Walford were promoted to the First Division in 1973/74 after spending big on the signing of Len Farmer from Thornton Villa. The big sweeper was a revelation leading his new side the the glory of the top flight.
The West London side had never been one of English football's top sides, but it would not be long before Walford had a hint of glory. Rovers reached the F.A. Cup Final in 1977/78 where Burndean inspired by their Argentinian international signings defeated the blue and whites. Walford goalie Jon Clark was named man-of-the-match despite being on the losing side.

Race was unhappy with interference from the boardroom, particularly Sam Barlow's criticism of his team selections and by the end of the 1982/83 season, Roy considered his position untenable and resigned. Rawson had already tapped up the great man and Roy moved to London for the last two games of the season. Club captain Joe Bellamy, Walford's star player and leader, was not impressed with Roy's attempts to turn Walford into the Melchester of the South. Walford won Roy's first match in charge 5-1 against Deans Park, but Carford City would show Roy just what a massive task he had to turn Walford into title challengers, winning easily 2-0 on the final day of the season.
Pre-season did not go well, Rawson could sense Roy's mind was elsewhere. Not all of the players were behind the new player-manager and Bellamy made it clear that Walford were bigger than Roy Race and Race had no right to come in with his Melchester ideology. But Roy's preparations were working and Walford started the 1983/84 on fire!
Roy's old foes Alan Jackson and his Melboro' team were destroyed 7-1, young star Alan Shields bagging a brace to go with Race's four and a neat header from David Wright. Then it was the big one - Melchester Rovers - Roy had a nightmare seemingly unable to score against his true love. But Bellamy and Gorman would net to seal a 2-1 win sending Walford to the top of the First Division.




Despite the continued backing of Harvey Rawson, Walford Rovers could find no title challenge. Star players were few and far between. Eventually Rawson's dream would end, he sacked another manager in 1999/2000. This time Roy Race's protege, Rob Richards, got the bullet after a 5-0 thrashing at Mel Park. The change had little impact as Walford were relegated.
Notes:
- The 1978 F.A. Cup Final was documented in Tommy's Troubles in 1981
3 Comments
was there ever any club badges for these side produced?
ReplyDeleteNothing of great use. I've done some interpretations here: http://storky-knight-s-roy-of-the-rovers-forum.1112789.n5.nabble.com/Badges-td38.html
DeleteThe end of the thread has new badges sourced from the comics.
I'm a Watford fan. My Dad's name is Harry Rowson. Found this episode extremely bizarre back in 1983.
ReplyDelete