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Is Chris Powell one of the greatest 12 figures in SUFC history?

  • NO - he falls short

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    65
  • Poll closed .

Yorkshire Blue

Super Moderator⭐
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Oct 27, 2003
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Fighting Talk on Radio 5 Live has a segment called Defending the Indefensible where pundits or comedians (note Mark Lawrensen the two are separate) are given an outrageous statement that they have to somehow justify for 30 seconds of airtime. Now I've always fancied my chances of playing devil's advocate and had fully intended to provide balanced arguments for each player on the Hall of Fame ballots, but finding something negative to say about Chris Powell?

My proudest moment as a Shrimper was attending Anfield to see Sir Chrissy Powell line up for England in a European Championship qualifier against Finland. Chrissy had been called up a month or two earlier in Sven Goran Eriksson's first England squad. That itself had been one of those JFK being shot moments - where were you when you found out Chris Powell had been called up? Well I was in those days living up to my username by actually living up north and I happened to be in a pub. As the the squad was flashed up on screen the cry around the pub went up "who?" except for me who screamed "yes, finally!". His debut against Spain itself was memorable for him nutmegging one of the then finest footballers in the world, Gaizka Mendieta, and he put in a fine display as England led off the Eriksson era with a convincing 3-0 win, which lead to him being picked for Sven's first competitive game. The story goes that on hearing Chrissy Powell had been called up for England the Charlton tea-lady had burst into tears. Now standing for God Save the Queen and seeing one of Southend's own lining up for England, I must confess that I had a tear or two in my eye as I tried to fight back the emotions.

Chrissy might have been playing his club football for Charlton at the time, but in my - by now watery - eyes he'd always be a Shrimper. By every criteria Chrissy seems to be a Southend legend. Undoubtably the greatest full-back ever to pull on a Southend shirt, he'd graced the blue of Southend for 290 appearances over 6 seasons, being a virtual ever present during the club's most successful spell ever. His first season was our arguably our greatest ever as after over 90 years of trying we finally reached our holy grail of Division 2 (as well as equalling the club's record ever win by thrashing Aldershot 10-1). From then on his graceful defending, pace, calmness and reassuring presence at the back as well as his sweet left foot going forward, not to mention the legendary wiggle were key as we held our own and sometimes more. He might not necessarily have been the star the year we went up, but as the seasons went on his star shone ever brighter. He was the key defensive figure, but going forward a ridiculous amount went through him considering he was the left-back yet our key attacking player. The beginning of the end of our Division 2 stint can be traced directly to when we sold him to fellow promotion chasers Derby. When he went our (admittedly optimistic) promotion hopes disintegrated whilst Derby powered onto the Premiership, a stage Chrissy Powell was to grace for most of the next decade but not a single person begrudged him the move. The next season we were feebly relegated. By the team the England call-up belatedly came he was already 32 and past his prime - he was probably a better player when he was gracing the turf at Roots Hall than when he was donning the three lions which just goes to show how lucky we were.

So what is there bad to say about the world's nicest footballer? Well, after much thought all I've been able to come up with is that he was once sent off for peacekeeping during a 21 man brawl in the Anglo-Italian cup, he retired from competitive football during the 2004-05 season (and we don't talk about it) and there are some photos of him floating around the internet of him keeping some pretty suspect company. Oh and his right foot was purely for standing on. He probably wouldn't be my first choice, but he's got to feature somewhere near the top.

An England international who'd starred 290 times for the club during its most successful spell ever, who'd stayed loyal when he'd had chances to move on, who nearly a decade later still turned up to cheer the club on at the Millenium Stadium, the finest full-back the club has ever had. If anyone should be wiggling it, just a little bit as an inaugral member of SZ's Southend United Hall of Fame, surely that has to be Chris Powell.
 
ps I encourage everyone to add reasons as to why they are voting the way they are.
 
Its hard to expand on what you said really Matt, true Southend legend and fingers crossed we will see him back at the Hall one day!
 
