• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

If only there were videos in the 60s. To be able to see Derek Woodley flying down one wing (sometimes even taking the ball with him) and John McKinven on the other dribbling and jinking his way past the full back begore delivering a pinpoint cross would be a joy to behold.
 
If only there were videos in the 60s. To be able to see Derek Woodley flying down one wing (sometimes even taking the ball with him) and John McKinven on the other dribbling and jinking his way past the full back begore delivering a pinpoint cross would be a joy to behold.

Johnnie McKinven would of made Ricky Otto look like an amateur .
 
As Stead and Yates were mentioned, making me think, we did not have the 'Flying Wingbacks' in those days but Stead overlapped well, could cross and was no stranger to the opposition box. Yates, for me, was one of our best unsung left backs. Tall, strong and happy to surge forward and whip in a cross.

How is it my memory seems to think that we have in the past had far better crosses from full backs than we have from the modern wingback or wide mid?
 
Ah, John McKinven, now there WAS a proper winger, capable of anything. A master. Shame he broke his leg when he did, he was never the same thereafter.
 
Sometimes I am not so sure that there is such a thing as a winger anymore - the players on the right and left of midfield are as much "guards" protecting the full backs as they are part of the attacking formation.

And in the good old days, did we have players like Demi (and Francis, Coker and Powell etcetera) over-lapping and getting into the box?

Austin was one of the best "crossers from deep" we have had, rarely got as far as the penalty box but certainly get an early ball in with some accuracy...
 
I like some of the leather jackets on display in the East stand.

They remind me of the one Richie Aprille tried to give to Tony Soprano.
 
That really was a poor season. That debut winning goal, brought the only victory in a run of 14 matches. The late upturn of fortune which took us to relative safety (18th) was down to not only the goals of Terry Johnson but also dumping hapless keeper Brian Lloyd and the by then past his not very good best Owen Simpson.

Owen Simpson...Harrys least favourite player ever
 
If only there were videos in the 60s. To be able to see Derek Woodley flying down one wing (sometimes even taking the ball with him) and John McKinven on the other dribbling and jinking his way past the full back begore delivering a pinpoint cross would be a joy to behold.

You need "The Team We Call United" available on DVD. Are there any still available from the Trust Shop?
 
The exciting thing about all those great wingers named above, is that it wasn't all about the crossing, but about getting past players and to the byline.

Nothing gets the crowd going more than someone running past players with the ball and leaving them on their a**es.

It's definitely something lacking from the modern game and all the poorer for it.
 
The exciting thing about all those great wingers named above, is that it wasn't all about the crossing, but about getting past players and to the byline.

Nothing gets the crowd going more than someone running past players with the ball and leaving them on their a**es.

It's definitely something lacking from the modern game and all the poorer for it.

Not so long ago JCR would be more than capable of going past a man or two .......... and then double back and go past them again for some reason .................... :hilarious:
 
As Stead and Yates were mentioned, making me think, we did not have the 'Flying Wingbacks' in those days but Stead overlapped well, could cross and was no stranger to the opposition box. Yates, for me, was one of our best unsung left backs. Tall, strong and happy to surge forward and whip in a cross.

Plus Steve Yates had a couple of amazing thighs......!!!! :blush:
 
The exciting thing about all those great wingers named above, is that it wasn't all about the crossing, but about getting past players and to the byline.

Nothing gets the crowd going more than someone running past players with the ball and leaving them on their a**es.

It's definitely something lacking from the modern game and all the poorer for it.
Exactly, those personal duels within the game. I well remember McKinven taking on the fearsome Jimmy Scoular, a typical hard case fullback but in the twilight of his career with Bradford Park Avenue and leaving him dumped on the ground snarling, as well as many a tussle with the Colchester fulback Duncan Forbes, another defender who took no prisoners.
 
Exactly, those personal duels within the game. I well remember McKinven taking on the fearsome Jimmy Scoular, a typical hard case fullback but in the twilight of his career with Bradford Park Avenue and leaving him dumped on the ground snarling, as well as many a tussle with the Colchester fulback Duncan Forbes, another defender who took no prisoners.

Great memories.

I was brought up a little bit on Terry Johnson, but moreso on Colin Morris and Willie Coulson, who I loved see playing.
 
I did thanks Andy. I unfortunately missed out that one as was talking to some of the work experience students:sad:

none of the year 7 students knew who Michael and Simon were. I was very upset. They could ask them some questions too so they asked Michael and Simon if they had any pets:stunned:

Great question

It's about time this classic thread was updated http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?37518-Southend-United-players-and-their-pets&highlight=pets

The standard of football in the lower leagues I would judge as generally of lower quality than in the 60s and 70s. Undoubtedly it is faster, players are much fitter but technically lacking even the basic skills in so many cases. It's a fruitless pursuit comparing eras, and even in the sixties ball players got taken out of the game pretty ruthlessly. I still remember Graham Taylor breaking John McKinven's leg as an extreme example. To narrow it down to SUFC, if it's supposed to be entertainment, nowadays it is sadly lacking in players who capture the imagination with their skill and flair. Functionality, efficiency and percentage football have taken the joy and unpredictability out of the game. I am an iFollow subscriber but I don't see any latter day Billy Best, Bill Garner, Collymore, Angell, Cadette or Derek Spence in the present setup nor anyone to match the defensive qualities of an Alan Moody or Peter Watson. Grim, grinding out results based football is even worse watching from the comfort of your own home away from any sort of buzz you get from being at the ground.

I hear this quite a bit, yet in the late 1980s if a player killed a high ball with one touch, it was such a novelty that they'd be applauded. Nowadays if a player miscontrols a high ball they'll be groans as it is now expected as par for the course. Was the standard in the 60s and 70s really that much higher than the 80s and if so what went wrong so quickly?

Back then the full-backs would have been players like Paul Roberts and Andy Dixon. Are you really telling me that they are more skilful and had better technique than Ben Coker and Jason Demetriou?

Even if I cast my mind back to our great team of 1990 and remove my blue-tinted promotion glasses the likes of Dave Martin, Brett Angell, Spencer Prior, Dean Austin, whilst heroes, all had what maybe described as occasional "heavy" touches compared to the likes of Ryan Leonard, Nile Ranger, Anton Ferdinand and Jason Demetriou who are far more comfortable on the ball. Admittedly the likes of Ranger and Ferdinand have played top flight football, but so did Angell, Prior and Austin! And this is a mid-table team rather than the table topping legends of 1990-91.

I agree totally on functionality, efficiency and percentage football (although players are now far less likely to "play the percentage" and boot the ball out of play). Teams are better drilled and a lot of the extra running that not drinking 8 pints every night allows is spent on defensive work. If you want to make the argument that football is less entertaining, I'm completely open to that argument (especially with (a) the loss of terracing and (b) the current manager). But less skilful? The skill levels are off the chart; it's just that they are largely neutralised and the bar has been raised so that skill that was once noteworthy has now become mundane.
 
Back
Top