Memory Lane 53 years ago today ....

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

Am I right in remembering when Howard came on against Chesterfield in March 69 his cross was turned in the Chesterfield goal by a Chesterfield player for our eqaliser .

Simon, you could be right? We were 2-0 down at half-time and believe it or not Howard Moore replaced Chico Hamilton(not sure when). Phil Chisnall scored our first goal and then Charlie Bell put through his own net for the equaliser. Att: 10,243.

 

[Mick]

Correct. His play on the right wing was always disappointing—perhaps we’d been spoilt,having had a succession of very good exponents of that position.......Crossan,Stenhouse,Wall,Woodley,Slater spring to mind.

He barely played. Started just six matches and left early in two of them. Certainly didn't compare well with those excellent players listed (although I never saw Crossan). Even Peter Corthine, another fine player and by rights an inside forward, played more games on the wing than Howard Moore.

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

I remember Billy having an absolute blinder of a game in the return match against Chester at Roots Hall in March 1968, which we won 5-1. Did he score a hat-trick? I still remember watching from the North end of the West seeing the little fella outjump a big Chester centre half and plant a powerful header in the onion bag. The heyday of Friday-night football at its best. Happy days, the like of which, sadly, I'll never see again.

 

[LBBlue]

If memory serves me correct (?), Howard Moore was a Right Winger ( no.7 ), & quite thin?.

Howard Moore joined from Gillingham who were in the third division. He had only played 17 games in that first season with Gillingham. I think Derek Woodley went there in a straight swap.
Woodley wasn’t getting many games for us and Gillingham got the better deal with Woodley going on to play another 100 games for them. Moore started 3 games when he signed and then only another 3 by the end of the following season when he joined Port Vale but never appeared for them.

I saw him play for Gillingham in October before he joined us and he was brilliant!

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

On the subject of right wingers in that era, no one has mentioned John Baber who, if memory serves me correctly, played in that position on a pretty regular basis.

 

[LBBlue]

What was remarkable about Billy was that he scored his goals in groups of games then went a similar number of games without scoring. He scored an incredible number of hat tricks.

Everyone remembers the 5 against Brentwood in the cup. He scored his first and our sixth in the 71st minute and his second in the 84th minute. By the end of the game he had of course got 5!

My favourite hat tricks though were when he got all 4 in a 4-3 win at Peterborough in March 1970 and the two in the 71/72 promotion season at home to eventual champions Grimsby and in a 4-1 win at Reading in March, our 15th goal in 4 games!

He ended the 69/70 season with 11 goals in the last 8 games as we crept up to 17th place.

The 72/73 season Arthur Rowley wouldn’t play him up front preferring Guthrie and Moore, he dropped Billy and he got a bit disillusioned. With 5 games left he had only scored 6 goals. He then played up front and finished his career with us with 5 goals in 5 games.

What was Rowley thinking?

 

[mfurok]

What was remarkable about Billy was that he scored his goals in groups of games then went a similar number of games without scoring. He scored an incredible number of hat tricks.

Everyone remembers the 5 against Brentwood in the cup. He scored his first and our sixth in the 71st minute and his second in the 84th minute. By the end of the game he had of course got 5!

My favourite hat tricks though were when he got all 4 in a 4-3 win at Peterborough in March 1970 and the two in the 71/72 promotion season at home to eventual champions Grimsby and in a 4-1 win at Reading in March, our 15th goal in 4 games!

He ended the 69/70 season with 11 goals in the last 8 games as we crept up to 17th place.

The 72/73 season Arthur Rowley wouldn’t play him up front preferring Guthrie and Moore, he dropped Billy and he got a bit disillusioned. With 5 games left he had only scored 6 goals. He then played up front and finished his career with us with 5 goals in 5 games.

What was Rowley thinking?

He temporarily embarked upon the wrong project.

 

[LCBB72]

I am pretty sure that standing in the North Bank I saw Howard cross from the left for the Chesterfield player to put it in the net .

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

The 72/73 season Arthur Rowley wouldn’t play him up front preferring Guthrie and Moore, he dropped Billy and he got a bit disillusioned. With 5 games left he had only scored 6 goals. He then played up front and finished his career with us with 5 goals in 5 games.

What was Rowley thinking?

