1988–89 Newport County A.F.C. season

Last updated

Newport County
1988–89 season
ChairmanJerry Sherman
Manager Eddie May
(until August 1988)
John Mahoney
(after August 1988)
Stadium Somerton Park
Football Conference did not finish
FA Cup 1st round
FA Trophy 1st round
Conference League Cup 3rd round
Welsh Cup 5th round
Top goalscorerSanderson (5)
Highest home attendance2,148 vs Maidstone United (FA Cup, 19 Nov 1988)
Lowest home attendance943 vs Maidstone United (1 October 1988)
Average home league attendance1,340
←  1987–88
1989–90  →

The 1988–89 season was the first season played in the Football Conference by Newport County since their relegation from the Football League at the end of the 1987–88 season. The club failed to fulfil their fixtures and were expelled from the Conference midway through the season.

Contents

Season review

Newport County were relegated from the Fourth Division of the Football League following a 6–0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers in April 1988. [1] The majority of the first team players had been sold to secure the club's future as the team finished the campaign fielding players from their youth sides. [2] Due to their financial plight, speculation was also raised that the club would drop out of the English league system and move onto the Welsh leagues, although this was dismissed by secretary Keith Saunders. [3]

Eddie May was appointed as the club's new manager in July, [4] but resigned from his position before the season started when the club failed to meet a deadline issued by the High Court to repay £23,000 to the landlords of Somerton Park. [5] May had also been promised an 18-man, full-time playing squad on his arrival but had grown discontent over the failure to sign players. [6] John Mahoney was appointed in his place, while Somerton Park was repossessed by Newport City Council on 4 August. [7] American businessman Jerry Sherman arrived at the club soon after and was appointed chairman, having paid off the outstanding £23,000 as well as a further £80,000 of other debts the club had accumulated. The payments allowed the club to retake possession of Somerton Park, despite the resistance of the council. [8]

Newport's first match of the season was against Stafford Rangers on 20 August. Due to the uncertainty of the club's future, the Conference had discussed plans to expel the side before the season had started and their opening fixture was not confirmed to be played until 11am of the morning of the match. [8] [9] The first team had played only one pre-season friendly ahead of the season and suffered a 3–0 defeat. The match was also marred by crowd trouble as the 100 travelling Newport fans clashed with police. The team were forced to wear kits leftover from the previous campaign, having failed to acquire new ones, while goalkeeper Tony Bird started having only been signed at 10pm the previous day from Welsh league side Cwmbrân Town. By resecuring the use of Somerton Park, Newport's first home fixture was able to go ahead three days later. [8] [10] The club endured a poor start to the campaign, gaining only four points from the first 11 matches. [11]

In October, a winding up order was issued against the club. However, Sherman responded by taking the first team to dinner at The Cavendish Hotel following a 1–1 draw with Sutton United four days later, with an estimated cost of around £2,000. [12] The club's hastily assembled squad struggled to adapt to quickly and, despite briefly pulling out of the relegation zone at the start of December, [11] by the end of the month Newport were in 21st position. [13] On 27 February, the club was officially wound up by the High Court over unpaid debts totalling £126,145. Sherman countered by claiming that the money was available but had been delayed in transfers. [14] The club were given a brief extension following Sherman's claims, while their next two fixtures against Stafford and Welling United were postponed. Sherman entered talks over a potential phoenix club being formed under the condition that the outstanding debts would be paid. [15] Another potential bidder, Dan McCauley pulled out of negotiations after being told he would have to pay the club's full £330,000 debts to take over ownership. [16] The club's last league match was a 2–1 defeat to Maidstone United on 11 February while their last match was a 4–3 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers in the Conference League Cup ten days later. [17]

The Conference chose to expel Newport due to their failure to fulfil fixtures in March, but the decision was delayed when Sherman entered an appeal with 20 minutes remaining of the deadline. The club's assets, including memorabilia and sports equipment was due to be auctioned off to pay debtors the following morning. [18] The auction went ahead, after a brief delay, at the Old Maltings in Newport and raised only £12,000. [19] Sherman's appeal was rejected by the Football Association on the grounds that it could only be lodged by the club's liquidators and the team were expelled from the Conference and their record was expunged. [20]

Results summary

OverallHomeAway
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsWDLGFGAGDWDLGFGAGD
2947183162 −31193371826 −814111336 −23

Last updated: 11 Feb 1989.
Source: []