By the way, how soon do we reckon it'll be before Matt the Shrimp digs out the photo of him with Chris Powell? I give it 30 seconds from the time Matt spots this thread ;)
 
By the way, how soon do we reckon it'll be before Matt the Shrimp digs out the photo of him with Chris Powell? I give it 30 seconds from the time Matt spots this thread ;)

By the way, how soon do we reckon it'll be before Matt the Shrimp digs out the photo of himself with Chris Powell? I give it 30 seconds from the time Matt spots this thread ;)

At least twice if this post is anything to go by.;):whistling:
 
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Why delay the inevitable :D
 
Met Chrissy the other week up here in Manchester whilst he was attending the PFA's AGM. Had a chat with him and he commented on what a good manager Tilly is plus that Sawyer is a good prospect. Complete legend in my eyes, hence one of the table names at my wedding was named after him! All the tables were named after my favourite all time Southend players!
 
absolute legend. only saw him a couple of times when young and so to be honest I don't really remember him much as a footballer. however since then he has been a class act both on and off the pitch. and i also agree with what Matt says!
 
Back in the Blues on Tour days a few of the players made it their business to talk to fans after games or occassionally in the pub during the week. Chris Powell was always happy to chat, stand his round and occassionally join in a kick around with us (I've still got the bruises!). A total gent and top player too.

Absolutely should go in.
 
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Why delay the inevitable :D

I didnt know Chris Powell knew Harry Potter?

Went to Powell's England debut vs Finland and also his first away game (Holland which also featured a certain Michael Rickets) and it gave me great joy.

A great footballer and great person.......
 
A great player and a smashing chap - no doubt about that. What makes Chris Powell stand out above the likes of Stanley, Freddy and Ricky O is that we had the pleasure of seeing him play in Blue almost 300 times. I would consider all four of those players among the greatest I have seen in my 28 years supporting the Shrimpers, but whilst three of them only played spectacular cameos (akin to David Duchovny in 'Zoolander'), Lord Wiggle won the best leading actor award (as Ben Stiller should have done for 'Zoolander').
 
He was my first choice in the original poll as quite simply he is the greatest player we have ever had. The reason for this is that in my opinion he is the only player who has been the best in the country for his respective position while at our club.
No coincidence that our rise into unchartered territory started with his arrival and our subsequent decline started with his departure. He sometimes held the defence together from left back and was the only player who I felt was almost so good that he played the role of two defenders.
He most certainly should have been called up earlier by England when he was in his prime and 5 caps was scant reward for his ability (phil neville has over 50) and he was unfortunate that as soon as he got into the team, Ashley Cole emerged and made the position his own.
 
No question about putting him in the Hall of Fame. What a player and what a really decent bloke. Plus loyalty. A complete legend, no doubt.

I agree with nearly everything that's been said on here. However, I'd question how much he single-handedly was responsible for our rise and stay in what's now the Championship.

He was a key player, although only as important as any left-back can be. And it's true to say that no player - particularly a left-back (as we have seen after we let Mulgrew slip through our fingers) - is irreplaceable. Chris Powell's departure did not lead to our downfall, although it no doubt played some sort of a part.

The real reasons for our downfall in the mid to late 90s, IMHO, were Ronnie Whelan's catastrophic tenure and him being allowed the freedom to do what he liked when Vic Jobson's failing health led to a loss of his otherwise tight control on finances and ruthless dealing with underachievers.
 
It's always difficult when talking about 'He is the best player to ever play for the club' or 'he is the best player we've ever had in that position' because it is all purely a matter of opinion.

From my point of view, he would be the very first name in any legends team or poll relating to Southend United. It is arguable that he was the greatest player to ever pull on a Southend shirt - In terms of natural ability, other names such as Stan the Man will always be in contention, and it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that Stan Collymore was a better player - but not only was Chrissy Powell an incredibly talented player, he was a complete gentleman and a perfect role model for any budding youngster watching or wanting to play football. When football has such a bad press these days, with young pri-madonna's with too much money and having no respect for anyone or anything, he represented everything that is good about the sport we love, and the fact that he did that whilst wearing our shirt is quite simply fantastic.

I had the pleasure of meeting him just the once when my niece was mascot against Port Vale back in the day, and the thing that stuck in my mind was that despite the fact he was preparing for a match, nothing was too much trouble, and he genuinely cared about the people who came to support him and the team.

A true legend? Absolutely no doubt, and when I am asked who my favourite player of all time is, I always answer with Chris Powell.
 
top moment last saturday when at half time he came over to us and thew his old shirt into us travelling supporters...
 
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