https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46736372

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46736372

It was a golden period in a generation. Packed out Wilderspool every week...it took until 2011 before we managed to replicate that season.

In 88/89 we finished one place above relegation, had average crowds of 4,000 odd and Widnes were champions. But nostalgia makes everything seem better...

I think RD means after when Davies signed for Wire. He didn't sign for us until 1993.

Thanks WW
Sally is very knowledgeable which more than makes up for the times he struggles to see the wood for trees.

Wasn't the average attendance during the year we finished third with Davies less than 6,000? Hardly a packed out Wilderspool every week.

How long did this golden period last?

Maybe Sally was right about nostalgia after all?

That's was packed. The attendance I recall was raised with extra barriers as previously it was a shade under 5k for safety reasons??

It was also a time when the club would knock a few thousand off the attendance figures, as we paid tax on the receipts. We had very little money in those days.

No capacity was over 11,000, there was just short of 11,400 there for Wigan on New Year's Day. The previous year's average was circa 4,000 not due to capped capacity (nearly 9,000 there against Wigan) but because our crowds dipped to under 3,000 for league matches come the end of the season.

I assume your Golden Period was after signing Davies then when we finished 3rd, 6th and 9th respectively before summer rugby was introduced.

Now what was Sally saying about nostalgia.

30 years? Where did that go?

The golden period was when we finished joint top but Russell Smith eyesight and twitchy whistle robbed us of the league.
I don't know the average attendance. All I know was it was a great period to be a Wire at games and the ground always felt pretty full to me....and as I said, it was 2011 before I felt that level of pitch performance and crowd levels in relation to neighbouring seasons were matched.

That doesn't mean in relation to the increase bounce because of the new ground.

We weren't joint top we were third and obviously going to finish third for a number of weeks leading up to the end of the season after losing to Bradford and Wigan. It's easy to blame Russell Smith but that title was lost away to a struggling Wakefield just prior to Christmas.

For somebody who can be so pedantic over the interpretation of your words referring to a single season as a golden period of a generation is stretching it somewhat or perhaps Sally was right all along.