SOUTHEND United’s clash with Brentwood Town will bring back good memories for Billy Best this weekend.
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Looking back - Southend United legend Billy Best
(Image: Lucy Copsey)
By Chris Phillips@cjphillips1982Chief sports reporter.
SOUTHEND United’s clash with Brentwood Town will bring back good memories for Billy Best this weekend.
The last time Blues battled with Brentwood, back in 1968, Best scored five goals in a resounding 10-1 win at Roots Hall.
And it is an FA Cup clash Best still vividly remembers.
“I honestly remember it like it was yesterday,” said Best.
“I remember being 3-1 up at half-time and then 5-1 up quite quickly after that but I hadn’t scored.
“I thought to myself it was going to be one of those days for me then all of a sudden it changed.
“I got five goals in I’m not sure how many minutes but it was awfully quick and I’d suddenly gone from one extreme to the other.”
Blues’ 10-1 win came just three weeks after beating Kings Lynn 9-0 in the first round.
Best also bagged a hat-trick that afternoon but remembers minimal attention coming the way of the Shrimpers.
“It was 50 plus years ago now and there wasn’t really any fuss back then,” said Best.
“After the games life just went on as usual and nothing changed.
“I do wish they had the coverage back then that they do now so we could relive it whenever we wanted to and see the goals but it was different back then.”
In total, Best bagged 123 goals in 247 games for Blues between 1968 and 1973.
But he knows the current day Shrimpers can not take victory for granted in the FA Trophy this weekend.
“You can never think it’s a non-league team or a team from a lower league so this is going to be easy,” said Best.
“I just went out making sure we played well so we could get the win.”
Southend will look to do the same this weekend.
And Best will be tracking how the game goes.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on it because I always do with Southend and Northampton as well,” said the 82-year-old.
“Southend was a very happy time for me and it was brilliant to come back for a game a couple of months ago.
“I could never have imagined how well we were treated by Southend and the fans.
“It was nice to have my family there to see it too.”
