Stoppage at Rovers had shades of ‘77

ONE of my predecessors at the Daily Press – a follower of Bristol City – once wondered if I, as a Sunderland supporter, disliked the Robins due to the infamous shenanigans on the final day of the 1976/77 season.

For those who are unaware, Sunderland were relegated from the old Division One that day after losing at Everton, while Coventry and Bristol City stayed up after kicking off late and then almost grinding to a halt once it was known the Black Cats had drawn a blank and a point was enough for both the Sky Blues and Alan Dicks’ Robins.

That happened three years before I was born, so despite being well versed in the history of my club, it is not something I carry around as emotional baggage on a personal level. Perhaps my dad or my late grandfathers would have had an opinion, or anyone else who was around at the time, but what’s done is done – although the fact that it happened at all will always cast some sort of shadow over events that day.

Certainly Jimmy Hill, pictured, who as Coventry chairman alongside his TV work was blamed for both delaying the kick-off and revealing the Sunderland result over the PA system, was never a very popular figure on Wearside.

Anyway, I was reminded of this situation at the weekend. When Elliott Anderson’s goal put Bristol Rovers 7-0 up against Scunthorpe and the game was halted by a pitch invasion, my sense of amazement at the unpredictable nature of football was offset by a slight sense of unfairness.

Forget the Scunthorpe teamsheet, which seems to have been the primary source of protest from Northampton, the simple fact the Cobblers’ game at Barrow was continuing while the Rovers game was not did not sit right.

Had both kept going, Rovers might have conceded a goal as they went for an eighth that they thought they might need, and everything would have changed.

Instead, Northampton’s game finished without them adding to their 3-1 advantage, and when Rovers resumed against the Iron they knew 7-0 was enough, they did not have to attack with total abandon, they just had to be solid.

Look, the manner of Rovers’ promotion was quite remarkable, but that stoppage will always make some people wonder.