Best Millers team never to get promotion?

[loyalmiller]

1976 / 1977 we lost out to Crystal Palace on goal difference. We had to win our last away game 6-0 and after 78 mins we led 4-0. It eventually finished 4-1 and Brighton & Palace went up.
Was the year Alan Crawford scored 31 goals.

This for me shaded 81/82 because (and I know 81/82 was a higher league) but in 81/82 we were towards the bottom of the league before we won 9 straight games. We missed the two infamous pens, which, in hindsight if scored may have got us promoted, but may be that would have placed even greater pressure on us and who knows what might have happened.

On the other hand the 1976 / 77 was consistent all season and actually went into the final game still trying to get promoted. In those days finishing 3rd got you nothing.

3rd got you promoted in ‘77. Palace finished 3rd behind Mansfield and Brighton. Wrexham were unluckier than us that season, they only needed a point at home to already champions Mansfield but lost 1-0 in the last minute.

Strange that I can remember seasons from my childhood days better than I can more recent season.

[CAMiller]

Plus Gerry Gow Cam.

Or was that the season after?

I posted earlier about the best team in our history (54/55), but the best I've seen was the 80/81 team. Legends 1 to 11. Unless memory fails me, we went the whole season unbeaten at Millmoor in the league. I was young then (10/11) but I remember going to the match not wondering whether we'd win, but wondering how many we'd win by. And we beat Barnsley to the title, which was nice 😉

Gow joined us in January 82 and when he got sent off 2 mins into the Derby game we were either in or very close to the relegation places. 9 games/wins later that February and we we pushing for promotion. So I suppose in essence we couldn't call them the best 'team' to not get promoted because without him we might have been relegated. He was useless anyway as he demonstrated with that penalty miss against Luton

[loyalmiller]

Being pedantic I know, but only 8 of the wins were in February the 9th one was in March. That was the season we missed a lot of late penalties. Towner missed one in the last minute at home to Newcastle that would’ve made it 10 wins on the trot.

[Nardendee]

Loyal Miller. You are quite right about 3 going up in 1977. I completely forgot about Mansfield. Memory playing tricks on me.

I also wasn’t around in 1954/55 but my Dad told me the story. We stayed down on goal average. Next to last game in front of 25,000 at Vale Park Norman Noble missed a penalty and Port Vale went on to score the only goal of the game. It left Luton and Rotherham level on 52 points going into our last game at home to Liverpool where we had to beat Liverpool 16-0 to get above Luton on goal average or rely on Birmingham losing at Doncaster in the last game after our season had finished.

As it was we ONLY beat Liverpool 6-1 and Birmingham won 5-1 at Doncaster after Donny scored first.
So Luton, Birmingham and us finished on 54 points but we stayed down on goal average.

There are comparisons between 1954/55 and 77/78 in that Port Vale featured in our last away game in both seasons, and ironically in the respective following seasons following, I.e 55/56 and 77/78 we nearly left the league at the other end finishing too close to relegation for comfort.

All in all 1954/55 was our best ever season, but it was before I was born so I didn’t consider it.

[Pattylallacks2]

Plus Gerry Gow Cam.

Or was that the season after?

I posted earlier about the best team in our history (54/55), but the best I've seen was the 80/81 team. Legends 1 to 11. Unless memory fails me, we went the whole season unbeaten at Millmoor in the league. I was young then (10/11) but I remember going to the match not wondering whether we'd win, but wondering how many we'd win by. And we beat Barnsley to the title, which was nice 😉

And yet, until the last 3 or 4 matches our crowds were embarrassingly small. There were less than 4500 at home to Fulham and Reading and 10 other gates of less than 7000. We only topped 10,000 six times and even at home to Sheffield United there were less than 12000. Contrast that to our last away match of the season at Barnsley, where the crowd was 25, 945.

[CAMiller]

And yet, until the last 3 or 4 matches our crowds were embarrassingly small. There were less than 4500 at home to Fulham and Reading and 10 other gates of less than 7000. We only topped 10,000 six times and even at home to Sheffield United there were less than 12000. Contrast that to our last away match of the season at Barnsley, where the crowd was 25, 945.

Do you have record of how many were at the 3-0 win over Charlton around Easter time who I think might have been top at the time? I think that win was when I realised we might actually do it. It was also the first game I took Mrs CA No1 to and with her being small the ground seemed full as we squeezed in to the standing area on Millmoor Lane at the Tivoli end.

[loyalmiller]

Got it from an old match program from that season. It was 13,515.

[CAMiller]

Being pedantic I know, but only 8 of the wins were in February the 9th one was in March. That was the season we missed a lot of late penalties. Towner missed one in the last minute at home to Newcastle that would’ve made it 10 wins on the trot.

True. The unbeaten run ended the following Tuesday at Filbert Street with a 1-0 loss to Leicester. I went to that game with a Foxes fan and was in the pen next to the Millers who were penned in the corner between the Leicester cop and their hard nuts who occupied the end of the side stand. I remember a lot of coins being thrown about and got hit on the head with a 50p piece from the Millers pen. I guess it was a rich kid like Kempo who threw it as 50p was a lot of money in those days.

I think it was the following Saturday we got back on track with the 4-1 win at Stamford Bridge to complete the 10-1 season aggregate over Chelsea.

[animallittle3]

And yet, until the last 3 or 4 matches our crowds were embarrassingly small. There were less than 4500 at home to Fulham and Reading and 10 other gates of less than 7000. We only topped 10,000 six times and even at home to Sheffield United there were less than 12000. Contrast that to our last away match of the season at Barnsley, where the crowd was 25, 945.

Aye those were the days .

[LincsMiller]

If IBS will allow a slight deviation from the "best team you've seen", the best Millers side ever not to be promoted was the 1954/55 season. We finished third ON EQUAL POINTS with the top two but an inferior "goal average" in the old second division. Only two teams promoted to the top flight then.

We'll never know, but I have a feeling that if we had become a top flight club in the 50's, when money and sponsorship wasnt the be all and end all, we could have become established T that level. A decade or more as a top flight club and you've set your supporter base for generations. Just look at the excellent crowds Burnley used to get in the old fourth division. A tiny, tiny little town but one with a club steeped in top flight football history and so there was an inherent civic pride in their club.

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