By Keith Russell

The Big Drop

The end of the 1993/94 season was a painful one to bear for Blues fans as it saw them drop down to Division 2. Barry Fry had taken the post of manager, taking over from Terry Cooper on December 10^th 1993.

Sound familiar?!

He promised Blues fans when he took over that he would get them out of Division 1.

Well…., he certainly delivered on that promise!

Again…… sound familiar?!

Fast forward 30 years to the present day and history has, repeated itself as we now find ourselves, once again, in the third tier of English football. All is despondency and gloom as we all wonder where this is all going to end up as the Knighthead master plan was not meant to look like this.

So…, we might all sit back, feeling sorry for ourselves as we envisage a season of poor quality long-ball football with other teams kicking lumps out of our team as they try to claim our prized scalp.

However, when the season 94/95 was about to start, the force of nature that is Barry Fry, was having nothing of Blues players licking their collective wounds and sulking  over what had come to pass. Far from it!

Barry Fry – A Man for All Seasons

After a poor start to the 1993/94 season saw Terry Cooper sacked, Fry was installed as Blues boss because David Sullivan and the Gold brothers very much wanted a “character”.

He was certainly that – and more!!

At times hilarious with his antics and wicked sense of humour, and, at other times, outspoken in his dealings with both the owners and MD Karren Brady.  There was never a dull moment with Bazza!

Bluenoses that were initially mystified by this strange appointment were soon won over as they identified with his sense of humour.

Players also responded to Fry’s style of man-management. Bazza was not particularly well known for his tactical know-how, but he could certainly get a good tune out of his players.

Fry proceeded to buy in players – in fact, rather a lot of them!! Some were journeymen, some decidedly average but also some were very good and exciting ones too!!

During his tenure at the helm he brought in, amongst others:

Kevin Francis, Ricky Otto, Jonathan Hunt, Steve Claridge, Peter Shearer, Gary Poole, Jose Dominguez, Liam Daish and Dave Barnett.

Somebody was once quoted as saying about Fry “he traded players like children swap Panini stickers”.

August 1994

Blues did not start the new season well in Division 2, losing away to Leyton Orient on the opening day of the season.  However, they then recorded back-to-back wins and then a loss to Wycombe at home ended their first full month.   Despite this they still ended the month 11^th in the table.

September to December 31^st

What a period of time this was in Blues history! Suddenly everything was starting to click.

Blues embarked on an unbeaten run of 19 games until the end of 1994.

It started with a 4-2 home victory on 3^rd September against Plymouth and culminated in a resounding 7-1 win on New Years Eve in front of a crowd of 18,025 at St Andrews. Steve Claridge and Louie Donowa bagged a brace each and Blues were now ending the year top of the division. Happy New Year!!

In this period of games their record was:

PLAYED	WON	DRAWN	LOST	GOALS FOR	GOALS AGAINST	CLEAN SHEETS
19	12	7	0	42	11	10

January/February 1995

Blues started the New Year with a draw away to Bradford and, thereby, extended their unbeaten run to 20 league games.

That run unfortunately came to an end at York City on the 14th with a 2-0 reverse to the Minstermen.

February was to be a bit of an up and down affair. Of the 5 games played, Blues lost both of their away games, but won all three of their home fixtures with some entertaining games, beating York and Wrexham 4-2 and 5-2 respectively. New January signing Kevin Francis was starting to make a good impression with Bluenoses. The towering 6 foot 7 inch tall striker bagged a brace in each of these fixtures and was a real handful to opposing defences.

March to Season End

Blues started off March in 2^nd position and were to go on to lose only two further games, winning eight and drawing six games.

Going into the final day it was a nervous affair. This season was only going to see one club going up automatically, and although Blues were top going into the final game away at Huddersfield, Brentford in second, would leapfrog them if they were to win at home to Bristol Rovers and Blues failed to register at least a point.

Nail-biting stuff!!

In the end, Brentford could only draw their game. 

Blues rose to the challenge and gave the travelling support another great day to remember. 

Steve Claridge scored the first and Paul Tait came off the bench to make it 2-0. Although the Terriers pulled one back, Blues safely saw the game out as Division 2 Champions.

CHAMPIONS!!!

Steve Claridge was top scorer with 20 leagues goals plus 5 more across all cup competitions.

Keeper Ian “Benno” Bennett played all 46 league games and had 19 clean sheets including a consecutive set of 7 complete shutouts from 29^th October to 17^th December.

Blues hit 3 or more goals in 11 matches, including a 7-1 demolition of Blackpool on New Years Eve.

Final Table:

Position	Played	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1st	46	25	14	7	84	37	89

Blues had bounced back to Division 1 in style. They entertained the fans the entire season with high tempo attacking football. Barry Fry didn’t know any other way to play the game. His tactics were, basically, to outscore the opposition!!

The players and us fans had, what can only be described as……

BLOODY GREAT FUN!!

In my opinion, the season 94/95 was probably the most entertaining and joyful season I have witnessed as a Bluenose. Barry Fry was, and still is, a “Diamond Geezer” who we all came to love. He was only with us for two and a half years all told, and a lot of people might say he is a clown and a joker – but boy-oh-boy did we laugh along together with him.

Winding forward to the present day and based on that fantastic 94/95 season there is no reason why we cannot have FUN again in this division.

Oh…., and in case I forget, I should also mention that 55,000 Bluenoses had a party on April 23^rd, 1995, to celebrate winning the Auto Windscreens Shield at Wembley. But maybe, I’ll write about that one on another day!! Keep Right On and Have More Fun in 24/25, and, in the meantime enjoy the photos in this blog!