157 Lee Duxbury

Position : Midfield

Played : 1989-90  (on  loan  from  Bradford  City)

Appearances : 10

Goals : 0

Lee  was  signed  on  loan  from  Bradford  for  whom  he'd  made  a  handful  of  appearances  in  the  same  week  we  signed  Andy  Milner. As  a  youngster  in  1985  he  had  narrowly  escaped  with  his  mother  from  the  burning  stand.

Unlike  Andy,  Lee  wasn't  one  of  my  favourite players. In  fact  he  is  the  best  example  I  can recall  of  a  loan  signing  who  was  withholding  his  real  talent  from  us. If  there  was  a  fifty-fifty  challenge  - and  he  had  all  the  attributes  to  win  them - he'd  shirk  it  every   time. Except  for  one  game ; against  Crystal  Palace  in  the  FA  Cup  you  could  almost  see  the  thought  bubble  - "I'm  in  the  window  here , I'm  going  to  perform" . He  was  excellent,  giving  Geoff  Thomas  and  co   a  real  battle  in  the  middle  which  only  made  me  despise  him  more.

Lee  returned  to  Bradford  and  the  following  season  became  a  first  team  regular. He  went  on  to  make  272  appearances  for  them  interrupted  by  a  year  at  Huddersfield  in  the  mid-nineties. In  1997  he  transferred  to  Oldham  and  played  almost  as  many  games  for  them  before  a  last  season  in League  football  with  Bury  in 2003-04   where  he  played  37  games  without  scoring. He  played  briefly  for  Harrogate  before  returning  to  Oldham  as  a  coach  where  he  has  retained  his  position  under  successive  managers.

156 Andy Milner

Position : Winger

Played : 1989-90  to  1993-4

Appearances :  127

Goals : 25

The great FA Cup run of 89-90 produced enough money to allow Terry Dolan to spend £20,000 on Andy from Manchester City in January making him the first signing of the new decade.




City had bought him the previous year from Netherfield which paid for their ground improvements but he hadn’t played in the first team.



Andy made his debut in the famous win at Burnley where he immediately started roasting the left back though he later had to play at the back when we lost two of our players. Andy took his time to settle in and was reputedly a bit of a loner in the dressing room. There were also rumours he was carrying a serious pelvic injury ; whether that was true or not he had the strange habit of getting up holding his ear after being clattered. However he proved his worth in the final home game against Hereford where he became the first Dale player since Micky French in March 1983 (against the same opposition) to score a hat-trick , all of them more or less solo efforts.




Andy didn’t have the greatest of first touches but if he still had some space after getting it under control the opposition were in serious trouble. He was a true match-winner who could conjure a goal out of nothing by running at the defence at such speed that the defenders simply didn’t dare put their foot in; sometimes they even moved out of the way hoping he’d over-run it rather than risk a penalty or red card. Obviously he didn’t do it every game or he’d have been a Premier League player and he was often the first accused of letting his head drop but it was always foolish to leave him out. We put him forward for the 1992 sprint challenge where he unfortunately tripped in the North West heat but still beat United waster Danny Wallace.




Andy’s career suffered a setback in January 1993 when he picked up a bad injury away at Doncaster and missed the rest of the season. Many reckoned that moment ended our play-off challenge that year. Andy returned early in 1993-94 but looked to have lost a bit of pace. On the other hand he seemed a bit more robust physically and so being a six-footer was often played at centre forward instead.




Andy seemed to have been retained for the next season but at a Fan’s Forum in July Dave Sutton blurted out that Andy had “a heart the size of a pea. So I’ve just given him a free transfer . I don’t care ! “ . Everyone was a bit taken aback , even more so when Andy signed for Chester and then we paid them £10,000 to bring back Dave Thompson who was older, slower and had a much inferior goal record. For me that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and put me in the Sutton Out camp. I’m ambivalent about that now but it was still an utterly crazy decision. Andy had three good years at Chester scoring 24 goals in 125 games (including 4 in a 6-0 demolition of Doncaster) before going on loan to Hereford in their first Conference season. Despite scoring 5 in 8 games, Andy declined a permanent move going to Morecambe instead where he scored 9 in 28 games between 1997 and 2000 , being dogged by injury. After 4 games for Northwich in 2000 he retired and is now a driving instructor.

155 Colin Small

Position :  Midfield

Played :  1989-90

Appearances  : 7

Goals : 1

Another  youngster  from  Manchester  City, Colin  was  on  the  bench  for  the  FA  Youth  Cup  Final.

Colin  did  show  the  odd  bit  of  skill  in  his  handful  of  first  team  appearances  but  not  enough  to  persuade  Terry  Dolan  to  give  him  another year's  contract. He  moved  on  to  Stalybridge  Celtic  and after  a  year  there  went  on  to Mossley. He  joined  North  Trafford  FC  and  finding  his  level  became  a  bit  of  a  legend. He  is  their  fourth  all  time  goalscorer  with  an  impressive  73  goals  in  182  appearances.

