Revolution Part 2 - One Ray Graydon

By Alan Stokes
May 18 2003

Chris Nicholl had started the Bescot revolution taking the Saddlers from the third division into the second. The second part of the revolution came about after Ray "Who" Graydon replaced the eccentric Sorensen

 

After having secured promotion to the second division at the first attempt, without buying or selling a player, Chris Nicholl maintained Walsall at this level for another couple of seasons. Eventually though Nicholl decided to call it a day and left the club in order to play some more tennis. Strange bloke that Nicholl. Maybe he thought he couldn’t take the club any further? We must be indebted to him however for igniting the spark which saw the Saddlers rise from the bottom of the third division to establishing themselves in the first.

After Nicholl left we had a season under Jan “40 fags a day, lead singer of Mud look-alike, large around the waist” Sorensen. Did he really play at the top level in Europe? The mind boggles.
Even though the Saddlers were nearly relegated under his stewardship his team were capable of some fantastic, fluid passing football. With the explosive Boli up front, the magnificent Peron on the left wing, John Hodge on the right wing, Ada Viveash and Mountfield at the back, this team possessed strength as well as attacking flair. Who could forget the Coca Cola victory against the millionaires from Nottingham who included the likes of Van Hooijdonk, Gemmill and Campbell amongst their ranks.

Sadly though, he probably lost the players confidence towards the end of the season and coupled with the flirtation with relegation was duly given his cards.

Soon after, a new appointment was made to take charge of the Saddlers. “RAY WHO” screamed the headlines on some internet sites. The club were accused by fans of trying to do things on the cheap as Graydon was appointed as it came as a complete surprise. Some people believed the Chairman wanted another “yes” man to work alongside the unpopular Taylor (job role still unknown – what is a director of football?).

It didn’t look as though this was going to be a very good season with the fans not convinced about the appointment of Graydon and the manager barely having enough players to compete in a pre-season tour of Scotland.
Indeed, the bookies shared the same view as the Walsall fans as they had them favourites for the drop. The obvious favourites for promotion were Fulham backed by mega rich Al-Fayed and big guns Manchester City.

Tough disciplinarian Graydon came into Bescot and immediately laid down his terms to the players. His rules were simple. No mobile phones or tape recorders in the dressing room, no untidy dress, no swearing in matches or training and no disputing referee’s decisions!!!

The season began with a tough fixture at Priestfield with the Saddlers gaining a 1-0 victory in a bruising encounter. New boy Rammell shone in the match with his physical presence and steely determination to chase every ball an indication of what we would see for the remainder of the season. The winning goal came courtesy of a freak own goal with a Gills player back heading a shot over his own keeper. As the season unfolded the free transfer, bargain basement Saddlers found themselves towards the summit of the table – a position they were to maintain for the majority of the season.
Along the way we were hammered at both Maine Road and Craven Cottage and also threw away some silly home fixtures including a 3-2 reverse against York and a 2-0 defeat against Reading. But still, we remained within touching distance of Stoke, Man City and Fulham.

As the season progressed so the Saddlers’ belief and determination increased. The back line was solid with Marsh, Green, Viveash and Pointon. The width supplied by Brissett and Wrack who fed the always willing Rammell. I still maintain that it was Rambo’s strength and belief that pushed the Saddlers to promotion. He was a leader, he was a dressing room influence. Along with both Richard Green and Ada Viveash this team fought and battled out victories on opposition turf. This determination was typically shown at Bristol Rovers. After having gone 2-0 down within the first five minutes it looked as though a thrashing was to be handed out by the Pirates. The Saddlers however had different ideas and pulled the match back to 2-2. Unfortunately, Rovers then took the lead again. Surely this was curtains. No. Again the Saddlers battled and fought for every ball and with only 10 minutes remaining up popped Rambo to draw Walsall level again. Not content with a point the Saddlers continued to attack and with only one minute left on the clock Icelandic Larusson scored to secure Walsall an absolutely amazing victory. This was a team that had bags of spirit and belief (and could play a bit too).

Going into December, Walsall were amazingly still towards the summit of the table – the bubble hadn’t burst yet a lot of people thought.
A very satisfying victory over table toppers Stoke courtesy of Rambo (yet again) finally had the fans believing that we really could achieve something this year.

The discipline was maintained, the team spirit never wavered and automatic promotion secured with a 3-1 victory against Oldham leaving the Saddlers in the second automatic promotion spot behind Champions Fulham.

This season had been truly amazing. Somehow, a collection of free transfers, trialists, foreign imports and borrowed players had been collected together (some then discarded) and gained promotion by unknown manager Graydon. A squad that had been backed as favourites for relegation had somehow overcome the mighty Manchester City for the second promotion spot.

This was surely a victory for all supporters of clubs who do not have much financial clout. Walsall had proven that it is possible to compete successfully with teams who have seemingly limitless financial backing.

How was it achieved? Through discipline, teamwork and belief. This was all down to Ray Graydon who had the ability to get the best out of “average” players. This was echoed by the footballing authorities who had Graydon in contention for Manager of the Year award. Fantastic.

Chris Nicholl had started the revolution and Ray Graydon had taken us to the next level. Walsall would now be competing amongst the Nationwide elite. Having achieved all this by spending virtually nothing the board surely had no choice but to invest in some quality…..

There’s only one Ray Graydon the Bescot faithful sang as Sir Ray established himself into another chapter of Walsall folklore.

 

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