Why bring this up you may wonder. Well I'm wondering if anyone remembers this game at Fartown in which referee Vince Moss reduce both sides to 10 men. It was a Division 2 clash which saw both sides chasing promotion at the time.

Moss red carded Les Bolton, Alan Hodkinson and Nicky Kiss for Wigan whilst Jimmy Johnson, Glen Knight and Steve Lyons were sent off for Hudds. They all got three match bans except Johnson.

Wigan took disciplinary action against the whole team for the events that day.
After an inquiry the RFL fined Wigan £500, Huddersfield £250 plus £1,000 suspended fine for each club.

I have a question - why was George Fairbairn sacked at the end of the season despite winning promotion? Was it to do with this game?

I also read the French Championship final that year got abandoned after 5 minutes and declared void because of brawling and a French referee Guy Gatteneo was accused of bias over his officiating of a GB v France test match.

I don't remember, it was before my time.... sounds like my sort of game though.

In Maurice Bamford's (who was Huddersfield coach at the time) book 'Memoirs of a Blood and Thunder Coach' he wrote it was 5 players sent off, O'Neill, Hodgkinson and Butler of Wigan, and Lyons and Johnson of Huddersfield, which is correct I cant remember ( maybe Rogue can ! ) but Bamford was destined to become our next coach replacing George Fairbairn who left to go to HKR for (then) a record fee of £75,000.

I think it may have been more a case of the club needing the money than George Fairbairn being sacked?

I was the game. There were fights all over the pitch. As 270 says Maurice Bamford was the Huddersfield coach that day and was recruited by Wigan for the following season.

Bamford didn't think it was a particularly dirty game, he actually called it "a game for the connoisseur."



Wigans board wanted to make sure that they stayed up as they got promoted and decided that Fairbairn was too inexperienced, so Maurice Bamford came in.

His £75,000 transfer fee was used to purchase players such as Steve Nicholson, Mick Scott, Jimmy Birts, Henderson Gill, and Colin etc.

Wigan finished 11th and just avoided relegation.
Enter Alex Murphy.

I found this in the 1981-1982 Rothmans book and it definetly says 6 players and that Fairbairn was "sacked despite winning promotion". Adds that "Wigan list Steve O'Neill as he protests at sacking of Fairbairn"

It also says Hudds launched legal action on Bamford for breach of contract when he left. Don't know if they went through with it though, Also says Wigan went in for Murphy at the end of 1980-81 but he signed a 3 year deal to stay at Leigh.

Different subject but does anyone remember the "Sunday Mirror Roadshow" -

George Fairbairn was only made coach the season before and I think this was to make sure he stayed with us.Unfortunately the board then decided he was too inexperienced when we gained promotion and decided to replace him with Bamford. This resulted in Fairbairn deciding he had to leave and it was one of the clubs worst decisions ever to let him go.
In my opinion the board at the time got it all wrong. They should have either not given him the job at all ( but they feared he would leave) or else they should have kept him on and given him a chance when they gained promotion. The way they handled it just pushed the problem on to the following season and in fact probably forced George to leave as he felt he was losing face.

I was at the game but was only a nipper so only have a vague recollection of it, including Fairbairn missing a kick just to the left of the posts near the end for the draw. It was televised but not sure which channel. I seem to remember the figure of £72,500 as his transfer fee but may be wrong - iirc it was a world record fee that stood for a while.

Other games I recall from that season were away at Keigh;ey where Gary stephens saved a draw by touching their winning drop goal in flight and playing at Rochdale where a little chubby player called Walsh (can't remember his first name) scored at the death from a ripped ball to win it. I went to a few grounds that year that we've never been to since.

That saved draw at Keighley probably sealed Wigan's promotion mathematically looking at the final table and it being the third last game.

David Walsh was the player.

Of them grounds their can't be too many left. Fulham's still there, albeit not for Rugby League. Batley are still at Mount Pleasant and Whitehaven at Rec Ground. I think thats it.

I've still got the programmes for most of these games in my dads garage! For some reason I cut the 'Fart' bit out of Fartown from the front of my Huddersfield programme. The home win against York was another crucial one, we were neck and neck with them all season.

I recall the Keighley game being a big one as the whole family including my grandma went over for it and there being much celebration at the end. Stephens was the saviour on more than one occasion that season, I think he was signed mid-season from Cas? either way he made a difference and probably was the key man in us going back up.

The game was on ITV - remote chance of anyone having access?