The Game when you questioned

[Southampton Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Southendsleeper @ Aug. 22 2006,22:31)]On a boxing day theme MK Dons although I bang on about it, seriously made me wonder why I had bothered getting a season ticket

Cold through 3 layers of clothing, stuffed with food and yet horribly hungover, I had the envious pleasure of seeing the worst football match Ive ever seen.

Players looked tired and jaded, MK Dons the anti Southend, crap stiffling football (if you could even call it that), 90 mins of sheer torture.

I'd be tempted to give up football rather than sit through that again

Yes, I agree with that one. I just seemed to get colder and colder and felt more and more miserable and fed up and started to question why I had bothered to come to this poor excuse of a game. Then drove back to my sister's house in Fulham, and when I got there felt awful - still getting colder!! - went to bed and then started throwing up all night!!!

Now, you might say that I was suffering from a bug I'd picked up from my niece, but I was convinced that it was that awful game against Franchise FC that made me spew my guts out for the following 24 hours!!!

 

[Stodge]

2nd LDV final. Another 2-0 defeat. Train from Cardiff to Benfleet via Birmingham. Miserable!

 

[* ORM *]

The last game Kevin Maher missed through suspension

On a serious note I'm trying to think whether the doom and gloom of 3 or 4 years ago is as bad as the shocking mid-80s

Or - When people go overboard about the footballing prowess of Phil Whelan you know we've got a sh!t team versus playing in front of mediocre crowds with a mediocre team against mediocre opposition where the off the field shenanigans were enough to drive anyone to deep depression.

For me the mid80s wins hands down and I don't care how much of a t%$$&r Jobson was. I'm still eternally thankful that he intervened.

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

Quote[/b] (Matt the Shrimp @ Aug. 22 2006,18:02)]On the subject of low ebbs, the Doncaster game at home in the Cup is a great shout.  Just to compound the misery:

1. They were bottom of the Conference at the time.
2. They fully deserved their win; there was nothing spawny about it.  We were, as often was the case at that time, out-fought.  They wanted it more, simple as that.
3. One of my best mates is a Donny fan, and from the funereal silence of the South Upper, I swore I could see him jumping up and down in the away end, having a whale of a time.
4. To add insult to injury, he'd placed a cheeky tenner on Donny winning, which he picked up at the Coral's on West Street.
5. I had to give the grinning idiot (my mate) a lift back to London.
6. To top it all, Alvin didn't have the dignity or the balls to step down.  The gutless performance on the pitch was followed by the spineless failure of the manager to admit that he was a total failure, and to hand the job to someone who (unlike him) was capable of managing a football side.

Yep, Donny Rovers at home in the Cup is probably the worst game I've been to at home; it's between Grimsby, the Oxford 5-0 and the Rushden 3-0 (all mentioned above) for worst away day.

I agree with all that, and on a personal note I flew to Australia that night, so that was my last sighting of the Blues for about 4 months, what a way to go out

 

[Technician]

Darlo 4-0 SUFC

I blamed the performance on our 120 minutes of football in the LDV first round against COLU a few nights earlier at Layer Road, which we won on penalties.

Worst part about it, was I was staying at my dad's for a few days after the match and had to put up with constant stick throughout for losing to the scum up the road. Being a staunch Hartlepool fan, he was a long while forgiving me for that one...

I remember getting rat-arsed that night and suffering the following morning... without any sympathy.

 

[Slipperduke]

I've never actually lived in Southend, so not going to games has always been quite easy for me. Since 1990, I've gone to two or three games a season, lifting up to nine or ten during periods of affluence.

There have been times when my trip to Roots Hall has been more like one of those religious pilgramages where the pilgrims whip themselves all the way there and all the way back. Depends on the train.

The game that stopped me dead in my tracks was Southend - York during the Alan Little reign. I don't think anything happened. At all. For 90mins. I was considering hurling myself off the South Stand Upper in a bid to end the misery.

I didn't go back until Newman took over.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

Macclesfield Away a few years ago when we lost 2-0 (I think) and the heavens opened on us. We were dire and soaked through!

Scarborough Away in the cup was bad, only because of the prize available to the winners and the long long trek home!

