This piece was originally prepared for a Lede Program project in July 2022.
“Friday night football at Prenton Park returns!” screamed Tranmere Rovers’ official Twitter account last Wednesday.
Sky Sports commentator Rob Palmer captured the mood of many nostalgic Rovers fans. “Brilliant news,” he replied. “Returning to traditions.”
Friday night football is a curious quirk of Merseyside’s third club.
While the rest of the football pyramid’s weekend fixtures have traditionally kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday, Tranmere became infamous for bucking the trend and hosting games under the Prenton Park floodlights before the weekend had even started.
“Friday Night is Prenton Night,” as the marketing slogan put it.
Iain St. John and Jimmy Greaves, hosts of ITV’s beloved Saturday football show Saint and Greavsie, tagged Rovers their “Friday night favorites”. Cult band Half Man Half Biscuit even immortalized the tradition in a song, Friday Nights and the Gates are Low.
As football writer Jon Allen noted in his recent book, “For most football people, particularly those of a certain generation, Tranmere Rovers means two things: Friday night football and Johnny King and his ‘trip to the moon’.”
The association with King is understandable. Many of Rovers’ most celebrated Friday night victories occurred under the legendary’s manager’s stewardship – perhaps most famously the 5-2 mauling of West Ham United in 1992/93, when Rovers looked destined to reach the promised land of the Premier League.
But while King took charge of far more Friday league games than any other manager in the club’s history, it is another former gaffer – Dave Russell – that is credited with masterminding the initiative.
Russell conceived of the idea shortly after arriving from Bury in December 1961.
His logic was simple and sound: By avoiding a clash with Rovers’ glamorous neighbors across the River Mersey – Everton and Liverpool – the club might be able to attract more supporters and generate bigger gate receipts.
The first such occasion, a 3-1 victory over local rivals Southport on Friday, January 19, 1962, marked the beginning of what would become an institution of Merseyside football culture.
At its peak, Rovers played 16 of their 23 home league games on Fridays. That happened in consecutive seasons under Russell – 1965/66 and 1966/67 – and again in 1972/73, when Ron Yeats was in charge.
That King would go on to take charge of 136 Friday games during his two spells shows the tradition continued well after Russell departed the Prenton Park hottest in 1969.
But Friday Night Football has become something of a novelty in more recent years.
Thirty seasons have now passed since the number of Friday games in a season reached double figures.
Both John King and Dave Russell have exceptional records in Friday night matches. King’s sides collected an average of 1.9 points from his 136 games, while Russell managed 1.98 from 96.
However, four managers achieved even better returns.
Most prolific was Bert Cooke, who won a staggering 2.43 points per game.
Of course the crucial caveat is that these managers took charge of considerably fewer games than King or Russell.
The current manager, Micky Mellon, currently boasts the fourth-best record. The Scot averages an impressive two points-per-game.
However, that equates to a 14 point haul from seven games.
Sadly for Rovers fans, the demise of Friday Night Football means neither Mellon, nor any future manager, will ever get the opportunity to experience anything like as many Friday nights under the lights as their legendary predecessors.