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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2012 15:45:09 GMT
Barton Downs wrote on another thread:
I did think I would find that Dave Caldwell held the record for Chesterfield sendings off, but he seems to have been an angel compared to messrs Blatherwick and Hewitt.
Nicky Law has a couple but not one against Torquay.
I remember him assaulting Paul Trollope at Plainmoor. Did he get away without a red card? Or was he playing for someone else then?
First of all, David Caldwell is the filthiest player I have ever seen play for Chesterfield FC. Jamie Hewitt played for years so was bound to be sent off a lot (once for fighting with Walsall's David Kelly) and we won't hear a word said against Blathers. His only red card that still exists in my memory was for an admittedly gratuitous punch in the gob of a Stockport player but he is given a pass because he is a true Spireites hero. As for Nicky Law, again I can only remember one red card and that was for a non-existent handball offence and was subsequently rescinded.
Dave Caldwell's sendings off were never for handball or a sulky tantrum with the ref. When he went for an early bath it was for the real deal, like kicking Rotherham's goalkeeper in the face and knocking Wolves' Roger Eli unconscious with an elbow. Now, I know he managed 5 dismissals in one season and that 3 of those were with the Gulls so does that make DC the all-time bad lad of Plainmoor?
I'm sure you historians will have an answer to this one before Murray and Federer are back on court........
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Jul 8, 2012 21:39:39 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2012 7:06:49 GMT
David Caldwell is the filthiest player I have ever seen play for Chesterfield FC. Jamie Hewitt played for years so was bound to be sent off a lot (once for fighting with Walsall's David Kelly) and we won't hear a word said against Blathers. Torquay supporters were generally rather forgiving of Dave Caldwell. This may have been due to our search for a hero after a pretty dire time in our history. The Webb years are well documented but before then, over the period between 1972 and 1984, it had all been rather colourless and uneventful. From the Herald Express centenary supplement:  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2012 7:15:02 GMT
How do you guys FIND these things? I never knew that spreadsheet existed and it's a surprise how many of those incidents I have completely forgotten.
Stuart Basson is the club's official historian and he makes a great job of it in spite of the fact that he grew up supporting Luton and then Portsmouth. Stuart is a proper Town fan these days and can be forgiven because he has lived here for years but I am frequently surprised by football supporters from the South East switching their allegance. Once when Wycombe Wanderers came to Saltergate I congratulated a couple of their fans on what must have been an exciting time viz. joining the League, being promoted to the Third Division; turned out they had only supported Wycombe for a couple of years. Before that they were Reading fans but they had become bored and transferred themselves to another club. Can you believe that?
Note: no Chesterfield player has ever been sent off at Plainmoor or for that matter in any game against Torquay United. Will that proud record survive the season, I wonder.
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Post by ohtobeatplainmoor on Jul 9, 2012 12:05:58 GMT
A bad boy Dave Caldwell might have been but as has been mentioned above, he has a special place at Plainmoor in some ways. He certainly seems to make the trek down to Devon for reunions - because despite the outcome being the team falling just short of the line for promotion both automatically and through three play-offs the were a fearsome outfit and still one of my favorite TUFC teams from the last 30 seasons I've been going to Plainmoor.
Caldwell was a colourful character and over the years have read the tales about him off-field, where he also seemed to be very popular in the Torbay nighclubs and pub scene!
While his 'no-nonsense' approach was liked by many, he was a decent player and it was a real shame that he left. It wasn't the same when he came back. His tally of red cards was high, I don't think that was an endearing factor in popularity - we had Gary Brain who was sent-off twice in his only six games for the club before heading back up north. Dreadful player for us.
I recall the Law / Trollope incident - although it was nearly 20 years ago. I believe it was at the Babbacombe end and a set piece was about to be taken. There was a spot of jostling and Law swung his arm and down went Trolly. I'm sure that it wasn't seen by the ref but it was seen by the crowd and caught on camera - I think Law was then given a suspension.
