Memory Lane 50 years ago today .....

[Mick]

...... we were sitting comfortably 2 points off a promotion spot with a Friday night home match against York City who hadn't won away all season.

The previous two Saturdays had seen us firstly put 10 goals past Brentwood in the Cup and the following Saturday we had a good 2-1 win at Exeter in front of a huge crowd of over 12,000 - they'd drawn Man Utd at home in the third round of the FA Cup and vouchers were given to all those attending (we sold ours for as much as we'd paid to get in). What could go wrong ?

Quite a lot actually. York won 2-1.

 

[mfurok]

...... we were sitting comfortably 2 points off a promotion spot with a Friday night home match against York City who hadn't won away all season.

The previous two Saturdays had seen us firstly put 10 goals past Brentwood in the Cup and the following Saturday we had a good 2-1 win at Exeter in front of a huge crowd of over 12,000 - they'd drawn Man Utd at home in the third round of the FA Cup and vouchers were given to all those attending (we sold ours for as much as we'd paid to get in). What could go wrong ?

Quite a lot actually. York won 2-1.

In the 34 games we've played against them since, none have had a bigger crowd than that evening.

Typical.

 

[LCBB72]

Then at the end of the season Southend had to play four games in ten days , could you see any players doing that now

 

[Mick]

Then at the end of the season Southend had to play four games in ten days , could you see any players doing that now

Worse than that, it was four distant away games in 11 days. And we'd already been to two of them, Scunthorpe and Rochdale, twice each before for postponed matches.

 

[mfurok]

Worse than that, it was four distant away games in 11 days. And we'd already been to two of them, Scunthorpe and Rochdale, twice each before for postponed matches.

Only made Bradford and Rochdale but both were very memorable games despite the defeats.

Rochdale's first and, until relatively recently, only promotion and a cracker at Bradford.

Better than the famous 'Trevor Roberts game' at Col U, which was the away game preceding the Exeter victory!

 

[DoDTS]

That season I was 16/17 and just started work, and I went to:

Notts County, Lincoln, Newport, Swansea, Aldershot, Grimsby, Peterborough, York, Chester, Port Vale, Colchester. Exeter, Rochdale (postponed), Swindon, Doncaster, Mansfield, Halifax, Brentford, Wrexham, Rochdale (postponed) Workington and Rochdale,

I remember every match so clearly, this season games just a blur.

 

[blue60]

When we used to play games on Friday nights, quite often, we would get decent coverage in the following day's national newspapers. Here is the match report of the York game from the Saturday Daily Telegraph:

SOUTHEND FAIL TO CHECK RAIDING YORK

Southend 1 York 2

York last night visited promotion-chasing Southend still seeking their first away win and with an unenviable goal record on opponents’ grounds. They left elated by their two well deserved points.

A bad clearance by Kurila in the first minute let Burrows through with a long ball which MacDougall eastly pushed Past the advancing Roberts. York’s joy was temporarily nipped in the bud.

They barely had time to reform their defence when Chisnall, the Southend goalmaker-in.chief, carved a space to put Clayton through with a fine equaliser.

Fans who arrived two minutes late missed both goals. York. although upset by Injury, were adequate enough to stay on terms up to the interval. Moore’s potential in the air was dulled by the lofty Jackson and a good work rate in their hard pressed area giving City’s defenders the edge.

Only a long-range drive from Kurila looked dangerous for York, but Widdowson saved well. It was Kurila’s weakness in midfield which sparked some of York’s breakaways.

With Carr and Burrows as their mainspring, York continually caught Southend’s defence oft balance. But Sweenie, Taylor and Boyer were not proving equal to the task of finishing until a bad mistake by Roberts.

After 66 minutes he ran out while Boyer, put through by Kelly, was unmarked in the area. He put City ahead again and they stayed there despite a late all-out Southend effort.

