Not even a disagreement with his sat nav could stop Bobby Gould making his return to Plough Lane for the first time in over 30 years on Saturday!
“I got lost!” said Bobby. “I actually got lost! I didn’t realise how things have changed. It was something to do with sat nav in the car! It took me all over the place. It was funny, but to be perfectly honest when I eventually got here it was a bit mouth-watering and long may it reign.”
Fortunately, Bobby wasn’t left singing “Show me the way to Plough Lane” in the surrounding streets and he made it in time to take in our 1-1 draw with Sunderland at our new home, just down the road from the site of the old ground.
“They’ll have to make it just a little bit easier,” joked our 1988 FA Cup winning manager. "From my days when I left here it’s changed dramatically, it really has. It’s lovely to see it. The people who have put this together, it's a credit to them.”
Bobby visited our museum and not only was he impressed with various artefacts and memorabilia, but he’s also looking forward to contributing some of his own special collection to our archives in the future.
“It’s magnificent!” said Bobby. “I’ve got a lot of things myself. I actually have an office in the loft back home and my wife pushes me up there and locks me up! I’ve got some lovely memorabilia and I’d like to present them to the club and put them to the wonderful array of balls and cups they already have. I look forward to that presentation.”
Bobby’s proudest moment of course came on May 14, 1988 when we beat the might of Liverpool 1-0 beneath the twin towers of the original Wembley Stadium. That was achieved by developing our own players and quite a few shrewd signings along the way, a philosophy that Robbo and our management have put their faith in.
“The circumstances are that you’ve got to have a youth programme,” said Bobby. “I’ve no shadow of a doubt about that. I was at Coventry City with Jimmy Hill and there was a lot of players that came through. Then I went to Arsenal and there were a lot of home-grown players there.
“If you look within and you have a good coach, you have the boys that have the appetite to want to play in the first team. I have no doubt in saying they’d love the club, and they want to give a lot to the club. That applies right across the board.
“There is potential in the current squad. I’d like to come back again and have a look and see what the circumstances are with the youngsters. There were a couple of players out there that really caught my eye. Hopefully they’ll go on to have wonderful careers, but only time will tell.”
You can see the full interview with our 1988 FA Cup winning Manager Bobby Gould below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.