Witnessed lots of BIZARRE matches over the years following the saddlers, From the most serious when we played Liverpool in the milk cup semi-final at fellows park and the away end wall collapsed when they got their second goal… To the comical, when we played Millwall at the Den in our promotion of 2000/01 season having to wear Millwalls SECOND KIT ! because Tom Bradley forgot to load the kit on the team coach ! ( Graydon was furious ) to be fair to Tom in those days he had to double up as physio and kit man.
Peterborough away last year. Watching Steven Taylor sweep snow from the pitch whilst freezing in the stand during -7 temperatures was definitely bizarre…
Plymouth away, Graydon era in the league cup (1999). Rain blasting down on the open terrace, fog rolled in. We won 4-1 but we only knew we had scored when the players ran up the pitch celebrating. That was back in the two leg league cup game days, we’d beat them 4-1 in the home game so Graydon didn’t even bother travelling with the team I recall.
A mate of mine who’s a Leeds fan went with me for the craic and still reckons it was the best laugh he’s ever had at a game - we got absolutely soaked to the bone.
Bizarre for a different reason - Aldershot away in the Late-and-Daft Trophy in 89/90. We were already tonking them (final result 4-1 to us) when they made a late sub to bring on the ex-Saddlers legend that is Dale Banton (for our younger fans, he was a pre-Bescot Andreas Makris) and all the Shot fans started chanting “Walsall reject” and “What a waste of money” at him to save us the bother.
A bit harsh considering they did at least get to see him score for them - something he never did for us!
The really foggy night at Anfield with less than half the pitch visible and the massed chorus of the Liverpool bush telegraph informing the Kop that ‘Tony Hatley’ had scored. With the Kop replying, ‘Thank you very, very, much’.
Sadly for us the Kop were to sing, ‘We want to know who scored, we want to know who scored…’ several times in that first half!
think it was 1968 at liverpool lost 5-2 thick fog kop singing who scored the goal fans other end singing ian hunt scored the goal, was 14 at the time we broke down on the way got a lift in the back of lorry carrying carpets and a lift home on the team coach sat next to bob wesson the goal keeper nice bloke although seemed a bit mad
Back in the midst of time when we played Charlton in the old second division, so windy the roof of the main stand at Fellows park blew off. Match abandoned lost the re match and got relegated , Charlton kicked us to death Tom Wilson had his leg broke no substitute in them days .Still feel cheated all these years on. I was only about 12 at the time ,got into the stand where the dressing rooms were and watched Tommy carried out to hospital. He was never the same player again,he did get a FA cup winners medal before he played for the Saddlers for Nott’s Forest.Bizarre match shame about the result.