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Post by Ditmar van Nostrilboy on Jul 9, 2012 15:41:57 GMT
A bad boy Dave Caldwell might have been but as has been mentioned above, he has a special place at Plainmoor in some ways. He certainly seems to make the trek down to Devon for reunions - because despite the outcome being the team falling just short of the line for promotion both automatically and through three play-offs the were a fearsome outfit and still one of my favorite TUFC teams from the last 30 seasons I've been going to Plainmoor. Gutted by the Swansea game, back in the days of a 2 legged playoff final  I was sat by some bloke that i thought "I know him from somewhere" but couldnt work out where. Realised afterwards it was none other than Peter Cook  Still reckon that day the ref had a downer on Caldwell as he was denied a blatant penalty with about 5 minutes to go...I think that was the season we played them 6 times? |
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Post by ohtobeatplainmoor on Jul 9, 2012 18:16:18 GMT
I can't remember the penalty incident DvN - but I can remember being a very gutted ten year old who experienced his first real footballing disappointment since the 3-2 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in 82/83 and perhaps hadn't been equaled until the drubbing in the play-off second leg in 2008....
I recall Peter Cook there that day as well - I was in the enclosure, it was an appallingly bad day weather-wise and played on a quagmire. Was there *really* only 4,999 in Plainmoor that day?! I somehow suspect that there was about 3,000 on the Popside alone!
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Post by dazgull on Jul 9, 2012 18:21:06 GMT
for most torquay fans his performance up at coventry in the cup will be the first that comes to mind. he terrorised their defence and if you were a neutral watching you would have throught that caldwell was far better than cyril regis.
one game i remember was away at gillingham where the fans were really on his back, i think he must have hit one of theirs off the ball. however he did score and then right near the end took down a goal kick and turned and went passed their defence and cooly made it 2-0 and celebrated in front of them.....much to their annoyance!!
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Post by Ditmar van Nostrilboy on Jul 9, 2012 18:53:35 GMT
for most torquay fans his performance up at coventry in the cup will be the first that comes to mind. he terrorised their defence and if you were a neutral watching you would have throught that caldwell was far better than cyril regis. What an excellent game that was, played on the quagmire that occasionally resembled a pitch at Highfield road. I STILL cant work out how we lost that one as I (and a neutral mate I dragged along) thought we were the better team To think they were the holders as well  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2012 20:56:30 GMT
All fans tend to like their big bad centre-forwards who score goals and scare defences but David Caldwell was never likely to become a cult hero at Chesterfield because
(a) he was a replacement for Bob Newton, who had enjoyed that hero status himself but had gone back to Hartlepool
(b) he came to us from Mansfield at a time when the bitter rivalry between the two clubs was at its height towards the end of the NUM strike. Mansfield was the HQ of the scab union, the UDM, and thus there was a lot of hatred towards them; unfairly so, because not every miner in Chesterfield and North Derbyshire supported the strike and there were still a few stalwart NUM men holding out in Mansfield. Any excuse will do to hate your rivals, though, and one of the spin-offs of all this was that Dave Caldwell was tainted because of having played for them.
When he left for Torquay it was under a cloud, since the management had lost patience with the man descibed by The Green 'Un (Sheffield's local Saturday night football paper) as having "apparently donated his season to Comic Relief." His only goal had been an illegal one scored with a hand, and everyone was sick to death of him.
It was a huge surprise when Dave came back to Saltergate a couple of years or so later. By this time, as you rightly say, his card was well and truly marked and it seemed he only had to step onto the field before a yellow card was waved in his face. He tried his best in a dull and uninspiring side for a while but it wasn't to last and he was on his way again before long, shortly after yet another (undeserved) sending off.
Incidentally, I don't know if any of you historians can help me here (of course you can!) but I believe that Mansfield's notorious strikebreaker Silver Birch, who was a sort of "flying scab", fetched up a few years later in Brixham, where he was made to feel unwelcome after his identity was revealed. Is this true or did I imagine it?
