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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 9, 2015 19:38:24 GMT
Thought it would be good idea to start a thread, and continue, of any funny or memorable anecdotes of away venues we are about to visit?
Or even for some of you to admit you're a virgin at this venue?!
First one went ok, lets to see how this goes..
For me, been to Roots Hall a few times. Never seen us win. First time went, we drove past the pier and along sea front....not a pub in sight! Ended up in one close to the ground, The Golden Lion! Yayyy.....exactly the same name as the one on Gloucester Rd..
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 19:54:26 GMT
I will be a first timer..we always seemed to play them away on a Friday night ? or is that my imagination. Not looking forward to the journey but I am enjoying going to some of the older grounds that I never got to.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 19:57:07 GMT
14th October 2003, Tuesday night down there in the LDV Vans Trophy on the SC coach. I was 16, in nothing more than a Replica shirt, freezing weather, we were terrible & lost on that ridiculous 'Silver Goal' rule that was only around for a season or so. Haldane got our goal. Finally arrived home at 3am odd. Vowed never to return after that. You're lucky you weren't arrested!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 19:58:54 GMT
I've been twice, I think. I like the ground. I think we lost the first time and drew the second (Harrold scored) but I'm not sure on either of them. One of my mates dropped his pint in the pub and got given a free replacement. That is the extent of my Southend memories.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 9, 2015 20:01:33 GMT
I remember one time we went, we were on side in seats and it was one of first times I've seen stewards get heavy handed about standing up....got quite nasty at one point. Jobsworth @rseholes. Especially when it was pointed out everyone around the ground were doing it at some point! Grrr...
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Rex
Predictions League
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 3,287
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Post by Rex on Nov 9, 2015 20:04:49 GMT
I have been there lots of times, but not in a long time- in fact I have only been there once since they switched the away end to the other side of the ground. My only real abiding memories of the place are of going there on a Friday night squashed into the back of a Talbot Samba with a bloke known as 'Hightower', not the most comfortable journey I have had and on another occasion seeing the best performance I have ever seen from an opposition player, when Stan Collymore made Steve Yates look very, very ordinary. A lot of my trips there were in the days of Pied Horse tours, so a lot of things that happened I would have struggled to remember the next day, let alone 20 years later.
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lockleazer
Tarki Micalleff
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 411
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Post by lockleazer on Nov 9, 2015 20:10:06 GMT
Ldv area final 2005? Adam Barrett giving it large when they scored think it was 2 all on the night snd we played quite well but we had lost the home leg the week before 2-1.. Stayed in Southend the night and a few of us were on the wrong end of a shower of bottles in a nightclub after the game thanks to some not too cheerful Southend fans despite them getting to the final ...
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Post by a more piratey game on Nov 9, 2015 20:17:12 GMT
January 2008: Start of the year show
There were no sticks of rock, mods, or rockers, but the Gasheads who made the effort were in fine voice. It wasn’t too cold, the rain held off, and they sang ‘Hinton’s a goal machine’ while the team warmed up in front of us. Craig looked suitably abashed, but everyone was in good spirits, and my son was chuffed that Ronnie Lescott wears the same boots as him. Sarfend had a loud drum backed up by a quiet-ish crowd, and a big flag saying ‘Bucket and Spade FC’.
Rovers fielded the same ‘squad team’ as last week, with Effing Brilliant and Goal Machine Hinton in the middle, Lescott and JJ at the back, Pipey, Lines, Campbell and Sam from the Shire across the middle, Willo at the front and Lambo in the hole. Sarfend fielded a bunch of blokes and ex-Gas/ex-Divisional Player of the Year Adam Barrett, who looked a bit shorter and thinner than I remembered him.
The Gasheads sparked up with ‘Paul Trollope’s Blue and White army’ from the 1 o’clock kick-off until about quarter-past without once stopping. Meanwhile, there was a football match going on. Rovers started well, looked very comfortable on the ball, and looked the sharper of the two teams for the first 5 minutes with Williams running his socks off as usual, but with a much more confident air about him than in the past. I took that as a very good sign.
Southend then found their feet, and fifteen minutes of intriguing football followed between two well-matched teams. Rovers were trying their passing thing, Sarfend doing a mixture of neat triangles in the final third and big hoofs for their lively-looking number 11, Morgan, to take on Elliot for pace. Southend were also physical in the tackle, though Rovers were coping with it alright.
The Southend midfield started to squeeze out our boys in the 50:50’s, and they had a good period for about 10 minutes, but then Rovers’ midfield reasserted itself and Rovers put together a strong finish to the half. The teams went in honours-even, though Rovers had perhaps shaded it.
It was enjoyable stuff, though, and both teams had contributed to a good half of football. I read on this forum that we had a stone-cold penalty claim turned down, but you couldn’t really see from where we were. The ref was giving decisions to both sides, but it was hard to predict what decision he was going to give.