154 Jason Hasford

Position :  Forward

Played :  1989-90

Appearances :  1

Goals :  0

Jason  was  another  youngster  signed  in  the  summer  of  1989  having  just  played  for  Manchester  City  in  the  FA  Youth  Cup  Final. I  remember  seeing  him  in  pre-season  games  but  have  no  recollection  of  his  sole  League  appearance.

After  being  released  he  spent  1990-91  in  the  States  with  Wichita  Wings  for  whom  he  played  35  games  scoring  3  goals. The  following  season  he  played  for  Mossley  in  midfield  scoring  twice  in  10  games. He  is  now  a  film-maker  and  director  of  JMG  Media.

153 Jason Dawson

Position : Forward

Played : 1989-90  to  1990-91

Appearances : 55

Goals :7

Jason  was  one  of  a  clutch  of  youngsters  signed  by  Terry  Dolan  as  squad  ballast  in  the  summer  of  1989  having  failed  to  graduate  from  Port  Vale's  YTS  scheme.

Luck  was  on  Jason's  side  as  he  got  the  opportunity  to  score  a  well-taken  goal  on  his  debut  away  at  Cambridge  after  coming  off  the  bench. Thereafter  he  was  pretty  much  a  regular  due  to  injuries  to  the  other  strikers  at  the  club. Jason  was  actually  rubbish ; all  he  had  going  for  him  was  a  willingness  to  chase  lost  causes  and  that  did  bring  him  the  occasional  goal.

Dave  Sutton  offloaded  him  at  the  first  opportunity  and  he  went  to  Macclesfield,  then  in  the Conference. He  also  started  work  as  a  coalman. He  moved  on to  Stafford  Rangers  in  1992  and  I  lose track  of  him  after  that. Sadly,  I'm  not  the  only  one ; his  son  Jack  posted  a  message  on  bebo last  year  that  he  was  trying to  trace  him.

152 Jimmy Graham

Position : Left  back (also  played  at  centre  half  and  on  left  wing)

Played : 1989-90 (on  loan  from Bradford) ; 1990-91   to   1993-94

Appearances : (first  spell) 11 ; (second spell) 126

Goals : (first  spell) 0 ; (second  spell)  1

Jimmy  first  came  to  us  in  October  1989  on  loan  from  Bradford  for  whom  he  had  made  one  substitute  appearance. He  was  the  youngest  (though  you  wouldn't  think  it to  look  at  him)  of  three  footballing  brothers  including  Leeds  and  Scotland  winger  Arthur. He  played  on  the  left  wing  and  was  abysmal  being  unable  to  beat  anyone  and  his  distribution  was  poor.  He  returned  to  Bradford  who  gave  him  a  few  more  first  team  opportunities  later  in  the  season.

In  the  summer  of  1990  Dolan  moved  to  sign  him  permanently. Bradford  wanted  £125,000,  an  outrageous  amount  for  a  player  who'd played  less  than  ten  games  for  them  and  the  tribunal  duly  knocked  the  price  down  to  a  fifth  of  that  sum. Bradford  reacted  with  scarcely  believable  spite  by  sacking  his  brother  Arthur  who  was  coaching  there  at  the  time. Anyhow  Jimmy  came  to  us  and  initially  took  Willie  Burns'  role  as  the  sweeper  in  a  five  man  defence.

Jimmy  was  undoubtedly  a  popular  player  and  won  the  Supporter's  Player  of  the  Year  one  season  (maybe  1992-93)  but  I  could  never  quite  understand  why. He  could  do  a  neat  little  stepover  shuffle  when  bringing  the  ball  out  of  defence  and  I  think  that  led  people  into  thinking  he  was  better  than  he  was. On  the  down  side  he  couldn't  kick  straight  and  so  his  distribution  was  terrible ;  a  lot  of  our  moves  broke  down  when  he  became  involved. He  was  a  solid enough  defender  but  nothing  more. 

When  Dolan  changed  tactics  he  was  switched  to  left  back  and  that  became  his  settled  position. Later  in  the  season  he  picked  up  a  knock  and  then  couldn't  reclaim  his  place  from  Vince  Chapman. In  the  summer  Dave  Sutton  put  him  up  for  sale  for  a  few  grand  but  no  one  was  interested. However  Vince  succumbed  to  a  botched  operation  and  Jimmy  resumed  his  position  for  1991-2  only  to  lose  it  again  when  Barry  Cowdrill  was  signed. However  Cowdrill  was  35  so  wasn't  kept  on  and  Jimmy  started  his  third  season  at  the  club  playing  most  games  in  1992-3. He  retained  his  place  in  1993-4  but  was  injured  by  an  horrendous  challenge   from  Burnley's  John  Francis   in  December  over  which  the  club  pursued  legal  action  and  didn't  seem  quite  the  same  afterwards. A  good  stand-in  performance  from  newly-arrived  winger  Kevin  Formby  at  the  end  of  the  season  seemed  to  persuade  Sutton  to  release  Jimmy  in  May  1994. Off  the  pitch  Jimmy  married  one  of  a  group  of  female  cheerleaders  that  he  attracted  whilst  at  Dale (yes,  have  another  look  at  the  picture !).

