Back
DELVING BACK 4
Stuart Vernon12 Jul 2020 - 10:38
A famous advertisement for the "Black Stuff" proclaimed that "Guinness is Good for You,"-
-and so is putting your name in the famous record book. Touche Toucan.
Andy Higgin, in Vale of Lune’s home game against Halifax on 26 March 1987 dropped his 28th drop goal of the season to set a new world record which earned him a place in “The Guinness Book of Records.” The day before Vale had lost at Gosforth, 22-12, in a Northern Merit Table fixture where Andy was responsible for all his sides’ points with 3 penalties and naturally a dropped goal! The previous record of 25 drop goals had been held by Les Cusworth when he was playing for Wakefield in the 1974/75 season; he went onto play for Moseley, Leicester Tigers and was awarded 12 England caps.
The “Golden Boot Odyssey” began its voyage on a Tuesday evening; yes there were mid-week fixtures in those days, on 2 September, 1986 against Bradford and Bingley, kick-off was at 18.30 hours. Andy began his quest with a drop goal in the first half at Wagon Lane, Bingley, in a game that ended in an eleven all draw, Vale’s other points being scored by winger Ian Ralston with two tries.
But fast forward to 2 May 1987 when Andy signed off his phenomenal season, not with a drop goal, but with a brilliant unconverted solo try in a 19-12 home victory against Otley in the final game.
Once the pump, or should I say boot, had been primed at Bingley then 5 followed in quick succession, one at home against Rosslyn Park, two at Exeter, one at home against Wakefield and one over at Harrogate. He drew a blank in the home win against Birmingham but rattled up five more in the next five games with the two at Waterloo and the one at Roundhay, deciding the outcome of both games dramatically, even the Greeks might have struggled to put the electrifying atmosphere that had been generated and its emotional conclusions into words.
Over at Blundellsands in a Northern Merit Table fixture the players were physically and mentally stretched to their limits, there was no hiding place, bodies were put on the line and as the game drifted into injury time, with Waterloo leading 16-15, Vale, via their forwards, pinned the home side in their twenty two. From a line out lock Guy Parker soared majestically above everyone to grasp the ball and as he returned to terra-firma he presented the ball to scrum half, Tim Becker, who intuitively rifled a pass to Andy Higgin who dropped a measured goal for victory and with it Vale’s first ever win at Blundellsands.
The shepherd from the high Lakeland Fells, Sam Hodgson, scored Vale’s try which Andy converted, his contribution of 14 points being made up of 3 penalties, 2 drop goals and a conversion. Tim Becker, in his splendid Past Players interview, describes witnessing Dave Bennetts walking around the famous old clubhouse with a plastic smile, I can assure Tim that similar expressions could be seen on the visages of Vale’s travelling supporters.
Over at a wet and windy Roundhay the following Saturday “Monsieur Le Drop” was pulling Vale’s irons out of the fire, this time in a combined Merit Table C Division and Northern Merit Table fixture. With the final whistle looming the scores were tied at twelve all and Roundhay, who has not collected any table points, were hanging on.
In the gathering gloom, on a October afternoon, a late window of opportunity was opened, which was seized on by Andy who produced another match winning drop kick and which was described by The Daily Telegraph’s highly respected rugby correspondent, Michael Stevenson in his report when he wrote, “his (Andy’s) vital drop goal, his ninth of the season, was all the more remarkable in that it was kicked with his left and unfavourable foot,” to add to Andy’s tally of four penalty goals. Another extraordinary fact was that it was Vale’s first win at Chandos Park for 25 years.
From the Roundhay game until the trip to Plymouth Albion on January 10 and its heart pounding conclusion, Andy’s tally stick notched up another 4 drop goals, but he continued to put over conversions and penalties at a steady rate. Although the hammer did not strike the anvil with it usual regularity, Andy had another implement in his expansive tool box, a mallet which he used to good effect at Hartlepool Rovers in a club fixture when he kicked the winning penalty goal with four minutes remaining to secure a 16-15 victory; Steve Gill scored an unconverted try, Andy’s contribution was 3 penalties and the aforementioned drop goal.
Before his brace at Plymouth Albion, Andy dropped a goal at Morley in what was Vale’s first C Division and Northern Merit defeat of the season going down, 13-11. Over the seasons Scatcherd Lane has been the venue for some uncompromising no-nonsense victories by the defiant wearers of the White Rose, but in March 2004 Vale ended their trials and tribulations and threw away the sackcloth with a convincing 30-8 victory in a North One fixture. Vale ran in six tries but lacking a recognised goal kicker, Jimmy Moore who kicked a total of 38 conversions in the season, was unavailable, the extras cupboard was bare.
The loss at Morley was only a blip because Vale were still riding high in Division C as Andy’s drop goal count inched towards the elusive 25 with media and public interest beginning to mount. He reached this milestone over at Headingley spearing over two in a six all draw in a Northern Merit Table fixture.
