Greatest Blues Game

[Ayrshire Blue]

So many to choose from. Some of my favourites in no particular order.

Man U
Col U 3-0 - title winning season
QPR 5-0
QPR 4-0
Chelsea Away
Doncaster Away
Southampton Away
Swansea Away - title winning season
Play off final
Macclesfield Away - L2 Promotion season

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

The 1st Derby FA cup game in the 5th Round with Archie Gemmell and Bruce Rioch in the Derby team was amazing, as was the FA cup game v Liverpool. I also remember a dim and distant game, I think, against Brighton where Peter Silvester scored all 4 goals to beat them 4-0.

A, the first time we took 5,000 fans to an away game. I went on the 'special' train.
B, That was the same season we beat them 2-1 in the F.A. cup (1976, when we visited Derby in the 5th round as mentioned).

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

A, the first time we took 5,000 fans to an away game

Too young to remember either game, but i believe we took 10,000 to spurs once .. in the early 20s mind, so i'm not having a dig for you not remembering

 

[sufcalways]

Col U 0-3 Southend.. Even Che Wilson scored!

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

My top 20:

1. 05/06 H v Bristol City W 1-0 L1

2. 71/72 H v Aston Villa W 1-0 FACR1

3. 05/06 A v Swansea City D 2-2 L1

4. 06/07 H v Man Utd W 1-0 LCR4

5. 06/07 A v Ipshite W 2-0 C

6. 75/76 H v Cardiff W 2-1 FACR4

7. 08/09 A v Chelsea D 1-1 FACR3

8. 80/81 A v Torquay W 3-0 D4

9. 05/06 A v Col Ewe W 3-0 L1

10. 75/76 A v Derby County L 0-1 FACR5

11. 06/07 A v Southampton L 1-4 C

12/13. 72/73 H v Port Vale W 5-0 D3 & H v Chesterfield W 5-1 D3 the Easter consecutive day double bill)

14. 78/79 H v Liverpool D 0-0 FACR3

15. 72/73 H v Chelsea L 0-1 LCR2

16. 03/04 N v Blackpool L 0-2 LDVF

17. 04/05 N v Wrexham L 0-2 LDVF

18. 04/05 H v Swansea W 4-2 L2

19. 89/90 A v Peterborough W 2-1 D4

20. The first time that bloke scored three out of four to win a car at half time a couple of years back.

 

[Ron Manager]

Oh so many, but the memory that makes me smile the broadest was beating Wet Sham in the league at Roots Hall. I can still picture Stan putting in the cross and Bert Angle bundling the ball home. Even clearer in my mind is the faces of all the cockney so and so's as they traipsed out of the ground. Pure gold!

 

[maninasuitcase]

Southend 4-0 Newcastle NYD.

Blackburn 2-2 Southend. 2 great goals from Ansah and Angell

Gillingham 1-2 Southend, 2 last minute goals from Boere.

Everton 1-0 Southend. gave Tilly and his brother-in-law a lift home in our hire van after their car conked out in a service station.

Beating Millwall at the opening of the new den.

Leeds away in the league cup.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Some cracking choices from Suffolk .. and amazing how many memorable games we've had in the last few years .. this is certainly our "golden era" as far as i'm concerned

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

One that probably doesn't get much of a mention but it got me pretty excited at the time, was the FA Cup Third Round tie in 1975, when we came from behind to draw 2-2 with QPR (who were flying a bit higher than they are at present). I remember jumping up and down quite a bit and having to retrieve things that had fallen out of my pocket.......................the replay was less exciting.

 

[turkishm]

Swansea 2 South End 2 the game that put us up to champ. Everdently a game that did league 1 credit

 

[Shrimpacus]

I've got the 4-4 Northampton game on an ancient videtape. Any idea how I'd get it on Youtube?

 

[Napster]

Beating Carlisle away 2-1, 16 hours on the coach and sitting next to Barris.

Actually, on second thoughts.

 

[Gremlin]

I've got the 4-4 Northampton game on an ancient videtape. Any idea how I'd get it on Youtube?

