park it had character, not just the ground of course it was the people there. Scoring goals for Wigan was brilliant and in my last full season there I scored quite a few from midfield. I remember one goal against Stafford Rangers in the FA Challenge Trophy semi final replay at Oldham when poor Mickey Worswick did all the hard work and the ball just fell to me to put it in! Mickey made it and I got all the glory. The Challenge Trophy Final against Scarborough was a big disappointment, we just didn’t play. I wasn’t a great fan of the latics manager Les Rigby and I thought that when we got to Wembley there was too much emphasis on everything but football. We had a nice hotel and so and so but we didn’t concentrate on the game itself.

But you would have thought we had won the European Cup when we came back to Wigan!  I couldn’t believe the crowds that came out to meet us. The whole of Wigan must have turned out and that’s another lovely memory that I have about Wigan people, absolutely fantastic. I still have my number 8 shirt that I wore at Wembley and it’s the only shirt I’ve kept from my football career. The only medal I’ve kept is the runners up medal from Wembley and that’s probably because its nine carat gold just in case I need some money in the future!

Thank you to Graham for giving the time up to do the interview and he’s another ex Wigan Athletic player who loves the club.

Tony Topping

Young Hearts Run Free

Young Hearts Run Free

Back in the mid 1970’s one of my favourite nights out was Sunday in the Stork pub up in Marsh Green. Could have been an intimidating place to an outsider and I was from Worsley Hall but all my mates lived in Marsh Green and I knew most of the clientele.

The crowd was probably split 50/50 between young men and young girls so romance and lust was always in the air. Sunday night was disco night and Lord Barrington was the King of the disco scene back then. An amazing DJ with great knowledge he introduced me to a lot of music from the American charts. I think that was the first place I heard the likes of Hall & Oates and Tom Petty amongst many others. I would often go up to him in the Stork and ask him who sang the record he had just played and he would peer over his shades and tell me.

Lord Barrington had a strict policy of stopping the disco if any fights broke out in the pub and this happened quite a bit much to my dismay but we had many a fight quickly quelled by the disco lovers who wanted their Sunday fix. I always found the dance floor a bit intimidating, still do, but after many pints I would get up there in front of the pulsating stage lights and do my bit, just hoping my mates weren’t watching my fumbling attempts to “tap” up.

Lord Barrington’s real name was Barrie Groves and he sadly died in 2008 after a long battle with cancer aged just 61. I’ll never forget those intoxicating Stork nights and the walk back home over the Marsh Green fields.

I’ve not spotlighted any local Wigan writers for a while so it’s about time I did. Here is the lovely Mo Rudd with her memories of Sunday night at the Stork. It reminds me of a certain young man who would lie on the field and gaze at the stars through blurry eyes, enjoy.

Sunday night at the Stork Marsh Green

Now this is a little story I have been asked to tell

It’s about a boy who frequented the Stork Hotel

On Sunday night’s you’d always find him in there

In a Ben Sherman with Brut splashed everywhere

He’d stand near the bar ,eyeing the pretty girls up

Do you want a drink darling , no will you give it up

He needed courage just to get on the dance floor

So he knocked a few back , maybe three or four

He spotted this girl , who he had fancied all night

So strutted like John Travolta on a Saturday Night

He thought this was it and he moved closer to her

Just when a bar stool came flying through the air

Lord Barrington screamed “For Gods sake sit down!”

Then he carried on playing “The Tears of A Clown”

It was finally last orders and his turn to get them in

I don’t think they want one , you’d better think again

He’d had enough, and he was glad it was home time

His mates started laughing he couldn’t walk in a straight line

I don’t know how he did it ,walking across Our Field’s

Stumbling n falling and shouting “Her name is Louise!”

He is happily married , and he’s got a beautiful wife

But she never saw him stumble on a Sunday night

Mo Rudd

I’ll leave you with one of the songs guaranteed to fill the Stork dance floor in 1976…

Catch us if you can and the Coracle man

Catch us if you can and the Coracle man

Fred Davies with his Coracle

I’m not sure if it was Goal magazine or the Football League Review that first alerted me to Fred Davies the Coracle man at Shrewsbury Town but his story fascinated me. For a small fee he would row his coracle, a small boat very much like the wicker basket your Gran took shopping, down the river Severn every time a football got kicked over the Riverside stand at Gay Meadow former home of the football club. The coracle thought to be over 100 years old now takes pride of place at their New Meadow ground.