On Good Friday in a home Northern Merit Table game against Sale, which Vale lost, 22-13, and in front of a large crowd he set a new record with an early second half kick which according to George Mackay, “He sent the ball on a low, wobbling path over the bar.” Vale faced a tough home Easter programme because the following day they lost 41-15 to Rugby with Andy kicking four penalties, Richard Taylor was the try scorer. Matters did not improve on Easter Monday because they lost 16-6 to Orrell with Andy converting Paul Hamer’s try.
A trip to the North East to play Gosforth in a Northern Merit Table fixture ended in another defeat 22-12 but there was a crumb of comfort because Andy dropped a goal and kicked three penalties. His final successful effort of the season came the day after in a home club fixture against Halifax which ended with an 18-14 victory. Again a large crowd had assembled and they were not disappointed as their favourite entered the record books with his drop goal on the hour mark. Later Andy modestly admitted that “the ball just scraped over the bar by a couple of inches. There was only me and the referee who thought it had gone over!” However, a large proportion of his kicks were synchronised to perfection and executed with balletic efficiency in one sweet flowing movement; hand, eye and feet in perfect harmony.
Two more fixtures remained but Andy could not add to his total, he did finish the season as the leading point’s scorer with 415, comprising 8 tries, 34 conversions, 77 penalties and of course the treasure trove of 28 drop goals from the 41 games he played only missing two.
For all those involved with Vale, in whatever capacity, the 1986/1987 season will never be forgotten, for one young man it was very significant and so it was for all those other 42 players, who, under the leadership of their skipper, the uncompromising and indomitable, Trevor Glover, were driven, one and all, to new heights.
Promotion was shared by the whole club, both young and old; there was pride in being associated with Vale, with chests being puffed out without any show of arrogance. To be seen wearing Vale’s badge, club tie or sweater and to pull on a cherry and white jersey signified a rite of passage. This did not mean they could herd sheep over Skerton Bridge or go swan upping on the River Lune but it did allow the wearers to walk tall into National League Division Three.
As a postscript to Andy’s phenomenal achievement, in Vale’ first team fixtures since the 2000/01 season to the curtailment of the current one, only 11 goals have been dropped. The art of drop kicking has been making something of a comeback in the higher echelons of the game but like hooking for opponents ball, the dive pass, rucking and shoeing, wingers throwing in the ball at a line out, referees in blazers and a phalanx of snorting, wild eyed hairy forwards, dribbling the ball with all the skill and panache of a bulldozer, these images of another era now only appear in sepia films.
Andy Higgin, in Vale of Lune’s home game against Halifax on 26 March 1987 dropped his 28th drop goal of the season to set a new world record which earned him a place in “The Guinness Book of Records.” The day before Vale had lost at Gosforth, 22-12, in a Northern Merit Table fixture where Andy was responsible for all his sides’ points with 3 penalties and naturally a dropped goal! The previous record of 25 drop goals had been held by Les Cusworth when he was playing for Wakefield in the 1974/75 season; he went onto play for Moseley, Leicester Tigers and was awarded 12 England caps.
The “Golden Boot Odyssey” began its voyage on a Tuesday evening; yes there were mid-week fixtures in those days, on 2 September, 1986 against Bradford and Bingley, kick-off was at 18.30 hours. Andy began his quest with a drop goal in the first half at Wagon Lane, Bingley, in a game that ended in an eleven all draw, Vale’s other points being scored by winger Ian Ralston with two tries.
But fast forward to 2 May 1987 when Andy signed off his phenomenal season, not with a drop goal, but with a brilliant unconverted solo try in a 19-12 home victory against Otley in the final game.
Once the pump, or should I say boot, had been primed at Bingley then 5 followed in quick succession, one at home against Rosslyn Park, two at Exeter, one at home against Wakefield and one over at Harrogate. He drew a blank in the home win against Birmingham but rattled up five more in the next five games with the two at Waterloo and the one at Roundhay, deciding the outcome of both games dramatically, even the Greeks might have struggled to put the electrifying atmosphere that had been generated and its emotional conclusions into words.
Over at Blundellsands in a Northern Merit Table fixture the players were physically and mentally stretched to their limits, there was no hiding place, bodies were put on the line and as the game drifted into injury time, with Waterloo leading 16-15, Vale, via their forwards, pinned the home side in their twenty two. From a line out lock Guy Parker soared majestically above everyone to grasp the ball and as he returned to terra-firma he presented the ball to scrum half, Tim Becker, who intuitively rifled a pass to Andy Higgin who dropped a measured goal for victory and with it Vale’s first ever win at Blundellsands.
The shepherd from the high Lakeland Fells, Sam Hodgson, scored Vale’s try which Andy converted, his contribution of 14 points being made up of 3 penalties, 2 drop goals and a conversion. Tim Becker, in his splendid Past Players interview, describes witnessing Dave Bennetts walking around the famous old clubhouse with a plastic smile, I can assure Tim that similar expressions could be seen on the visages of Vale’s travelling supporters.