Doncaster at home in the league. 3-0 down at Half Time. Stayed in the bar for the 2nd half.

 

[Napster]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 23 2006,12:23)]Macclesfield Away a few years ago when we lost 2-0 (I think) and the heavens opened on us. We were dire and soaked through!

Scarborough Away in the cup was bad, only because of the prize available to the winners and the long long trek home!

Doncaster at home in the league. 3-0 down at Half Time. Stayed in the bar for the 2nd half.

2-1 wasn't it? That was an awful game made better by Scriv's drunkenness.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Quote[/b] (Napster @ Aug. 23 2006,12:33)]

Quote[/b] (The Flying Scotsman @ Aug. 23 2006,12:23)]Macclesfield Away a few years ago when we lost 2-0 (I think) and the heavens opened on us. We were dire and soaked through!

2-1 wasn't it? That was an awful game made better by Scriv's drunkenness.

Yeah, Scriv's drunken antics cheered me up... but what a truly appalling game, capped off with a storm of truly biblical proportions... I can't remember when I last saw rain so heavy and unrelenting.

It was a poor performance - Foley came on and was worse than useless; Tilly came on and made me think "oh dear, I wish I hadn't seen that... it detracts from the fact that he used to be good."; and Jenkins finally came on and promptly caused all sorts of trouble down the left, eventually scoring for us.

Matt

 

[Andu]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ Aug. 22 2006,17:06)]

Quote[/b] (Andu @ Aug. 22 2006,17:16)]An Essex senior cup game during the Newman era at Billericay on a very cold evening (-4). We put out a very strong team, suggesting that we meant business. We were complete garbage with no ambition and no hope. I seem to remember going home turning on the PC and doing a Wiggy/Royfox about the team!  

Was that the semi-final against Chelmsford City? The only person playing football for the Shrimpers that night was Rob Newman; Barrington Belgrave's lethargic performance ended his association with Southend United - thank God! - and our calls to Newman to "sort them out, Rob!" was met with a shrill cry of "I'm f**king trying!". The match ended with Shrimpers fans barracking the "strong team" back to the dressing rooms, most of whom would never darken the doors of Roots Hall again. Well, some of them ...

Yep, thats the one!

 

[Andu]

Quote[/b] (Jonny_Stokes @ Aug. 22 2006,16:29)]

Quote[/b] (Andu @ Aug. 22 2006,16:23)]

Quote[/b] (canveyshrimper @ Aug. 22 2006,16:16)]

Quote[/b] (Jonny_Stokes @ Aug. 22 2006,16:09)]Well, you know we only get a crowd when a big team like Southend grace us with their presence.

True

They've just about got room at "The Matchroom stadium" now for our season ticket holders, and still have space for a small corner to hold the home fans.  

"Matchbox", surely? Do I have to do all you simpletons' work for you?  

 

I was just trying to be polite, after all us "BIG" teams should show more respect to the "little" teams like Orient.

 

[gbshrimper]

Cant believe no-one else mentioned this one

Tuesday 13th August 2002 - Home Carlisle

With Mrs in tow, left off work dead on time in London, raced back home to Barnet (as quick as Tube & Train would allow), got changed and jumped in Motor to hotfoot it around the M25 and down the A127...made it in time. despite Lord Robert of Newman being in charge there was an electric atmosphere around as we were coming off a great (or maybe fortunate??) performance up at pre-season hot favourites Hull on the opening day where we had come back from 2 down to grab a point...we had turned the corner, we would surely batter the poor visitors Carlisle you were by far the worst side you could hope to meet at that time

But no..we were absolutely dire. To be fair they were even worse, but the game was always always always going to be 0-0..until of course god intervened with about 5 minutes left and Carlisle somehow managed to get the ball in the net..good finish IIRC but it was just sooo out of the blue , Carlisle truly were absolutely inept and it must have been the only time they'd been out of their half...to make matters worse pretty much straight from the KO Mark Rawle managed to miss from about 3 centimetres to really rub salt in the wounds

That has to be for me, the classic "take the wind from your sails" performance.