Wigan fans at Shrewsbury

Fred would have been on standby when we played Shrewsbury Town away in the 1^st round of the FA Cup on the 23^rd of November 1974. The Shrews had wily Alan Durban as player/manager and were flying high in the Fourth Division at the time and must have fancied their chances against non-league Wigan but it was Wigan who took the lead. Jeff Wright swung over a corner and Johnny King met it with a bullet header that flew into the goal so hard that if the net hadn’t stopped it would have finished up in the River Douglas never mind the River Severn. Sadly the fussy Referee Mr D.W. Civil of Birmingham added on 5 minutes of time and Shrewsbury scored in the 93^rd minute to force a replay.

Johnny King scores at Shrewsbury

The replay took place the following Monday 25^th of November and nearly 12,000 spectators tried to find shelter on a foul night beneath the sparse Springfield Park covers. Sat in the Phoenix Stand was Allan Rimmer the latics correspondent for the Wigan Observer. Alongside him was a football reporter from a national newspaper who remarked when Shrewsbury took the lead in the 35^th minute “End of Story” Rimmer wrote “He was right of course, non-league teams don’t give Fourth Division teams a goal start and still win. An hour later he was on his feet with the rest of us. Wigan had won”

Shrewsbury had been marginally better in the first half with the wind behind their backs but it was Wigan who finished stronger despite suffering with injuries. I was under the popular stand with some of my mates, huddled together in the shadows. That stand had more holes in it than a string vest factory and no matter where you stood you got dripped on but it was home. Shrewsbury hadn’t lost a game away from Gay Meadow all season but they were about to lose this one.

Albert Jackson who would prove to be a colossus at the back and up front for Wigan Athletic came onto the field for the injured Jimmy Garrett. Albert charged about like a man possessed and put new life into Wigan. Seven minutes after his appearance Tommy Gore scored one of his trademark goals from thirty yards 1-1 and game on!

Some of the Wigan players were struggling with injuries but gamely played on until Billy Sutherland was so badly hurt that he had to be carried off on a stretcher. Wigan were down ten men and a lot of the crowd were focused on the stretcher bearers walking alongside the pitch when Wigan got a throw in. Tommy Gore threw the ball up into the night sky towards the head of Johnny King. King rose high alongside two defenders but the ball evaded the three of them and in the confusion that followed Albert Jackson lashed in a shot that went between keeper Mulhearn and the near post!

Long time Wigan Athletic supporter Brendan Cunney remembers Albert’s goal vividly “Albert was hard as nails. I was behind the goals in that replay when the ball came over. Albert shouted “Leave it” and the defenders left it leaving Albert running away with a grin like a Cheshire cat”

Albert leapt with joy, arms raised aloft but he didn’t jump as high as me. I was on the edge of the stand cover when I jumped into the air but I missed my footing on the terracing when I landed. I careered down that terrace like a drunken man on a ski slope and landed on my backside halfway down the empty concrete slope save for a few brave souls with umbrellas. My good friend Keith Higham came rushing out from the shelter to help me up laughing as he said “Are you alright yer daft bugger?” I laughed back and made my way up the terracing for the last few remaining minutes of the game.

Only there weren’t a few minutes remaining because Mr D.W. Civil added 7 minutes of injury time on. One fan shouted out “That bloody mon’s not using a watch he’s using a bloody calendar!” Thankfully we held on to record a famous victory.

I went in the supporters club after the game where we played cricket on the dartboard until about 1am before staggering home across the dreaded Gant. For those that went straight home after the game they could have celebrated with a can of Watney’s Party 7 for £1 or maybe open that bottle of table wine that cost 59p.

