Pre-Match Thread Luton town vs Southend Utd Wednesday 5th December, Checkatrade Trophy

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

2 of us at Saltergate, as far as I am aware, on a wet Tuesday night back in the dark ages, 0-0 draw, horrible journey as I recall. I admire anyone who turns out for these unglam games.

A Friday night in April 1969 I believe.

Went by train for some reason.

Terrible game.

Southend United have played Chesterfield about 60 times in league & cup matches and in all that time there has only been two 0-0 away draws. Those matches were Friday April 25th.1969 & Wednesday 14th.November 1973(Ironically there has only been two 0-0 at Roots Hall in all that time Nov.1969 & Dec.2005). If it was the 0-0 draw at Saltergate on the 25th.April 1969 I was also present at that match along with my good friend Mick(Ref. watch) as we both went to every match home & away in what was quite a memorable season in which we scored over 100 goals in league & cup of which Gary Moore and Billy Best scored 52 goals between them. We ended that season with four away matches winning at Darlington 3-2 but losing the other three at Bradford City 3-2(promoted) Rochdale 3-0(celebrated promotion for the first time) and finally 4-1 at Scunthorpe United. Sadly for us we finished 7th. a mere five points behind Bradford City who finished in 4th.place. Doncaster Rovers were Champions with Halifax Town as runners-up.

 

[Ex-Member1]

Coincidentally I was also at this match with my best mate Mick Bedford. We did many away games in this era, great times for sure.

 

[Ex-Member1]

That 0-3 game at Rochdale was hard to bear as I recall.

 

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

I think you're right and my schoolfriend Dave Barnett played. I gave a kid 50p to get me in having arrived 10 minutes late. The turnstiles were already closed, and he merely pulled away a bit of dodgy Spotland planking so I could crawl through the gap!

Southend United's team in the 3-2 defeat at Rochdale was as follows:- Bellotti, Ternent, Smith, Elliott, Barnett, Moody, T.Johnson(1), Booth, Moore, Best(1), Taylor. Substitute: Horsfall for Barnett.
Rochdale's goalscorers were Malcolm Darling, Leopold Skeete & Bill Atkins. (Att. 2,081).

 

[AndyT]

Leopold Skeete is just a wonderful name.

 

[mfurok]

Southend United have played Chesterfield about 60 times in league & cup matches and in all that time there has only been two 0-0 away draws. Those matches were Friday April 25th.1969 & Wednesday 14th.November 1973(Ironically there has only been two 0-0 at Roots Hall in all that time Nov.1969 & Dec.2005). If it was the 0-0 draw at Saltergate on the 25th.April 1969 I was also present at that match along with my good friend Mick(Ref. watch) as we both went to every match home & away in what was quite a memorable season in which we scored over 100 goals in league & cup of which Gary Moore and Billy Best scored 52 goals between them. We ended that season with four away matches winning at Darlington 3-2 but losing the other three at Bradford City 3-2(promoted) Rochdale 3-0(celebrated promotion for the first time) and finally 4-1 at Scunthorpe United. Sadly for us we finished 7th. a mere five points behind Bradford City who finished in 4th.place. Doncaster Rovers were Champions with Halifax Town as runners-up.

Of those last four matches, sadly I only made the Bradford City (Effing Ray White) and Rochdale (proud to be there for the first ever promotion of a brilliant football club) matches but spot on - what a great season.

Has a lot to answer for............

 

[Mick]

A Friday night in April 1969 I believe.

Went by train for some reason.

Terrible game.

Well researched, blimey, so there was someone else there that night! Yes, quite a match wasn't it!

..... rather more than you would imagine !

And yes, in those days you could get a train back to London after the game. Nowadays last one shortly after 9 pm. That's 50 years of progress for you.

 

[Mick]

Of those last four matches, sadly I only made the Bradford City (Effing Ray White) and Rochdale (proud to be there for the first ever promotion of a brilliant football club) matches but spot on - what a great season.

Has a lot to answer for............

What did Ray White do wrong at Bradford City ? - he'd played his last game for the club a year earlier.

 

[mfurok]

What did Ray White do wrong at Bradford City ? - he'd played his last game for the club a year earlier.

Thanks Mick - my memory playing tricks.

In that case it was about a year earlier that his appalling goalkeeping lost us the game at Valley Parade when we threw away promotion after it appeared certain we would be going up.

No wonder he was released.

 

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

Of those last four matches, sadly I only made the Bradford City (Effing Ray White) and Rochdale (proud to be there for the first ever promotion of a brilliant football club) matches but spot on - what a great season.

Has a lot to answer for............

