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.'
THE internet is changing the way everyone gets information - especially football fans.
What was once the preserve of a small clique of Fleet Street hacks, is now a global, instant, 24/7 business. Football writers would once huddle after press briefings and agree lines and quotes to satisfy their respective sportsdesks, keeping their own exclusive leads to themselves, of course.
Soccer writers could even afford to sit on a story for days and decide when it was best to trouble their sports editor and ultimately the public with their knowledge. They were in control, NOT the fans.
Nowadays, online journalism is posing a real threat to trained, experienced sports reporters on national and regional papers. Amateurs are breaking stories (many admittedly based on pretty dubious sources or even none at all) every minute of the day online - in forums, on blogs or even on sophisticated, slick websites dedicated to the beautiful game.
Never before have football writers faced such competition.
Kopblog and its parent website ThisIsAnfield are two good examples of football journalism that never sleeps.
Blogger Gerry Ormonde has done a good Q&A with the Liverpool Echo's Tony Barrett in which Tony talks about the important role the internet plays in giving fans a voice.
Here's a snippet of what Tony has to say (in between plugs for his new book), but you can read the whole interview for yourself by clicking here.
"Any journalist who says he is not influenced by the internet is either a luddite or a liar. You take influences and ideas from all kinds of places and the moment you think you have the monopoly on good ideas and can’t be assisted by anyone or anything else is the moment you have lost the plot.
"I look at the Liverpool forums all the time simply because they are so well informed. There are plenty of times when fans cut right through all the nonsense and get to the heart of the matter simply because they are not compromised in any way.
"They do not have to please anyone with what they write and that allows them to tell the truth, even if it isn’t always palatable.
"I honestly believe that if you are lucky enough to have a job covering a football club that you are duty bound to keep abreast of what the fans are thinking and there are few better ways of doing that in the modern age than keeping an eye on the internet forums.
"Especially when they are slaughtering me for a story I’ve written! There’s no better way of keeping your feet on the ground."
P.S. If Barrett ever sends me a review copy of his book he can have a big plug on Touchline Dad. Surely he must have a pretty PA to deal with such trivial matters nowadays?
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