This article is dedicated to three of the main characters in this tale. Keith Higham who helped a daft young lad to his feet from a wet windy terrace and sadly died a couple of years ago, Albert Jackson a great character and football player who changed the game and scored the winning goal. Albert died in 2014 aged 71 and last but not least the Coracle Man Fred Davies, one of those fantastic figures that make our game so unique. Fred retired in 1988 aged 77 after 37 years service. The most balls he retrieved in one game was 5 when Sunderland were the visitors in the 1985/86 season.

Tony Topping

For Auld Lang Syne, poseurs, praters and the pouring rain…

For Auld Lang Syne, poseurs, praters and the pouring rain

Tiffany’s was heaving with people on the biggest night of the year, New Years Eve 1978. We dressed to the nines for this one event, peacocks preening in the mirrored columns that ran around the garish mock Greek architecture. The competition for girls was fierce and sometimes heated as fights broke out sporadically before being quickly extinguished by the bulls on the doors, violence beaten by brutality. The sensuous scented serpent would halt its circling and look on in horror but when the dust settled the girls would return once more to their pulsating perambulations.

Safety was to be found in numbers and I belonged to a large gang, a small lad with big brothers gave you an armour of confidence and I thought it would last forever. I was about to discover that everything in the world is fragile and it can fall apart at any moment.

Everything had been arranged, when the nightclub closed we would jump in taxis and head to 22 Montrose Avenue Worsley Hall to eat the meat and potato pie my mam had made especially for the gang. It had been her idea to invite us all even though the family would be in bed by the time we arrived. She knew most of the lads I knocked about with and she fussed them like a mother hen whenever she saw them.

But things didn’t go according to plan. One of my friends suddenly announced that his aunt was also having a party that night and we were all invited. The aunt, a lady we all fancied, lived in Marsh Green a short hop home for my mates who all hailed from that neck of the woods. It was a more attractive proposition than mine and they quickly agreed to go there instead of my house. I made my way out of the nightclub unseen when the balloons fell and the clock ticked over to 1979.

It was raining, absolutely teeming down and the queue for taxis stretched the length of the street. I made my way to the taxi rank at the side of Wallgate station not really expecting it to be any different there. I wasn’t disappointed when I saw the shuffling black mass before me.  Nothing to do now but walk home in this biblical tempest.

By the time I got to Seven Stars bridge I realised I might get home too early and the family would still be up celebrating the New Year so I slowed my walk and headed right, down Wilcock Street turning left at the corner onto Miry Lane and there it was the place where I spent my formative years, Yates Street. A Street by name only for no houses remained in this area now, all that was left was the thick paving blocks shining like varnished stone in the falling rain.

I made my way down the pavement until I came to the spot where my old house had stood, a two up two down building with an outside toilet and no bath, a draughty house full of warm memories. I crouched down and placed my palm flat against the cold wet pavement wanting to feel something, anything, that would take me back for a few seconds but it was just a desolate broken landscape and even the old ghosts had departed like scattered seeds on the wind, never to return.

I turned and left this lonely place walking slowly home…

The house was in darkness when I finally arrived there drenched and shivering. I felt for my key and sighed with relief when my hand found that cold metal and for once I hadn’t misplaced it. I went quietly upstairs and changed into my old jeans and a jumper glad to be out of the soaking mess of my New Year apparel. Back downstairs, down the hall and into the warm kitchen with its little stovepipe still casting out some welcome heat. The dog was curled up in his basket and sleepily wagged his tail in greeting before returning to his dreams.

A pile of plates lay on the table and on the stove a large dish of meat and potato pie was waiting, still lukewarm from the oven. I started to work on that pie immediately, hungry from the walking and the nights drinking. I struggled to eat it all and had to leave some but I put the unused dishes upturned on the side of the sink to give the impression they had been used and washed. The remainder of the pie went into the dustbin and I covered it with the now redundant Christmas Radio Times.

It was late when I got up the following day and my mam couldn’t wait to hear about my friends’ visit. I told her they had loved it and thanked her for taking the trouble to make the meal. She was overjoyed to hear it.

It’s our secret dear reader, don’t spoil the glow my Mam felt on that New Years Day in  1979.

