v Oxford 1991-92

I've just been given a pile of old programmes. I've put them with the ones I already have (and have quite a few that I want to get rid of) which has brought to the fore all sorts of memories of teams, players, faces and places of days gone by.

Just as the impending arrival of Oxford on Saturday does.

Here's the bottom of the final Division 2 table (from GoS) from 1992 to lend some context.

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Which shows Oxford finishing 2 points above us and safe at the season's end.

Here's our last few results from that season.

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That Oxford game was crucial and we stormed to a great win in front of a passionate crowd. That win put us well ahead of Oxford who went on to finish the season with good results (I think they may have had games in hand that they needed to win - and did). We lost our last two games and set in chain years of misery in the lower leagues.

I'd argue that this was the most significant season, because without it I don't believe we'd have endured many of the horrors that followed, until administration.

And I still think that Kemp would have kept us up.

Wilmot should have been in goal for the Blackburn game,Shilton was finished and was responsible for two of the goals that little twot Speedie scored.All interesting debate about what might have been-if we'd stayed up,Shilts would have had some very reasonable cash to spend and may have created a team similar in style to the one of a couple of years later,only in a division higher.Maybe Kemp would have kept us up but i think what finished him was the lack of impact of Regis and Smith [good player but always injured],who were big money signings even by second division standards at the time and an awful 5-0 hiding at Bristol Rovers in the FA cup,which was one of the more unforgettable horror shows in my time as an away supporter.Jock Morrison always maintained that Kemp would have kept Argyle up and then would have had more cash to spend than any other manager in the history of the club,so perhaps you're right.We should have got back up 2 years later though,wonderful footballing team but ultimately killer flaws in the wrong places.

I can't remember if it was at Kidderminster or Oxford's old Manor Ground that I saw Kemp's side play (I think at Oxford). And it was the worst football I have ever seen from an Argyle team. It was truly dire!

I met Dave Regis once. He was a really sound bloke.

He's always remembered as having flopped at Argyle, and it's fair to say the boo boys took a special liking to him, but his goal scoring record at the end of his stay was fair better than he's given credit for (unfortunately most of them scored were somewhere else while he was out on loan).

Another Oxford game that springs to mind was a 3-2 defeat at the Manor Ground. I got held up on the way due to torrential rain and traffic congestion. By the time I got into the ground we were 0-2 up. I stood on an open terrace and got completely soaked. Dave Walter got laid out by Paul Stewart's elbow with time running out and a clearly concussed Sheepfarmer let in two late goals to seal our defeat and my car blew a cylinder gasket on the way home (no AA or anything) which cost me a small fortune.

Not my happiest away trip.

In fact probably my worst thinking about it. Nothing to redeem it at all.

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

Another Oxford game that springs to mind was a 3-2 defeat at the Manor Ground. I got held up on the way due to torrential rain and traffic congestion. By the time I got into the ground we were 0-2 up. I stood on an open terrace and got completely soaked. Dave Walter got laid out by Paul Stewart's elbow with time running out and a clearly concussed Sheepfarmer let in two late goals to seal our defeat and my car blew a cylinder gasket on the way home (no AA or anything) which cost me a small fortune.

Not my happiest away trip.

In fact probably my worst thinking about it. Nothing to redeem it at all.

I can't think of anything worse that could've gone wrong on that trip, an expensive game hey!

Did you not start doubting your sanity then in following the greens?

PS, an interesting table we'll likely never see of the type again with those teams at the bottom!

We've missed our boat i'm afraid, thanks M7 and James and your UberLieutenants, you will be proud of yourselves when history unfolds!

That defeat at oxford ultimately sent us down.

I've had 2 bad car breakdowns on the way home from away games. I had a gearbox failure near Barton-Le-Clay in Bedfordshire on the way back from Peterborough and had to be relayed home which took forever but at least we won that one 2-1 and I had AA cover by then. It did rain but not too badly and we were under cover.

