A sad day certainly travelling on a Grim special to London Road in the snow on Boxing Day 1970 and and losing 4-0.
Particularly galling, as only 9 months before, on March 28 1970 and also in Peterborough, I'd seen Billy Best got all four in a thrilling 4-3 victory.
Particularly galling, as only 9 months before, on March 28 1970 and also in Peterborough, I'd seen Billy Best got all four in a thrilling 4-3 victory.
Ding, dong: The Bell in Stilton, not remembered fondly by one pair of newlyweds!
The happiest memory in the east England town though was Saturday May 5 1990 where a win would guarantee promotion.
While several mates had decided to hire a mini-van I'd travelled down by train from London.
Getting a bus from town to the meeting place of nearby Stilton, yes where the cheese is from, or so they say, and the Bell Inn. I had the pleasure of standing outside with my second pint, as with many end of season days the sun was shining brightly, and seeing their faces as they turned up after a tough drive. (Not that tough as I found out later. They had polished off a bottle of snapps on the way up!)
A packed away end, David Crown hits a low shot which squirms under the Posh keepers body for an early 1-0 lead. David gets another soon after and we hang on for a 2-1 victory and the third division.
Mass celebrations ending up for many of us returning to the The Bell where a couple had decided to hold their wedding reception. They were not happy bunnies as the singing broke out. They should have looked at the fixtures!
Poor sods though, I wonder if they'll still together?
Many beers later, and one sober driver who reminded me on Tuesday that some IPA, which I'd just walked out of the pub with, had ended up down his back! What a waste of a decent pint!
The London based guys were thrown off the van at Chelmsford where we learnt there was no trains due to a track fire breaking out down the line! Two went in search of a B&B while I sat, well slept, until woken up sometime close to midnight that a replacement bus was outside to take us back to town, stopping at every station!
I think I fell into bed about 2am!
Working in Peterborough several years later company meetings were sometimes held in that very same pub, still there and included in the pub crawl, and it always made me smile to see 'NO FOOTBALL FANS' pasted on the front door. Before that May day I'd bet they'd never seen a footy fan, let alone fifty or sixty of them all at one go!
| Completed Saturday, 5th May 1990 | Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Exeter City | 46 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 50 | 14 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 33 | 34 | 28 | 5 | 13 | 83 | 48 | 89 | +35 | ||||
| 2 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 29 | 27 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 70 | 47 | 79 | +23 | ||||
| 3 | Southend United | 46 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 35 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 26 | 34 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 61 | 48 | 75 | +13 | ||||
| 4 | Stockport County | 46 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 45 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 35 | 21 | 11 | 14 | 68 | 62 | 74 | +6 | ||||
| 5 | Maidstone United | 46 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 49 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 22 | 7 | 17 | 77 | 61 | 73 | +16 | ||||
| 6 | Cambridge United | 46 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 31 | 36 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 76 | 66 | 73 | +10 | ||||
| 7 | Chesterfield | 46 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 41 | 19 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 31 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 63 | 50 | 71 | +13 | ||||
| 8 | Carlisle United | 46 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 38 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 23 | 40 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 61 | 60 | 71 | +1 | ||||
| 9 | Peterborough United | 46 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 23 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 24 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 59 | 46 | 68 | +13 | ||||
| 10 | Lincoln City | 46 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 27 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 48 | 48 | 68 | 0 | ||||