Tony Topping

The Last Straw

The 1978/79 season was the first Wigan Athletic season in the Football League and understandably it took us a little while to adapt to professional football but once we did we became a force to be reckoned with. Then came a cold snap that had the club clicking its heels on the side lines and left the club without a home game for over a month. Approaching the 3^rd of February 1979 Wigan took preparations to ensure that their home game against league leaders Portsmouth would go ahead for the first game at Springfield Park since the defeat of Aldershot on the 30^th of December 1978. This involved straw, lots and lots of straw…

While I was recovering from a night out at Blutos or Tiffanys two young lads who are now good friends of mine were down at Springy getting the pitch ready for the vital clash. Here are their memories of that fantastic day

Paul Gallagher lifelong supporter and fine writer of all things Wigan Athletic remembers the game well:

“As 13/14 football mad lads, the 1978/79 season was always special to us and now as a 56-year-old it still seems as fresh in the memory as when we were there. One home game in particular is a stand out for me, and that is the Portsmouth match played in the winter freeze of 1979. Pompey were the big club of the division, they were riding high in the league.

Games had been called off all over the country due to the weather, but our new-fangled system of frost prevention was paying dividends, yep, good old straw on the pitch!  There were appeals for straw clearers to come down to the ground early, that was a no brainer for us, we already used to be down there at 1 o’clock anyway to get autographs from our heroes outside the ground.

I developed a soft spot for Portsmouth that lasted a good few years because of that game. The following Pompey brought up that day considering the freeze was outstanding, and it was the first time us kids heard the famous Pompey Chimes sung with gusto and passion blowing around in the Springfield Park air. Add to that the fantastically trendy red Admiral away kit they wore that day and you’ve got a special mix.

But, we were Latics mad, and as soon as the game kicked off the respect went out of the window. To put it simply, we gave them a proper mauling!! Two 78/79 heroes got the goals, Jeff Wright and Frank Corrigan, the ground around us absolutely erupted, it was the loudest I’d heard it that season and it sent shivers down the spine. There was jousting going on the terraces behind us, this was pre segregation days and Pompey weren’t too keen on being taught a lesson by these Northern upstarts, and it was all part of the thrill of going to a match. They wouldn’t touch us anyway, we had our checked lumber jackets on, they made you immune from things like cold and pain!

After the game the joy was immense, there were people running onto the pitch celebrating, we ran past Peter Mellor the Pompey keeper, we knew him from seeing him play for Fulham in the 1975 FA Cup final, he was dead famous and he’d lost at Wigan Athletic, “Hard lines Peter!” the answer isn’t suitable for a family publication!!

For years later there was PFC graffiti on the wall of the Wheatsheaf Pub near Wigan North Western railway station it stayed on the wall until the pub was demolished. And many years later when I was down for a weekend for a Portsmouth v Latics match we stayed over in Southsea . I was in a pub on the Friday night, a chap heard my accent and asked if I was down for the game. We had a good natter, as you do, and I asked him if he went to the 78/79 match. “Yeah mate, we went up on the train, when we got off it was like stepping back in time” He said, a bit cheeky I thought! “Aye, but we didn’t half play you off the park that day!!” 

Apprentice Groundsman Tony Broxson had an inside view of the field of straw and here are his memories:

“I remember it being wet through and frozen when we had to move it. It was loaded on a trailer which we pulled around the pitch. All the seeds from the straw and weeds grew the following season and because of that and a very hot baking summer not much of the grass seed we spread grew. The pigeons had most of it and we had to bang the advertising boards around the field constantly! My memory is of Kenny Banks and Ian McNeill helping us to chip away frozen snow and ice in front of the phoenix stand that stopped the sun from thawing the grass out. The field was bald down the middle at the start of the next season with more weeds than grass!

I have loads of fond memories of my time at Springfield Park. I mixed concrete in a cement mixer aged 18 and together with three pensioners concreted the red shale at either side of the tunnel. I put the “Welcome to Springfield Park” sign up over the tunnel on the Phoenix Stand and while I was teetering on the ladder knocking six inch nails in Bobby Charlton popped his head over the edge and I hit my thumb with the hammer! Bobby was being introduced to all the staff and he shook my hand later but unfortunately I had been painting and I covered his hand in blue paint, he wasn’t pleased! I loved my time there it was hard work but I would have done it for nothing”

Photo courtesy of Andrew Werrill

Teams that day were:

Wigan Athletic- Brown, Smart, Hinnegan, Gore, Ward, Fretwell, Corrigan, Wright, Moore, Houghton, Purdie.