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Post by stefano on Jul 9, 2012 21:56:03 GMT
Incidentally, I don't know if any of you historians can help me here (of course you can!) but I believe that Mansfield's notorious strikebreaker "Silver Birch", who was a sort of "flying scab", fetched up a few years later in Brixham, where he was made to feel unwelcome after his identity was revealed. Is this true or did I imagine it? I can't see why he would be unwelcome in Brixham. The biggest mix of weirdos in the World (sorry other than Totnes - now they are weird!). Never heard of him ... but a 'flying scab'? Is that the antithesis of the flying picket (normally a chip on the shoulder socialist who thinks it is their God given right to have a job) who decides that something better than working for a living is to turn up on somebody else's picket line and poke their noses into something that is bu**er all to do with them? No wonder you said in your name dropping on another thread that you wouldn't have agreed with Ann Widdicombe had you discussed politics when you bumped into her. Strangely enough she wouldn't have agreed with you and I would be completely confident in who would come out on top in either a verbal or physical discussion about any political issue. Keep wandering the moors though - there are loads and loads of celebrities out there - and not all of Ms Widdicombe's political persuasion. We are very inclusive down yer! Hope the season is good for you and that you don't have a dilemma about what part of Plainmoor to stand in on 19 January 2013  |
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Post by Ditmar van Nostrilboy on Jul 9, 2012 22:18:16 GMT
I can't see why he would be unwelcome in Brixham. Maybe he only had 5 toes on each foot? |
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Post by Jon on Jul 9, 2012 22:29:35 GMT
I recall the Law / Trollope incident - although it was nearly 20 years ago. I believe it was at the Babbacombe end and a set piece was about to be taken. There was a spot of jostling and Law swung his arm and down went Trolly. I'm sure that it wasn't seen by the ref but it was seen by the crowd and caught on camera - I think Law was then given a suspension. I think you've called that spot on. You are right, the ref didn't see it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2012 0:14:08 GMT
The biggest mix of weirdos in the World (sorry other than Totnes - now they are weird!). Never heard of him ... but a 'flying scab'? Is that the antithesis of the flying picket (normally a chip on the shoulder socialist who thinks it is their God given right to have a job) who decides that something better than working for a living is to turn up on somebody else's picket line and poke their noses into something that is bu**er all to do with them? Well, I could have been drawn in to writing a couple of thousand words about prevailing political attitudes in South Devon. But there you go: Exhibit A - stefano! |
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Post by stefano on Jul 10, 2012 6:29:40 GMT
The biggest mix of weirdos in the World (sorry other than Totnes - now they are weird!). Never heard of him ... but a 'flying scab'? Is that the antithesis of the flying picket (normally a chip on the shoulder socialist who thinks it is their God given right to have a job) who decides that something better than working for a living is to turn up on somebody else's picket line and poke their noses into something that is bu**er all to do with them? Well, I could have been drawn in to writing a couple of thousand words about prevailing political attitudes in South Devon. But there you go: Exhibit A - stefano! ;D There is no real point in having a 'political view' any more as they are all from the same 'ruling elite' production line. The only time they feign any interest in what people think is when an election is on the horizon (but don't leave your microphone on afterwards Mr Brown!) and once in power they take no notice whatsoever about what the people of the country think or want. Nobody voted for a Conservative Liberal Government but that is what we got, cobbled together by the politicians to serve 'their' best interests and to hell with the views of the voters. It's hard to tell them apart in any case. Tony Blair was more conservative than most tories and 'call me Dave' and his Tonto Nick would be regarded as communists if dear old Maggie was in a fit state to make such a judgement. I have told my local MP that I will never vote Conservative again and told him why. Did it bother him? Not at all. He intends to retire at the end of this term and you could put an Orang Utan up for election wearing a blue rosette in this constituency and he would get in. Thank goodness for the football season. Takes my mind off such matters and is good for the mental health of the Nation. With relegation to the Conference being the dread of all clubs in our league there is little time to be concerned about pensions, terrorism, the failing euro, our greedy incompetent bankers, hosepipe bans, health and safety, tennis, the decimation of our armed forces, Gibralter, the Falklands, tennis, winter weather throughout summer, air passenger duty, train prices, strikes, riots, or tennis. Off to Italy on hols next week and have sorted all my euros so I have the Greek ones on top and will spend them first. It could just be the 'butterfly effect' that sees Italy crashing down as well! Hopefully none of that made any sense at all. It didn't to me and it wasn't meant to! |
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