A Journey Back In Time With The Bromley Boys
Dec 22nd, 2008 by 'holic
One of the things that a number of people of my vintage share is the fact that back in the sixties and seventies, when we were too young to follow the Arsenal (or, God forbid, anybody else!) to the far-flung corners of England there was usually a decent non-league side to follow.
The Isthmian League covered a vast swathe of the south-east and I had the good fortune to witness some of the top non-league sides of the day at Wycombe’s old Loakes Park ground. Dave Roberts was from as far east of London as I was west, and followed Bromley. He has recorded his recollections of the 1969-70 season in his book, ‘The Bromley Boys’.
He had the nasty end of the stick. While I was watching Wycombe challenging the all-powerful Enfield side for the League title poor old Dave was following Bromley around in their doomed bid to finish above Corinthian Casuals at the foot of the table.
Luckily for him, Dave recalls that one of his schoolmates was an Arsenal fan and the two went to Highbury to see Arsenal defeat Burnley 3-2. The ‘sea of sheepskin’ he witnessed that day was to lead to him receiving a C&A car coat for Christmas. Ah, parents and their presents. I was luckier than him there too. My ‘crombie’ came from Burtons! I’d forgotten monkey boots too.
Anyway, if you want to know the emotions involved in following what is described on the front cover as ‘the worst football team in Britain’ then I can recommend this book to you. Published by Anova Books, The Bromley Boys is available through Amazon at just over a fiver if you search around. I can also confirm that decent High Street bookshops are carrying it as well if you are looking for a last minute gift.
Thanks Dave, for stirring a few fond memories.
9 Responses to “A Journey Back In Time With The Bromley Boys”
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Still no drinks? There were none at lunchtime either.
I’ll have one of those non-league guest ales please barman? A pint of vintage Tolly Cobbold? So be it.
Enjoyed the reminisce, holic. Took my mind back to my days in Scotland in the early 60′s. Arsenal were just a big name from the smoke “doon sooth” and I supported Dundee FC. The dark blues won the Scottish League in 1961-2 season for the one and only time in their history. Alan Gilzean, Ian Ure, Alex Hamilton and “Gay Gordon” Smith (how unfortunate now the connotation of gay. A damned good word wasted).
Anyhow, Dundee qualified for the European Cup in 62-3. Aged 10, I was quietly confident. The great German champions of the day, Cologne, came to Dundee and were quickly despatched with an 8-1 thumping. My ipression? “As I thought, Scottish football IS the best in the world!” The mighty Sporting Lisbon next, no prolem. 4-2 to the dark blues and another Gilzean hat trick. Then it was Anderleht’s turn, a breeze, 6-2 on aggregate! I booked my ticket for the final that night.
Now remember, no British team had ever won the EC, and nobody south of Berwick could even spell Dundee, never mind Gilzean. So, on to AC Milan in the semi-finals. I’d heard they could play, but would they, could they ever bew a match for Gillie and Gordon. Surely not! And sure enough, no problem at Dens Park. 1-0 to the ‘Dee!! Gilzean again, having returned from a nasty ankle injury with heavy strapping.
I got to stay up late to watch the second half of the away game live from the San Siro, on a grainy black and white broadcast. It was unheard of to show 90 minutes live in these days. The news came though. 1-1 at half-time!! Dundee’s part-time centre forward (Alan Cousins, maths teacher by day) had equalised a Gianni Rivera effort and it was all to play for in the second half.
History shows that the dream died that night. Milan scored four in the second half then went on to beat the Portugese champs Benfica in the final. Great times though.
I had to wait 44 years to get Milan back. When Cesc’s stunning drive hit the back of the net last March, there was no one happier than me.
My heart turned from dark blue to Arsenal red when I moved “doon sooth”. These days at Dens were great though. Gilzean scored 44 goals in his final season before moving for a record fee of 72,500 to spuds. My life was never quite the same again.
Goodness me, you should be doing the blogging BtM, that is a great recollection. I still remember the excitement when we signed Ure. Arsenal’s defensive worries were over with a record signing. Only they weren’t
What happened to the great Scots? Up until the eighties no successful side was without at least one. Without Frank Mclintock we would not have turned the corner in the seventies.
Mention of Gilzean sends a shiver down the spine. Hate to admit it but he was one of the best headers of a ball ever. Bob Wilson will not have fond memories of him though, and the batterings he handed out to our ‘keepers down the years. I still recall Neil Martin running into Bob when Coventry came to Highbury, and this huge geezer behind me yelled out ‘Lucky it wasn’t Gilzean, Willo, e’d a raped ya again’.
*quietly tiptoes away from the two old codgers sat in the corner of the snug*
Anybody for a game of shove ha’penny?
I have ha’penny and thrupence, that should be enough for a quick Brandy
red masi campoforino tonight.
how much is a 1/2 penny in dollars?? or cents? or eurocents.
off to relatives for the holiday
A merry christmas to all and a better new year.
New signings please.
Come on you reds
Brandy? Suits me fine.
Cheers, ‘holic.
[...] me confessing to following non-league football a good few years back when reviewing a book called The Bromley Boys. The author of that book, Dave Roberts got in touch recently with a copy of his latest offering, [...]