Over at a wet and windy Roundhay the following Saturday “Monsieur Le Drop” was pulling Vale’s irons out of the fire, this time in a combined Merit Table C Division and Northern Merit Table fixture. With the final whistle looming the scores were tied at twelve all and Roundhay, who has not collected any table points, were hanging on.
In the gathering gloom, on a October afternoon, a late window of opportunity was opened, which was seized on by Andy who produced another match winning drop kick and which was described by The Daily Telegraph’s highly respected rugby correspondent, Michael Stevenson in his report when he wrote, “his (Andy’s) vital drop goal, his ninth of the season, was all the more remarkable in that it was kicked with his left and unfavourable foot,” to add to Andy’s tally of four penalty goals. Another extraordinary fact was that it was Vale’s first win at Chandos Park for 25 years.
From the Roundhay game until the trip to Plymouth Albion on January 10 and its heart pounding conclusion, Andy’s tally stick notched up another 4 drop goals, but he continued to put over conversions and penalties at a steady rate. Although the hammer did not strike the anvil with it usual regularity, Andy had another implement in his expansive tool box, a mallet which he used to good effect at Hartlepool Rovers in a club fixture when he kicked the winning penalty goal with four minutes remaining to secure a 16-15 victory; Steve Gill scored an unconverted try, Andy’s contribution was 3 penalties and the aforementioned drop goal.
Before his brace at Plymouth Albion, Andy dropped a goal at Morley in what was Vale’s first C Division and Northern Merit defeat of the season going down, 13-11. Over the seasons Scatcherd Lane has been the venue for some uncompromising no-nonsense victories by the defiant wearers of the White Rose, but in March 2004 Vale ended their trials and tribulations and threw away the sackcloth with a convincing 30-8 victory in a North One fixture. Vale ran in six tries but lacking a recognised goal kicker, Jimmy Moore who kicked a total of 38 conversions in the season, was unavailable, the extras cupboard was bare.
The loss at Morley was only a blip because Vale were still riding high in Division C as Andy’s drop goal count inched towards the elusive 25 with media and public interest beginning to mount. He reached this milestone over at Headingley spearing over two in a six all draw in a Northern Merit Table fixture.
On Good Friday in a home Northern Merit Table game against Sale, which Vale lost, 22-13, and in front of a large crowd he set a new record with an early second half kick which according to George Mackay, “He sent the ball on a low, wobbling path over the bar.” Vale faced a tough home Easter programme because the following day they lost 41-15 to Rugby with Andy kicking four penalties, Richard Taylor was the try scorer. Matters did not improve on Easter Monday because they lost 16-6 to Orrell with Andy converting Paul Hamer’s try.
A trip to the North East to play Gosforth in a Northern Merit Table fixture ended in another defeat 22-12 but there was a crumb of comfort because Andy dropped a goal and kicked three penalties. His final successful effort of the season came the day after in a home club fixture against Halifax which ended with an 18-14 victory. Again a large crowd had assembled and they were not disappointed as their favourite entered the record books with his drop goal on the hour mark. Later Andy modestly admitted that “the ball just scraped over the bar by a couple of inches. There was only me and the referee who thought it had gone over!” However, a large proportion of his kicks were synchronised to perfection and executed with balletic efficiency in one sweet flowing movement; hand, eye and feet in perfect harmony.
Two more fixtures remained but Andy could not add to his total, he did finish the season as the leading point’s scorer with 415, comprising 8 tries, 34 conversions, 77 penalties and of course the treasure trove of 28 drop goals from the 41 games he played only missing two.
For all those involved with Vale, in whatever capacity, the 1986/1987 season will never be forgotten, for one young man it was very significant and so it was for all those other 42 players, who, under the leadership of their skipper, the uncompromising and indomitable, Trevor Glover, were driven, one and all, to new heights.
Promotion was shared by the whole club, both young and old; there was pride in being associated with Vale, with chests being puffed out without any show of arrogance. To be seen wearing Vale’s badge, club tie or sweater and to pull on a cherry and white jersey signified a rite of passage. This did not mean they could herd sheep over Skerton Bridge or go swan upping on the River Lune but it did allow the wearers to walk tall into National League Division Three.
As a postscript to Andy’s phenomenal achievement, in Vale’ first team fixtures since the 2000/01 season to the curtailment of the current one, only 11 goals have been dropped. The art of drop kicking has been making something of a comeback in the higher echelons of the game but like hooking for opponents ball, the dive pass, rucking and shoeing, wingers throwing in the ball at a line out, referees in blazers and a phalanx of snorting, wild eyed hairy forwards, dribbling the ball with all the skill and panache of a bulldozer, these images of another era now only appear in sepia films.
Further reading