Southend: Roberts, Bentley, Birks, McMillan, Beesley, Kurilla (sub Martin-Chambers), Clayton, Chisnall, Moore, Best, Hamilton.

York: Widdowson, Kelly, Richardson, Carr, Jackson, Burrows, Taylor, Sweenie, MacDougall, Hodgson, Boyer.

 

[Mick]

When we used to play games on Friday nights, quite often, we would get decent coverage in the following day's national newspapers. Here is the match report of the York game from the Saturday Daily Telegraph:

FAIL TO CHECK RAIDING YORK

Southend 1 York 2
SOUTHEND
York last night visited promotion-chasing Southend still seeking their first away win and with an unenviable goal record on opponents’ grounds. They left elated by their two well deserved points.

A bad clearance by Kurila in the first minute let Burrows through with a long ball which MacDougall eastly pushed Past the advancing Roberts. York’s joy was temporarily nipped in the bud.

They barely had time to reform their defence when Chisnall, the Southend goalmaker-in.chief, carved a space to put Clayton through with a fine equaliser.

Fans who arrived two minutes late missed both goals. York. although upset by Injury, were adequate enough to stay on terms up to the interval. Moore’s potential in the air was dulled by the lofty Jackson and a good work rate in their hard pressed area giving City’s defenders the edge.

Only a long-range drive from Kurila looked dangerous for York, but Widdowson saved well. It was Kurila’s weakness in midfield which sparked some of York’s breakaways.

With Carr and Burrows as their mainspring, York continually caught Southend’s defence oft balance. But Sweenie, Taylor and Boyer were not proving equal to the task of finishing until a bad mistake by Roberts.

After 66 minutes he ran out while Boyer, put through by Kelly, was unmarked in the area. He put City ahead again and they stayed there despite a late all-out Southend effort.

Southend: Roberts, Bentley, Birks, McMillan, Beesley, Kurilla (sub Martin-Chambers), Clayton, Chisnall, Moore, Best, Hamilton.

York: Widdowson, Kelly, Richardson, Carr, Jackson, Burrows, Taylor, Sweenie, MacDougall, Hodgson, Boyer.

Hmmm .... not the last time MacDougall and Boyer were to prove troublesome !!

 

[Mick]

Only made Bradford and Rochdale but both were very memorable games despite the defeats.

Rochdale's first and, until relatively recently, only promotion and a cracker at Bradford.

Better than the famous 'Trevor Roberts game' at Col U, which was the away game preceding the Exeter victory!

If we'd have won that "cracker" at Bradford City, we'd have had a chance to clinch promotion at Scunthorpe (barring Andy's butterfly effects) where coincidentally we did actually clinch our first ever promotion 3 years later.

That Bradford City match was watched by 11,128 and the home match against them was watched by 11,111. I doubt there's been a smaller percentage deviation between home and away league matches in the 50 years since (but I have neither the time nor inclination to check!).

 

[LBBlue]

We scored 78 goals in the league -the highest in all 4 divisions (plus 28 in the two cups). However our downfall was conceding 61 and losing 5 home leagues -4 against sides which ended in the bottom half of the table and 2 who ended up in the bottom 4.

 

[LBBlue]

Hmmm .... not the last time MacDougall and Boyer were to prove troublesome !!

We weren't the only ones who suffered !

https://gameofthepeople.com/2014/12/02/great-partnerships-macdougall-and-boyer-brothers-in-boots/

Phil Boyer was by far the better footballer.

 

[ozzie]

was at the York game,but remember nowt about it.
But our team line-up,brings back great memories

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

When they play us at the end of this season Rochdale are holding an event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their promotion (they don't win much so they need to make the most of it). They are looking to get players along who were involved 50 years ago - SUEPA are in touch with them to see if we can get one or two of our players along too (we have five who played that day in the SUEPA aquad).

 

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

Worse than that, it was four distant away games in 11 days. And we'd already been to two of them, Scunthorpe and Rochdale, twice each before for postponed matches.