Portsmouth- Mellor, Ellis, Viney, Denyer, Foster, Davey, Hemmerman, Lathan, Garwood, McIlwraith, Pullar. Sub- Showers

Attendance-  8289

Thanks to Paul and Tony for their memories of that great season and in particular the day we beat the big freeze and the Pompey Chimes!

Tony Topping

Flower

Rebecca looks at the yellow daffodils bobbing about in the gentle breeze with the wonderment and curiosity that only a six year old child possesses. As the full heads bump and bend against each other Rebecca imagines them chatting and passing gossip in whispering words caught by the wind.

“What are they saying Mama?”

Rebecca’s mother looks down at her.

“Who?”

“The pretty flowers Mama. Look they are talking to one another”

Her Mama looks across at the flowers then bends down to kiss Rebecca gently on the top of her head

“Come, my baby. We must go now”

A mouse foraging amongst the daffodils pauses as the wind drops and the flowers lie still like soldiers on parade. Through a gap in the blooms he see’s Rebecca’s big brown inquiring eyes reflect the yellow scene. The mouse widens its focus and Rebecca’s dirty but beautiful face comes into view. Her head is shaven and her clothes are rags laden with lice.

Rebecca and her mother are part of a large group being marshalled towards a low brick building with no windows. Nearby a chimney casts a black, billowing shadow into the sky and ashes fall like grey snowflakes onto barrack roofs.

Before she enters the building Rebecca turns and looks for the last time at the yellow daffodils and wonders what they are saying.

Tony Topping

Shredded Wheat and Marine Boy

Shredded Wheat and Marine Boy

Not one person I know ever dared dream that 1977/78 would be the last season Wigan Athletic would spend in non league football. At this time I was 23 years old and living in a council house a goal kick away from our current stadium. Seven of us lived in that 3 bedroom house on Montrose Avenue, Mam and Dad, me, 3 of my sisters and my niece. Luckily my other sister had moved out and got married a couple of years earlier. My youngest sister Angela was 5 years old back then and she was the only sister who would become a Wigan Athletic season ticket holder in the future. She comes into this story at the very end of this article…

The previous season 1976/77 was one of the hardest seasons I had watching my beloved Wigan Athletic, For two reasons really, firstly it was a time of transition for the latics, crowds were falling, the heroes of the 1970-71 Dream team were a distant memory and the money had largely dried up. The second reason was my lovely girlfriend for a short period decided I wasn’t the one for her after all. Heartbroken on and off the field but with August 1977 came new optimism and dreams.

It was a season that saw the team come together at last, relationships were formed on the pitch and I thankfully forged some of my own away from the latics. Happiness can be found if you look hard enough. We even had help from a club that would give us the greatest moment in our history, Manchester City. City helped us to obtain a new kit thanks to the efforts of their chairman Peter Swailes and also arranged a lucrative friendly with their talented team at Springfield Park to raise funds. Not for the first time they once again offered us the hand of friendship.

The FA Cup run in 1977/78 thrust us once again into the football spotlight and arguably sealed our elevation to the Football League. The first game in the FA Cup was a tricky one, a fourth qualifying round tie against Marine away on the 5^th of November, would there be fireworks on the field that day? It was my first and only visit to College Road and a successful one as we left with a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Noel Ward, Mickey Moore and Tommy Gore in front of 1,295 spectators. I do remember singing the theme song to the cartoon “Marine Boy” with my mate Billy Harrison in the clubhouse prior to the game “It’s Marine Boy, brave and free, fighting evil ‘neath the sea!” We were easily amused in those days…

Swiftly moving on we went into the draw for the first round of the FA Cup and the hope of a league club at home. Our hopes were realised when we were pitched against York City at Springfield Park. York were struggling near the bottom of the Fourth Division and we fancied our chances against them. A confidence that wasn’t mislead has we raced into a 1-0 lead through a terrific goal from striker John Wilkie and comfortably held on to win by that single goal in front of 6,289. I was really interested to see a Topping playing professional football for the first time. Chris Topping was York City’s first ever apprentice professional in 1967 and he went on to play 412 games for the Ministermen.