Hope someone can assist, I'd love to see that footage. Am I imagining it or did Benji play for Northampton in that game?

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Southend United 3 Birmingham City 1 - January 1, 1994

I’ve seen a few mentions of the 6-1 win over Oxford under Barry Fry – the first half of that game has to rank as one of the most one-sided contests I have ever seen. The Blues and Ricky Otto in particular, ripped Oxford to shreds and looked like scoring every time they crossed the halfway line. It takes a special performance to deprive a hat-trick scorer of the man of the match award, but I think Ricky edged out Tommy Mooney for that distinction in that match. It was typical of the thrilling football that Southend regularly produced under Fat Judas, and despite the far greater achievements of David Webb and Steve Tilson, I maintain that was our best ever side – a side that had a real chance to emulate Bradford, Swindon and Hull by claiming an unlikely place in the Premiership.

If Fry had stayed, who knows what would have happened? The Blues would have been a good bet to claim at least a play-off spot and if he had steered Southend to the Premiership, surely better opportunities than Birmingham would have been made available to the manager. However, Fry chose to pursue the doubtful allure of Sullivan’s soft porn millions and Brady’s Top Shop trouser suits to the Midlands, and we got future England (and Stevenage) Manager Peter ‘Spud’ Taylor.

We all wanted Taylor to succeed – he was a local lad and a former Blues player who had gone on to play for England. After Fry had shown his mercenary hand, we were certain we had a manager who was ‘Southend through and through’ – the question was whether he could get ‘Barry’s Boys’ to perform for him as they had for his rotund predecessor.

The early signs weren’t encouraging, Taylor’s first game, at home to WBA, ended in a 3-0 defeat. The Blues looked on top for about 75 minutes before missing a penalty – they then totally capitulated. An away defeat at Forest wasn’t much better, and included the dreadful sight of Stan the Man lining up against the Blues, although he didn’t have one of his better games for Forest (I like to think his love for the Shrimpers was a factor in this). Southend looked a shadow of the team that they had appeared to be under Fry – and the grudge match with the previous manager was fast approaching. Things had to get better, and quickly.

The next three games showed an almost miraculous improvement from the laboured performances against Forest and the Baggies. Home victories over Padova (who went on to claim a place in Serie A that season) and Charlton were achieved with an aggregate score of 9-4 and featured excellent play from the usual suspects – Otto, Hunt, Powell, Keith Jones - plus some unlikely contributions from Gary Jones who was exceptional against Padova and Andy Edwards who had also popped up with a vital goal. A last minute goal at Selhurst Park deprived the Shrimpers of an excellent result against League leaders Palace, but it was a solid performance by the Blues, they certainly didn’t look out of their depth playing against the eventual Champions.

It all looked very encouraging going into the grudge match with Fry’s hated Midlanders on New Year’s Day. Although this match didn’t have the importance of a play-off final, or a promotion/relegation decider, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted Southend to win a game so much in my 28 years supporting the Blues. The thought of defeat was too awful to imagine – we had to win this game. Standing in the North Bank that lunchtime, I could feel I wasn’t the only one who felt that way – the tension was palpable, as was the hatred that was being directed towards Fry and his management team. In a foolish act of bravado, David Howell had the Birmingham side run right up to the North Bank, seemingly to challenge the passion of the home fans, and was greeted with a torrent of abuse. The fans were definitely ‘up for it’ – if the players could match that level of intensity, it would surely be a rout.

The final score of 3-1 does not do this game any justice. Whether they were motivated by a chance to earn a fat contract with Birmingham, or shared the desire of the fans to gain a measure of revenge over the Manager who had deserted them, the players did play with the skill and passion that we had hoped for. After Keith Jones (a great player who doesn’t get nearly enough mentions when it comes to discussing Southend’s best ever performers) had given the Blues an early lead to calm the nerves, there was only one team in it. Only a fantastic performance by Birmingham keeper Ian Bennett kept the score respectable, and a late Roycie kicking catastrophe gave the away side a consolation goal that they didn’t deserve. Jonathan Hunt and Jason Lee had scored Southend’s other goals in a performance that gave us enormous satisfaction in beating the hated Fry and also a good deal of encouragement to think that our new loyal manager could take this talented group of players to higher heights.

