Chronological History of Morecambe Football Club
Click On Decades
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The 1970's
The 1970's can be said to be the worst decade the club ever had, except for one moment unexpected moment of glory. 1970-1970, season saw the sacking of manager Ronnie Clayton after losing the opening game. Trainers Gerry Irving & Ronnie Mithell, both former player took over as caretaker-managers, until Ken Waterhouse return to club as manager for his second term. Still is was a poor season, finishing 12th in the league and no cup runs. However Christie Park saw its first Sunday game on April 25th 1971 against Gainsborough Trinity, the team lost 2-1. Local boy, comedian, Eric Morecambe was the club's President for the season. The following season, 1971-!972, the most notable event was the full red strip was replaced with white shirts and red shorts and the club reached the 3rd round of the F.A. Trophy losing to Macclesfield. The team finished lower mid-table in the league and the manager was sacked by the board being replaced by a player-manager, Dave Roberts. 1972-1973, one notable event was the selling of Alan Taylor to Rochdale for £2,500, who later played for West Ham United, scoring the winning goal in the 1975 F.A. Cup final. On the field the team reached the quarter-finals of the F.A. Trophy before losing in the 2nd replay to Wigan Athletic and the team again finished mid-table in the league.
1973-1974, some
would probably say the greatest day in the club's history, winning
the FA. Trophy at Wembley. Goals from Sutton and Richmond sees the
club to a 2-1 win over Dartford in front of a crowd of 19,000.
The club also reached the Lancashire Senior Cup final again
this time losing to Manchester City 3-0 and the team finish 14th in
the league.
The following season, 1974-1975, many supporters expected a rise in club fortunes, the were sadly disappointed. The team finished mid-table in the league. Except to 1st round of the F.A. Cup (as winners of the Trophy) crashing out to Bishop Auckland 5-0. Beaten by Telford United,in the 2nd round of the F.A. Trophy and miss out a Lancashire Junior Cup final against Lancaster City, after losing to Bacup Borough in the semi-finals. Dave Robert's resigned to become manager-coach to Kazma Club, Kuwait, at the end of the season. 1975-1976 saw the appointment of Alan Spavin as player-manager. There were some reasonable cup runs, the team reached the 3rd round of F.A. Trophy losing to Tooting & Mitcham United at home, 3-2, and a semi-final replay defeat to Wigan Athletic, 3-0 , in Lancashire Junior Cup. Alan Spavin resigned to became assistant-manager to U.S.A. Washington Diplomats and Johnny Johnson took over as player-manager. He guided the team to a run of four unbeaten games to take the the club out of the re-election zone, to finish fifth from bottom. 1976-1977, again another poor league season, with the team finishing in the lower mid-table. The highlight of the season were the reaching the 4th round of the F.A. Trophy losing, away, to Slough Town 2-0 and losing 1-0, away, to Lincoln City in the 1st round of the F.A. Cup, manage by Graham Taylor. Still it came has a shock with the manger was sacked at the end of the season. 1977-1978, a poor season and crisis after crisis followed. Trainer, Tommy Ferber was appointed manager. It was poor start only one win in seventeen games and in early September the board sacked him. The board tried to appoint ex-Southport player Alex Russell as new player-manager but refused to pay compensation to his old club, Formby, and reinstated Tommy Ferber as manager until his second sacking in February. Mick Hoggarth was appointed the new club manager. There were no cup success and the team ended forth from bottom in the league. 1978-1979, was another very poor season in the league finishing 18th in the league. The only highlight was the, away, 1st round F.A. Cup game against Stockport County, the team lost 5-1. With the end on the 1970's, the 1979-1980 season saw Mick Hoggarth resign in October. Don Cubbage was appointed the new club manager. Again the team finished in the bottom half of the league. The big highlight of the season was for the first time the club being drawn at home in the 1st round F.A. Cup to Rotherham United, 1-1, losing in the replay 2-0.