Crowd-pleasers made for Latics

Rick Holden, playing for Athletic in 1994

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A QUARTER of a century has elapsed since Athletic proudly strolled out onto the famous old Wembley turf in the Littlewoods Cup.

Marking the high point of the extraordinary reign of Joe Royle, the “pinch me” season saw the club take part in a first-ever showpiece final against Nottingham Forest.

There have been huge highs since that date — two FA Cup semi-finals against Manchester United and promotion to the top flight for the first time in 68 years — but in recent years, the club has found itself treading water in League One.

With the new North Stand set to open in time for next season, there is some optimism that Athletic can start travelling on an upward curve once again.

Taking the Wembley date as a starting point, the Chronicle has picked out the top 25 players to have represented the club since then.

In the first instalment of a series which will continue throughout the close season, those chosen men will be profiled — with supporters then getting a chance to vote for their favourite.

Today, we take a look at two larger than life characters who excelled for Athletic.


RICK HOLDEN


The man from Skipton was in the news again recently when, in tongue-in-cheek style, he touted himself for the manager’s job at Athletic while also decrying what he feels are the pitfalls of the modern game.

You don’t really see players like Holden any more. An out-and-out winger who relied on craft and intelligence to create room to bend in his left-footed crosses, he was an integral part of Joe Royle’s side in the “pinch me” season and went on to play for Athletic for another two years after the League Cup final during his first spell at the club.

A disagreement with Royle led to his departure for Manchester City for a £900,000 fee in the summer of 1992, after Holden had been an ever-present in the club’s first season back in the top division following that 68-year wait.

Royle — who brought in Holden from Watford in 1989 — shelled out again for the left winger when his time at Maine Road turned sour following the appointment of Brian Horton.

“Rick and this club fit each other like an old slipper,” said Royle after he bought him back for a cut-price fee.

The old adage in football is to ‘never go back’, but at 29 years of age, Holden very much meant business second time around.

It was Holden’s corner kick which Peter Schmeichel fumbled in the 1994 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United, allowing Neil Pointon to stab home in extra time to hand Athletic the lead. We all know what happened next.

After relegation from the top flight, Holden stayed on at the club only to be shoved in the reserves by Graeme Sharp. He went on to play for Blackpool before retiring, after which he moved to the Isle of Man, spending a season at Barnsley as assistant manager and physio working under Paul Hart and Andy Ritchie.

“I just tell him to get on with it,” Royle said of Holden.

“He’s the best crosser of the ball in the country. Stand off him and he’ll cross it early, get tight and he’ll take you on. He’ll guarantee a minimum of half a dozen top-class crosses a match.”




JOSE BAXTER


AN old-fashioned swagger, an eye for the unexpected and plenty of goals.

Jose Baxter knew what it took to please the natives at SportsDirect.com Park — at a club which values the maverick talent more than most.

It didn’t take long for the ex-Everton man, then 20, to make an impact under Paul Dickov.

Opting to take on League One defences as he had the previous season for Tranmere when on loan from Goodison, Baxter got himself on the score sheet eight minutes after coming on as a substitute to net an equaliser in a 2-2 home draw with Notts County.

At that stage, in September 2012, he had penned a short-term deal after initially arriving a the club on a trial basis.

Baxter went on to net on another 14 occasions in a 45-game run in 2012-13.

And that sequence included a superb free-kick at Nottingham Forest in a memorable 3-2 win that enabled Athletic to embark on an FA Cup adventure which took in a famous defeat of Liverpool — the club Baxter supported as a child — as well as two games against his former side Everton.

Baxter was criticised for failing to score with a chipped penalty in a home loss against Bournemouth in his first season.

And in his second term, he made only five appearances before being sold to Sheffield United.

More recently, he has been subject to a failed drugs test while plying his trade with the Blades.

But though his stay at Athletic only took in 50 games, with 17 goals scored, it was a memorable one.