Alas, it was not to be. The results dried up, the squad was broken up and we found our team looking up at fourteen other sides come the end of the season. This was seven places higher than Birmingham City who slipped into the third tier weighed down by their chunky manager. That was scant consolation for a season that had promised so much, and that promise was encapsulated in the victory on New Year’s Day. It wasn’t just the performance on the pitch that made that day special, it was the noise and passion coming from the three home sides of the ground. I recalled moments of stunned silence in a previous memorable New Year’s Day victory over Newcastle United, but there was no ‘quiet time’ for Barry Fry and Karen Brady. Apparently Brady left the Directors’ Box in tears before the final whistle had blown, with the rabid disapproval of the North Bank ringing in her ears. Perhaps I shouldn’t have enjoyed the sound of thousands of football fans referring to a woman as a ‘****ing whore’, but on this day, I know I did.

 

[Napster]

Actually, I changed my mind. The best game is the next one.

 

[Shrimper Neil]

Tough one this but I would go for (in no particular order):

vs Bristol City (winning the title)
vs Lincoln (Play off final)
vs West Ham (so many of my mates at the time were hammers !!)
vs Swansea (promotion)
vs Wigan (random one from the mid 80's with a trademark David Crown later winner)
vs Col U (both games in the LDV area final......the first sniff of real success in the Tilson ere....and against the Ewes !!!)

 

[thechampionship_isupsidedown]

I really enjoyed Swansea away. One big surprise that day was how friendly the home lot were. Capped a great day and a great result!

Good to see the 4-4 with Northampton getting plenty of mentions....

Bury away was awesome mostly because we carried on when we got back to Southend!

I have been saying to my 10 year old boy that games like Man U, Chelsea, Spurs away, Bristol City, Swansea, "the Millenium Stadium three", etc etc are all "one offs". I thnk he's starting to think I talk a large pile of something or other!

We are truly lucky to have been supporting this team in recent years and to have been able to collect so many fine memories...

Up the Blues and cheers Tilly.

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Favourite games that I've been at are...

1. Southend 2 - 0 Lincoln, Play-off final
2. Colchester 2 - 3 Southend, LDV Area Final, 1st Leg
3. Southend 4 - 2 Swansea, League Two
4. Bristol Rovers 1 - 2 Southend, LDV Area Final, 1st Leg
5. Chelsea 1 - 1 Southend, FA Cup 3rd Round
6. Southend 4 - 1 Brentford, League One
7. Southend 3 - 2 Luton, FA Cup 1st Round
8. Southend 2 - 1 Birmingham, Division 3
9. Southend 3 - 1 Notts County, Nationwide Division 1
10. Southend 4 - 1 Yeovil, League One

Best matches seen on telly, but which I didn't get to see live...

1. Southend 1 - 0 Manchester United, League Cup 4th round
2. Canvey Island 2 - 3 Southend United, FA Cup 1st round replay
3. Southend 5 - 0 QPR, Championship

:)

Matt

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

I have been saying to my 10 year old boy that games like Man U, Chelsea, Spurs away, Bristol City, Swansea, "the Millenium Stadium three", etc etc are all "one offs". I thnk he's starting to think I talk a large pile of something or other!

Up the Blues and cheers Tilly.

I have the same issue with my boy, his first season as a STH we went to Cardiff for the LDV and since then there's been a steady stream of massive matches ... not that i'm complaining mind (though the old wallet does tend to groan a bit)

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Best matches seen on telly, but which I didn't get to see live...

1. Southend 1 - 0 Manchester United, League Cup 4th round
2. Canvey Island 2 - 3 Southend United, FA Cup 1st round replay
3. Southend 5 - 0 QPR, Championship

Part timer :p