1990/91
This was a season of some great highs, but mainly lows. Three managers in one season, a large and long lasting injury and suspension list and the team eventually only avoiding relegation because of changes elsewhere in the pyramid system. However, away from the pitch an ever growing enthusiastic group of supporters were laying the foundations of a strong base for the club to progress.
For this season the team was sponsored by Lee Roofing, a company run by ex-player Dave Lee. On paper it looked as though LR had a strong squad for the start of the new campaign. The five main new signings for the management team of Steve Tickle and Harold Crilly over the summer were goalkeeper Gary Osborne signed from local side Blakemore Lions, Steve Marrow from Clitheroe, Phil Hulme from Chadderton, Tony Kelly who had been at Newton, Flixton and St Helens, and Ian McOwat who had won England Schoolboys honours before going on to play for Gillingham and Crewe in the Football League. Leaving the club were Dave O'Donnell and Ian Skidmore who moved to St Helens Town. Pre-season went well and included a 1 - 1 draw against a Bolton Wanderers XI (not the full Bolton first team as was to happen a few years later), and a 1 - 0 defeat to a strong Wigan Athletic XI which included the popular ex-Liverpool player David Fairclough in their side.
The season started well with a 1-0 win in a tricky match at newly promoted Bacup Borough, but then only one league win was gained in the next ten matches. There were some excellent cup results, a win over Northern Premier League side Rossendale in the FA Cup, (which was videoed) followed by a win at the previously undefeated Haworth CI and then holding Northern Premier League Premier Division side Bangor City to a draw. But the league form was poor and morale was low. On Saturday 17th November, LR's match against Leyland DAF was called off because of the weather. The management team of Steve Tickle and Harold Crilly held a training session and afterwards announced their resignation. The two felt that they had assembled a good squad, but couldn't get them playing together as a team. They had suffered from players being unavailable through injury or suspension and no less than 29 players had been used in the opening 11 league games. Steve Tickle had been in charge of the first team for almost two years. Harold Crilly remained at the club to work with Jack Swinburn in managing the Under 17's side, while Steve Tickle reappeared at St Helens Town as Reserve Team manager.
Two days later, on 19th November, the experienced Dave Thornley was appointed the new manager. Thornley had been at Hyde, Stalybridge and most recently Accrington Stanley. With five first team players still out injured, the influential Stuart Humphreys about to start a long suspension and keeper Gary Osborne unavailable for a few months because of work commitments, Darren Scott was signed from Darwen along with three players from Accrington Stanley, Dave Betts, Graham Jones (an ex-pro who had been at Luton and Torquay) and goalkeeper Andy Cutts. Both Betts and Cutts had played against LR in Atherton's first ever FA Cup match when they met Accrington the previous season, with Betts scoring for Accrington. The signing of Andy Cutts was only a temporary measure to cover Thornley's first game in charge, at Ashton United. Goalkeeper Keith Neild, who had been LR's player of the year the previous season, was persuaded to return from Mossley, having also spent some time at Ashton United. Neild once again proved a big hit at the club, being voted the NWCL Player of the Month for March 1991, the first time an LR player had received that award. Also joining in the quick changes was John Miskella from Emley. Another new face at the club was Mick Southern. He was actually signed from local football on the day Steve Tickle and Harold Crilly resigned, He was to be one of the handful of players from this season who stayed at the club and formed the nucleus of the highly successful side to come. Thornley held two midweek training sessions along with the reserve team management of Steve Capstick and Geoff Mannion, to look at the available players.
Thornley could see where the problems were in the side and began to make changes, both to the squad and to the training regime. By the turn of the year things seemed to be on the up with the team losing just two games out of eight in the first two months of the year. However, in March 1991 Dave Thornley resigned as manager because of events away from the football pitch. Reserve team manager Steve Capstick took temporary charge of the first team for two games and presided over two drawn matches. A week after Thornley's departure the club appointed ex-Clitheroe manager Dave Morris as the new manager, with Peter Lee returning to the club as his assistant.
