In The Good Old Days.

[alginon1]

The two big FA Cup games were away at Derby. Massive following, great atmosphere's and Southend United certainly turned up in force!!

Broke my collar bone in the first Derby game, fell over and about 10-20 people fell on top of me.
Caught the football special from Southend Vic. The train had no seats.:omg:

 

[alginon1]

We are so lucky nowadays. When I were a wee lad (You could buy a car for a pound, and still have change for some shiny shoes), You had to travel in some dodgy looking coach that would often get attacked (Once had a brick smash through the window just glancing my bonce) at the away ground or Trains that seemed to break down a lot. If they expected a lot of you they would role out the football special. These were old stock that they didn't mind so much getting trashed and smashed, as happened all the time in those wild days. Toilets at grounds were normally disgusting, some with no womens toilets. Half the adults seemed to smoke during games, especially the West Stand, some with nice or awful smelling pipe and tobacco that wafted across your face making you cough or giving you sore eyes. If you were unlucky like a mate of mine, a much bigger lad behind would p*ss in your pocket in a packed out North Bank, rather than try and squeeze through to the bog. We have much better coverage about games, players and our club from the local paper. We have the official site, and others on the internet, along with the great SUFC Database. We have this fantastic Shrimperzone site, where we can all share our views and vent our feelings. We can actually listen live for free on BBC Essex to any Southend game we can't make.
Having lived through a few decades, I for one, know how lucky I am to be able to listen to the match this afternoon and I really appreciate how much better things are today with all the things I mentioned.







SNB were you on the way back from Southport when the Brick came thru the Coach Window? :smile:

 

[Blue_Wes]

Yes! :clap:

Ginger Lee - A well known name! Is he still around - last I heard was him and his son were getting chucked out of Oxford's ground for giving one of our own a slap!

Yeah Ginger is still a regular, sits with his mates in West W. haven't seen Jamie for a while though.

 

[Its Only A Game]

I will never quite understand how people manage to look back at the sad days of regular crowd violence as "the good old days".

Never understood it then, still don't now.

 

[Reg Martin]

My first season when I took a keen interest in Southend we finished 18th in Division 4. The previous season we had finished 17th. Newport County managed not to a win a league game until the New Year and when they did it was 3-0 against us. But we were happy...:cricko:

 

[C C Csiders]

Away games in one of Spotter's Hooly-vans. Coming out the back with the odour of best Moroccan.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I will never quite understand how people manage to look back at the sad days of regular crowd violence as "the good old days".

Never understood it then, still don't now.

I'm not disagreeing with you, and I'm not overly proud of some of the things we got up to back then. Turning up at away games at some strange Northern outpost could be fraught with danger and you either defended your self or took a shoeing for your pains. It was more a rite of passage than anything else, and if I am not proud of some actions I am proud of the friends I had then, some sadly no longer with us, and quite a few of them good mates to this day.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

The two big FA Cup games were away at Derby. Massive following, great atmosphere's and Southend United certainly turned up in force!!

Broke my collar bone in the first Derby game, fell over and about 10-20 people fell on top of me.
Caught the football special from Southend Vic. The train had no seats.:omg:

You must have got on the wrong one mate!. The official one left from Southend Central, and we all got seats!.

 

[Kevin Hogg]

You must have got on the wrong one mate!. The official one left from Southend Central, and we all got seats!.

It was the longest train ever to leave a Southend station!!! Pointless information update!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Yes! :clap:

Ginger Lee - A well known name! Is he still around - last I heard was him and his son were getting chucked out of Oxford's ground for giving one of our own a slap!

As Blue Wes says, yes, Ginger Lee is around, both home and away I believe. My other half knew him back in the day.

 

[canveyshrimper]

You must have got on the wrong one mate!. The official one left from Southend Central, and we all got seats!.

I remember a bloke was thrown off at IIRC Bedford after smashing a window.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I'm not disagreeing with you, and I'm not overly proud of some of the things we got up to back then. Turning up at away games at some strange Northern outpost could be fraught with danger and you either defended your self or took a shoeing for your pains. It was more a rite of passage than anything else, and if I am not proud of some actions I am proud of the friends I had then, some sadly no longer with us, and quite a few of them good mates to this day.

Reading canveyshrimpers posts for a long time, I can tell he is a very respectable guy, and probably not one you would associate with fisticuffs back in the day. But it was just how it was back then. You defended your North Bank, and you ran with the crowd. You had to defend yourself and your mates at away games especially. When we went to the promotion match at Gillingham in the 70s, almost everyone one under the age of 40 ran across the pitch to take their North Bank before the game. The majority. That's just how it was. Nowadays you would only get a small minority willing to do that, not that it's possible now. In those days, wearing your colours was brave and dangerous, as you were an instant target. Nowadays, the hoolies will leave alone anyone wearing colours. So I'm with canveyshrimper on this one.

 

[Jam_Man]

I will never quite understand how people manage to look back at the sad days of regular crowd violence as "the good old days".

Never understood it then, still don't now.

Thing is the fans who went through that era knew nothing else and no doubt enjoyed it.

It wasnt for everyone and if it hadnt changed football wouldnt be what it is today.

Not many people would claim football in the 70's is better than it is today. Im sure some elements were better (terracing for example) but the overall experience of football matches now is much better in my opinion.

 

[Gremlin]

Away games in one of Spotter's Hooly-vans. Coming out the back with the odour of best Moroccan.

He's not Moroccan, he's from Dagenham. And quite frankly the smell was probably toilet-related.

 

[Csboy]

As Blue Wes says, yes, Ginger Lee is around, both home and away I believe. My other half knew him back in the day.

Ginger Lee was a hero to a lot of us youngsters back in the 80's. He would take on any mob sometimes on his own. Never forget the time he ran the length of the pitch to have a go at Sheffield Wednesday.
Gutless Colchester threw amonia at him then laid into him and stabbed him. Gutless cowards the lot of them. None of them wanted to have a go at him face to face with no weapons.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

I remember a bloke was thrown off at IIRC Bedford after smashing a window.

That was a mate of Pete Maslanka's, who was known as 'Gun Ga Din' for obvious reasons if you saw him!.