Lyndon will be guest of honour for the home match v Stockport County on 10th December recounting memories of his short but legendary time at Rochdale AFC for hospitality diners prior to kick off.
Many thanks to Mark Wilbraham (The Voice of Spotland) for extracts from an article that appeared in the Rochdale AFC match-day programme as part of the build up to the Legends Night.
DOB: 11th November 1966
Dale debut: 21st February 1987 – Southend United 1-2
Last game: 7th May 1988 – Newport County 1-0
Also played for: Leeds United
Time at Dale: History will show that Lyndon only ever pulled on the Dale jersey 73 times but despite this limited number of appearances, his level of contribution in these games will never go unnoticed and without him Rochdale would undoubtedly have been relegated to Conference football in 1987 with 10 goals in 22 appearances.
Lyndon had left his native Pontypool to join Leeds United and it was his relationship with Eddie Gray that was forged at Elland Road and ultimately the only reason he arrived at Rochdale.
“One day in Comprehensive School I got called to the Headmaster’s Office. To be fair this wasn’t really an unusual occurrence at the time, but I remember thinking I hadn’t done anything wrong and wondered what it was all about. As I entered the room I could see two men sat with the Headmaster, one of whom I recognised to be Eddie Gray. As a boyhood Leeds fan I had idolised Gray and now here he was, sat in my School, having driven 300 miles to ask me to sign for his Club. I had been due to sign for Arsenal having been there for a month on trial but he made such an effort to get me to join Leeds that I couldn’t really say no. Four years later Eddie replaced Vic Halom as Rochdale manager and when the call came it was because of him I signed for the Club, no other reason”
An immediate strike partnership with Derek Parlane was formed and the duo spearheaded the renewed optimism of the fans as the Club sought to stave off relegation. One defeat in the first nine games in which the partnership blossomed only reinforced this self-belief, even if the man himself had other thoughts at the time.
“I don’t think any of us really believed we’d escape, I remember Eddie Gray saying we’d give it a good go but there wasn’t the real conviction you’d expect after months of hardship and only one win in 14. Fortunately we just seemed to get on a roll and everything came together and the night we confirmed we’d pulled off the great escape against Stockport County will live with me forever. Forget the fact I missed a penalty for a second, I’d much rather prefer to talk about my goal in the second half and the joyous scenes it brought afterwards. It was like we’d won the FA Cup, not only on the terraces, but in the dressing room as well”
Another season quickly came and went, but the Club failed to build on any momentum they had gathered, with the standout results against Leyton Orient (0-8) and Tranmere Rovers (1-6) coming for all the wrong reasons. Despite this, Lyndon was the only player to score more than five goals that season, managing 15 in total, which astonishingly accounted for more than a quarter of the number scored by the team as a whole.
That, however, would be the end of his short but very impacting professional career. His style of play and sheer will to win attitude had bestowed him in the hearts of Rochdale fans forever and for this he was given the true reception he deserved at the Club’s Centenary Dinner.
What are you doing since leaving Dale?: The final game of the 1987/88 against Newport County ended their 68-year existence in English football but more importantly for all Rochdale fans, it marked the last occasion they’d see Lyndon pull on a Dale shirt as his career was cruelly cut short by a pelvis injury, aged just 21.
“It was an awful time, I had been to see some specialists in Manchester about my pelvis because it had been causing me a few problems. It wasn’t anything particularly painful, just more like the pain I’d feel in my knees at times after a tough match or a hard training session. Over the forthcoming months I’d come into the Club to do what light work I could but eventually the doctors told me I would never fully recover and they suggested I stopped playing altogether. They diagnosed the injury as being similar to what rugby players suffered from in that it was caused by severe impact on the pelvis area. Obviously this was very rare in footballers but in the end the decision was made to call it a day and all of a sudden I was faced with not knowing what to do next. Fortunately the Club had been very good to me whilst I tried to recover but after the bad news and with no ties in the area, my next big decision was made easy for me. I had no choice but to move back home to South Wales to live with my mum and dad again. I’d loved every minute of being at Rochdale but all of a sudden I now had no career and very few options to choose from. After going back home I was actually registered as disabled for the first twelve months because I was on crutches. I couldn’t work because of my condition and in order to receive some form of income I was registered as disabled. It might sound strange having eighteen months earlier enjoyed memorable nights, such as the one we had against Stockport County, but here I was, virtually housebound, very short of money and not exactly with a bright future ahead of me. In those days you didn’t get a big handout from the FA/PFA or anything like that so I had to battle away on my own. When I eventually recovered I got a job at a local factory that mass produced telephone parts”
Eventually, Lyndon returned back to professional football holding posts at:
Queens Park Rangers – 1st Team Senior UK & European Recruitment Officer
Newport County – Head of Academy Recruitment
Aston Villa – Head of Opposition Scouting
Bolton Wanderers – Senior Technical Scout
Southampton – First Team & Academy Scout
See an interview with Lyndon via Dale’s iFollow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ibJJtI4Cig
