Memory Lane Old Photos of Southend United.

[SUFCFANS]

anyone have or know of anyone photos/articles on the stands being built by fans for the 'new' roots hall in 1955?

 

[GrumpyBlue]

This is probably the best aerial view of Roots Hall that shows a good shot of the much loved South Bank. In real life, it really was massive. Loads of good views from there, just a matter of picking your spot. If you were lucky, you could get one of those barriers to lean on. For those that are too young, behind the West Stand was a walk through route. So a lot of fans would switch from the North Bank to the South Bank and vise versa depending which way Southend were kicking. In the West, the crowd would also shift for the same reason. If there was trouble or expected trouble, then the police would block the way behind the West Stand. There was a lot of games in those days where there would be only 1 coach of away fans, so although they were mixed in with Southend fans in the South Bank, they were left alone, and there was no trouble and just banter. I tended to stay in the North Bank for big games and do the switch thing for the quieter nothing games. We had a lot of those in the old days because of no play-offs. Helps explain why only one coach of away fans. I sometimes went in the West to make a change, but that tended to be older than me fans and half seemed to be smoking. Must admit, I hated the cigarette smoke, but loved most of the pipe smoke.
We had a packed market in those days in the car park, also shown in the picture.

http://www.southendtimeline.com/photos/Aerial-Images/2010-09-16_33.JPG

Of course the best video on film to give the size of the South Bank is v Liverpool. The Liverpool fans had half the North Bank, but most of our lads went in the South. I was right in the middle of the swaying mob in the South near the top. It was the first time I ever saw a flare. Bog rolls being thrown at a Liverpool corner taker. Younger fans will be wondering what's all that about, Lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDVSR19WXAY

Yes I was one of those who swapped South and North ends depending on which way the Blues were playing - only stopped after permanent barriers were erected for the Chelsea game - I then graduated to the West stand and also changed ends. My uncle who attended matches with me for umpteen years (indeed he was the bloke who took me to my first match in 1958 - it`s all his fault!) defected to the East stand seats

 

[jaffa1]

Of course the best video on film to give the size of the South Bank is v Liverpool. The Liverpool fans had half the North Bank, but most of our lads went in the South. I was right in the middle of the swaying mob in the South near the top. It was the first time I ever saw a flare. Bog rolls being thrown at a Liverpool corner taker. Younger fans will be wondering what's all that about, Lol.


I threw one (bog roll, not flare) it caught David Fairclough beautifully, it took him an age to unravel it from his neck.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Roy McDonough talking in 2012.
You won't love him, and you might not even like him after this, but you have to admire his honesty. I heard it said a few times that the great Bobby Moore was too nice to be a manager, and he says the same. Big Roy did drive us Southend fans mad tho, always getting sent off. We didn't have the greatest team anyway, so playing with ten men certainly didn't help.

And here he is. He was a good target man. He had a really good game. he was involved in everything, until 'guess what?'
Southend 3 v Spurs 2, 4th October 1989. Littlewoods cup Round 2, 2nd leg, against a strong Spurs side including Mabbutt, Gazza and Lineker. Southend played brilliant that day.
Funny that 2 leg thing looking back.

 

[Ricky Otto]

Ricky Otto away at Barnsley on the 32rd October 1993. Southend won 3-1 with Otto scoring 2 and Angell the other. What a player he was for Southend. He scored 15 that season. Amazing goal tally from a left winger. He was sold the next season to Birmingham City for £800,000.
Ricky was the ultimate bad boy, turned good of football. Bought up by his mum on a very bad estate in Hackney, he tried to make a living from crime. Not many know that he was jailed 5 times before playing for Haringey Borough and then being snapped up on a monthly trial contract by Orient. It was during his last spell in prison that he had that light bulb moment after 2 long term prisoners came to his cell and told him he was taking the mickey by doing all this crime and time, when he was good enough to be a professional footballer. Ricky knuckled down and got his mind and body in shape, the rest is history.
After football, Ricky worked in the probation service and got a degree in Theology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH0CmX4maOQ

He's also seen here scoring another cracker away at Luton 27th August 1994.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GwAA4N_oMU

Hero! When everyone else was Gazza or Lineker in the playground I was Ricky Otto

 

[GodblessArthurRowley]

A thread that has genuinely moved me to tears, thank you one and all, so many memories.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

This one's especially for GodblessArthurRowley.

