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Post by FullerMagic on May 2, 2008 19:13:05 GMT
Pulis looks to end long wait as Stoke are on the brink of the Premier League By CHRIS WHEELER - More by this author » Last updated at 18:37pm on 2nd May 2008
Saturday, May 5, 1979. The final day of the season and Stoke were playing for a draw at Notts County to win promotion to the old First Division.
With little more than 15 minutes to go, manager Alan Durban left his seat in the Meadow Lane stands and hurried down to the pitch to tell his players they had to win because rivals Sunderland were beating Wrexham.
When I look back it was a silly way to play,' recalled Paul Richardson, the Stoke hero that day. 'If we'd gone out to win the game from the start we'd have sewn it up within an hour.
'It would have been a travesty because we'd been up at the top with Crystal Palace all season, yet we could easily have cocked it up. We did it, but right at the death.'
Richardson came to the rescue, scoring with a diving header six minutes from time. The second oldest team in the Football League had beaten the oldest 1-0 and Stoke were back in the big time.
A point at home to Leicester tomorrow would see them promoted again, maybe even as champions. But if they gamble again and end up losing to opponents battling to avoid relegation, it could open the door for third-placed Hull and leave Tony Pulis's side in the play-offs.
'It's uncanny really,' said Richardson. 'I just hope they go out to try to win the game. If not, they could come unstuck.
'I never thought it would take Stoke this long to get back because they were a top-flight team for as long as I can remember.'
Once a regular fixture on English football's big stage, the years out of the spotlight have not been kind to a club that once provided a home for household names like Stanley Matthews, Gordon Banks, Peter Shilton and Jimmy Greenhoff.
Stoke went back down with just 17 points in 1985 after an awful season, setting several unwanted records that have only recently been claimed by Sunderland and, very soon, Derby.
Almost two decades of yo-yoing between the second and third tiers under a succession of managers followed.
Even the move from the Victoria Ground to the Britannia Stadium in 1997 got off to a bad start. At the opening ceremony, the legendary Matthews — then in his 80s — failed to kick his goal attempt over the line from the edge of the area in windy conditions.
That seemed to serve as an omen for the rest of the season.
Stoke were relegated and after a 7-0 home defeat to Birmingham in January, hundreds of angry fans stormed the main stand and began ripping their new stadium apart.
Those who still struggle to accept the Britannia as home might change their tune if it is hosting Barclays Premier League football next season.
The takeover by an Icelandic consortium possibly saved Stoke from going out of business but also marked a particularly bizarre period in the club's history.
Pulis' first spell in charge was brought to an end on the basis he was not signing foreign players — just days after the arrival of Mali forward Mamady Sidibe.
Former Iceland boss Gudjon Thordarsson was also axed, 24 hours after winning promotion back to the second tier via the play-offs.
Thordarsson called a public meeting in the club car park later that week to demand his job back, addressing 300 supporters through a megaphone as he stood on a wooden box.
As they drifted away at the end, he climbed back onto his box and announced: 'There's one more thing. The chairman's a f*****g idiot!'
Little known Dutchman Johan Boskamp was brought in but hardly lasted the season and when the Icelanders sold out to former chairman Peter Coates he brought back Pulis.
The Welshman's reliance on big, powerful teams and long-ball tactics might not have won him many fans outside Stoke but it has got results.
So have his attempts to inspire his players to promotion by showing them a DVD of Al Pacino's rousing speech as American football coach Tony D'Amato in the film Any Given Sunday before recent games against Coventry and Colchester.
They should not need any extra motivation tomorrow, however.
'If we go up it will be the release from the shackles of 25 years of frustration,' said Terry Conroy, who starred in the 1972 League Cup Final win over Chelsea and now works in the club's commercial department.
'We thought we might never experience those days again but traditionalists would love to see an old club like Stoke on the way up.'
Among the 12,000 Stoke fans at Meadow Lane the last time the club went up was an apprentice called Adrian Heath.
Later to achieve fame as a midfielder with Everton, Heath makes no secret of his love for Stoke. He played in two spells for the club and now manages their sister team Austin Aztex in America.
'I remember I'd had a new suit made and I was really pleased with it as well,' said Heath. 'When Paul Richardson scored, the place went mad and this fella next to me jumped up and pulled my sleeve right off.
'If Stoke go up this time they will make a real fist of it. The club will be back where it belongs — let's hope they stay there.'
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Post by Beebster on May 2, 2008 19:15:17 GMT
Great Article
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Post by Premier League Busta Rhymes on May 2, 2008 19:15:44 GMT
Bloody great article thanks for that
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Post by Gunslinger on May 2, 2008 19:21:45 GMT
Superb. So nice that they've got in touch with Paul Richardson, and wise words from him as well.
Do it for Paul. He showed how to do eet in '79. He deserve an encore on sunday.
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Post by LDE76 on May 2, 2008 19:23:55 GMT
That's ace.
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Post by mark71 on May 2, 2008 19:29:11 GMT
I think this article needs E mailing to all the lazy uneducated excuses that pass as journalist's now days.
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Post by hiyadad on May 2, 2008 19:31:36 GMT
well thought out artical.we forget some times what a famous old club we are.
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Post by Gunslinger on May 2, 2008 19:32:56 GMT
I think this article needs E mailing to all the lazy uneducated excuses that pass as journalist's now days. Spot on, Mark. I would have loved to give some karma to Chris Wheeler.
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Post by powchirper on May 2, 2008 19:38:13 GMT
There's a bit missing between Gudjon and Bosschump ???
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Post by DentySCFC on May 2, 2008 19:40:29 GMT
As they drifted away at the end, he climbed back onto his box and announced: 'There's one more thing. The chairman's a f*****g idiot!'
Did he really do that? Haha. Cracking article. That's how you write articles, take note Express & Star!!!
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Post by daverichards on May 2, 2008 19:57:13 GMT
fuck me its a proper stoke love in that article ;D
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Post by visunitafortior on May 2, 2008 20:04:11 GMT
Well when I saw the title of the post I was expecting to read the usual shyte that gets published in that Tory tabloid, not a bad article actually.
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potteringabout
Spectator
Dreamer easy in the chair that really fits you
Posts: 10
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Post by potteringabout on May 2, 2008 20:12:09 GMT
Thanks for that - highly enjoyable read.
Inchy's comment about the arm being pulled off his suit made me chuckle - am going to add "Adrian Heath suit" to my list of euphemisms for crap clothing.
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Post by robin1302 on May 2, 2008 20:14:57 GMT
I was expecting to read something slagging us off but thats brilliant!
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on May 2, 2008 20:19:08 GMT
Really enjoyable with great content... But from a technical point of view, that has the one of the weirdest structures to anything I've ever read! But still good.
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Post by hollywood on May 2, 2008 20:34:31 GMT
he makes a key point about going out and being positive. I'm a huge TP fan, but i do sometimes worry that he can be defensive minded.
Looking at our home form (only 4 defeats, and only 1 since Nov), our recent form (3 wins), leicester's form (only 5 away wins, and last game that loss to sheff wed), our full house at the Brit, and our superior quality, we need to go out and impose ourselves from the off. If we start well, and score first, we'll be fine. Once they need to net twice, i'll breathe a lot easier.
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Post by Boyceys been up the attic on May 2, 2008 21:26:03 GMT
Great article better get used to it with promotion coming
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