They had a famous FA Cup run in the early 1990s, eventually being knocked out by Crewe 3-1 in the 3rd round. Roly Howard was manager for a record 33 years (1972-2005), although he will always be remembered by some fans as Kenny Dalglish's window cleaner. TV presenter Ray Stubbs once asked: "How's business, Roly?" to which Roly replied "Oh you know - ups and downs."
Former players include Michael Ball (Everton and Rangers) and Stephen Wright (Liverpool and Sunderland). The club motto is 'To Enjoy, Not Destroy.'
IT’S tough enough picking a Grand National winner with one fence to jump – so imagine trying to work out the winner weeks in advance when there’s more than 100 horses still standing. Well, here goes…
I’ve been lucky to enough to cover the Grand National as a journalist since 1989.
Alongside reporting on the triumphs, tragedies, washouts, cock-ups and terror threats, I have enjoyed some betting successes (and plenty of losses) while watching the dramas unfold from the privileged position of the media enclosure at the top of the main stand, next to giddy owners and anxious trainers.
As I write, the names of horses that have shattered my hopes (Romany King, Baronet, Him of Praise, Call It a Day) spring to mind as readily as those which have brought me modest windfalls (Miinnehoma, Earth Summit and Hedgehunter). Overall, the race has been kind to me.
My connections with the Grand National go back to the 1970s when the family sweepstake dealt me The Pilgarlic, Churchtown Boy, L’Escargot, Greasepaint, Spanish Steps, The Dikler and, of course, Red Rum.
The names would be snipped from the Daily Express and ‘divvied up’ between us, eight horses each.
The 'owner' of the winning horse would win a prize, such as a Lindt Easter bunny. I’m still smarting from my eldest sister’s back-to-back victories with Lucius (1978) and Rubstic (1979) and my younger sister landing the spoils with Ben Nevis in 1980.
(Just click on the image above to see a YouTube video of Rubstic winning the 1979 Grand National)
As well as the sweepstake, my dad would place a few coppers each-way on a horse of our choice. He’d never trust us not to lose the betting slips though. I remember winning a bit of money, but cannot remember the horses.
On day trips to Southport we would look out for Rummy as he galloped on Southport beach. The morning after the 1974 race my mum took me to trainer Ginger McCain’s cobbled stableyard nestled behind his second-hand car lot near Birkdale railway station.
Rummy had won for the second time. He was ‘at home’ to visitors. I was photographed by the local press and filmed by BBC Look North (as it was then) pinning a handmade ‘well done’ card to Red Rum’s stable door. My drawing featured a horse with disproportionately long, thin legs, I remember.
My mum still has the newspaper cuttings. Somewhere. There’s also a snapshot of me wearing shorts, a crocheted waistcoast and a ‘bowl head’ haircut. She's clipped the tatty print to a framed photo of me, aged 21 in 1989, with Red Rum as he opened a new housing development in Maghull, just a few miles from Aintree.
Looking back, Red Rum seemed to be a thread throughout my younger days. Ironically, I wrote the front page story in the Liverpool Echo on October 18, 1995, which announced to the world that Red Rum was dead. As the ‘city final’ edition hit the streets, Rummy had already been laid to rest in a hastily dug grave alongside the winning post at Aintree.
To this day, fans pay homage, leaving Polo mints on the headstone.
Click here for 2008 John Smith’s Grand National Tips: Part 2
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