Question Successful strikers for us with poor or no decent experience

[Richard Hearn]

Slightly off topic but a striker I really liked, who didn’t score many before us, or for us (and after us) was Laurie Dudfield

Yes, scored enough to save us from relegation, though.

 

[LCBB72]

William James Blaikley Best. Need I say more?
Well I will. After 7 years at Northampton where he scored a total of 16 goals at a rate of one every three games, we ended up with someone who became everyone’s definition of a goal machine.
Any fan fortunate enough to have been watching the Blues from 1967/68 will know he came to us with no track record, and transformed into the finest goal scorer we have had in the last 57 years.

Billy Best was , is , and always will be the King Of Roots Hall .

 

[Tampa Blue]

Be interested in the flip side of this too.

How often have we signed someone who’d been banging in goals elsewhere, came with a big reputation and completely flopped.

Trevor Whymark, ex England international and so bad he ended up playing at Centre Back

 

[LCBB72]

I remember George Duck coming to Southend from Millwall , played a couple of games and went of to Wealdstone at the end of the season . At Wealdstone George became a prolific goalscorer and is now a legend there .

 

[bluethroughandthrough]

That's not the story that I heard at the time.

Colin Murphy had a dead pan dull voice and he announced that he had signed a player (for £100,000 I think) that he had been after for some while and this player was going to be an England international in the future. And to boot, this player was going to get us out of relegation trouble.

There was laughter & dismay in equal amounts when the signing turned out to be a player that couldn't even get in the Crystal Palace first team. And the name - Stanley Victor Collymore - didn't instill confidence either.

All that changed very quickly on the next Saturday against Notts County.

I am proud to say I was there - in the West Stand.

A great game alongside beating Wolves in Division 4 (a very rare Ling header?), Spurs in the League cup & the win against Newcastle (4-0) for example.

I was there too! Steve brown got the other... A massively prolific junior player who sunk without trace

 

[gatecrasher]

Barry Corrs stats when he come in made Blair Sturrock look like Pele....but then like Leon Constantine, he came here and it all just clicked

 

[Stubb]

Yes, I feel sorry for the guy. His move to SUFC, particularly with the state the club was in at the time, was, as it turned out, probably the worst thing that he could have done.

Back at Weymouth and learning to be a plumber

 

[Sunnyshrimper]

Barry Corrs stats when he come in made Blair Sturrock look like Pele....but then like Leon Constantine, he came here and it all just clicked

Blair Sturrock, to give him his dues he always worked hard but my word what a dreadful player. He was probably National League level playing a few steps above professionally due to his Dad, (who’s a wonderful man btw). Luggy took him on a free just about everywhere he went, like a member of the back room staff!

 

[B.B.The Legend Lives On.]

Jimmy Shankley as well - not exactly a prolific striker when we signed him at the grand age of 27 https://www.vintagefootballers.com/product/shankly-jimmy-image-1-southend-1930/

Others of note:

Derrick Parker - 2 goals in 6 games
Stuart Parker - 2 goals in 16 games
Chris Guthrie - 0 goals before Southend
John McKinven - 0 goals in 6 games at Raith Rovers before here
Peter Corthine, Jim Fryatt, Mickey Beesley, all also came without much of a pedigree

There's plenty more as well no doubt.

Mike Beesley was a regular goalscorer for West Ham both in the Youth and Reserve teams of the late 50's and early 60's and was then given his first team debut by the then manager Ted Fenton. Mike made his debut at Everton in 1960 scoring on his league debut after just 10 minutes although the Hammers were soundly beaten by 4-1. Mike made just one more first team appearance before Fenton was sacked and then replaced by Ron Greenwood who told Mike he was surplus to requirements and free to leave.
Mike then signed for Southend United alongside speedy winger Derek Woodley in August 1962 having been reunited again with Ted Fenton who had been appointed the Southend United manager in March 1961. Mike started his first season by scoring 8 goals in the first five matches of that particular season which included scoring a hat-trick at Highfield Road against Coventry City. I believe this record still stands to this very day.

 

[cerbera45]

Martin Carruthers (4 in 37 after leaving Peterborough) before scoring 19 in 38 for us in season 1999/2000