Battler Morgan signed off after a right rum do

Possibly the luckiest break to come the way of the club was the fixture at Swindon on the first day of 1977.

Alan Mullery's guardian angel looked after him and his charges at the County Ground where a normally heavy pitch in winter was turned into a quagmire by melting snow and slush. When Mullery and the players made their inspection after referee Alan Robinson had declared it fit for play there were not a few long faces.

It was not the conditions a ball-playing side relished although they were well equipped to slog it out should it come to that. A leaden sky looked ominous and so did the scoreline at half time. Albion were two down and struggling and not looking at all like a team holding second place in the Third Division table.

By this time conditions were farcical. Boots were being suctioned-off and during the interval Mr Robinson told both teams that if there was any more snow and sleet he would call it off. The message was well received by Swindon and they doubled their lead and Albion looked booked for their sixth League defeat and a serious blow to morale.

As the flakes started to float down again the referee was reminded on the one hand by skipper Brian Horton of what he had said at half time. Swindon's players, relishing the scoreline, insisted that they had no complaints and the pitch was perfectly playable. It was a game for big boys, not cissies.

With just over 20 minutes remaining Mr Robinson wound-up the proceedings much to Albion's relief. Swindon fans roared their anger while Albion's faithful following heaved heartfelt gasps of relief and stole silently away in the gathering gloom.

As for the Swindon players they called the referee every name under the sun as they clattered back to their dressing room.

Alan Mullery ushered his players out of the bath as quickly as possible and into the coach, the door of which was parked as near to the players' entrance as possible. Albion's directors emerged from the boardroom red-faced and just as eager as the players to get away.

Had the match gone the full 90 minutes when Swindon might have increased their 4-0 lead, who can say what effect it might have had on Albion's promotion drive? Two days later Albion beat Northampton Town 2-0 at the Goldstone to regain the leadership with goals from Tony Towner and Peter Ward before a near 23,000 crowd.

The nightmare at Swindon had been expunged from the memory.

The Match that Never Was marked the last full Albion appearance of Sammy Morgan who was recovering from a fractured cheek-bone.

He had appeared in the previous match, a 2-0 Goldstone defeat of Gillingham, but after Swindon he only got on as sub.

Off the pitch Sammy wore glasses that gave him a deceptive schoolmasterly look. Peter Taylor had signed him in December, 1975 for £30,000 from Aston Villa and knew precisely what he wanted.

Sammy Morgan was a real old-fashioned rough house on the pitch and any defender who thought they could intimidate the big lad from Belfast had another thing coming.

Sammy believed in getting where it hurt and duly suffered in the process. He scored seven goals in 18 starts when Albion just missed the boat and the game best remembered is the all-ticket clash with Crystal Palace on February 24, 1976.

A good 33,000 crammed into the Goldstone as second-placed Albion tore into Palace and both goals came from Morgan.

While he supplied the fireworks on the pitch, Palace fans, in their anger, hurled smoke cannisters onto the pitch and referee Ron Challis threatened to abandon the game. At the final count, however, Albion finished fourth and Palace fifth behind Hereford, Cardiff and Millwall.

Sammy Morgan's 37 appearances (eight goals) were restricted by injury and after that Swindon match it was Ian Mellor who donned the No. 9 shirt.

As Sammy thereafter became virtually a permanent fixture on the bench I never heard him complain and his value as back-up was never underestimated by Mullery.

One of Sammy's finest displays saw him replace the injured Andy Rollings in an FA Cup replay against Palace on November 23.

Good centre-forwards usually do well at centre-half when pressed into service and Sammy was a hero in that 1-1 draw. The least said the better about the second replay at Stamford Bridge when Mullers got into hot water with the referee.

In August, 1977, Sammy moved on. A £15,000 fee took him to Cambridge United.

Now the only way was down for the Northern Ireland international who won 18 caps (two while at Brighton) after beginning his League career at Port Vale in 1970.

Sammy's first game for Northern Ireland was in 1972 and being part of the big picture he attracted attention from the free-spending clubs and he became an Aston Villa player at the start of the 1973-74 season.

The fee was £25,000. It was money well spent as Sammy helped Villa into the First Division with nine goals from 44 games.

Although born in Belfast his first club was Gorleston in East Anglia and on leaving Cambridge he returned to manage his old club having become a schoolmaster.

Typical of a wholehearted character, Sammy coached the local schools' side.

Sammy Morgan Factfile.

Born: Belfast. December 3, 1946.

1969-72: Port Vale. Appearances, 113. Goals, 24.

1973-75: Aston Villa. Appearances, 40. Goals, 9.

1975-76: Albion. Appearances, 37. Goals, 8.

1977-78: Cambridge United. Appearances, 37. Goals 4.

International appearances: Northern Ireland, 18.

Other clubs: Gorleston.