John Wilkie scores against York City

Reading the club programme from that game I could have enjoyed a five day winter break with Smiths Happiway Spencers for £23 including all meals. Instead I nipped into The Springfield Hotel with mine hosts Marie & Eric Dombekin for a pint of Tetleys. I think it was after this cup tie that John Wilkie’s car got stolen and the joyriders thew his boots away somewhere. John’s goal dried up for a while after that. Always reminded me of “Billy’s Boots” the comic strip that appeared in “Scorcher” when the hero had magical boots that he couldn’t fail to score with when he wore them.

In the second round of the FA Cup we drew arguably the biggest team available to us before the big boys entered in the third round, Sheffield Wednesday at home. Wednesday were having a torrid time at the bottom of the Third Division and hopes were high that we could claim another Football League scalp. Jack Charlton World Cup winner only 11 years previously was the Wednesday manager and a big crowd was expected for the cup tie. The Wigan board were hoping for a crowd of around 20,000 but the game was made all ticket and the final figure was just short of 14,000 spectators.

Local Amateur football clubs rearranged their games to kick off early so that they could attend the game and a heady atmosphere hung in the air at Springfield Park. Wednesday started the better and Wylde hit the crossbar in the opening period but once Wigan settled into the game they came out deserved winners. In the 74^th minute of the game Wednesday full back Walden fouled Mickey Worswick on the edge of the penalty area. Maurice Whittle stepped up to take the free kick and fired it straight through a defensive wall described by Jack Charlton as “a piece of Shredded Wheat” and past the despairing dive of goalkeeper Turner to send the home fans wild!

After the game Jack Charlton said “My players have to live with this result for the rest of their lives. Wigan are a tidy little side and even though we had the edge in the first half we just didn’t play in the second” Charlton did rally his troops that season though and they finished 14^th in the Third Division. The “Shredded Wheat” comment Jack came out with was very prophetic because in 1994 he did make a commercial for the cereal when he was the manager of the Ireland team he had led to the World Cup finals. A great man sadly missed.

Jack Charlton in the dugout at Springfield Park Wigan

Harold Ashurst renowned writer of all things latics had this to say in the Wigan Observer “ Maurice Whittle’s goal sent the biggest FA Cup crowd of the day wild with delight and put wonderful Wigan Athletic on the road to glory. Springfield Park turned into a sea of blue and white and a brilliant Wigan Athletic fast earning the “great” tag of the 1954 and 1971 teams”

Wigan Athletic- Brown, Morris, Hinnegan, Gore, Ward, Gillibrand, Whittle, Worswick, Moore, Wilkie, Wright. Sub- Styles

Sheffield Wednesday- Turner, Walden, Grant, Dowd, Cusack, Mullen, Wylde, Johnson, Tynan, Rushbury, Prendegast. Sub- Bradshaw

We beat Sheffield Wednesday with a Whittle goal!

The draw for the third round of the FA Cup was made on Saturday teatime, a move that irritated traditionalists like myself and none other than esteemed writer David Lacey of The Guardian who wrote “Non League teams who reach the third round, particularly those who have knocked out League opposition, used to have all day Sunday to savour their triumphs and imagine themselves taking on one of the leading First Division sides at their own little ground. Now the players are scarcely out the bath, shower, or bucket, before they know their next opponents”

In the event we did draw a First Division team but it was an away tie at Birmingham City. The manager at City was another legend of the game, Sir Alf Ramsey manager of the World Cup winners in 1966. One of our local papers had the headline “Trouble Marred Cup tie” after six were arrested from the crowd, 3 from Wigan and 3 from Sheffield with one Sheffield fan chasing after the referee. Not exactly World War 3 I would have thought. The same paper said after Wigan Rugby beat Hull at Central Park a week earlier that the 4,181 crowd produced a “deafening roar” as the victorious Wigan team left the field.

The third round tie at St Andrews attracted over 29,000 with 9,000 following from Wigan. The supporters coaches were parked on what appeared to be a bomb site and it would prove to be a tense outing on the terraces. Thankfully my dad had secured a ticket for the seating area and I was for once happy he wasn’t with me at the game. We lost the game 4-0 thanks mainly to the brilliance of young Trevor Francis but Jim Montgomery made some spectacular saves from the disbelieving Wigan striker Mickey Moore. Sir Alf Ramsey went into the Wigan dressing room after the game to congratulate the team on their display and promised to do his upmost to push Wigan and their Football League application.

I personally feel that this had a lot to do with us getting into the Football League. Sir Alf was widely respected and there’s no doubt his words carried some clout within football. We had a lot of luck after Boston United’s ground was deemed unfit for League Football and we were pushed forward as the North’s representative. In this particular season only one non league club from the North and one from the South were considered for election. Against all odds and totally out of the blue we were accepted into a league that had refused us entry for 46 years.

I’d like to thank the staff at Leigh Archives for their help with this article and others in the pipeline, especially Stanley Wallace a young Everton fan. Cheers mate!

Now I did mention at the very start of this story that my youngest sister would feature and indeed she does. At Butlins Skegness on the 8^th of July 1990 Angela aged 18 met a young man from Rochdale Dave aged 17. A match made in heaven they started courting despite the miles and are to this day happily married with two sons, Matthew and Ben, my two nephews who never fail to make me smile. All the family are latics mad and Dave’s dad Alan was converted from a Rochdale supporter into a firm Wigan Athletic fan. As Angela says “He loved Wigan Athletic and would travel over from Rochdale for every game”

Alan died recently, a lovely, kind man and I dedicate this article to him. God bless my friend x

Tony Topping

Summerland

Summerland

The Manx Maid bobbed up and down like a small man trying to get served at a busy bar. I’ve never liked the sea or indeed any stretch of water that I can’t stand up in, but in the summer of 1976 I boarded the stumpy looking craft and sailed to the Isle of Man.

It was my first ever holiday with my mates and we couldn’t have picked a better summer to go away. It turned out to be the greatest summer of my life, long hot days that stretched forever and seemed like they would never end. Trouble is even in sunshine I find shadow.

I don’t know why this is but it probably explains why I do a lot of looking back instead of forward. So even though we had a great holiday and the girls were tanned and fun loving I did have the odd fleeting moment of darkness. The cause of these low moods was easy to identify, the scars of the Summerland disaster in 1973 could still be seen above the laughter and joy of the Douglas beach and promenade…

Summerland was an entertainment complex that was hailed as one of the greatest in the world when it opened in 1971. The British weather as we only know too well can ruin many a holiday taken on these shores. So the visionaries of the Isle of Man created an indoor centre that could cater for holidaymakers all year round. The result was a futuristic playground complete with swimming pools, sports facilities, playgrounds, roller rink, bars, restaurants, amusement arcades, concert rooms, waterfalls, shops and a solarium straight out of a science fiction film. The centre could accommodate around 5,000 people all told.

It also had a mini golf course and it was from here that the tragedy unfolded.

The weather on the evening of Tuesday August 2^nd 1973 was unsettled with drizzly rain and heavy cloud laden skies. In the hotels that line Douglas promenade holidaymakers having their roast beef and two veg must have wondered what to do on such a miserable night. Many would be able to see Summerland from the dining room window and its attractions would have seemed a perfect way to spend the evening.

By 7:30pm Summerland had around 3,000 people inside with concerts and amusements in full swing. Outside near the mini golf course three boys from Liverpool were looking for a place to have a smoke. The two 12yr olds and a 14yr old managed to break a lock on an empty kiosk nearby. A discarded match from one of the three started a fire in the kiosk that they couldn’t control. In fear of being reprimanded for the fire the three boys fled.

The kiosk was situated near the side wall of the complex, a wall that was covered in a highly combustible material called “Galbestos” and another glass like material called “Oroglass” The kiosk fell against this wall and the fire quickly spread, initially between a gap in the inner and outer walls, hungrily making its way up to the roof barely noticed.

Some people smelled smoke but nobody did anything nor did any alarms sound. No sprinklers had been incorporated into the design and the staff had little or no training in fire drills. A compere in one of the shows, Laurie Adams, joked that “The chef’s set fire to the chip pan” he said “Everyone laughed and calmed down” The situation was about to get horrifically worse in the next few seconds.

Stephen Hill a 16yr old on holiday from Northern Ireland recalled when the fire first broke “I remember seeing smoke or flames in the games arcade area. A man tried to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. He seemed to have some success but the extinguisher ran out and the flames grew worse” His family made their way out through the main entrance and when they reached the doors they could feel the heat from the fire behind them.

Laurie Adams the compere said “All of a sudden, within seconds, there was a massive explosion that burst from the [Oroglas] wall. Flames started shooting up the walls. It was like a waterfall, only with fire which produced a roaring sound. It happened so quickly and fire raced towards you like an inferno” He directed people to a stairwell to get people out. The worst affected people were the ones on the three floors above his level.

Only one main set of stairs took people down from the floors and amenities above this floor (the Solarium) directly above was the Marquee Showbar and above that was the Leisure Floor and right at the top the Cruise Deck floor. The amusement arcade fire took hold at the very point where the stairs came down. Sheets of flame shot between the open steps on the stairway. The Oroglas roof began to melt and balls of fire fell down onto the people below.

No fire services were called from the Summerland complex and the first calls to the emergency services came from a passing taxi driver and from the captain of a ship two miles out at sea who reported that “It looks like the whole of the island is on fire” The situation wasn’t helped by fire escape doors being padlocked to prevent people from sneaking in without paying.

The death toll from this terrible tragedy was the worst involving a fire on mainland Britain since 1927 when 71 children died in a cinema in Paisley Scotland. All told 50 people died in the Summerland disaster, 48 were found dead in the building and two women died later in hospital. One family, the Moulds lost five of its members. Mr Moulds from Essex managed to escape the inferno but became separated from his family in the crush. His wife Betty (34) daughter Beverley (12) and twin daughters Debra and Amanda (10) all perished in the fire along with his Mother in law Mavis Buckeldee (59)

Many others lost members of their family that night, children lost their parents, parents lost their children. Seven married couples died and 17 children lost one or both parents. Most of the dead came from the north of England (27) not surprising when you consider that this part of the country accounted for 63% of visitors. In the mid to late 70’s when I went on holiday here it was still very busy during the “Wakes” weeks. My home town of Wigan traditionally have the first two weeks of July and I can’t find any accounts of Wigan people being involved in the disaster. I did find two Wigan connections though. Mr Malcolm Ogden (41) was a drummer with the Don Taylor Trio who were due to perform that evening in the Marquee Showbar. He was from Newton le Willows and had performed at the Wigan Casino in the past. The other one with a Wigan connection was Alan Barker (20) who worked in the complex with his friend Sean Kelly (21) both lads were from Warrington and Alan had been on the books of Wigan Athletic at one point. Both lads along with Mr Ogden died in the fire. The manager of Summerland later told the parents of Alan Barker that their son had saved the lives of 17 people that fateful night.

Incredibly parts of the Summerland complex were opened to the public 11 days after the disaster and people actually queued to use the facilities. Three floors of the building remained intact and work began on renovating the building on a smaller scale. The “new” Summerland opened in 1978.

I visited this building just the one time, and once was enough. I went with my mates to the underground disco there “The Cave” The atmosphere was terrible, it felt claustrophobic and cramped with its low ceiling. You couldn’t help but think of the disaster that had taken place here just a few years earlier. We left early and on the way up the stairs we passed Jack Wild the former child star of “Oliver” and TV programme “H.R. Pufnstuf” A surreal moment in a surreal place…

In 2006 Summerland was demolished.

I’ve not been back to the island since 1978 and the only memorial to the tragic event is about to be changed. On the 25^th anniversary of the fire in 1998 a small stone with an inscription on it was placed near the site. When I say small I mean around the size of one you would find in your average garden rockery. No names were put on the plaque nor any mention of the amount of people killed in the fire. You would have walked past it without noticing it.

Thankfully now that has changed and a memorial was unveiled on the 40^th anniversary of that terrible night.

Tony Topping