Dolan  rescued  him  by  taking  him  on  at  Third  Division  Hull  City. He  played  39  games  for  them  in 1994-95  but  the  following  season  he  was  hit  by  injury  again and  was  released  following  their  relegation. He  signed  for  Guiseley  and  later  played  for  Lancaster  City. He  now  works  as  a  social  worker  in  his  native  Glasgow. 

151 Steve Elliott

Position :  Forward

Played : 1989-90  to  1990-91

Appearances : 52

Goals : 9

Now  we  come  to  a  couple  of  players  concerning  whom  I  seemed  to  be  in  the  minority  opinion.  Steve  was  signed  from  Bury  for  £10,000  in  October  1989  to  boost  our  firepower. He  began  his  career  at  Nottingham  Forest  just  as  they  were  winning  the  League  title  in 1978. The  following  season Steve  got  his  first  team  chance  when  Peter  Withe  was  sold  to  Newcastle  but  after  four  games  he  was  edged  out  by  Garry  Birtles. He  was  sold  to  Preston  later  in  the  season. He  spent  the  next  five  seasons  there  as  a  first  choice  striker  managing  70  goals  in  208  appearances. In  1984  he  returned  to  the  top  flight  when  Luton  signed  him  as  a  replacement  for  Paul  Walsh. The  move  didn't  work  out  and  after  12  games and  3  goals  he  was  included  in  a  deal  which   took  him  to  Walsall   in  exchange  for  David  Preece. He  found  his  form  again and  scored  21  goals  in  69  appearances  before  moving  to  Bolton  in  1986. He  found  goals  harder  to  come  by  in  a  side  destined  for  relegation  and  gradually  fell  out  of  favour. He  signed  for  Bury  in  1988  and  scored  11  in  31  appearances.

I  was  told  by  some  Preston  fans  I  knew  that  Steve  was  a  competent  player  who  "used  his  arse  well" (I think  they  meant  for  backing  in  to  defenders)  but  "never  seemed  to  get  his  shirt  dirty". I  could  see  what  they  meant , the  ball  would  be  played  up  to  him, he'd  lay  it  off  or  flick  it  on  then  amble  into  the  box  waiting  for  the  cross. He  wasn't  a  chaser  after  lost  causes  and  didn't  score  often  enough  to  silence  critics  who  said  he  was  lazy. I  didn't  think  he  was  the  greatest  player we've   had  but  he  did  the  job  he  was  bought  for  and  it  wasn't  his  fault  if  the  ball  wasn't  delivered  effectively. I  remember  when  he  scored  in  the  League  Cup  at  Scarborough  to  put  us  5-0  up  on  aggregate  , inastead  of  celebrating , my  friend  Mr  P  was  shouting  "That's  all  he does ! " and  it  struck  me  that  scoring  goals  was  a  pretty  useful  attribute  for  a  player.

My  favourite  moment  from  Steve  was  in  a  Freight  Rover  tie  at  Preston. His  marker  had  obviously  got  fed  up  with  being  backed  into  and  when  a  goal  kick  was  taken just  took  a  step  back  and  Steve  fell  on  his  behind. It  was  hilarious  and  to  make  it  even  funnier  the  ref  gave  us  a  free  kick !
Steve  was  troubled  by  injuries  in  his  second  season , one  of  them  caused  by  slipping  on  the  ice  in  the  club  car  park   and  when  Dave  Sutton  took  over  he  started  alternating  Steve  with  Dave  Cole  giving  them  a  half  each  so  it  was  obvious  he  was  going  to  be  on  his  way. He  had  also  started  giving  the  dick  (as  mentioned  in  previous  posts) free  tickets  which  made  me  less  sorry  to  see  him  go.

He  went  to  Guiseley  for  1991-2  and  started  banging  in  the  goals  for  them  but  retired  due  to  work  commitments  before  the  season  was  out. He  is  currently  a  leisure  centre  manager  for  South  Ribble  Council  and  still  turns  out  for  Preston  in  charity  matches.

I  should  add  that  in  2005  Four Four Two  magazine  invited  readers to  nominate  the  worst  ever  player  for  their  team. Steve  topped  the  poll  for  both  Luton  and  Bolton.