Memory Lane First Ever Match

[TrevorFitzpatrickHattrick]

Southend United 3-2 Rochdale
14th April 1990
I was 8 years old at the time and there was a family from Rochdale sat in front of us. I'd never heard a northern accent before and asked my Dad if they were from a different country...

 

[LBBlue]

As I said I was watching about The Mary Rose on BBC4 , I don't know why but I thought it was next season when Southend beat Watford on the first game of the season when Parker and Cunningham scored .

I cheat a lot -I usually have Peter Mason and Dave Goody's Official History book in front of me. I wouldn't have had a clue who we started 76/77 against. The stats for that season are telling though. After 25 games we had only lost 2 games. Then we sold Stuart Parker ( for £100K?), he had scored 13 league goals, and signed Derrick Parker who only managed 6, and lost 10 of the last 21, winning only 6 to finish 10th. We only lost 12 games all season but 19 draws and only 52 goals did for us.

 

[DistantBlue]

I was there North Bank
Halycon days indeed

 

[Voice of Reason]

My first two games were the Kings Lynn 9.0 and Brentwood 10-1.thought we were the best team on the planet, soon realised how wrong I was. Nearly 50 years later still love Billy best and got my replica shirt signed by the great man.

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

Southend v Coventry 1963.
First memories were the smell of White Horse Oils (learnt the hard way a couple of days later before a school match to not let it touch your gonads) the shirt which was royal blue with thin white stripes - still my favourite shirt and why I wish we still played in Royal Blue. Ray Smiths nose, John Mckinven with his teddy boy quiff racing down the wing with the ball glued to his feet. After the match Ray Smith and Malcolm Slater queuing up in the fish and chip shop...oh yes and we lost 2-1, somethings never change.

 

[Mick]

Regarding the above season of 1968-69, I can tell you that I know of at least 2 people that went to every match that season and there could possibly be others which included 46 league games, 4 F.A.Cup + 2 league cup matches a total of 52!!(You could also add on E.P.C.matches as this was often seen as a 1st.Team fixture).
The amazing thing about that season in particular was the amount of matches that were played away on a weekday which were as follows:Tues.Bournemouth(LC);Wed.Lincoln City;Wed.Wolves(LC)Wed.Aldershot;Mon.Port Vale;Fri.Colchester Utd;
Mon.Brentford;Fri.Wrexham;Tues.Bradford Park Avenue(Easter Tuesday afternoon?);Fri.Chesterfield;Fri.Bradford City;
Mon.Darlington;Tues.Scunthorpe(this match was also P/P twice);Sat.Rochdale which was also P/P twice in midweek).
We scored a total of 106 league and cup goals with most of the goals coming from Billy Best 31; Gary Moore 21; Ian"Chico"Hamilton 12; Eddie Clayton 11, & Phil Chisnall 8.(we also conceded 66).
Although we failed again to get promotion that season, we finished in 7th.place. However for many people of a certain age this was and always will be a quite remarkable season to have followed the club.

That's funny, I know of at least 2 people that went to every match that season too ! Perhaps it's the same two !

I very much doubt there were any others, I'm sure we'd have noticed!

The number of midweek away matches was phenomenal, and with all due respect to regular travellers these days there was a lot more to getting to some midweek away games than simply turning up for the coach. Midweek away games often meant a very early train up to London and hitch-hiking from somewhere like Mill Hill (this season pre-dated the M25 by a decade or two); a return trip on the players' coach was sometimes very much appreciated - even got picked up by the team coach hitching to the game once! The effort was well worth it; a truly great season, for me the best ever.

I think the first Rochdale postponement was actually a Saturday in the snow between Christmas and New Year as I seem to remember going to see Bury thrash Fulham 5-1 instead. Talking of those Scunthorpe and Rochdale matches, postponed four times between them (on the day), they were both eventually played after the "end of the season" and we lost them both by 3 goals. In fact we finished with 4 consecutive away games in the space of 11 days, three midweek and nearly 2,000 miles A slightly disappointing end to a wonderful season.

 

[Mick]

Anyway, back on topic, my first game was a 2-0 home defeat against Swindon Town on 24th September 1960.

Threadgold, Williamson, Anderson, Costello, Watson, Dicks, Wall, Corthine, Fryatt, Houghton, Kellard.

I remember all those players vividly.

I wonder how many of the current batch will be remembered (for the right reasons) by today's 9 year old in 57 years' time ?

 

[AndyT]

I cheat a lot -I usually have Peter Mason and Dave Goody's Official History book in front of me

Me too. Even matches I remember well, I still have to check who played/scored.

People like Si, Dave (BBLegend) and others absolutely amaze me with their vivid memory of games that long ago. Extraordinary, really! :thumbsup:

 

[buffalowolf]

Alex Stepney joined Millwall in 1963 and played at Roots Hall in 1965 when they won 2-0 and got promoted.

