The Orange Ball (1 Viewer)

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

With todays weather in mind do the older ones on here remember us playing Blackburn Rovers on a snow covered HR pitch, early December 1995 I’m sure they were reigning league champions at the time but we thumped them 5-0, Blackburn had a lot of the the star names of the day Alan Shearer, Colin Hendry, Chris Sutton, Tim Flowers, Tim Sherwood and they blamed the use of an orange ball used on the snow covered pitch, which in those times was often used when snowing. I’m sure they made an official complaint and were laughed at all round the country.

Another snowy day we played Sheffield United at home who were leading 2-0 and a massive blizzard occurred and you couldn’t see the players, the game got abandoned and we won the replayed game at the back end of the season 2-0 to survive another relegation battle by the skin of our teeth.

Sbarcher · Mar 9, 2023

Yes I was there too. I seem to remember their complaint was that due to the state of the pitch, the match should not have been played.

oscillatewildly · Mar 9, 2023

Yes - Was at the Blackburn game.

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

Might have been that as well but I’m sure they made a big deal about using a red ball which was laughed at by our own JH and the pundits of the day on match of the day, they came across like a bunch of spoilt brats, which they probably were.

Frostie · Mar 9, 2023

I think it was just one of their players, Lars Bohinen, who was partially colour blind & had difficulty seeing the orange ball. He had to be subbed at half-time.

skybluelee · Mar 9, 2023

It was so cold at that Blackburn game. We'd had an appalling season up until that game as well. Is that the last time we've played with an orange ball?

Robinshio · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

Frostie said:
I think it was just one of their players, Lars Bohinen, who was partially colour blind & had difficulty seeing the orange ball. He had to be subbed at half-time.

Bloody hell, the way we were playing that season I reckon half our squad were colour blind with white footballs.

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

Just watched that tv clip, it shows us all what a great player Peter Ndlovu was, the fact managers of the day and there were a few couldn’t build a top team round him beggars belief.

DazzleTommyDazzle · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
With todays weather in mind do the older ones on here remember us playing Blackburn Rovers on a snow covered HR pitch, early December 1995 I’m sure they were reigning league champions at the time but we thumped them 5-0, Blackburn had a lot of the the star names of the day Alan Shearer, Colin Hendry, Chris Sutton, Tim Flowers, Tim Sherwood and they blamed the use of an orange ball used on the snow covered pitch, which in those times was often used when snowing. I’m sure they made an official complaint and were laughed at all round the country.

Another snowy day we played Sheffield United at home who were leading 2-0 and a massive blizzard occurred and you couldn’t see the players, the game got abandoned and we won the replayed game at the back end of the season 2-0 to survive another relegation battle by the skin of our teeth.

I remember both. We were getting stuffed in the Sheffield Utd game until it was abandoned.

IIRC it was replayed after Noel Cantwell had been sacked and Bob Dennison was in temporary charge. You're right that we won, but I thought it was 3-2?

olderskyblue · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
With todays weather in mind do the older ones on here remember us playing Blackburn Rovers on a snow covered HR pitch, early December 1995 I’m sure they were reigning league champions at the time but we thumped them 5-0, Blackburn had a lot of the the star names of the day Alan Shearer, Colin Hendry, Chris Sutton, Tim Flowers, Tim Sherwood and they blamed the use of an orange ball used on the snow covered pitch, which in those times was often used when snowing. I’m sure they made an official complaint and were laughed at all round the country.

Another snowy day we played Sheffield United at home who were leading 2-0 and a massive blizzard occurred and you couldn’t see the players, the game got abandoned and we won the replayed game at the back end of the season 2-0 to survive another relegation battle by the skin of our teeth.

Not surprised, I could hardly see the ball myself on that clip….

RegTheDonk · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
Just watched that tv clip, it shows us all what a great player Peter Ndlovu was, the fact managers of the day and there were a few couldn’t build a top team round him beggars belief.

Bloody froze but it was an unbelievable result, warmed us all up.

IIRC didn't Nuddy miss a sitter from about 2 yards, put it over the bar? Am sure it was against Blackburn, prob a different game.

LastGarrison · Mar 9, 2023

Another one who was there for the Blackburn match although for some random reason I seem to remember being in the Main Stand for that game and I have no recollection as to why!!

Saying that I also thought the game was between Christmas and New Year so fuck knows!!

You compare the teams on paper and the form at the time and they should have smashed us but we absolute battered them.

Mcbean · Mar 9, 2023

Amazing how many shots we had without scoring / sound familiar

Brylowes · Mar 9, 2023

I can remember travelling up to watch us play Norwich, it snowed on and off all the way but really started coming down just as we hit Coventry.
We lost 1 v 2 and I’m sure we used an orange ball.
Ady Boothroyd was in charge so around 2010 I reckon.

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

LastGarrison said:
Another one who was there for the Blackburn match although for some random reason I seem to remember being in the Main Stand for that game and I have no recollection as to why!!

Saying that I also thought the game was between Christmas and New Year so fuck knows!!

You compare the teams on paper and the form at the time and they should have smashed us but we absolute battered them.

December the 9th

RedSalmon · Mar 9, 2023

Was Don Hutchinson playing for Blackburn that day and got sent off towards the end?

