AH, memories, courtesy of our Bygones page flashback – an FA Cup tie looming between sides three divisions apart, for which a hopeless playing surface threatened to give one side an unfair advantage.
Except, exactly 40 years ago, it was lowly Bristol Rovers who were training on Weston-super-Mare sands in a bid to find a playing surface similar to that which they were likely to encounter at the ground of League champions Derby County!
It will always remain one of football's endearing puzzles how such highly-skilled Rams players, for whom a billiard-table surface might have seemed more suited, enjoyed such sustained success despite playing half their games on a quagmire. Cultured players, agri-cultured facilities.
