LATEST NEWS MATCH REPORTS ARCHIVE INDEX HOME

November 1998 News Archive

NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 28th November FA CUP - OPPONENTS DELAYED(24th November 1998) Wycombe will have to wait until next week before knowing their opponents in the Second Round tie on Saturday 5th December. Kidderminster and Plymouth drew 0-0 in the first game at Home Park but saw their replay at Aggborough abandoned at half-time due to fog with the tie still goalless. Wycombe have never met either side before in the FA Cup but have met both in league encounters in recent seasons. Despite not knowing the opposition, tickets are on sale now from the usual outlets. OTHER NEWS(27th November 1998) Keith Ryan and Steve McGavin returned to action during the week when they both appeared in the 2-0 home defeat to Norwich in Combination. Each played 45 minutes and could be back in First contention within the next couple of weeks. Portsmouth have had a bid for Andy Baird turned down by Wycombe, according to the local press. No figure was mentioned but apparently Wycombe are trying to persuade 19 year Baird to sign an extended contract. NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 21st November McSPORRAN FIRST GOAL Jermaine McSporran scored for Wycombe in the Reserves' 1-1 draw at FA Cup disaster boys Colchester United last Wednesday. Unfortunately Steve McGavin was still not fit enough to play but is still looking for a comeback date within the next week or so. The Youth Team were held to a 1-1 draw by Birmingham City in the South East Counties Junior Floodlit Cup on Tuesday at Adams Park. Wycombe led 2-1 mid-way through the second-half thanks to goals from Danny Senda and Nathan Copeman but a dubious penalty allowed City to force a replay due on Tuesday 8th December. Mark Robson has ended his loan spell at Wycombe having started just one game in his month long stay. Robson's arrival at Adams Park coinceded with the start of Wycombe's winning run and Neil Smillie was reluctant to change a winning side to bring in the Notts County forward. NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 14th November FA CUP SUCCESS(14th November 1998) Wycombe's reward for their home victory over Chesterfield in the First Round of the FA Cup is a home tie against Plymouth Argyle or Kidderminster Harriers. That tie will take place on Saturday 5th December. One club not in the Second Round is Colchester United whose 4-1 defeat at Northern League side Bedlington Terriers brought roars of laughter at Adams Park on Saturday. The Essex lads were 4-0 down at one stage and have now lost to non-League opposition three times in the last five seasons. LIAM AND NOEL@ADAMS PARK(10th November 1998) Local superstar Noel Gallagher was joined by brother Liam and a multitude of friends at Tuesday night's game with Man City. They choose to mix with the fans in the Woodlands bar before and after the game as City lost 1-0 much to the delight of the Wycombe supporters. Noel, who lives in the posh part of Bucks in Chalfont St.Peter, joined in during the 'Stand up, if you hate Liam' chants as the usual banter was exchanged during the game. Speaking after the game the suggestion that Noel put money into Wycombe was greeted with a firm "f*** off" but Chalfont St.Peter could be in for some better days. He also said the next Oasis album is about two years away. Top remixer Goldie (the one married to Bjork) was also amongst the crew who were waited on hand and foot by the creepiest of bar stewards at the club. ATTENDANCE MYSTERY(10th November 1998) The official attendance of 8,129 for the game with Man City brought comments of disbelief from many Wycombe fans as practically every seat looked taken. The kick-off was delayed by 15 minutes to get everybody into the ground following a traffic nightmare in the Wycombe area but still the official figure fell nearly 2,000 short of the 'official' capacity of just over 10,000. City sold out their 1,300 allocation and a source close to the Club alledged that there was a consideration of switching City fans to the Valley End and home fans to the seats at Hillbottom Road in order to boost the attendance. If true, even the suggestion will upset Wycombe fans who have been 'pushed around' in the past - back in February 1997 the Family Stand was used by Watford fans as well as the Hillbottom Road end as nearly 8,500 packed in. What Wycombe fans are asking now is, if the Club are so keen to attract more people to Adams Park and improve communication with the fans, why not start by getting the crowd figures more near reality and actually start talking to fans - fans have heard nothing since the Club's claims at the press conference held last month. NEWS FROM WEEK ENDING 7th November McSPORRAN SIGNS(5th November 1998) Wycombe have signed 21 year old Jermaine McSporran from Ryman Isthmian side Oxford City on a three and half year contract. McSporran had been attracting the interests of several League clubs and recently spent a week at Arsenal - scoring in a reserve game for the Gunners. Neil Smillie had been tracking him this season and saw him score two goals in City's midweek game with Bognor at the end of October. McSporran trained with the squad on Thursday and made his debut as a substitute in Saturday's game at Northampton. The exact details of the fee are being kept secret by both clubs although press reports indicate a £75,000 figure that is likely to increase relative to first team appearances. QUARTERMAN - NEW ISSUE(6th November 1998) Issue No.2 of The Quarterman Magazine is out this week. Copies are free to all Season Ticket holders on production of voucher Q2 - others pay £1.50. The 24 page second issue is a definite improvement on the first effort. Articles from the usual names are complimented with pieces by Dave Jones, Brian Lee, Derek Vere (VERCO), Frank Knowles (Safety Officer), Gary Micklewhite and Gary Goodchild. As with matchday programme there seems to be an obsession with the use of different fonts and layout techniques which should remind readers of their first attempts at desktop publishing. Full colour throughout with a frightening pose from Paul Emblen on the front cover and a shocking photo of the Directors in probably borrowed replica shirts inside. As 'Scotty' would say, there's 'one for the ladies' in the centre pages, with a full spread of his brother-in-law Jason Cousins. Excellent background on 'The Stars of Tommorrow' plus Alan Hutchinson finds a result from the past on par with losing to Basingstoke. Copies are available outside Adams Park before home games or from Wanderers in Town. PLAYERS ON THE MEND(5th November 1998) Steve McGavin heads the list of injured Wycombe players nearing match fitness. McGavin should be back in training next week and is aiming to start his come back in the reserves game at Colchester on Wednesday 18th November. Andrew Baird is also back in training after picking up a dead-leg when he scored against Macclesfield. Mo Harkin returns from Lilleshall this week after a small operation on an ankle joint. Keith Ryan is about two weeks away from starting training while long term case Michael Forsyth is back running again having not played since hobbling off against Wrexham last March. Jason Kavanagh suffered an injury in training last week - damaging his ankle ligaments - he should be back in a couple of weeks. Finally, Mark Stallard is out of plaster after suffering medial ligament damage against Macclesfield. IN BRIEF(5th November 1998) Nicky Mohan will serve a one match suspension after being sent off against Reading last week. He will miss the FA Cup clash with Chesterfield. Wycombe head the bad-boys league in Division Two with 33 bookings and 3 red cards so far this season. Fulham are the goody-two-shoes of the division with just 12 bookings and no red cards.

All there is to say and know about Wycombe Wanderers on the Internet HOME||||INDEX||||ROUGH GUIDE||||NEWS||||REPORTS||||FIXTURES&RESULTS||||INTERACT