My gearbox went on the way to Rochdale last season. Obviously it was a massive game and didn't want to miss it. Had to set up AA membership there and then, and they obviously extorted my situation to charge me a fortune. Regardless, the bloke came out within an hour and I begged him for a quick fix so I could make it to the game. He told me that the gear linkage had broke and that he'd fixed it with something or another and a shit load of gaffer tape. It did the job and I made it 5 mins after kick off, just in time to see Maxi sent off.

Was a very long return journey as I lost 5th gear on the way home, so could only manage 50mph Max. By the time I got home I needed a new gear box. Cost me a fortune that game, and despite the loss it was worth it - I'm definitely clueless and doomed   

Was that the Oxford game when Barlow scored to make it 2-0? If so, I punched the air, or so I thought. Actually punched the roof beam and broke my hand. made nothing of it because I thought we'd win and had a throughly miserable and painful drive home.

Also broke down at Leigh services on the way to the Swindon, '2-0 and you fecked it up' game and had to watch sky sports news in a bristol pub, whilst being completely ripped off by a shoddy mechanic.

Feckin Argyle have brought me some bleedin shite days.

Greenskin wrote:

Wilmot should have been in goal for the Blackburn game,Shilton was finished and was responsible for two of the goals that little twot Speedie scored.All interesting debate about what might have been-if we'd stayed up,Shilts would have had some very reasonable cash to spend and may have created a team similar in style to the one of a couple of years later,only in a division higher.Maybe Kemp would have kept us up but i think what finished him was the lack of impact of Regis and Smith [good player but always injured],who were big money signings even by second division standards at the time and an awful 5-0 hiding at Bristol Rovers in the FA cup,which was one of the more unforgettable horror shows in my time as an away supporter.Jock Morrison always maintained that Kemp would have kept Argyle up and then would have had more cash to spend than any other manager in the history of the club,so perhaps you're right.We should have got back up 2 years later though,wonderful footballing team but ultimately killer flaws in the wrong places.

i was living in scotland and travelled down on the train to that fa cup game, £85 train fare, no ticket so had to sit in the only football league stand that would make brents effort look huge, £ 12. was drinking in those days so spent £10ish on ale. wasnt allowed to sing or shout, constantly being told to sit down, left when goal 5 went in. train back to brizzle and a 7 hour wait for my train back north. what a day. my head was turned that day..the start of divorce procedings against pafc

The nil nil in the fog on a Tuesday night at HP around that time was the worst, longest most boring game that I have ever witnessed, I remember thinking that it was the worst that I had ever seen us play.

Sir Francis Drake wrote:

And I still think that Kemp would have kept us up.

Cannot disagree with that at all. I honestly believe that Kemp was an underrated manager and given the licence that was bequeathed to Shilton I think Kemp would have done a better job.
Yes I know some of the football was dross but that was solely down to play a style of football that bypassed the midfield as quickly as possible. No good giving the ball to the midfield when there second touch was usually a tackle.
I read Paul Robert's excellent book The Nearly Men and there was a chapter dedicated to Kemp. In it Kemp explains the youth team were being coached differently to the first team. They were being coached to play a passing game but Kemp knew that with the first team players at his disposal that this style of play just wouldn't work.

That's not how I remember it, and if that is what Kemp said, I think he's being a little naughty. Kemp never ever tried once to play football. Without a doubt the most unattractive manager Argyle have ever had. The Pulis team were Brazil in comparison.
"I've been Kemped" was the phrase for those who couldn't take it any more. And some of them didn't return for years, it had been so bad.
He couldn't have got the likes of Steve McCall to come down here. No way. That Shilton team came for Shilton, and if extra money was given, it was given to Shilton for obvious reasons, not the likes of Kempy. Despite his other off the field failings, he inspired players, even if his goalkeeping was well past it's best and he didn't take to the new goalkeeper kicking rule.

Newcastle were one defeat from the 3rd division seem to think they had to beat Leicester and they did.