Fixtures and results

Football Conference

DateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance
20 Aug 1988 Stafford Rangers A0–31,654
23 Aug 1988 Kettering Town H1–2Millett1,871
27 Aug 1988 Telford United A1–3Withers1,443
29 Aug 1988 Macclesfield Town A0–31,172
3 Sep 1988 Aylesbury United H2–2Ford, Withers1,175
5 Sep 1988 Fisher Athletic A2–3Evans, Sanderson843
10 Sep 1988 Barnet H1–7Evans1,397
13 Sep 1988 Yeovil Town H1–1Williams1,262
17 Sep 1988 Welling United H0–11,092
24 Sep 1988 Kidderminster Harriers A1–1Sanderson1,419
27 Sep 1988 Wycombe Wanderers A0–51,672
1 Oct 1988 Maidstone United H2–1Andrews, Williams943
8 Oct 1988 Boston United H1–1Marustik1,131
15 Oct 1988 Altrincham A0–11,359
22 Oct 1988 Chorley H2–0Brignull, Withers1,149
5 Nov 1988 Enfield A0–3692
8 Nov 1988 Sutton United A1–1Sugrue924
12 Nov 1988 Weymouth H4–0Withers, Sanderson, Foley, Ford1,238
26 Nov 1988 Runcorn A0–0821
3 Dec 1988 Kidderminster Harriers H1–2Marustik1,560
10 Dec 1988 Chorley A2–0Sanderson, Marustik610
17 Dec 1988 Telford United H0–31,536
26 Dec 1988 Cheltenham Town A2–3Banks, Sanderson2,288
31 Dec 1988 Northwich Victoria A1–3Nuttell830
2 Jan 1989 Cheltenham Town H0–11,686
7 Jan 1989 Boston United A1–1Richards1,810
28 Jan 1989 Wycombe Wanderers H3–5Sugrue (P), Giles 21,382
4 Feb 1989 Barnet A1–4I Thompson2,526
11 Feb 1989 Maidstone United A1–2Richards857

These results were expunged from the records and the league table was amended as if they had never taken place.

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance
4Q29 Oct 1988 Weymouth H2–1Sanderson, Brignull1,641
119 Nov 1988 Maidstone United H1–2Sugrue2,148

FA Trophy

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance
114 Jan 1989 Weymouth A1–2Marustik1,119

Conference League Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance
15 Oct 1988 Yeovil Town A5–4Banks 2, Sanderson 2, Abbruzzese1,838
224 Jan 1989 Buxton A4–3Sugrue 3, Sanderson429
321 Feb 1989 Kidderminster Harriers A5–6 a.e.t.Sugrue 2, Thomson 2, Sanderson895

Welsh Cup

RoundDateOpponentsVenueResultScorersAttendance
315 Nov 1988 Bridgend Town H6–0Sugrue 3, Foley, Marustik, Richards817
421 Jan 1989 Caernarfon Town H3–0Sugrue 3763
57 Feb 1989 Hereford United H0–11,666

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References

  1. ↑ "Time called on Newport" . The Guardian. 25 April 1988. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ Corrigan, Peter (15 May 1988). "Salvation day for spirit of Newport County" . The Observer. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Newman, Paul (4 May 1988). "Newport's future in obeyance" . The Times. p. 47. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
  4. ↑ "FA changes mind on Wembley event". The Guardian. 8 July 1988. p. 19. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Glenn, Patrick (4 August 1988). "McLean pays £400,000 in import spree". The Guardian. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Newport quandary remains" . The Times. 19 August 1988. p. 35. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ↑ Bierley, Stephen (5 August 1988). "Strachan to stay at Old Trafford" . The Guardian. p. 17. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 3 Ridley, Ian (22 August 1988). "Money men's cure for the Somerton blues" . The Guardian. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Newport facing expulsion" . The Times. 18 August 1988. p. 35. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
  10. ↑ "Homecoming for Newport" . The Times. 20 August 1988. p. 35. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
  11. 1 2 "Newport pull out of decline" . The Times. 16 December 1988. p. 39. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via The Times Digital Archive.
  12. ↑ Rowbottom, Mike (12 November 1988). "Soccer Diary" . The Guardian. p. 15. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Wilcox, Paul (4 January 1989). "Pools Guide" . The Guardian. p. 14. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Bateman, Cynthia (28 February 1989). "Snodin faces ban in bookings mix-up" . The Guardian. p. 16. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Lloyd, Grahame (3 March 1989). "Newport wound up in new hope" . The Guardian. p. 20. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Lloyd, Grahame (8 March 1989). "Tinnion heads for Bradford" . The Guardian. p. 17. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Penman, Andrew (27 February 2019). "Today marks 30 years since the old Newport County went out of business". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  18. ↑ Lloyd, Grahame (31 March 1989). "Last-gasp Newport appeal" . The Guardian. p. 16. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Lloyd, Grahame (3 April 1989). "Going, going, gone..." . The Guardian. p. 15. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Thomas, Russell (6 April 1989). "A Wednesday dampener by Fashanu" . The Guardian. p. 16. Retrieved 25 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
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