I was also puzzled by Rowley's decision not to use Billy up front. I was (and still am) a fan of the system of one or two big centre forwards alongside a nippier goalscorer. The presence of Gary Moore and/or Bill Garner up front with Billy to feed off their hold-up and flick-on play was a system that helped Billy to score as many goals as he did. Although Gary Moore missed more than a few sitters and was not popular with a lot of fans, his physical presence was instrumental in Billy's success.

I was fortunate as a student in Newcastle to see similar partnerships at the top level of football. Greaves + Gilzean/Chivers for Spurs, Wyn Davies + Pop Robson for Newcastle spring readily to mind.

 

[LBBlue]

He temporarily embarked upon the wrong project.

After 10 games of the next season with one win and not many goals he had to sign Stuart Brace to replace Billy.

 

[Mick]

On the subject of right wingers in that era, no one has mentioned John Baber who, if memory serves me correctly, played in that position on a pretty regular basis.

John Baber joined the club 1966 and was here for 5 seasons, playing fewer matches season on season. He was pretty much ever present through the first half of the 66/67 season, playing left wing (Woodley and Slater shared the right wing berth). Then McKinven returned and he didn't get much of a look in. The next couple of seasons he filled in up front on a semi regular basis.
He became our first scoring substitute in 68/69 after Graham Taylor's crude challenge on McKinven forced him off, and effectively ended his career. Baber finished that season with an extended run on the right wing. His final two seasons saw just 7 starts.

A busy, hard-working and popular player who popped up with some useful goals.

 

[ozzie]

Poor old Stuart Brace was not a bad player,but was never really accepted by the fans(North Bank).
SUFC tried to make him fill Billys boots but that was impossible.Not only was Billy still loved by everyone(still is) but Billy was SOUTHEND....and Stuart Brace was, or at least to me always Grimsby Town.
Not his fault....

 

[ozzie]

Are we also forgetting another great winger..or i think he was..Eddie Clayton.
Another great signing by Mr Shepherd..

 

[mfurok]

Are we also forgetting another great winger..or i think he was..Eddie Clayton.
Another great signing by Mr Shepherd..

Workington.

That is all.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Workington.

That is all.

Ha! 7-0.Rob will always be grateful for me and Graham for taking him to that.It was his first game after all.Perhaps we raised his expectations a tad too high?

 

[LBBlue]

Workington.

That is all.

I’ve always wondered what might have happened in the rest of the season if we hadn’t won that game 7-0. Anticlimax is not strong enough to describe what did happen.

 

[Zeuss]

A Friday night (5th Jan) friendly:
View attachment 14174

View attachment 14173

Obviously there could have been team changes.

There were,two for them : 1 Barron
8 Best
Subs: Brooks for Barron
Flowers for Kurila
Byrne for Best
Brown for Martin

And for us Ray White came on for Trevor Roberts.

 

[Mick]

There were,two for them : 1 Barron
8 Best
Subs: Brooks for Barron
Flowers for Kurila
Byrne for Best
Brown for Martin

And for us Ray White came on for Trevor Roberts.

Flowers for Kurila ? Not sure he was a flowers sort of guy !

 

[TSG]

Great memories here, thanks to all for the read.

Billy Best, always my favourite player, while Chester was my first away game age 12, following on from my first home game, also goalless; I think the Gods were trying to tell me something ?

 

[Zeuss]

He barely played. Started just six matches and left early in two of them. Certainly didn't compare well with those excellent players listed (although I never saw Crossan). Even Peter Corthine, another fine player and by rights an inside forward, played more games on the wing than Howard Moore.

Yes,Moore didn’t play much because he wasn’t very good !
Errol Crossan was phenomenally fast—even faster than Woodley. Present day players are usually physically superior,of course,and I’d been thinking Traore of Wolves was the fastest around until I saw a youngster at Bayern Muenchen.Amazingly,wing-back Alphonso Davies is,like Crossan, a Canadian !
Peter Corthine like one or two others mentioned here, eg Eddie Clayton wasn’t a winger.Dudley(Duggie) Price and John Baber contributed more as goalscorers rather than as elusive wide-men.
An out and out right- winger whom I failed to mention,got moved back to right-half after a couple of seasons ,and later to right-back:Tony Bentley.