Arthur Rowley, who will go down as one of Southend United's best managers died at the age of 76. He had one of the most explosive left foots in postwar English football. Though he never quite achieved the stature of his older brother Jack, himself a formidable left-footed goal scorer for Manchester United and England, Arthur was astonishingly prolific over many seasons. Altogether, he scored 434 goals in 619 Football League games for four different clubs.
Born, like his brother, in Wolverhampton, his first club was not Wolves - where Jack was so quickly and rashly discarded - but West Bromwich Albion. Powerfully built, standing 5ft 11in and weighing 13st 6lb, he was only a little better appreciated at the Hawthorns than was Jack at Molineux.

Making a couple of league appearances in the first postwar season, 21 the next, for just four goals, and just one in 1948-49, he was sold that season to Fulham - and, at once, flourished. Albion lived to rue the day they let him go, for his 19 goals in only 22 games, from centre-forward, won Fulham the second division championship and promotion to the first. Albion, however, went up too, finishing a single point behind Fulham.

In the second division, Rowley's left foot was a deadly weapon, from either close or long range, but the first division was far less fruitful for him. He scored only eight times in his 34 matches, which suggests the gulf between his talents as a centre-forward, and those of brother Jack, a regular scorer for Manchester United in the top division.

Fulham seemed of that opinion too, since, at the end of his second season at Craven Cottage, they transferred Arthur to Leicester City, where he would stay for the next eight, hugely productive seasons. At Filbert Street, the gulf would narrow, for when Rowley eventually returned to the first division, he would be just as dangerous a striker as he had been in division two.

His first four seasons at Filbert Street, in the second division, saw him score no fewer than 115 goals, 30 of them in Leicester's 1953-54 promotion season, when they won the second division title on goal average from Everton. Returning at last to the top division, he would score 23 times in 36 games. It was hardly Rowley's fault that Leicester went straight back to the second division.

In season 1956-57, however, the club bounced back again, and this time there was no question of their winning the second division title on mere goal average. With Rowley contributing another quite remarkable haul of 44 goals in 42 games, Leicester finished fully seven points ahead of their east midland rivals, Nottingham Forest.

Now Rowley was back in the first division again, with an honourable booty of 20 goals in his 25 games. This time, Leicester stayed up, but, at the end of the season, a still fully functional Arthur Rowley left them to become player- manager of Shrewsbury Town, arriving at what was then hardly a Gay Meadow, for the club had just finished 17th in the old third division (south), having scored a parsimonious 49 goals.

Rowley would soon change all that. Banging away with that famous left foot, he scored 38 goals in 43 games, enabling the club to win promotion from the newly-formed fourth division.

Though steadily gaining weight, Rowley continued to score prodigiously - 32, 28, 23 and 24 goals in the ensuing four seasons. Only then, his last couple of years, would he fall away, with just five goals in season 1963-64, and two in a dozen games in his last season at Gay Meadow, 1964-65.

A short spell at Sheffield United, as joint manager with John Harris, the former Chelsea centre-half who had been at Bramall Lane for years, was ill-augured. Harris did not want anyone to share his authority, and Rowley himself was known as a forceful, uncompromising, even perhaps, authoritarian character.

He was much happier when, in 1970, he became manager, for the next six years, of Southend United. In season 1971-72, Southend came second in the fourth division, and were thus promoted to the third, though in season 1975-76, Rowley's last in charge, the club was relegated again. He subsequently pursued a business career. His wife and son survive him.

· Arthur Rowley, footballer, born April 21 1926; died December 19 2002

Lawrie Leslie, John Lattimer, Arthur Rowley.

 

[CyrilSneer]

Barry Fry went from hero to villain for leaving Southend for Birmingham. He also took his 2 assistants with him.
When he came back with his new club on the 1st January 1993, he faced the most heated and worst reception probably ever given to a manager by a Southend crowd. Even Karen Brady wasn't spared. There is no video that I can find, but here is an article to give you an idea of the occasion.

Southend United. . .3
Birmingham City. . .1

FROM heart-attacks to whores, every conceivable - and inconceivable - insult was flung at the Birmingham contingent on New Year's Day, traditionally a haven for constructive resolutions.