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

DazzleTommyDazzle said:
I remember both. We were getting stuffed in the Sheffield Utd game until it was abandoned.

IIRC it was replayed after Noel Cantwell had been sacked and Bob Dennison was in temporary charge. You're right that we won, but I thought it was 3-2?

You are correct it was 3-2 we finished fifth from bottom but we’ll clear points wise.
Here’s a thought Villa finished champions of division three.

Deleted member 9744 · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
December the 9th

Weren't we bottom of the League at the time too. Also wasn't this Chris Whyte's only game for us?

Otis · Mar 9, 2023

Yup, I was there too.

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

Deleted member 9744 said:
Weren't we bottom of the League at the time too. Also wasn't this Chris Whyte's only game for us?

Chris White did play and I think we might have been bottom.

DazzleTommyDazzle · Mar 9, 2023

It was reported a few days after the match that we'd been very close to signing a certain Chris Coleman (wonder what happened to him?) but that after conceding 5 to us Blackburn came in with a late bid for him and he went there instead.

COVKIDSNEVERQUIT · Mar 9, 2023

Could never understand why in the middle of the summer, at the 1966 World Cup final against West Germany they had an Orange ball, and in them days the TV was black and white, a white ball would have been easier to see. Puzzling.

NortonSkyBlue · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
You are correct it was 3-2 we finished fifth from bottom but we’ll clear points wise.
Here’s a thought Villa finished champions of division three.

At half time we were 0-2 down to a good Blades side and the weather was not too bad, in the second half a blizzard came down from the heavens and the ref had no choice but to abandon the game.
similar thing happened at Ipswich but we were ahead and the game was abandoned and we lost the game when it was played a while later.

Deleted member 9744 · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
Chris White did play and I think we might have been bottom.

Just looked it up and it was Whyte's only game for us. Statistically he must have the best record ever for us.

fernandopartridge · Mar 9, 2023

LastGarrison said:
Another one who was there for the Blackburn match although for some random reason I seem to remember being in the Main Stand for that game and I have no recollection as to why!!

Saying that I also thought the game was between Christmas and New Year so fuck knows!!

You compare the teams on paper and the form at the time and they should have smashed us but we absolute battered them.

That Blackburn win was only our second league win of that season iirc!! We'd not won a league game since August

Skybluefaz · Mar 9, 2023

RedSalmon said:
Was Don Hutchinson playing for Blackburn that day and got sent off towards the end?

No.

ProfessorbyGrace · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
With todays weather in mind do the older ones on here remember us playing Blackburn Rovers on a snow covered HR pitch, early December 1995 I’m sure they were reigning league champions at the time but we thumped them 5-0, Blackburn had a lot of the the star names of the day Alan Shearer, Colin Hendry, Chris Sutton, Tim Flowers, Tim Sherwood and they blamed the use of an orange ball used on the snow covered pitch, which in those times was often used when snowing. I’m sure they made an official complaint and were laughed at all round the country.

Another snowy day we played Sheffield United at home who were leading 2-0 and a massive blizzard occurred and you couldn’t see the players, the game got abandoned and we won the replayed game at the back end of the season 2-0 to survive another relegation battle by the skin of our teeth.

What a game that was! I was only 15, in my second ST year, and of all the games I recall vividly, this is in the top 3.

Blackburn were just in disarray, that day.
I remember joking with my step dad that we should use an orange ball every week, and he said: “yeah, and stick a bell in it as well”.

Apologies to all who have sight issues, but it would have definitely helped our questionably-sighted players that year.

ProfessorbyGrace · Mar 9, 2023

Deleted member 9744 said:
Weren't we bottom of the League at the time too. Also wasn't this Chris Whyte's only game for us?

He was pretty solid in there, I must admit. Won everything in the air.

DazzleTommyDazzle · Mar 9, 2023

NortonSkyBlue said:
At half time we were 0-2 down to a good Blades side and the weather was not too bad, in the second half a blizzard came down from the heavens and the ref had no choice but to abandon the game.
similar thing happened at Ipswich but we were ahead and the game was abandoned and we lost the game when it was played a while later.

Think the Ipswich game was called off due to floodlight failure.

I remember the programme for the next home game had a jokey article that said that Colin Stein's header, that gave us the lead, had been so powerful it had drilled into the ground and gone through the power cable!

Worrying that I remember this but have to check who we played last month...

Legia Sky Blue · Mar 9, 2023

Robinshio said:

Was definitely a good day for us. Those highlights make Ally Pickering look like a top player!

slowpoke · Mar 9, 2023

I’m sure Coleman was to be part of a mega double signing neither happened can’t remember who the other one was.

DazzleTommyDazzle · Mar 9, 2023

slowpoke said:
I’m sure Coleman was to be part of a mega double signing neither happened can’t remember who the other one was.

Didn't we sign Noel Whelan pretty soon afterwards?

torchomatic · Mar 9, 2023

Can remember a few times in the snow and/or fog the crowd singing, "we want an orange ball, orange ball, orange ball..."

Sadly missed chant that.

Brylowes · Mar 9, 2023

Legia Sky Blue said:
Was definitely a good day for us. Those highlights make Ally Pickering look like a top player!

Met his big brother once, weirdly he wouldn’t tell me his name, kept going on like he assumed I should already know it I

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