Heroes - John Mackenzie

John Mackenzie in action against Southend United in the FA Cup 2nd Round Replay in December 1979

Born on the 7th February 1954, Mackenzie started his career with Leyton and also played for Leytonstone, Bishop’s Stortford and Ilford. John joined the club in the summer of 1978, linking up again with his former manager Ian Wolstenholme, who had been in charge at Bishop’s Stortford during John’s time with the Blues.

He formed a deadly partnership with Peter Twigg up front and was renowned for his heading ability. However, John will always be remembered for his goals in our FA Cup run of the 1979-80 season. John hit the winner against Leicester City in the 3rd round replay and then went on to score a further two goals in the epic 4th round clash at Watford. All of these goals were scored with his feet, the second at Watford even being featured on the BBC’s Match of the Day’s Goal of the Month competition.

John finished as top scorer in both season 1980-81 and 1981-82 despite being on the transfer list for much of the latter season. He finally left the club in March 1982, joining Boreham Wood before emigrating to South Africa.
During his time with the club John represented the Isthmian League and scored 58 goals in his 141 appearances, 11 of which were as a substitute.

Heroes - Dave Edwards

Today we feature Dave Edwards who made the transition from a player to manager. As a player he only made just over 120 appearances, scoring 9 goals, but went on to manage the side nearly 500 times.

Dave was born in Willesden, London on 4th September 1947 and represented Willesden Boys before moving to Harlow as a 14 year old. After representing the Harlow Minors League, his uncompromising play at the centre of defence soon came to the attention of Bishop’s Stortford, whom he joined when he was 17.

Dave had two spells as a player, his first came to the club in season 1969-70, however this was short lived as he moved to Hertford Town midway through that season. He later went on to play for Stansted and Saffron Walden Town, where he won an Essex Senior League Championship medal. After a short spell with Hoddesdon Town, Dave returned to the club at the start of the 1975-76 season.

This time Dave spent four years with the club and in that time was a member of the side that walked away with the Isthmian League Division One title in 1978-79 and also lifted the Essex Senior Cup. In 1976-77 Dave was voted Supporters Player of the Year and then the year later picked up the main Player of the Year Trophy.

At the end of the 1978-79 season Dave left the club and had a brief spell with Hoddesdon Town before being offered the managerial job at Stansted. Stansted were traditionally one of the weaker sides in the Senior League but Dave soon got to work in transforming their fortunes. In 1983-84 Stansted had their most successful season ever, winning the FA Vase at Wembley as well as three other trophies. After one more season at Stansted Dave was lured to the club to take over a side that had just been relegated from the Premier Division and was struggling financially.

It was hoped that Dave could inspire the team for another quick return to the Premier Division, however the reality was that the budget was slashed even further and with four teams being relegated we were drawn into the drop zone and found ourselves plying our trade in the Division Two North the following season. It would have been easy for Dave to walk away at this stage but he stayed with the club and set about putting a side together to climb back up the leagues. The re-building soon paid dividends as under Dave’s leadership the club won the Division Two North championship, the East Anglian Cup as well as featuring in the first round of the FA Cup and the final of the Knight Floodlight Cup.

Throughout Dave’s time as manager the finances were tight but somehow we had the knack of luring some quality players to the club. Jeff Wood, who broke the club’s scoring record was just one. Other names that spring to mind are Paul Battram, Martin St.Hilare and of course it was Dave that first brought Marc Salmon to the club as a teenager.

When the club didn’t compete during the 1992-93 season Dave worked tirelessly, along with others, to get the club back up and playing again. Thankfully we did manage to survive and Dave was once again the manager as we started life again, albeit in Division Three. At the start of that season we had only a handful of players good enough for that level, inheriting many players from our new chairman’s former club Woodford Town. Over the coming months Dave attracted better players to the club and we ended up missing promotion by a solitary point. At the end of that season the then chairman Georgio Di Benedetto, who wanted to bring in his friend, former Leicester City player Len Glover, regrettably sacked Dave. History shows what a bad move this was by the chairman. Glover, in all honesty didn’t have a clue at this level and the club went backwards, recruiting the quality of player that Dave had inherited when we first started playing again at the beginning of the previous season.

After leaving the club Dave went on to manage at Saffron Walden, Bishop’s Stortford, Bromley, Ware and Hertford Town. Dave had shown so much passion for the job during his years at Harlow, something that he never quite emulated elsewhere.
Dave still lives in the Town and has no involvement with football, although he is still an occasional visitor to Barrows Farm.

Heroes - Ian Wolstenholme

Today we feature Ian Wolstenholme who masterminded Harlow’s famous FA Cup run of the 1979-80 season.

Born on the 12th January 1943 in Bradford. Ian took over as manager of the club in October 1976 after managing local rivals Bishop’s Stortford.

As a goalkeeper he had a successful career, which started, at York City, where he made two Football League appearances as an amateur. He later played for the famous amateur club Sheffield FC, before moving south and joining Enfield. He won two FA Amateurs Cup winner’s medals and three Isthmian League championship medals whilst at Southbury Road. In the 1967 final against Skelmersdale United, he saved a penalty in the last minute of extra time when the score was 0-0. Enfield went on to win the replay 3-0.

In 1971 he moved to Slough Town where he won two Athenian League titles and made another appearance in the Amateur Cup Final, but was unable to complete a hat-trick of winners medals as the Rebels went down 1-0 to Walton & Hersham. In season 1971-72 Ian made two appearances for the England Amateur side. His caps came against Denmark and Iceland.

After going into management with Bishop’s Stortford, he joined Harlow in October 1976 and immediately transformed a very poor Harlow side. Unfortunately this form could not be maintained and the club slipped back down the table. By the start of the following season Ian had recruited many of his former players from Bishop’s Stortford and the team began to buzz. The 1978-79 season saw the team run away with the Isthmian League Division One title as well as winning the Essex Senior Cup for the first (and so far only) time.

The following season saw Wolstenholme guided Harlow from the preliminary round of the FA Cup to the fourth round proper where he demonstrated his tactical awareness to the full. Nobody could be certain of a place in the side as he would bring players in and out to suit his tactics for a particular match. I remember having a long chat with Ian on the Thursday before our trip to Leicester on the Saturday. He told me in detail how he thought the game might develop and what tactics he would use to for certain situations during the game. Well, he was spot on, and that was after just one spying mission on the opposition and well before the days of video or DVD’s.

Ian built his side around a strong base of schoolteachers, which was his own profession. He would never admit to a preference for this sort of player, stating that it was just a coincidence that his team building happened that way.

Inevitably the side began to break up over the next couple of years and despite bringing in new players he was unable to build another successful side and the club slipped towards relegation. In February 1982 he resigned to be replaced by coach Gwyn Walters. It was a sad end to his association with the club. He had built probably the best team the club had ever had and brought it the most publicity and limelight it was ever likely to achieve.

Ian did make one appearance for the club when he wore the goalkeepers jersey in a home match against Walton & Hersham in September 1977. Oddly enough three Harlow managers featured in this line-up. Current manager Wolstenholme, Gwyn Walters, who took over from Wolstenholme, and then Dave Edwards who was to take charge of the team in 1985.