Malcolm Poskett found himself at the Goldstone rather like the lady in the old song. "I took my harp to a party, but nobody asked me to play."

Perhaps that is a slight exaggeration but Poskett thought he didn't get a fair crack of the whip from Alan Mullery and after two seasons with Albion he pursued his career elsewhere.

Not a few fans were sorry to see him go for Poskett proved he was up to the job of scoring goals and was a team player.

It was early in February, 1978, when Teddy Maybank's injured knee was starting to give cause for concern that Mullery signed Poskett principally for cover. The fee to Hartlepool was £50,000 with an extra £10,000 after playing a certain number of games. Albion were then fourth in the Second Division and Mullery's move was both prudent and timely.

"If Poskett proves better than what we've got, he will stay in the side. That is a rule applying to all the lads, and they know it," declared Mullery. Nobody argued with that, least of all the new boy who became the latest member of a distinguished group of Albion players to score on his debut.

In the mud and rain at Boothferry Park, Poskett joined Peter Ward, John Ruggiero (now a sergeant in the CID at Stoke) and Teddy Maybank among the squad who had made their mark from the start.

There could be no denying Poskett's role in the 1-1 draw with Hull considering he had played for Hartlepool, then 91st in the League, the previous Saturday. Also, it had to be noted, his experience outside the Fourth Division had been extremely brief. His signing was a gamble by Mullery.

At 25, Poskett knew it was a glorious opportunity of making a name for himself in the upper echelons of the League after being shown the door at Middlesbrough and failing to come up to expectations at lowly Hartlepool.

With six months of the season gone and Maybank's appearances limited, plus Ian Mellor adamant on leaving, much depended on Poskett. Mullery strengthened further by splashing out £100,000 to Preston for Peter Sayer a month later so competition for places hotted up at an important time.

Straight after the Hull game, Poskett scored in the next, a 2-1 home defeat of Burnley. What impressed most about Poskett, a slimly-built free-running six footer, was his sharp reflexes. It was Bobby Robson who tipped Mullery off about him.

No sooner had Poskett's plane touched down at Gatwick, and he put pen to paper, than a call came through from Hartlepool giving him permission to speak to Newcastle. Also beaten to the signing were Fulham while another interested club was Norwich.

The transfer brought Albion's spending up to £500,000 since the summer and, on the way home from Poskett's debut, Mullery purred: "I couldn't have asked more from him for his first game. He has good, close control, and won't have to improve a lot to become a very skilful player."

Indeed, there were smiles all round, Poskett saying what all new players were quick to appreciate: "They've already sold the club to me."

Given a combination of a hands-on chairman, Mike Bamber, and an equally persuasive vice-chairman, Harry Bloom, much of the groundwork was accomp-lished before the red carpet was rolled out by Mullery.

And so the Poskett success story unfolded. A hat trick in the 4-0 win at Bristol Rovers with just four games to go. Still Albion stayed fourth behind Bolton, Saints and Spurs, but hopes were sky high.

The final match of the season, at home to Blackpool, drew a 33,500 crowd but Albion were not masters of the situation. All Saints and Spurs needed was a draw despite the 2-1 Goldstone win sending Blackpool down.

When news came of the goalless draw at The Dell there were cries of "fix" and Albion had to suffer the bitter disappointment of missing promotion by the difference of nine goals.

It was time to examine in some detail Mullery's buys and Poskett stood up to scrutiny. Only two years earlier he had been a well paid plater and forced to take a £50 a week wage cut to play for Hartlepool. It wasn't such a sacrifice for the club as they had to pay Northern League Whitby Town just £25 for Poskett's signature.

But Whitby was the launch pad where he sprang into prominence scoring 98 goals in two seasons. When Malcolm first put his foot on the Goldstone he was Hartlepool's leading scorer with 11 from 25 outings.

Middlesbrough-born Poskett made his way to Ayresome Park after being spotted with North Riding Schools and then South Bank in the Northern League. Taken on as a pro in April 1973, he made just one appearance as sub before getting the bad news and moving to Hartlepool in July the following year. And there he languished in the reserves.

This was no good to Malcolm, whose self belief was as strong as ever. He decided on a break and left the Victoria Ground and worked in the oil industry while playing for Whitby. Then came second thoughts by both parties and Malcolm returned to Hartlepool where he grabbed his first team chance and knocked in 20 goals in 51 games in the Fourth Division.

At the Albion an initial six goals in 11 starts set him up for a good chance of regular first team football the following season, despite Maybank being restored to fitness and Ward showing no sign of losing his touch. But, for the first three months, Poskett rated only one start.

The twin factors militating against Poskett were not just Maybank and Ward. The door had been finally closed in Malcolm's face when Mullery took Ray Clarke from Bruges early in November for a reported £200,000.

As it was not policy to keep a discontented player, Poskett went to Watford in January for £110,000. At Watford, Poskett scored 17 League goals in 63 outings and, in 1982, went to Carlisle. The fee was £20,000 and again he came up to expectations with 40 League goals in 110 matches.

It was in the north that he stayed. Stockport, and then loans at Hartlepool and Carlisle. For a brief period he was caretaker manager at Brunton Park, then had a spell at Morecombe. At 36 it was time to finish with football and earn a living selling cars in Carlisle.