Second half started with more of the same, with Rovers becoming increasingly dominant. The Gasheads sensed this, and started shouting for Rovers to make it count. Hey bloody presto, Campbell feeds Lambert down the left, who pulls it back beautifully for Willo inside the box on the right. It’s the sort of opportunity that Williams gets paid to take, and which he would have fluffed 3 months ago, but this time he slots it home inch-perfect. Happy New Year!
Southend then start to assert themselves, and we drop off even though there’s still half-an-hour left. Campbell is still putting a foot in in the middle, Lines is in-and-out, but Sammy and Pipey are dropping off. Flapper starts to get busy, and makes some excellent saves, before another great break down the left requires Sammy to lay the perfect pass forward for Willo. But he doesn’t, he over-hits it and I wonder if its going to be our day after all.
Sarfend continued to press, with lots of ball to the left wing but I wondered why – Ronnie Lescott jockeyed and jockeyed, and their bloke really didn’t see much change out of him. Elliot looked strong at the back.
Dis comes on for Pipey, CC for Igoe and then Walks for Lambo, and the last ten minutes work out more comfortable than the previous 20, and the Gasheads asking for Goal Machine to come up for our corners. It was a good display, with Rovers shading it overall though the result was a little hard on Sarfend. But the boys worked hard for it today, we’re probably due a bit of luck, and I’d take 3 points over a stick of rock any day.
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Igitur
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 2,294
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Post by Igitur on Nov 9, 2015 22:21:10 GMT
The first time I went there I had two ankle biters with me and I lined up with the dosh, but the turnstile operator said lift them up and I went in paying just for me but it was hard work.
Another time I went I got delayed checking the quality of the ale around Liverpool Street and got there for half time. I tried all the doors and gates at the back - it was like Fort Knox, but finally I was let in for free.
(Beware, for those going for the first time by car the last time I went there were speed cameras galore along the road to and from Southend.)
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badhand
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 182
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Post by badhand on Nov 9, 2015 22:50:29 GMT
Only been the once. Clinched promotion in 73/4 with a 0-0 draw on a Friday night. Don't remember much about the game except that Jim Eadie made a brilliant save near the end of the game. I confess to going on the pitch after the game. There were quite a few on the pitch before me. The police weren't arresting anybody, so I thought that I would risk it!
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 23:36:30 GMT
Only been the once. Clinched promotion in 73/4 with a 0-0 draw on a Friday night. Don't remember much about the game except that Jim Eadie made a brilliant save near the end of the game. I confess to going on the pitch after the game. There were quite a few on the pitch before me. The police weren't arresting anybody, so I thought that I would risk it! I was on the pitch, then up in the stand with the players,two of us went but we spent all our money getting there and getting in,had no way to get home. Walking out after the celebrations we saw a Rovers coach outside a pub,we asked the driver any chance of a lift home,he said I am leaving in ten minutes if they don't leave the pub i'll leave them behind We got a lift on a half empty coach
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Bridgeman
Alfie Biggs
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 3,549
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Post by Bridgeman on Nov 10, 2015 3:42:06 GMT
Been there once for the 2008 game but going to this game from South Wales via Filton this time.....Come on you Blues (and whites !)
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dido
Predictions League
Peter Aitken
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,883
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Post by dido on Nov 10, 2015 8:30:43 GMT
Yellows?
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 8,330
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Post by eppinggas on Nov 10, 2015 9:06:37 GMT
I have been there lots of times, but not in a long time- in fact I have only been there once since they switched the away end to the other side of the ground. My only real abiding memories of the place are of going there on a Friday night squashed into the back of a Talbot Samba with a bloke known as 'Hightower', not the most comfortable journey I have had and on another occasion seeing the best performance I have ever seen from an opposition player, when Stan Collymore made Steve Yates look very, very ordinary. A lot of my trips there were in the days of Pied Horse tours, so a lot of things that happened I would have struggled to remember the next day, let alone 20 years later. Ah - the Collymore game. Early 90's. As my memory serves me - it was about 70 minutes in and a fairly dull 0-0. Stan sort of shrugged his shoulders in a "well just give it to me then" type way. He then scored a 20 minute hat-trick by dancing his way through the Rovers defence without any assistance. Only 3 England caps? He never got anywhere near his potential. This was when they had the old crumbling away terrace which is now the Southend home end. Usually happy memories of Rootes Hall. I'll be in the Railway at Prittlewell before the game...
