Fours, Fives, Sixes and Sevens at Roots Hall

[Yorkshire Blue]

The 4-0 defeat v Watford was proper grim, but we've some far more recent examples of that as we've already done worse than that this season with a 5-0 reverse at Rotherham (complete with a hattrick) and lost 4-0 three times last season. Even if you want to limit it to home games there's a 4-0 defeat at home to Millwall two years ago! Wigan also scored 5 in the away game without reply that season. Fortunately one of them was in the wrong net.

There was also a 6-1 at Swindon in the LDV in 2002 and then the 8-1 and 6-2 defeats under Dick Bate.

If that seems unduly negative I've seen us score 5 v Bournemouth, Bolton and QPR, although that may not restore that reputation as Firestorm (I think) pointed out we were relegated each season. Fortunately I also saw that 5-0 v Aldershot and the 6-1 v Oxford:happy:

Oops, this actually says at Roots Hall and I'm mixing in away games. There have also been some 5-2 away wins in more recent years - Northampton, Dagenham and Oldham?

 

[Floval Flyer]

I was there when we scored 10! :winking:

Aldershot game? Yeah, me and and a couple of pals were on our way to that game via the pub, we never left the pub and instead chose to spend our entrance money on lager...

:sad::facepalm:

 

[AndyT]

The 4-0 defeat v Watford was proper grim ... Even if you want to limit it to home games there's a 4-0 defeat at home to Millwall two years ago!

It was, indeed 'Yorkshire'.

I'd forgotten about that Millwall game. I didn't go to that one.

Also mentioned on another thread a little while back, was the 0-4 in 81/82 against Newport and of course, the 0-4 against Northampton, back in the mid-80's.

 

[fbm]

"Our record home defeat - on several occasions - is 0-4. When we have conceded 5, we have always scored 2 or more, and I'm not aware that we have ever conceded more than 5 at home in a competitive game."

Jan 26 1956. Southend 1 Birmingham 6. FA cup.

I stand corrected. League then.

And actually, we lost at home 5-0 to Birmingham in the league cup in 2000.

Reasons to hate Birmingham, part 3.

 

[LBBlue]

Can anyone remember a pre season friendly, probably in the early eighties when we conceded at least 6 and maybe 7 or even 8 to West Ham. We had a goalkeeper called Jeff Wood who was on trial who needless to say only played that one game. He had been released by Charlton where he had played around 150 games and now manages the Gibralter national team.

 

[LBBlue]

We have been fairly mean in front of goal in this respect but to be fair, we have also been mean at the other end as well. In my 48 years of supporting SUFC, I have managed to miss every single time we have scored more than 5 and also conceded more than 5.

In the cup, I remember in the early 70's we beat Weymouth 7-0 at home.

I think I've seen all the 5's - the one I thought we must score 6 in was home to Port Vale in the first home league game in 80/81 when we won the Div 4 title at a canter. We were 5-1 up at half time... and that was that.

We beat Aldershot 5-0 twice in one season - home and away - and in the home game David Crown scored a 6th goal but it was ruled out. We also beat them 10-1 in the Leyland Daf trophy (missed it) before thumping Torquay 7-0 in the next round, all the goals coming in the second half.

Talking of Aldershot, I was a guest of a friend at a West Ham v Aldershot cup replay once where West Ham won 6-1, but that doesn't count as it wasn't the mighty Blues. And I did see us thump Canvey 7-0 in a pre season friendly once but again, not in a competitive game.

I was gutted to miss the Oxford game where Tommy Mooney scored a hat trick as I was due to go but had to pull out at the last minute due to a family commitment and I wasn't best pleased. There have been a few 6 goal away wins I have missed (once at Scunthorpe - how good would that be on Saturday!) - but I can't remember any other home games where we have scored 6 or more since August 1969 when I started supporting us.

At the other end, I saw the game where we were thrashed by Division 4 champions elect Notts County 5-2 at home, and have seen us beaten 5-0 away at Gillingham and Oxford.

And incidentally - this is a stat I think is pretty amazing. Our record home defeat - on several occasions - is 0-4. When we have conceded 5, we have always scored 2 or more, and I'm not aware that we have ever conceded more than 5 at home in a competitive game.

In over 100 years, that's incredible. I doubt there will be many other teams that can say the same.

We also did a 5-1 double home and away against Halifax in 80/81.

The other hurtful home defeats for me were the 5-2 by our near neighbours in January 85 which they followed up with a 4-2 the next October. Perry Groves was a bit too quick for us. There was a massive crowd of 2,190 there for the 5-2 defeat, the fourth highest crowd of the season! 8,120 watched the game nine months later.

Then there were the successive 4-0 losses to Northampton in December 85 and December 86. At least we knew how good a player Benji was going to be.

 

[ozzie]

We have been fairly mean in front of goal in this respect but to be fair, we have also been mean at the other end as well. In my 48 years of supporting SUFC, I have managed to miss every single time we have scored more than 5 and also conceded more than 5.

