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Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
766
Location
Southend-on-Sea, United Kingdom, United Kingdom
For all the misty-eyed brigade on here, next Saturday 7th September, the legend that is Billy Best will celebrate his 70th birthday. It is now over 40 years since his 6 seasons of playing for The Shrimpers ended 1967-68-1972-73. In that time, Billy played a total of 247 matches and amassed an incredible 123 goals, second only to the late Roy Hollis. For those of you who were lucky enough to have seen our legendary goal-scorer play, what are your abiding memories of our former player in his time at the club? :Worthy::Worthy::Worthy:
 
For all the misty-eyed brigade on here, next Saturday 7th September, the legend that is Billy Best will celebrate his 70th birthday. It is now over 40 years since his 6 seasons of playing for The Shrimpers ended 1967-68-1972-73. In that time, Billy played a total of 247 matches and amassed an incredible 123 goals, second only to the late Roy Hollis. For those of you who were lucky enough to have seen our legendary goal-scorer play, what are your abiding memories of our former player in his time at the club? :Worthy::Worthy::Worthy:

For me it was his great heading ability for a smallish bloke :smile:
 
After watching Southend for over 50 years and seeing most of the players we have had none of them come close to Billy Best. Billy with Gary Moore, Bill Garner and Chris Guthrie terrorized the teams in the third and forth division. Who can forget the 5 goals he scored against Brentwood in 1968, the winning goal against Villa in 1971 and the goal that got us promotion at Scunthorpe in 1972. How can you forget, if you were there how him and Bill Garner and the rest of the team came so close to beating Chelsea in the League Cup. Billy was up against David Webb and Ronnie Harris and he turned them both inside out! People say the word 'legend' but for people my age he is the true king of Roots Hall - and always will be!
 
can only agree with all the great things wrote about billy best.i was one of only a hand full of blues fans,think it was 1970,when we won 4-3 at peterbrough utd.. billy getting all 4... boro 3..billy 4..im sure any blues fans of that time 68-73,still remembers him as" king billy".is still & always will be my greatest blues player ever,by a mile
 
Billy Best? As a kid I honestly believed he was better and more famous than Georgie!!
Over the years we have had many players that have been taken to the hearts of the Roots Hall faithfull...but Billy was loved by everyone in those wonderful years.
I have to admit to being a very young boy during the Billy Best years...but will never forget what a fantastic player he was. He was unstoppable against Brentwood & Kings Lynn but for me it was another FA Cup goal against Aston Villa in 1971 that sent Roots Hall into raptures.
Happy 70th Birthday Billy Best - Southend United legend!
 
Have to agree,it was a world when footballers took knocks and got on with the game,the worse injury was treated with a cold sponge, do often wonder how some players in todays game would survive five minutes in the 1970's

Billy Best is up with one of the greats at Roots Hall,is he really 70 am I getting that old :blush:
 
Remember his first game at Roots Hall. Pretty sure, and remember there was no Sky Sports news then, that it was a big surprise when he and a winger whose name was Morgan I think, were named in the Blues line up just before kick off. At the end of the game I turned to my friend and said that Morgan was going to be good for us but not sure about the striker Billy Best. What did I know!!! Billy without doubt a legend and can still see him outjumping goalies(even with their arms at full stretch) to head goals. A truly amazing player.
 
Some time ago I tallied up how many of his goals I had personally seen and it was over 100, cannot imagine for me or probably anyone else, that they will ever be so lucky.

Happy Birthday Bill

DoDtS
 
I've been lucky enough to see them all
Roy H
Chico H
Chris G
Gary Moore
Phil Chisnall
Eddie Clayton
Bill Garner
Sir Stan


but nobody - nobody got me as excited as Billy Best did.
Little, but with a huge ability to climb in the box
As quick as a swift in flight
And with an unerring instinct to be in the right place at the right time
What a finisher

Happy Birthday Billy - you really were the Best
 
Billy Best for SUFC is up their in the "Legends" category....Great player and wonderful finisher..as others have said with Gary Moore/Bill Garner as his strike partner they were a fantastic. He scored for fun and I was lucky enough to see him and remember him well.

E for B and Billy Best, great old song :smile:
 
Remember his first game at Roots Hall. Pretty sure, and remember there was no Sky Sports news then, that it was a big surprise when he and a winger whose name was Morgan I think, were named in the Blues line up just before kick off. At the end of the game I turned to my friend and said that Morgan was going to be good for us but not sure about the striker Billy Best. What did I know!!! Billy without doubt a legend and can still see him outjumping goalies(even with their arms at full stretch) to head goals. A truly amazing player.
Billy Best's first home match was against York City(lost 0-1)on February 10th.1968. The winger also making his home debut was Howard Moore who sadly passed away this year aged 65. Although Billy went on to play almost 250 matches, Howard only played 6 times for the first team before leaving in June 69.
 
Happy Birthday Billy. You were the Best. Favourite goals were Doncaster away, the four against Peterborough The winner against Villa and of course the 5 against Brentwood which was a world record for the fastest five goals in a match.
and Billy thanks for the complimentary ticket at Aldershot !
 
Some time ago I tallied up how many of his goals I had personally seen and it was over 100, cannot imagine for me or probably anyone else, that they will ever be so lucky.

Happy Birthday Bill

DoDtS
Of the 123 goals that Billy Best scored for Southend United I was lucky enough to have seen 113 of them which included the 85 goals he scored at Roots Hall in League/League Cup/F.A.Cup, the most by any player(Roy Hollis was 2nd.with 82)
 
wish you billy a happy 70 th birthday,all who have seen you play for us,will remember you as our "king". i do hope that your family (younger ones) realise what a legend you are here in southend..have a good one billy:Worthy:
 
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