Well, it’s time for a slightly revitalised Bolton Wanderers to visit the Carra, so once again who better for MFW to turn to than NCFC Hall of Famer and former long-serving physio, the one and only Tim Sheppard – Bolton born and bred and as proud of that fact as a peacock’s tail.
Tim’s proud to support both teams – it’s amazing how many honorary Canaries are out there – so is he looking forward to the game?
Tim: I’m bottling it actually! I couldn’t bear to see either team lose and I’m off to Sri Lanka on holiday so I’ll miss it.
The last time I went to Carrow Road for a Wanderers game my nephew came down from the North and I was gutted we lost 2-1.
That would be the well-remembered match during the Lambert era when Kyle Naughton (all five feet and a fag butt of him) filled in at centre-back for most of the second half then?
Yes – don’t remind me!
The three Sheppard daughters (Laura, Hannah and Frankie) are all Norwich followers. Does that make life awkward?
No, not really because they understand my sympathies. They might not support Bolton but they get why I do and that’s good enough for me.
So, what’s going on at the Macron, Tim?
Obviously I’m gutted that Gary Madine has gone but that six million quid or whatever will keep us afloat and see us through until the end of the season and hopefully longer. We’ve brought in a clutch of loanees which will help to give us a bit of squad depth.” [For the record these are three I’ve heard of and three I haven’t: Zach Clough and Tyler Walker (Forest), Jon Flanagan (Liverpool), Reece Burke (West Ham) and Antonee Robinson and Harry Charlsey (both Everton) – MP].
Can the Trotters survive in the Championship this season?
Yes, they can. Because of the embargo and everything else it’s been really difficult but what we have is basically a squad of League One players who have begun to slowly find their feet at this level. I’m confident enough to say we’ve got a chance.
We then progressed to Tim’s forte – tales of his home town. We’ll kick off with the sporting ones:
We’re famous for centre forwards – Nat Lofthouse, the Lion of Vienna, as I mentioned last time, and so many others. The appreciation of them is absolutely ingrained in me and will never leave. We also produced one of the best snooker stars of the ‘Pot Black’ era in John Spencer and quite a few other prominent sportsmen too.
Next?
Well, there’s a place on the Moors called Winter Hill which many Wanderers players would scale and then return from the top of as part of their fitness regime [Their version of Mousehold – MP] It was quite impressive to see Andrew (Freddie) Flintoff doing the same thing a while back – a great way to build up stamina!
One more?
Well, my wife Angela is a midwife by profession and was once called to a house in the local area to perform her duties. When she asked for the householder by name she was simply told that everybody knows him! On hearing his name, she asked if he was in a rock band! One of the (literally) biggest figures in English football and still prominently plying his trade at top level management today. [C’mon the article’s about Bolton, I’m sure our readers will work it out – MP].
No chat with Tim would be complete without a couple of his off-piste anecdotes. I researched this one because I wasn’t sure of the spellings, not to test his veracity.
There’s a place just outside of Bolton called Westhoughton, but the locals know part or all of it as Keawyed City. For Keawyed, read cowhead. One day a farmer came home to find one of his cattle with its head stuck in a five-bar gate. Weighing up the costs involved he kept the gate and decapitated the unfortunate beast in order to remove it.
There is an alternative version of the above tale connected to the battle of Waterloo, subsequent celebrations and zero beheading of the bovine species, but I’ll stick with Tim’s original, even if only because I cannot be bothered to reiterate a story about Napoleon, Luddites and what may very well be a load of bullocks.
Tim’s best shot is up last, and here it comes: We’ve all heard of the world’s only famous steeplejack, the late Boltonian Fred Dibnah, I’m sure…
There’s a place near Bolton called Bank Top Tennis Cub and the building installed a microbrewery. The brewers approached Fred to see if they could name an ale after him. Flat Cap, he suggested. A while later they created a lighter beer and asked Fred again. Old Nag, he said. In homage to his first wife. She sued through the courts and Fred lost.
As I left Tim in peace to cook an evening meal for one of his daughters (Not the stereotypical hotpot or black pudding we had been laughing about but chicken pie, mixed veg and mash with a token nod to his Lancastrian heritage via spotted dick and custard) I did the usual score prediction question thingy. Tim’s response was most unexpected:
Norwich versus Bolton in the FA Cup Final next season. Yes Martin, I mean it.
At this point I’ve yet to visit my local bookies but I think I might soon. You never know…
Cheers to Shep for another cracking interview.
This is one of those matches that I’m sure many Norwich fans will be wary of. It would be par for this season’s course if, after giving champions-elect Wolves a game midweek, we failed to impose ourselves and failed to get a win, at home to opposition below us in the league. In that sense, it could almost be seen as a potential turning point if we put in a decent performance and got the points.
Positives: Oliveira scoring again and some defensive steel being shown. Zimbo slide-tackling with his head. A few players being given a rest midweek and few getting game time.
Negatives: see above, plus the fact that Bolton will have had an extra day’s rest. The probable expectation of a crowd who may get on the team’s back a little early if things aren’t going to (their) plan.
Thanks Ben.
The extra downday Bolton have had is potentially significant and you are spot on with the use of the word “wary”.
We are ponderous going forward, but I don’t think too many of us are jumping on their backs when things don’t progress as we would wish.
But for Madders, Zimbo would be my POTS!
Thanks Martin enjoyed hearing from Tim again. Lovely guy, decorated one of his homes from top to bottom , his wife was midwife to my 3rd daughter back in the 1980’s . When my knees decided they didn’t want to work, my physio over in Watton trained with Tim, she rang him and asked for some advice seeing as I knew Tim. Sadly what either tried did not work, ended up having an op which buggared the knees up good an proper.
Lovely to see that he is not forgotten
Thanks Lad.
I managed to break both my ankles when playing and Tim did all the subsequent ligament repair stuff on the right one, which is obviously how I got to know him. He administered to it so well that even 17 years on I rarely notice it.
The left ankle, thanks largely to the “you get on with it” attitude of Whipps Cross hospital, is a permanent bloody nightmare to this day. Every time it’s seriously frosty outside I dread taking the dogs (feisty young terriers) out because they pull like heck for the first 500 metres.
Yes he is indeed a gent – and I’m sure many of us remember him with affection.
Thanks Martin, a very enjoyable read.
Visited the old Bolton ground a couple of years before it close – d it was a bit rough but the atmosphere was great. The new one when I went with my sons to see a Spurs game seemed lost and surrounded by out of town shopping, and with the winds coming off the hills winter and summer you always get that unwelcome feeling.
In Lancashire we have many great teams that have fallen on bad times due to their owners; Bolton seem slowly getting back on track, Blackburn could get a promotion this season and Blackpool is Oyston’s toy. He has sacked the family because they want rid and he wants to keep it no matter what (seems familiar).
Anyway good luck to Bolton for the rest of the season after this game is finished.
How things change. Before the season started a favourite for the City job was one Uwe Rosler, who has just been sacked by Fleetwood. Maybe City got away with one.
‘Round here we don’t sack the family, we hand it over to them!
Sharper than an angry butcher’s knife:-)
Yeah the old Burnden Park was something else..
I didn’t find anybody unwelcoming despite those “gentle zephyrs”.c*cking me off. The wind blew my mate’s beanie off, really!
They’re proper football people up there, just like us.
It’s what makes the game great:-)