Dave had already had a long and successful management career. Starting with a spell in charge of Huntley in the Manchester League, Morris went back to playing for a season before taking a chance of applying for the job of manager at Clitheroe. The club had been having a difficult time, finishing second from bottom of the Lancashire Combination. Despite his inexperience of management, Morris was taken on and the following season the Shawbridge side won the League. The chance then came to manage Radcliffe in the Cheshire County League, another club which, at the time, was struggling on and off the field. Once more Morris turned things round and a highly successful period had followed. Eventually Morris had moved back to Clitheroe, but after two seasons had resigned at Christmas 1990. He had travelled round watching various clubs, but had been at Crilly Park enough times to have become a familiar figure in the crowd. Interviews for the vacant managers position at LR were held week commencing 18th March and Morris was handed the job. He immediately appointed Peter Lee as his assistant. Lee had joined Morris as his assistant at Clitheroe and had previously been assistant manager to Dave Simpson at LR. As an aside, Dave Morris's replacement at Clitheroe had been Andy Hills, who was to play a big part at LR a couple of years later and his assistant was Lawrie McMahon, who also eventually found his way to Laburnums, in 2006 as assistant to Scott Westwood, helping LR out during a very difficult time.
An odd coincidence came as the first game in charge for Morris and Lee was against Ashton United, the same club which had provided the opposition for Dave Thornley's first game in charge. With not much of the season remaining, Morris could see that changes were needed but there was little time to find the players he wanted. He was only able to try and shore up the team where possible. The new management team saw their side win the first two games under their control, but then fail to win any of their final ten matches and the club finished the season second from bottom of Division One. Morris was used to success and some of the poor performances didn't go down well. In one game, with just ten minutes remaining, LR were 2-1 up against a St Helens side which had been reduced to nine men, and still managed to lose the game.
Fortunately for LR the misfortunes of other clubs meant that they were spared relegation. The normal feeling of disappointment at the end of a season was replaced this time around with relief that it was all over.
The club was mourning in March 1991 at the passing of ex-committee man Henry Grimshaw. Henry had been a referee in local leagues and when he retired began watching LR on a regular basis. He was soon drafted in to help and joined the clubs committee. Also passing away was Irene Morgan in December 1990. Irene, along with her husband Bill, had worked tirelessly for the club during the 1960's and 1970's.
Something the club was rightly proud of this season was the youth set up. it had gone from strength to strength since joining with Leigh Amateurs Juniors and this season the club ran sides for every age group from Under 9's to Under 18's.
This season saw the first step in a big improvement in the clubs programme. In previous seasons the clubs publication had won awards, but with John Bullen taking over as editor the programme became thicker, had a glossy cover with a photograph and far more reading material. It was with help from local company Eclipse that this was possible and a lot of hard work meant plenty of local companies advertised. There was a hiccup though as the League took a dim view of a feature in the programme meant to amuse, they felt it went too far. The club was fined and a lesson was learned.
One feature of this season was the amount of press coverage the club received. John Bullen had been persuaded to take over as press officer and programme editor and he put heart and soul into the jobs. Local newspapers were regularly featuring reports and articles on the club in an unprecedented quantity. At the end of the season John published the first ever "Season Review", a comprehensive book covering all aspects of the club and every match report from the season. There has only ever been one other such publication by the club, a promotion souvenir booklet in 2001. A big change behind the scenes was Brian Seddon's resignation as Secretary after many years service.
While Laburnum Rovers had always been a friendly, family club, there was a growing feeling that the potential was there for progress to be made both on and off the pitch. Just before Christmas 1990, a meeting was called by Chairman Harry Dainton for anyone who was interested in actively participating in the club. A dozen people attended the meeting, all enthusiastic and bubbling with ideas. Brian Seddon was appointed to act as a Liaison Officer between club officials and the supporters group. Steps were taken towards the starting of an official supporters club and during the second half of the season work began on improving the clubs facilities.