Threadgold Baron Hollis and McCrory would have been between 55 and 58 when we always seemed to beat them in Div 3 South. They went into Division 4

Shows how my memory is because definitely Harry ,Sam and kevin played
saw them many times they was my boyhood heroes
and definitely saw my first game at the age of 7 , 1953

 

[Thundersley Blue]

My first game was on November 30th 1963 against Bristol City. A 1 - 1 draw with John McKinven scoring.

 

[jaffa1]

v Bradford Park Avenue (H) 14th April 1969 - we won 5-0. My brother and I are aware that date falls on a Saturday next season, so we will be hoping to be celebrating exactly 50 years of supporting the Blues in a box at the Hall, failing that (an away fixture) a weekend beano.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

April 1969 vs Bradford Park Avenue. We won 5-0 with Billy Best and Gary Moore both getting a couple. I returned 4 days later to see us beat Swansea 4-0 with Gary Moore getting a hat trick this time and another for King Billy. I was 10 years old and hooked.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

v Bradford Park Avenue (H) 14th April 1969 - we won 5-0. My brother and I are aware that date falls on a Saturday next season, so we will be hoping to be celebrating exactly 50 years of supporting the Blues in a box at the Hall, failing that (an away fixture) a weekend beano.

Snap :) I didn't know how bad BPA were and thought we were world beaters.

 

[Tampa Blue]

I remember my first match when I went in to Roots Hall as a wide eyed young Chelsea supporter (my favourite player was and probably still is Charlie Cooke) and came out as a Southend United supporter.

It was in the League Cup 2nd round with a huge crowd of 24,160 and was on 6 September 1972.

I can't find the Southend Team from that match but the Chelsea Team was as follows and was pretty strong and they went on to lose the final to Stoke City:
Peter Bonetti,
Paddy Mulligan, Ron Harris, Dave Webb, John Boyle, Eddie McCreadie
John Hollins, Peter Houseman, Steve Kember,
Chris Garland, Peter Osgood

Chris Garland scored the only goal in a 1-0 defeat - but it was the start of a love affair!!

 

[LBBlue]

I remember my first match when I went in to Roots Hall as a wide eyed young Chelsea supporter (my favourite player was and probably still is Charlie Cooke) and came out as a Southend United supporter.

It was in the League Cup 2nd round with a huge crowd of 24,160 and was on 6 September 1972.

I can't find the Southend Team from that match but the Chelsea Team was as follows and was pretty strong and they went on to lose the final to Stoke City:
Peter Bonetti,
Paddy Mulligan, Ron Harris, Dave Webb, John Boyle, Eddie McCreadie
John Hollins, Peter Houseman, Steve Kember,
Chris Garland, Peter Osgood

Chris Garland scored the only goal in a 1-0 defeat - but it was the start of a love affair!!

Derek Bellotti, Ray Ternent, Alex Smith, Dave Elliott, Brain Albeson, Mike Harrison, Terry Johnson, Billy Best, Bill Garner, Bobby Bennett, Dennis Booth, sub Peter Woods.

I can't remember why Bobby Bennett, who was making his debut, played and not Gary Moore or Peter Taylor. Bennett only played in two more games, one in the league and one in the FA Cup

 

[RHB]

Derek Bellotti, Ray Ternent, Alex Smith, Dave Elliott, Brain Albeson, Mike Harrison, Terry Johnson, Billy Best, Bill Garner, Bobby Bennett, Dennis Booth, sub Peter Woods.

I can't remember why Bobby Bennett, who was making his debut, played and not Gary Moore or Peter Taylor. Bennett only played in two more games, one in the league and one in the FA Cup

And very soon after that game Billy Garner became a Chelsea player.

 

[LBBlue]

And very soon after that game Billy Garner became a Chelsea player.

Yep that was his last game for us - he signed for them a couple days later and came on as sub for them against West Ham on 9th September. He is 70 tomorrow -Happy Birthday Bill!

 

[Southminster Shrimper]

In the 90's I was very young, Southend 4-4 York. That is all I remember and being more interested in the balloon I had rather than the game. How disgraced I would be if I had a son that showed that much interest at the time!

 

[ozzie]

Do you know, I couldn't tell you my first game. It was in the late 70's and would have been in the Paddock with my Dad and Grandad, if it was cold, we would have paid extra and got a cushion and sat in the seats. Anyone remember being given a cushion to sit on?

Still got one here in Germany,borrowed from Roots Hall,its a greyish colour and has SUFSC printed on it
I borrowed it ,89??think it was Boxing day or just before new years day.We got beat at home by Exeter 1-2 i think.I came up in a car full of ECFC fans( i lived in Exeter),we lost so i cuddled that cussion all the way back to Exeter

 

[ozzie]

I can remember cushions being hurled onto the pitch after woeful home defeats.

Remember some game..mid 70s...when an away player was being treated,on the floor,by a their Doc-trainer.
He was laying near the North bank-East side tea bar...when one or some of our fans threw some sugar cubes at him,taken from the tea bar.
Southend got "done" for it.!!! The headlines in the paper(because we had been reported for it) the next day was....
BITTER,SWEET for Southend