Forty-four years old. First Walsall match was midway through the 1987-1988 promotion season. Last Walsall match in the flesh was a 3-2 home win over Swindon in 2004 in which the Saddlers fought back from 0-2. Dad is a lapsed West Bromwich fan. I went to Fellows Park for a Tuesday match one night and that was it.
60, born in 1958. Taken by my Dad, who was an avid fan for many years. Initially went to the reserves when I was 5 or 6 and the first team score used to come through every 15 minutes over the tannoy. Graduated to first team in the 1967/8 season when we were running away with the league pre-Christmas and then fell apart.
- First game in 1987… we lost of course.
I was right behind that Taylor blockbuster at Derby…it was from the narrowest of angles and it nearly ripped the net from the goalpost!!! Oh happy days…
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72 and a fan since the days of Tony Richards and his diving headers. Grandad played briefly for club in early 1900’s so across the family plus my Dad and brother were also fans. Have managed to get one of my Grandsons to be a Saddler which isn’t easy when he has been the one Saddler supporter at school 40 miles away! He is now at Uni and has told SG that an admission ticket for Students is required urgently.
Guess what SG said would look at AGAIN like last year. SG is out of touch!!
Watching Walsall has always been character building and not glory hunting!
Sad that many of my friends of my age group now don’t come because of Bonser style of management so I don’t agree that the older generation of fans support Bonser at all.
They want change as much as the rest of the fan base.
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Born in '84.
First game 1992 v Bournemouth (H) in the Coca Cola Cup First Round, First Leg.
1-1 with a Wayne Clarke equaliser.
Loved Cannonball Taylor,you never knew whether he was going to burst the net,knock the keepers head off,or smash one of the floodlights when he had a shot…
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He wasn’t quite as good when the Laundry chimneys came down:grinning:
Wasn’t it one of his stray shots that brought them crashing down…
Could have been!!!..I know one thing we will never see his like again. … thats what is so sad about football today(not just Walsall) the players then would stay for a few years at least with their clubs whilst today any player that shows a small amount of promise disappears quickly e.g. Ginnelly …less than 30 games and he is gone not to play in Preston’s first team but to earn probably twice as much money !!!
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Based on these bloody amazing figures, why is Bonser such a god send to this club? All I can see everywhere I look is regression while other clubs have pushed on?
Why don’t the older generation of fan, having seen all this, want better for the future of this club?
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Not to forget that Cannonball also left us twice for i assume more money.
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Lightbourne was also my first Walsall hero. I was a keen artist when I was at school/college and produced a drawing of Lightbourne and sent it to the club, they replied saying they had framed it and put it up somewhere but I never spotted it. I did think maybe it had made it to the wall of Bonsers bog, who knows 
EDIT
Just found the picture, actually better than I remembered but his hand looks a little withered.
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I don’t think Taylor would get a game these days,you never saw him track back and help the fullback out.I don’t think I ever saw him tackle anyone,but that buzz that went round the ground when he got the ball,priceless.
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Dead right Swifty. Always remember even if he got the ball on the half way line the crowd were screaming for him to have a shot.
As proven by many that have posted already - they do - and many older fans are staying away because of it.
29 - I am not sure which was my first game but I was definitely ball boy for the Oldham game in '99.
Didn’t get my first ST until '03.
I think it depended on when he got tired Shady,he would run with the ball,and even if he was 50yds out he would shoot if he didn’t fancy running any further…
Brilliant
What a character to have in your team, also with George Meek on the other wing seemed to be a perfect balance.
Football seems to have become such a complicated game nowadays.
Who was it said “it`s a simple game”?
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I initially thought Greavesy but that was “funny old game” 