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Post by azulyblanco on Nov 10, 2015 9:17:52 GMT
My first away game (apart from Trashton) was at Southend, in their old stadium at the Kursaal IIRC. It was in the late 40s/early 50s. We left by coach (actually a single-decker bus!) from the Lord Rodney at Two Mile Hill at dark o'clock. Before we left, one of my old man's mates thought it would be a good idea to fix his almost life-size hardboard cut-out of a pirate in Rovers strip to the front of the coach/bus.This was in the days before motorways were invented, so we set off up the A420 towards Chippnum. In those days, climbing up Tog Hill was a major challenge to those in an older vehicle; naturally, ours overheated, unsurprisingly due to the rigours of climbing the hill in bottom gear, plus the fact that the pirate cut-out blocked most of the air flow through the radiator. After a cooling stop, followed by a rethink on the placement of our mascot, our long and winding way continued, only for the team to lose, 2-1 if my memory serves me well. The trip home was relatively straightforward (downhill at Tog!), although I had several stays in the coach with a lemonade and crisps - bought for me by the old fella's workmates while they drowned their sorrows in various hostelries.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Nov 10, 2015 10:24:11 GMT
My first away game (apart from Trashton) was at Southend, in their old stadium at the Kursaal IIRC. It was in the late 40s/early 50s. We left by coach (actually a single-decker bus!) from the Lord Rodney at Two Mile Hill at dark o'clock. Before we left, one of my old man's mates thought it would be a good idea to fix his almost life-size hardboard cut-out of a pirate in Rovers strip to the front of the coach/bus.This was in the days before motorways were invented, so we set off up the A420 towards Chippnum. In those days, climbing up Tog Hill was a major challenge to those in an older vehicle; naturally, ours overheated, unsurprisingly due to the rigours of climbing the hill in bottom gear, plus the fact that the pirate cut-out blocked most of the air flow through the radiator. After a cooling stop, followed by a rethink on the placement of our mascot, our long and winding way continued, only for the team to lose, 2-1 if my memory serves me well. The trip home was relatively straightforward (downhill at Tog!), although I had several stays in the coach with a lemonade and crisps - bought for me by the old fella's workmates while they drowned their sorrows in various hostelries. OMG, what a brilliant story! That's got to be the earliest away match attended from anyone on this forum! Hats off to you azulyblanco...
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Post by a more piratey game on Nov 10, 2015 10:30:00 GMT
I have been there lots of times, but not in a long time- in fact I have only been there once since they switched the away end to the other side of the ground. My only real abiding memories of the place are of going there on a Friday night squashed into the back of a Talbot Samba with a bloke known as 'Hightower', not the most comfortable journey I have had and on another occasion seeing the best performance I have ever seen from an opposition player, when Stan Collymore made Steve Yates look very, very ordinary. A lot of my trips there were in the days of Pied Horse tours, so a lot of things that happened I would have struggled to remember the next day, let alone 20 years later. Ah - the Collymore game. Early 90's. As my memory serves me - it was about 70 minutes in and a fairly dull 0-0. Stan sort of shrugged his shoulders in a "well just give it to me then" type way. He then scored a 20 minute hat-trick by dancing his way through the Rovers defence without any assistance. Only 3 England caps? He never got anywhere near his potential. This was when they had the old crumbling away terrace which is now the Southend home end. Usually happy memories of Rootes Hall. I'll be in the Railway at Prittlewell before the game... I took my wife to her first game at Southend, stood on the terrace in lovely seaside sunshine, everyone in a good mood. Devon White put us 1-0 up, and it was all super jolly. Brett Angel and Stan Collymore then spoiled it by scoring, and we lost 2-1. Collymore was newish on the scene, I think, and stood out for his touch (Ulrika etc came much later). My wife sort-of tolerated it, but 'couldn't see what everyone was getting so excited about'. Heigh ho
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badhand
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 182
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Post by badhand on Nov 10, 2015 11:07:51 GMT
My first away game (apart from Trashton) was at Southend, in their old stadium at the Kursaal IIRC. It was in the late 40s/early 50s. We left by coach (actually a single-decker bus!) from the Lord Rodney at Two Mile Hill at dark o'clock. Before we left, one of my old man's mates thought it would be a good idea to fix his almost life-size hardboard cut-out of a pirate in Rovers strip to the front of the coach/bus.This was in the days before motorways were invented, so we set off up the A420 towards Chippnum. In those days, climbing up Tog Hill was a major challenge to those in an older vehicle; naturally, ours overheated, unsurprisingly due to the rigours of climbing the hill in bottom gear, plus the fact that the pirate cut-out blocked most of the air flow through the radiator. After a cooling stop, followed by a rethink on the placement of our mascot, our long and winding way continued, only for the team to lose, 2-1 if my memory serves me well. The trip home was relatively straightforward (downhill at Tog!), although I had several stays in the coach with a lemonade and crisps - bought for me by the old fella's workmates while they drowned their sorrows in various hostelries. Obviously, I have no idea, but I wonder whether it was this game covered by Pathe News? FA Cup Fourth Round 2.2.52, Southend won 2-1.
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Post by laughinggas on Nov 10, 2015 11:31:59 GMT
Who would want to be a keeper in those days?
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brizzle
Lindsay Parsons
No Buy . . . No Sell!
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 4,293
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Post by brizzle on Nov 10, 2015 12:30:37 GMT
I loved the way in which ''Ginger'' Roost was carried off, very unceremonious that. It was a bit like carrying a bag of cement from A to B.
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