The amazing thing about the first 2 of those away matches was on 02/05/69. Bradford City were 0-2 down(Gary Moore & Ian"Chico"Hamilton)at half-time but went on to win the match by 3-2(att.11,128). Moving forward just three days to 05/05/69 Darlington were 2-0 up at half-time only to lose the match by 2-3 with second half goals from Tony Bentley, Phil Chisnall & Ian"Chico"Hamilton.(att.6,624). The final two matches saw us lose 3-0 at Rochdale on the 10/05/69 who gained promotion after beating us with an attendance of 9,095(I wonder when they last got that many for a league match?). Our final match of that season was a couple of days later on the 12/05/69 when we were well beaten by Scunthorpe United by 4-1 our goal being scored by Phil Chisnall with only 1,950 in attendance. Peter Hunt made his league debut for us. Dave Barnett also started for the first time having played as a substitute in the two previous matches. As mentioned earlier we ended the season with 4 away matches where as Scunthorpe ended that season with 5 consectutive home game. And finally for any of our fans that are old enough to remember the match at Scunthorpe United, this is the match we tried to get switched to Arsenal's Highbury Station but sadly to no avail.

 

[Mick]

The amazing thing about the first 2 of those away matches was on 02/05/69. Bradford City were 0-2 down(Gary Moore & Ian"Chico"Hamilton)at half-time but went on to win the match by 3-2(att.11,128). Moving forward just three days to 05/05/69 Darlington were 2-0 up at half-time only to lose the match by 2-3 with second half goals from Tony Bentley, Phil Chisnall & Ian"Chico"Hamilton.(att.6,624). The final two matches saw us lose 3-0 at Rochdale on the 10/05/69 who gained promotion after beating us with an attendance of 9,095(I wonder when they last got that many for a league match?). Our final match of that season was a couple of days later on the 12/05/69 when we were well beaten by Scunthorpe United by 4-1 our goal being scored by Phil Chisnall with only 1,950 in attendance. Peter Hunt made his league debut for us. Dave Barnett also started for the first time having played as a substitute in the two previous matches. As mentioned earlier we ended the season with 4 away matches where as Scunthorpe ended that season with 5 consectutive home game. And finally for any of our fans that are old enough to remember the match at Scunthorpe United, this is the match we tried to get switched to Arsenal's Highbury Station but sadly to no avail.

......... hardly surprising !

 

[mfurok]

was at the York game,but remember nowt about it.
But our team line-up,brings back great memories

On paper that team would stuff our current side.

Sadly the likes of Hunt and particularly Barnett were wholly inadequate as squad players despite Hunt's brief dalliance with the Addicks.

 

[Mick]

On paper that team would stuff our current side.

Sadly the likes of Hunt and particularly Barnett were wholly inadequate as squad players despite Hunt's brief dalliance with the Addicks.

A "brief dalliance" lasting 158 matches !

 

[RobM]

"The final two matches saw us lose 3-0 at Rochdale on the 10/05/69"

My brother and I went to that by coach from London to Manchester and then bus from there. We arrived in Manchester at about 07:00! Paid for breakfast with luncheon vouchers and we got change from those which proved crucial as we arrived home with just 6d (2½p !)

 

[AndyT]

If we'd have won that "cracker" at Bradford City, we'd have had a chance to clinch promotion at Scunthorpe (barring Andy's butterfly effects) where coincidentally we did actually clinch our first ever promotion 3 years later.

That Bradford City match was watched by 11,128 and the home match against them was watched by 11,111. I doubt there's been a smaller percentage deviation between home and away league matches in the 50 years since (but I have neither the time nor inclination to check!).

Yay, I got referenced, but I can't take all the credit here, as you can imagine.

I couldn't do it without the input of so many others in history, too numerous to mention.

Back on topic, that 11,111 crowd was the very first match I ever saw!