We bought Ray Pointer from Bury and were about to buy their young star at the time Colin Bell too but Manchester City nipped in and nicked him and Bell went on to be one of the best England midfielders of his time.
I saw both play but was only a youngster in Satchwell`s day and can`t remember much about him as a player. I Know he was reckoned to be a real livewire by my dad though.
I remember Ray pointer very well though and not just from his all too brief time with City.
I was a bit of a Burnley fan when they were one of the top teams around in the late 50s/ early 60s and saw him play with them a couple of times.
He won a league champions medal with Burnley and won three England caps (scoring 2 goals).
He was eventually offloaded by Burnley to Bury after picking up an injury and scored for fun there (as they say) getting 17 goals in 19 games before JH snapped him up for 20,000 pounds.
He did the business for City too scoring some important goals in our promotion push.
And then he was gone (to Portsmouth) after only 28 games! I was gutted at the time, but in hindsight I understand that JH had only brought him in as a short term addition to bolster City`s promotion challenge just as he`d done a couple of years earlier with George Kirby.
Pointer was 30 by then and no one had any way of knowing how long he was going to last, but he stayed with Portsmouth for seven years and was voted their player of the season the year after he joined them.
Hindsight again, but I`d have loved to see him stay longer, with City maybe benefitting from his experience and goals in Div 1 - we`ll never know.
He didn`t look the part of a typical centre forward in those days, only about 5 ft 9, round shouldered, fairly slight and that shock of blonde hair, but he had a touch of class about him and he contributed more than just his goals as you might expect from someone with his pedigree.
I saw both play but was only a youngster in Satchwell`s day and can`t remember much about him as a player. I Know he was reckoned to be a real livewire by my dad though.
I remember Ray pointer very well though and not just from his all too brief time with City.
I was a bit of a Burnley fan when they were one of the top teams around in the late 50s/ early 60s and saw him play with them a couple of times.
He won a league champions medal with Burnley and won three England caps (scoring 2 goals).
He was eventually offloaded by Burnley to Bury after picking up an injury and scored for fun there (as they say) getting 17 goals in 19 games before JH snapped him up for 20,000 pounds.
He did the business for City too scoring some important goals in our promotion push.
And then he was gone (to Portsmouth) after only 28 games! I was gutted at the time, but in hindsight I understand that JH had only brought him in as a short term addition to bolster City`s promotion challenge just as he`d done a couple of years earlier with George Kirby.
Pointer was 30 by then and no one had any way of knowing how long he was going to last, but he stayed with Portsmouth for seven years and was voted their player of the season the year after he joined them.
Hindsight again, but I`d have loved to see him stay longer, with City maybe benefitting from his experience and goals in Div 1 - we`ll never know.
He didn`t look the part of a typical centre forward in those days, only about 5 ft 9, round shouldered, fairly slight and that shock of blonde hair, but he had a touch of class about him and he contributed more than just his goals as you might expect from someone with his pedigree.
Ray Pointer was a very good player. Only played a few games for us but scored some wonderful goals. He looked the part too.
He is the player with the shock of blond hair to the right of Bobby Gould in this photo.
Was part of the deal that brought us Brian Lewis from Portsmouth, a deal that probably earned us promotion to the top flight. The unsung hero of that squad, sadly died young about 10 years ago.
Was part of the deal that brought us Brian Lewis from Portsmouth, a deal that probably earned us promotion to the top flight. The unsung hero of that squad, sadly died young about 10 years ago.
Sorry to be a bit argumentative on a thread like this, but as you know, I do not share your opinion of Lewis. Yes we signed him and yes we went on to win promotion, but it doesn`t necessarily follow that his signing might by itself have earned us our promotion. I rather doubt it myself.
Also worth considering is what Pointer might have done for our promotion push (and beyond) if he`d stayed.
It`s all about opinions I guess - even after 50 years !