Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Last player to score a league hat trick against Man U at Old Trafford

Happy memories for QPR fans, there.

[nmrfox]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Didn't Man City fans vote for him as their player of the season because of that? Or is that just one of those urban myths?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

That match represented almost a third of his goals scored in a four-year career at Loftus Road.

[Le Gog Sportif]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

I remember seeing him chatting to then Aberystwyth Town manager Gary Finley in the Cambrian pub in Aber, and I think he had a short lived spell at Park Avenue. This must have been about 2000-2001ish

[Crusoe]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Played for Farnborough Town for a while. 28 goals in 67 games. Still very good even late on in his career.

Edit - Wikipedia says he was there in 1987, before he went to Palace, then back in 1998/99. I only remember that later spell.

[Borracho]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

The results of a collective breathalyser test performed on the Man Utd team five minutes before kick-off of that game would have made for some interesting reading.

Dennis Bailey was an extremely enthusiastic God-botherer, I seem to remember.

[jameswba]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

QPR fanzine In the Loft had a parody of the ITV coverage of that game in its following issue. It had Denis Law naming Bryan Robson 'man of the match' even though he hadn't played in the game because, if he had played, 'United would definitely have won'. Complaints about big-club TV bias aren't just a Sky thing.

[Sean of the Shed]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

He was at Tamworth for the 2001/02 season in the Southern League, but was coming off the bench mostly. That was the season before we went up to the Conference for the first time. The main striking partnership was Mark Hallam and Darren Roberts, who scored 40 odd goals between them. Dennis managed just 16 appearances in total, scoring 2 goals. He went to Stafford Rangers the next season.

[Haddock]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Best. Boxing Day. Ever
Leeds had been either 3-0 or 3-1 up at home to S'oton in a lunchtime kick-off but a couple of goals for Dowie and a Shearer equaliser meant a 3-3 draw and a general sense of deflation in the face of what looked like an easy 3 points for Man United, which would have had them several points clear. Dennis Bailey quite the Leeds hero that day in the same way as Kenny Brown was a few months later. It did not fit with the ITV Manchester-United's-Long-Wait-Is-Over narrative at all.

[Jah Womble]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

It was some performance, but I prefer to recall Martin Peters's four-goal Old Trafford haul for my lot some twenty-odd years earlier.

I'd be surprised if any opponent's managed that before or since...

[Giggler]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Haddock wrote: Best. Boxing Day. Ever
Leeds had been either 3-0 or 3-1 up at home to S'oton in a lunchtime kick-off but a couple of goals for Dowie and a Shearer equaliser meant a 3-3 draw and a general sense of deflation in the face of what looked like an easy 3 points for Man United, which would have had them several points clear. Dennis Bailey quite the Leeds hero that day in the same way as Kenny Brown was a few months later. It did not fit with the ITV Manchester-United's-Long-Wait-Is-Over narrative at all.

New Years' Day, wunnit?

[wittoner]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Jah Womble wrote: It was some performance, but I prefer to recall Martin Peters's four-goal Old Trafford haul for my lot some twenty-odd years earlier.

I'd be surprised if any opponent's managed that before or since...

Hope you like surprises JW. Ron Davies did it for Southampton in 1969'

[Jah Womble]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Ha - fair dos.

Actually I think I'd heard that somewhere along the way - and, if I'm honest, it's more than possible that other players may have managed it in the days when matches ended up 7-6, etc.

[EIM]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

I hated Dennis Bailey. He almost ruined my childhood.

[Giggler]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

EIM wrote: I hated Dennis Bailey. He almost ruined my childhood.

Christ (sorry Dennis), if my childhood had been ruined by opposition players scoring hat-tricks against my team the itemised phone bill would have shown calls to Childline on a regular basis. I got defeats to Chorley in the first round of the cup too.

[EIM]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

It wasn't just that. My best mate at primary school's dad was a bastard and a QPR fan.

[Taylor]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

I can still remember Elton Welsby: "Welcome back to a... stunned Old Trafford..."

He seemed shell-shocked; genuinely traumatised. I assumed he must be a Man United fan for several years, until I realised he was a Scouser (Everton, I think).

(There's a video still doing the rounds of Elton rehearsing and then executing a few links for the late night ITV highlights of a snooker tournament in the 80s. For an hour. Wearing a DJ and sat next to a pot plant, in front of a curtain. If you ever get the chance to see it, do - it's hypnotic viewing, I can tell you.)

[Capybara]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Elton Welsby is 65. Crikey.

[Giggler]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

I found him and interviewed him for the book. Supporters of every North West team except Tranmere felt he hated their club specifically.

[Taylor]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Was he actually a Tranmere fan, or did he just never mention them?

[Giggler]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Taylor wrote: Was he actually a Tranmere fan, or did he just never mention them?

The John King sides of the late-80s/early-90s always seemed to get a lot of attention on Granada but I don't think he was an actual fan.

[Snake Plissken]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Taylor wrote: Was he actually a Tranmere fan, or did he just never mention them?

The opposite. They were on bloody every week. Them and Oldham.

Regularly enough for every other NW fan to hate him and them. Though to be honest, Clarets fans didn't do themselves any favours with an accurately thrown meat pie during a game at Deepdale.

[Taylor]

Whatever happened to Dennis Bailey?

Aaaahhhh OK. I guess he really is an Evertonian then.