Have done some research on Goalkeeper Ray White who played just 10 league matches for Southend United over a period of five season's from 1963-64 until 1967-68 and they do make interesting reading.
League Debut: 25/04/64. Reading 4, Southend United 2. (Barry Ashworth & Mike Beesley).
1964-65. Did not play any 1st XI matches. (Ian McKechnie played all 51 games).
1965-66. 04/10/65. York City 0, Southend United 3 (relegation season our only away win).
08/10/65. Southend United 0, Millwall 2 (attendance 15,197).
16/10/65. Peterborough United 4, Southend United 0.
22/11/65. Southend United 2, Oxford United 1. (Firmani & Slater).
27/11/65. Brighton & Hove Albion 9, Southend United 1(record league defeat).
1966-67.Division 4. Did not play any 1st XI matches. (Trevor Roberts played all 49 games).
1967-68. 02/03/68. Exeter City 0, Southend United 2. (Billy Best scores his 1st. away goals)
13/04/68. Southend United 1, Chesterfield 1.(Billy Best).
16/04/68. Doncaster Rovers 2, Southend United 1. (Billy Best).
10/05/68. Southend United 3, Rochdale 1. (Billy Best(2) & Phil Chisnall).
The above facts and figures are taken from Southend United The Official History of the Blues by
Peter Mason with statistics by David Goody.
If the above is correct Ray White never played against Bradford City home or away in 1966-67 our debut season in Division 4 or 1967-68 Ray's last season with us before he joined Bristol Rovers in July 1968.

 

[RHB]

I bought a pretty decent pair of Adidas football boots from his sports shop in Hamlet Court Road once. He did alright by me.

 

[Mick]

Have done some research on Goalkeeper Ray White who played just 10 league matches for Southend United over a period of five season's from 1963-64 until 1967-68 and they do make interesting reading.


27/11/65. Brighton & Hove Albion 9, Southend United 1(record league defeat).

Thank you so much for reminding me about my first ever trip to Brighton - on the Eastern National coaches trips they ran way back then !

 

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

Thank you so much for reminding me about my first ever trip to Brighton - on the Eastern National coaches trips they ran way back then !

Very Very Sorry Mick!! you know how much I owe you from way back in the distant past of the middle to late 60's and it's certainly no way to treat such a good friend.
Maybe just maybe mfurok got his Br. of Bradford mixed up with his Br. of Brighton??
I do know that we went to many average/poor away matches many times together but that defeat at Brighton which I was lucky enough NOT to attend would probably have traumatised me for the rest of my life. I am however still having nightmares after all these years of the 5-0 thrashing I witnessed at Workington on a bleak Friday night back in February 1970.
I am just so grateful to both Mike Beesley(for asking) and Ernie Shepherd(for allowing) for the lift back home on the player's coach after such a pitiful performance.

 

[mfurok]

What did Ray White do wrong at Bradford City ? - he'd played his last game for the club a year earlier.

Have done some research on Goalkeeper Ray White who played just 10 league matches for Southend United over a period of five season's from 1963-64 until 1967-68 and they do make interesting reading.
League Debut: 25/04/64. Reading 4, Southend United 2. (Barry Ashworth & Mike Beesley).
1964-65. Did not play any 1st XI matches. (Ian McKechnie played all 51 games).
1965-66. 04/10/65. York City 0, Southend United 3 (relegation season our only away win).
08/10/65. Southend United 0, Millwall 2 (attendance 15,197).
16/10/65. Peterborough United 4, Southend United 0.
22/11/65. Southend United 2, Oxford United 1. (Firmani & Slater).
27/11/65. Brighton & Hove Albion 9, Southend United 1(record league defeat).
1966-67.Division 4. Did not play any 1st XI matches. (Trevor Roberts played all 49 games).
1967-68. 02/03/68. Exeter City 0, Southend United 2. (Billy Best scores his 1st. away goals)
13/04/68. Southend United 1, Chesterfield 1.(Billy Best).
16/04/68. Doncaster Rovers 2, Southend United 1. (Billy Best).
10/05/68. Southend United 3, Rochdale 1. (Billy Best(2) & Phil Chisnall).
The above facts and figures are taken from Southend United The Official History of the Blues by
Peter Mason with statistics by David Goody.
If the above is correct Ray White never played against Bradford City home or away in 1966-67 our debut season in Division 4 or 1967-68 Ray's last season with us before he joined Bristol Rovers in July 1968.

Great research.

That will teach me to try to rely on my rapidly failing memory.

It was definitely an evening game up north during that awful run so it must have been the Donny game.

Will try to find a report but did we score the first goal? White’s problem in that game (from memory!) was failing to deal with crosses.

It was just after the 4-0 defeat at Lincoln that Sir Billy made 4-2 in the last couple of minutes and just before our most one sided (to us) defeat when we somehow managed to lose 1-0 at home to Notts County after totally dominating the entire game.

Will try to do better next time!