 

[sufcintheprem]

If the question was supporting Southend, I don't think one result has ever made me question it. A series of spineless, soul-destroyingly dull winter games under Alan Little came at a pivotal point in my supporting career. It was more a case of should I drop football for good but I stuck in there and don't think I could ever reach such a low now.

England, on the other hand, have made me think about ditching international football all together.

 

[elmo putney]

Darlo away when we lost 4-0 is the only game ive ever walked out of b4 the final whistle, but possibly worse than that was a 5-0 drubbing at Carlisle....As others have said the dark old days under Little and Alvin Martin were pretty depressing, i carried on going home and away but 2 b honest didnt care a great deal about the results each week,and i certainly didnt care about the money grabbing wasters who where claimed to play 4 us at that time..infact there were several of us who paid our £14 entrance each week to the club but then chose to stay in the east stand bar all game....sufc in them days to me was just a social thing,where as now under the guidance of a manager who gives a f%&k the team are often a pleasure to watch.....Oxford when we lost 5-0 any1 else remember Gridelet swearing at us as we stood in the pooring rain ?

 

[SUFC_Al]

^^ ooh pink hurts my eyes!!

The two relegation seasons 96/97 and 97/98 in general were soul-destroying for me, other than the odd result we had too many sh!t players who didn't care, sh!t managers who were just inept, low crowds, the whole club had this aura of defeat. I couldn't take it anymore and rearey went for 4/5 years attending the odd home and away games, I just hated seeing our club like that.

Cup games, that 0-1 vs Donny is the worst i've been to, I felt miserable for days after that.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Got to be the last time we wnet to QPR (before this season). I had been ill on the Friday and off work. Still felt sh!te on the Saturday and made the missus drive round the north circular where we nearly had a major accident (It wasn't her fault though

)

Got there, still feeling crap, got to our even crappier seats right down the front, then watch mighty midget John Spencer score and celebrate right in front of me. Even though I could hardly move, I am sure I could of got on the pitch and chinned him, such was my loathing of his actions.

We then went on to lose 4-0. Not a good day.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Quote[/b] (elmo putney @ Aug. 24 2006,10:09)]Oxford when we lost 5-0 any1 else remember Gridelet swearing at us as we stood in the pooring rain  ?

Yep thats the game I posted about earlier.

Gridelet and the rest of the team were getting a fair amount of abuse (infact the worse abuse I have ever seen direct towards our own players) from the 500 or so of us that were behind the goal. Usually no matter how bad we are playing someone usually sticks up for the team and tells people to get behind the players, but not that day everyone was screaming their heads off we were that bad!!!

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Never. It's all worth it.

 

[Ron Manager]

Quote[/b] (fbm @ Aug. 22 2006,15:55)]My worst game was Oxford away when we lost 5-0 in our last relegation season from "the league formerly known as Division 1."  Woeful.  Thank God the Manor Ground still had fences up or our players would have been lynched.

Yes, that has to be it for me too.....a dark, dark day which seemed to beckon many more dark days in the years that followed, until we appointed Tilly as manager of course.

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

I can't say I have ever been close to throwing in the towel during my 30 years or so of following the fortunes of Southend United. I firmly believe that Supporting a football team is all about taking the rough with the smooth, coping with the sh!te because you hope that good times are just around the corner. Personally I've experienced three "golden eras" - the brief era in the early 80s when we won the Fourth Division Championship, the slightly longer era in the early 90s when we reached the old Second Division for the first time and now - albeit from afar - the current Tilson era which has been truly magnificent. Those are balanced out by the Johnson era in the mid-80s, when attendances barely struggled above 1,000 as the club battled against re-election, and the self-destruction of the late 90s when we dropped like a stone through the Football League and nearly went out of business. I could never support a team like Liverpool or Arsenal (and more recently Manchester United and Chelsea) knowing that the next trophy is just around the corner. That would be too easy.

But I DO have to tip my hat in the general direction of those supporters who follow Rochdale, a team that has spent the last 32 years in the bottom division of the Football League (dubbed the "Rochdale Division"). No promotions in almost 40 years (there ONE AND ONLY promotion was in 1969) and their only real milestone was an appearance in the League Cup Final in 1962 (they lost 4-0 on aggregate to Norwich City). Now they ARE real football fans ...