Kop clash is a family tie

SPLIT loyalties: Jonathan and Neville

FAMILY pleasantries might have to be put to one side for 90 minutes on Friday when Athletic travel to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round.

Lifelong Latics fan Neville Bolton (80), who was present when his heroes were beaten 3-1 at Anfield in the fifth round of the competition in 1977, loves his 16-year-old grandson Jonathan. But Jonathan is an avid Liverpool supporter!

Neville said: “I won’t be going to the game this time because age has caught up with me and I recently had a hip operation, but Jonathan and his dad Pat will be there. We couldn’t believe it when the third-round draw was made, life is going to be very interesting because I love Latics and Jonathan is Liverpool all the way.

“We have all had a bit of fun with him in the build-up to the tie and the banter has been back and forth. The odds are stacked against Latics but you just never know, and people say the FA Cup tends to throw up the odd surprise here and there. It would be wonderful if we could get something from the game. Whatever happens, I’m sure everyone will enjoy the occasion.”

Turning back the clock, even the sting of that 3-1 defeat 35 years ago could not stop Neville appreciating what he had just witnessed.

Kevin Keegan and John Toshack were the stars of the show in an all-star cast. Many dubbed the duo “telepathic” — an opinion echoed by Neville, who back then was accompanied by wife Mildred and twin daughters Shirley and Paulette.

Neville, who still has the original programme and ticket stubs from the 1977 tie, said: “Latics played as well as they could but it was always going to be an uphill struggle because Liverpool had so many superstars.

“Keegan and Toshack were superb, they played some fantastic football. Even though I was sticking up for Athletic, I was still able to stand back and admire the quality on show. We were watching players who, 35 years on, are still being talked about now.

“We had good players too and like I say we made a decent fist of it. David Shaw scored a penalty for us.

“I was a big fan of Jimmy Frizzell, who was our manager at the time. One of the things that struck me the most about that game at Anfield was the fact that fans of both teams would watch the action together — something you don’t see now.

“Les Chapman, who played that day, said in the Chronicle that he felt the atmosphere at Liverpool was similar to a religious experience, especially the Kop. I agree — myself, Mildred and the girls had never heard or seen anything like it.”