For the visit of City, whom Southend accuse of poaching Barry Fry and his inspirational management team last month, Roots Hall became, in the neat phrase of Port Vale's John Rudge, a 'temple of turmoil'. Here was an afternoon of 'Judas' baiting when the limits of a man's loyalty in modern football's monied world were debated at length, in private conversations and very public recitations.

Allegiance versus ambition is an age-old issue, but the increase in financial rewards and the presence of lawyers to facilitate escaping contracts has exacerbated a long-standing dilemma. In the Southend saga, the distance between disciples and luminaries has been thrown into the sharpest of relief.

The Roots Hall abuse was not directed only at Fry, who chose to desert Essex because of Birmingham's greater potential. Karen Brady, St Andrews' high-profile managing director, was also treated to some sick songs - enough to put any woman off attending a match.

However unacceptable the shape of the anger, its source was, to an extent, understandable. The inherent heated nature of Fry's return was aggravated by City's players during the kick-in, the whole team crossing the half-way line to warm up briefly in front of the incensed home fans - an unnecessary provocation.

But Fry's legacy should not be forgotten. After leaving Barnet where only a tout dared question his loyalty, Fry transformed Southend, staving off relegation and creating an elegant XI who look good enough to contest promotion. Fry, who has backed them at 66-1, said: 'In eight months I turned the club around.' His exit provoked fears that Southend would slip back into obscurity but the studious Peter Taylor should ensure against that.

Fry's assertion that he left because he wanted to awake a 'sleeping giant' was perceived as a further insult. Fry's decision was debated in depth in an official, unattributed programme comment. 'The concept of Birmingham City Football Club as a 'giant' of any kind, sleeping or awake, is an interesting one. Presumably Mr Fry was speaking figuratively when he applied that description - as opposed to implying that the team's players are extremely tall and drowsy. According to the shorter Oxford English Dictionary the figurative meaning of 'giant' is an agency of enormous power.' The programme then cheekily listed the giants' modest achievements - chiefly a League Cup success in 1963.

If Fry can see the potential on the terraces, there is little of obvious future promise on the field. Apart from the exceptional goalkeeper, Ian Bennett, who prevented a complete rout, and the lively Canadian attacker, Paul Peschisolido, Birmingham are simply ordinary. In the toughest of the four divisions, City will do well to secure mid-table status unless Fry brings in quality reinforcements quickly.

After deservedly losing Andy Saville for elbowing in the 20th minute, Birmingham struggled. Southend, stimulated by the elusive Ricky Otto, dominated, accumulating goals through Keith Jones' shot, Jason Lee's header and Jonathan Hunt's drive before sloppily conceding a late consolation to Peschisolido. A miserable start to the new year for Fry. 'Roll On, 1995,' he said. It may take that long.

Goals: K Jones (41) 1-0; Hunt (66) 2-0; Lee (75) 3-0; Peschisolido (88) 3-1.

Southend United (4-4-2): Sansome; Poole, Edwards, Bressington, Powell; Hunt, K Jones, Gridelet (Payne, h/t), Otto; G Jones (Tilson, 68), Lee. Substitute not used: Royce (gk).

I'll stick the brief highlights of this game I have up on you tube tomorrow. I was in the East Greens that day, next to the seated Brummies in the Blacks. A lot of upset Birmingham supporters that day. I think it was New Years Day 94 though

 

[OldBlueLady]

John Lattimer, blimey, remember him sprinting on to the pitch with his physio bag!

 

[CyrilSneer]

As Promised, the Southend v Birmingham game, Jan 1st 94
[video=youtube_share;4XT3IqtehoU]http://youtu.be/4XT3IqtehoU[/video]

 

[CyrilSneer]

Also added the highlights of the Ricky Otto magic against Barnsley, as he scored another cracker

[video=youtube_share;4WZpGGLwRIw]http://youtu.be/4WZpGGLwRIw[/video]

 

[CyrilSneer]

Another significant match from that season. The 6-1 trouncing of Oxford
[video=youtube_share;4bU3tlCFl4I]http://youtu.be/4bU3tlCFl4I[/video]

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

As Promised, the Southend v Birmingham game, Jan 1st 94
[video=youtube_share;4XT3IqtehoU]http://youtu.be/4XT3IqtehoU[/video]

Excellent day. The defender just falls over he is not even complaining, never any doubt about Jason Lee's goal.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Nice one Cyril. They are great. Thank you.
Ricky Otto said that in his whole career, he played his best football for Southend.

