THE PROGRAMME - record in verse of a match between Doncaster Rovers and County, Oct 9th, 1965

An old programme passed on through
a friend of a friend
can open up the past
and reveal a world that was swinging and new
when the mini skirt was a trend.

At four old pennies, this nostalgic treat
is flimsy and rare,
black, white and red.
A simple record on a throwaway sheet;
for detail, look elsewhere.

No fan of football, no County in me
in October '65;
only a distant link
being Rovers and I shared the same GP.
He kept all of us alive.

Stockport County team 1965/66

On Saturday 9th, Rovers and County vied.
The teams writ down
in tiny type, hand-set.
No mention of a manager for either side
although Porteous was still in town.

Donnie was about coal and council estates,
hiring for the mine;
a job for life.
Pit villages were the satellites that provided the gates
before Mrs Thatcher called time.

Playing for County was Johnny Price
5ft 3" and with pace.
Paired with Allchurch,
they provided the crosses for strikers to slice
and sometimes to score with grace

Johnny Price

Len White joined County at 34

A hero for the Toon;

an opener at the Kop.

At 18, Mulhearn showed true promise and more.

Left his goal for City too soon.

So who were the victors, for whom did the bell toll?

County's off-side trap

was their undoing.

Rovers through Ridley scored the only goal

and Porteous took the wrap.

Trevor Porteous testimonial match programme

Now Rovers and County shared a similar fate.

Ken Richardson's sins

were hard to bear.

They dropped out of the league in '98

Administration begins.

But look at Doncaster Rovers today.

A Championship side

and tough to beat.

Can County take heart from what history will say

and start to turn the tide?


Further info:
The resignation of  County manager, Trevor Porteous, was officially accepted on October 17th, 1965 and his testimonial match programme (the game was played a few days before the Rovers v County match) is shown above. This information was kindly provided by County's excellent archivist, Ian Watts, who will be writing for this blog very soon. For more info see also http://tillotson.co.nz/?page_id=587

Ken Richardson was Doncaster Rovers' notorious majority shareholder in the early 90's. He ploughed money into Rovers in the hope that the Council would stump up for a new stadium. When this didn't happen, he hired three men to set fire to Belle View with a view to selling the ground to developers. This criminal act eventually put Richardson in jail for 4 years, took Rovers out of the Football League with a massive goal difference and plunged them into administration once Richardson's money was withdrawn from the Club.
This info has been kindly offered by super Rovers fan, Donnie Mick.

Pauline Coddington (A Footballer's guide to Feltmaking).