He’s from Southport, so I’d imagine he lives in that area.
Fun fact for you - I used to play football with Spearings mates, and once met him outside The Lighthouse pub. Incredibly tenuous claim to fame there 
I’m sure Clarke will travel to training, like a lot of other footballers do.
Given his age, he may not train every day of the week either
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He’ll definitely be travelling- he’s got a free bus pass remember.
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Remember Colin Methven living in Blackpool when we signed him and he was such a good professional and looked after himself so well , was allowed to train at home rather than travel every day to train with the rest of the team , apparently he used to run all along the sea front every day .
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Was a big fan of Colin Methven. Think he owns a B&B in Blackpool now.
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Didn’t Samways used to train by himself in Spain, and fly over every weekend?
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Braver man than I am it’s usually feckin freezing on Blackpool sea front.
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He did. Although most will cite the disaster that was Merson and him going into rehab as being the catalyst for our downfall that season, the situation with Samways shouldn’t be forgotten.
He was every bit as important to the team as Merson, if not more so. He had an agreement (a gentleman’s one rather than written perhaps?) that he could train in Spain (in the rain?) and then fly over for the games. When the sh%t started hitting the fan, Colin Lee apparently reneged on that agreement and told Samways he had to be in Walsall for training…and we never saw the same player again. He wasn’t in the least happy about it.
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Was there also an issue with not playing Paul Ritchie, for fear of triggering an appearance based clause in his contract?
That came even later in the season, I think.
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And what a player he was.
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Short-termism or what? What did that relegation cost us overall?
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Am I right in thinking that once Merson was in charge he triggered it anyway, albeit too late in the day to save us?
I think so. That relegation is a ball and chain still attached to every one of us, even when we’re not looking at it. It resides in the subconscious as a physical reminder of where we were, which puts where we are in an uncomfortable perspective. It’s easy to see why tempers readily flare-up.
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Bonser put a stop to Ritchie playing for a good while because he was about to trigger an extension to his contract, which I believe would have been on increased wages.
There are more on here who will know more, but that’s what I remember from the time.
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Cost Boner nothing, in fact it probably saved him a nice few quid.
Yes, that’s absolutely definite. The only thing I can’t recall is the timing. I’m sure that was late on in the season, not long before Lee was sacked.
Correct he also threatened to fine Gerrard 2 weeks wages for taking care of his sick newborn baby.Scum the bloke was
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Ritchie played in the last four games, three of which we lost. Before that he’d missed four in a row, a draw with Millwall, a win at Derby, a miserable defeat to Burnley and one of the worst Saddlers performances I’ve ever seen, a 3-0 loss at Gillingham when Jimmy Walker kept the score to single figures. Then he was back in for the loss at Norwich…
The last game he’d played before his break was at Preston, a 2-1 win with Wright and Aranalde at wing backs and the Dogs of War, Burley and Andrews, in midfield. I think most of us that day would have expected us to stay up, albeit unconvincingly, I certainly did.
He didn’t play at West Ham in March, one of our best performances of the season, but I think he was injured (or suspended?) for that one.
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