In the cup, I remember in the early 70's we beat Weymouth 7-0 at home.

I think I've seen all the 5's - the one I thought we must score 6 in was home to Port Vale in the first home league game in 80/81 when we won the Div 4 title at a canter. We were 5-1 up at half time... and that was that.

We beat Aldershot 5-0 twice in one season - home and away - and in the home game David Crown scored a 6th goal but it was ruled out. We also beat them 10-1 in the Leyland Daf trophy (missed it) before thumping Torquay 7-0 in the next round, all the goals coming in the second half.

Talking of Aldershot, I was a guest of a friend at a West Ham v Aldershot cup replay once where West Ham won 6-1, but that doesn't count as it wasn't the mighty Blues. And I did see us thump Canvey 7-0 in a pre season friendly once but again, not in a competitive game.

I was gutted to miss the Oxford game where Tommy Mooney scored a hat trick as I was due to go but had to pull out at the last minute due to a family commitment and I wasn't best pleased. There have been a few 6 goal away wins I have missed (once at Scunthorpe - how good would that be on Saturday!) - but I can't remember any other home games where we have scored 6 or more since August 1969 when I started supporting us.

At the other end, I saw the game where we were thrashed by Division 4 champions elect Notts County 5-2 at home, and have seen us beaten 5-0 away at Gillingham and Oxford.

And incidentally - this is a stat I think is pretty amazing. Our record home defeat - on several occasions - is 0-4. When we have conceded 5, we have always scored 2 or more, and I'm not aware that we have ever conceded more than 5 at home in a competitive game.

In over 100 years, that's incredible. I doubt there will be many other teams that can say the same.

That 5-2 home beating by Notts County,i think that the game where the North Bank ,after the game went to the players entrance and wanted Ernie Shepherd "out"...if im correct,that was a saturday!!!we normally played friday nights,but maybe wrong

 

[Mick]

That 5-2 home beating by Notts County,i think that the game where the North Bank ,after the game went to the players entrance and wanted Ernie Shepherd "out"...if im correct,that was a saturday!!!we normally played friday nights,but maybe wrong

Doubt it. Ernie Shepherd had gone some months earlier. I think most of the anger was directed at his replacement Geoff Hudson and the hapless 'keeper Brian Lloyd.

 

[southchurch]

Can you believe that we've only scored 5 goals in a league game at Roots Hall twice in the last twenty years.

The last time was over ten years ago against QPR in Feb 2007 5-0 when Kev put two stoppage time goals past Roycie and the time before that was against Bournemouth 5-3 in March 1998 after the game being 0-0 at half time.
The next time was only a season earlier when we thrashed the subsequent champions, Bolton, 5-2 in one of only four defeats they suffered all season. You may have spotted that at the end of each of those season we got relegated!!

It's almost 25 years since we last got 6 - Mooney hat-trick in October 93 against Oxford 6-1.

The last 7 came against Workington in March 1968 - nearly 50 years ago . Doesn't time fly.

In the eighties, we managed 6 fives and one 6 - The 6 against Brentford in October 83 -oh and we got relegated at the end of the season.

In the seventies we got 8 fives, including two in two days at Easter 1973,( that's just 4 less than we've scored in 11 home games so far this season)

And in the sixties - I started watching in March 59, we got six 5s, six 6s, and two 7s. In each season we got at least one 5,6 or 7 until 69/70 - when we let a 5 in at home to Notts County!


So what about the 4s. We have scored 4 at home only once (Bury two years ago) since March 2012, when we put 4 past Jack Butland (will he be England's number 1 in Russia in the summer?).


In fact we haven't got 3 in game at home in the last 14 games. Between 24 March 2014 and Dec18 2015 we couldn't even manage a 3, in 37 consecutive games, including the whole of the promotion season 2015/16. This compares with the 71/72 promotion season when in 11 of 23 games we scored at least 3 goals.


Last season was so much more enjoyable as we managed seven 3s at Roots Hall - the most for nearly 30 years when we got four 3s and three 4s in 1987/88.


I think these stats show the stark reality of how football has gone from scoring more than the opposition to conceding less. Less technically exciting football, fewer goals, fewer goalmouth incidents fewer saves from the goal keepers.

The excitement comes from games being closer- you can always concede a penalty in the last minute and lose!

3s are 5s of 50 years ago and 4s the 6s if you get my drift. I should count my chickens when we score 2 at home!

Why can't we just score some goals and cheer me up!!

Get rid of clean sheet mentality and play with some forwards!
These dark afternoons mean I spend much too much time browsing record books and reminiscing of the good old days.:omg:

I had seen every game that season up to the Oxford game when we scored 6. I got a weekend job delivering b&q kitchens. We had the bbc sports channel on and they just kept saying 'back to Roots Hall, there's been another goal'. I quit that job after one week.