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David Beckham visits Wathnail
13:00The Beckham’s visit to Wathnail was the biggest thing that has happened to this club since that fateful moment when in the dying minutes of the 1969 season Bobby Slade slipped the ball past Villa goalie John Dunn to secure promotion to the old first division. That was without doubt the happiest moment of my life, but this, this visit from not just one superstar but two, almost, almost, equalled it. What a pleasure to see David and Victoria and their young son Romeo (well not so much the lad if I’m honest). David naturally arrived in the style you’d expect of him, no Premiership Aston rep-mobile Martin for David, no, he roll’s up in a 55 Studebaker convertible, midnight blue with white wall tyres. The both of them, they have that ability to show off wealth with effortless ease, how it should be done (unlike Alan Sugar and his pimp-mobile Rolls, they are like royalty in that respect, never vulgar, always classy. Now the whole town realises full well that they would never have come here apart from the TV programme that David was involved in but that did nothing to dampen the genuine warmth the town showed our golden couple. Local schools declared a half-day holiday, folk from all around lined the route and cheered for all their worth. David took a real interest in the club, so eager to get out onto our pitch and rifle a penalty passed yours truly. Afterward they both them met with local dignitaries, club staff, players and their families for a luxury buffet in the club bar. Although, for reasons I’d rather not divulge I did regrettably have miss the buffet. I did hear however, on the grapevine, that although all our lot’s WAG’S tried desperately to outshine Vicky, she easily saw off the opposition without ever needing to get out of even first gear, well done lass! In all they spent nearly two hours at the club. A large photograph of myself sandwiched between the pair of them mounted in a nice gold frame now has pride of place on my desk, alongside the one of me and Bobby on a victory lap around Villa Park that day in 69.
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Roman Heartache
29:35Love can strike in the most unlikely of circumstances, and so it was for Wathnail Rovers acting club chairman Brian Buttle when on a recent business trip to the Italian Dolomites. Brian went to Italy with the sole intention of securing the return of former club manager Luigi Lambrini, little did he expect that what he’d actually find was love.....amoure. A chance overnight stay in the Hotel Pirlo situated adjacent to the town piazza is where he met her, Isadora, a woman who was to re-light the flame within him, a flame he’d imagined long extinguished. Brian returned home completely smitten and with a steely determination that he and his new love should start a new life together. However there was one major obstacle to his dream in the formidable shape of Mrs Buttle. A divorce would be messy and ultimately he knew very costly for him, but he had to do something, he couldn’t just let her go. Lambrini Returns! Good cheer for all Wathnail fans, OK so it’s not actually Luigi who is coming back to Rovers as club manager but his twin brother Carlo. We here at Wathnail are all convinced that Carlo can emulate the success that his brother enjoyed at his short stint at the club when we actually made the League Two play offs. Carlo’s immediate aim is to go one better and to guide the club to automatic promotion in his first year, we of course all wish him well in his quest and here’s hoping Carlo!
1. The Italian Manager.
31:44Episode 1. With Rovers climbing the League under new ownership and the inspirational leadership of a young Italian manager Luigi Lambrini, what could possibly go wrong?
9. Election Night
28:08Brian is forced to resign his Chairmanship of the football club amid the impending release from a Malaysian jail of club owner Tony Chu Fat. However when one door closes another often opens and the untimely death of the sitting local MP presents Brian with the opportunity of selection as the Conservative party candidate to contest the by-election. Can Brian wrest the Labour stronghold of Wathnail & the Bythers away from his Socialist opponent? Tory central office have written off any chance of taking the seat, but Brian is nothing if not resourceful.
Ray Winstone Podcast
32:30Wathnail club Chairman Brian Buttle falls foul of a dangerous gangster when his nephew's gambling debts spiral out of control. Will he fight fire with fire? Or will he give way to this vicious gangland hoodlum? As ever faithful sidekick Colin Crippen is on hand with some useful 'advice'. Listen to see if the pair of them can get to grips with a Geezer who might be big screen brooding tough guy Ray Winstone, or might not be!
Divine Help
12:06With their beloved Wathnail teetering on the brink of relegation out of the football league, Brian and Colin are forced into ever more desperate efforts to avoid playing in the Conference. The boys pay a visit to Wathnails foremost Spiritualist Medium, Madame Platypus, in the hope that her guidance may help them turn around the clubs fortunes.
Match Fixing
26:21Match fixing A couple of years back Wathnail became embroiled in a spurious match fixing scandal involving a heavy defeat we suffered in a First Round FA cup match. The team had been drawn against non-league opposition and the game became the focus of some large and irregular betting, particularly in the Far East. Alarm bells began to ring when we were hammered 5-0 at home by Ramsbottom United and our own Brian Buttle was summoned to Lancaster Gate to appear before a hastily convened panel. Whilst it was true that it was a heavy and humiliating defeat, we were in fact totally exonerated by the FA. It appears that the Yorkshire posts celebrated investigative journalist Roger Spittle MBE had jumped the gun somewhat and his sources proved far less reliable than he had thought. Wathnail Rovers football club has complete confidence in its Chairman Brian Buttle, a man of integrity and impeccable credentials. We completely and utterly refute any suggestion that our club were ever involved in anything shady and will always strive to see that the ‘Beautiful Game’ remains clean.