 

[Ricky Otto]

Looking forward to viewing those video's Cyril, youtube blocked at work so it'll have to keep til I get home.

 

[DoDTS]

Also added the highlights of the Ricky Otto magic against Barnsley, as he scored another cracker

[video=youtube_share;4WZpGGLwRIw]http://youtu.be/4WZpGGLwRIw[/video]

I remember it so well, what a star Ricky Otto was that day, similar in lots of ways to the 3-1 win at Derby

 

[GrumpyBlue]

Great stuff Cyril :thumbsup:

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I remember it so well, what a star Ricky Otto was that day, similar in lots of ways to the 3-1 win at Derby

You mean this one.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

anyone have or know of anyone photos/articles on the stands being built by fans for the 'new' roots hall in 1955?

Here is the very start of the West Bank.

Look at the North Bank on this one. Looks like the ground has mostly been finished. Look at the bottom of the picture to see that the South Bank needs finishing.

Still looking for articles about Stands or Roots Hall being built, but found this from The Guardian.

Southend (0) 1 Macclesfield (0) 0
Sid felt naked. He'd come without his garden fork and you know Sid - he never goes to Roots Hall without his garden fork. As unthinkable as Alderman H H Smith, erstwhile chairman of Southend United FC, turning up to a game without his tin of snuff.
Churchillian figure that he was, the alderman inspired Sidney Broomfield and his gang of navvies to build Roots Hall with their bare hands. Fifteen men, one bulldozer and a pile of shovels.
Sid could still feel the calluses. On the pitch he helped to create in the early '50s, he watched the Shrimpers attack their relegation rivals from Cheshire with the venom of a depressed sea cucumber.
Leon Constantine needed a signed consent form from the Macclesfield defence before attempting anything as rash as a shot at goal. Unless they liven up around the box, Southend will lose their League status and celebrate the 50th anniversary of their self-built stadium in the Nationwide Conference. Would Sid not like that?
Related Articles
Nationwide Football League Division Three 29 Feb 2004
He didn't need the garden fork of course. It's a habit from his days as club groundsman when the playing surface had an agenda of its own. It was laid in some haste over a municipal waste tip. Poor drainage. Frequent outcrops of metal and glass which lacerated footballers' shins.
Sid once spent two hours searching for an earthworm. No such luck. They'd all been poisoned by toxic fumes from cylinders dumped by the local gas company. "Sometimes I'd be forking the pitch and the most awful stench would escape," he said, screwing up his nostrils.
Well he might. The Shrimpers are in this mess because they can't hit the target. Fifteen goals in 16 home games before Saturday. They'd missed eight penalties. Such is the paranoia that they've imposed a 'no diving' rule because they can't face another spot kick. Sid is due to take the next one.
Yet somehow Southend smacked three goals past Luton and four past QPR on their way to the LDV Vans final later this month. It will be arguably the greatest day in their history since they beat Norwich in the inaugural game at Roots Hall and the band played Abide With Me.
Courtesy of the supporters' club trust you can fly direct to Cardiff from Southend Airport for £200. The dream ticket though would be to stow away on the ladies' coach 'Essex Girls On Tour'. It leaves Basildon at 6am but isn't guaranteed to get beyond Bluewater. Who cares? Judging by a nightclub advert in the match day magazine, Essex girls are everything they're cracked up to be.
In the smoke-filled antechamber of the directors' dining room, Sid discharged envelopes of memorabilia which included the programme from May 1986 when Bobby Moore resigned as manager. Poor old Bob presided over Southend's worst period before the current campaign.
However, the former groundsman preferred to remember a Saturday in January 1994 when Southend beat Newcastle 4-0 to go top of Division One. The Premiership beckoned. Stan Collymore and Brett Angel looked a million dollars.
These were welcome distractions from a soporific match. As though to wrench us out of our reverie, Mark Gower made one last attempt to spark his dozy forwards. Constantine hit a post from all of 10 centimetres but a colleague was on hand to give Southend three crucial points. His name? Lawrie Dudfield. Sid had to smile.

 

[spoons]

For us oldies in our 60's this thread has been brilliant. Our current side has a lot to do to match some of the memories on here.:smile: