Match Thread Rewind: Fulham v Port Vale 1987

[robf]

OK folks, a bit of a preamble here... when I thought about showing some classic Vale matches on YouTube I knew there would be some that would be easy. I had my own copies of the Autoglass, LDV and the Stoke Cup game. So I knew I could do four or five games through my collection.

However, I never expected to also be able to show the twenty odd that I have and that they would include that amazing 4-0 at Huddersfield or indeed the cup win at Derby both of which I (and suspect many others) had never seen in full. Thanks to everyone who has supplied me with VHS tapes. You have provided your fellow fans with hours of entertainment!

However, if there was one game I really wanted to show, the "holy grail" for me then it was the Fulham away game from 1987. I knew it was out there, indeed I'd seen it on VHS many years ago but I didn't know if there were any other copies out there...  Well, thanks to @darren1810 it's being shown this Thursday night. I am really, really pleased about it.  

We may also have a very special guest on the evening. The one and only Andy Jones, my all-time Vale hero, liked a post about it on Facebook and I've asked him if he's going to pop along to watch it. You never know, one of the stars of the show may be watching it with you!!!

So, ladies and gents... 

I am absolutely delighted to say - on Thursday evening at 7.30pm, we will be premiering the 1987 visit to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham. It's an absolute cracker!!!

A link to the video will appear soon.

One last thing - this video is 33 years old. It's a tad ropey at the start especially as they seem to be filming into the sun. Do NOT expect HD quality as it can be difficult to actually see the ball at times! 

UTV

I hope to see the regulars there on Thursday evening!

[robf]

Here is the video link for Thursday. I think the screengrab will give an indication that it's not exactly HD quality!

 

[MelbourneValiant]

Contrary to Seth rumours, none of Jones' goals were live on the BBC as the Boat Race TV camera chopper flew overhead.

[Andy Proctor]

I will make sure I watched this on thursday as my memory of playing fulham is when we lost to them 6 nil 10 years ago today. 

[RailwayRowdy]

4 hours ago, robf said:

The one and only Andy Jones, my all-time Vale hero,

Couldn’t agree more ! Maybe not the prettiest of players, but boy could he score !

Forwards like Andy (Steve Bull and Kerry Dixon were others) never really got the full credit they deserved, because they were perceived not to have the ability of other forwards of their time.

Goals win matches. Not nice control, not pretty flicks, GOALS !

Andy is without doubt the best goal scorer I’ve seen in my 55 odd years of watching Vale.

Like many others, I was at this game. Missed the Boat Race though !

I’ll set my alarm for Thursday ! 

 

 

[sunny boslem]

I went this game with the junior valiants 

[robf]

Hello,

Two reminders on this...

1. Don't forget to join us at 7.30 tonight for the premiere.

2. This is from 1987 and football match videoing by clubs was in its early days. So, it's a one camera job and it's not always all that clear to see the players/ball. Some of it may be the age of the VHS tape but some of it is the camera work. So you may have to bear with it at times as it's tricky to see what is happening. Hopefully, the quality of the Vale performance will outweigh the production values.

[robf]

More preamble for this game...

As it's one of the oldest tapes in the collection there's a chance to see some players who may not have featured in other matches... for some of you younger ones, some of these players may be before your time so here's a bit of a player profiles feature for you...

In this game we have:

• Former Man City goalkeeper Alex Williams
• Speedy winger Paul Smith
• Dead ball expert Paul Maguire
• Central midfielder Jon Bowden
• A chance to see Phil Sproson in the Vale defence
• Summer signing Ray Walker (I wonder what happened to him)
• Someone called Andy Jones upfront

I hope you enjoy this despite the poor video quality...

[robf]

And we've got a fair bit of coverage of this game on OVF. 

There's an article here which shows the match day programme including Vale squad pen pix...

https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2012/01/fulham-port-vale-1987/

[RailwayRowdy]

Was this the match when there was an almighty downpour in west London around late morning ish ?

I went early one year to watch the boat race, which was early that year, but missed it as I got held up in traffic because of the weather. 

Or was that another year ? 

[RailwayRowdy]

21 minutes ago, robf said:

And we've got a fair bit of coverage of this game on OVF. 

There's an article here which shows the match day programme including Vale squad pen pix...

https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2012/01/fulham-port-vale-1987/

Was this in the Fulham days of David Bulstrode ownership ? From their negative press in the link, I assume it must be so.

For younger fans, I would point out that Bulstode was the Fulham equivalent of Smurfthwaite, only 35 years previous.

He sent them on a downward spiral, which Micky Adams did well to arrest some years later, when Fulham, yes Fulham,  nearly fell into non league. 

These twats who own football clubs are nothing new, but luckily they survived.

Then came Al Fayed. Horrid bloke, but he did well for The Cottagers.

By the way, did he ever get his passport ? 

 

 

 

[TheSage]

From memory, it doesn't get much better than this.

And at one of those traditional old grounds. Not too many of them left.

[robf]

I hope you do enjoy it, I can only repeat that the picture quality isn't great! Hopefully, the quality of play will compensate for it.

[Santa]

I always assumed Fulham was a run-down area of London purely from my experience of visiting the ground when I was a kid. It was pretty sad looking back then, there were parts of the away terrace fenced off and overgrown with weeds, and the Cottage itself needed a lot of work doing to it. Fair play to them for making a nice job of it.

[robf]

Hi folks, OVF technical issues aside, this is about to begin...