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E T T E R S
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| BOBBY KING REMINISCES | ||
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THE
DETAILS: The exact date is difficult to determine, but it would be around
May 1986 possibly 1987. This picture was taken (by whom I can only hazard
a guess at. I would say PROBABLY Pauline - Gary Pettifers better half!),
roughly half an hour before the (evening) kick off. The venue was Bromley
Town's ground, not that you can determine that from the picture I know.
However, you can tell a lot of matches have taken place by the total lack
of any grass on the pitch! So the end of the season it is. Along with
'Buzz' (Trevor Smith), I was one of the 2 substitutes that night (thus
the track suit bottoms). We both came on in the second half, but alas
despite our best efforts we lost 2-1. I can not remember who it was against,
but DO remember that in the dressing room afterwards we were all determined
to win it ('It' being the good old Beckenham Hospital Cup, probably section
'B') the next year - but I don't think we did. That was the last time
we got to a final (I think), but anyway the combination of the Beckenham
Hospital Cup and the Saturday Seconds was fairly unique in Cornish's illustrious
history. If memory serves me right, we won more trophies / appeared in
Cup finals, etc than any of the other teams run throughout the 80's. I
think a lot of it was down to Gary Pettifer the manager, who I am sure
ANY player who played under him would agree was an absolute pleasure to
be with. I'm sure that a LOT of players, some who stayed for many seasons
such as myself, and also others who maybe only played for 1 or 2 would
agree that they harboured no desire to play for the first team. No - the
seconds was the place to be! Lots of great memories are still with me
from Cornish, and in particular the seconds. Although unconnected with
this picture, I would say the undoubted highlight season was when we won
the Championship and only lost 1 match all season, and then won the (you've
guessed it) Beckenham Hospital Cup Final at Beckenham Towns ground some
4 days later. This was when we were sharing this facility, so this would
now be when we were in the guise of Cornish Sports & Social. From memory,
virtually all of the people in the photo were involved in this particular
season, with the added bonus of some 'not quite good enough for Beckenham
Town, but very good for US' type of players as well. Our 'Double' winning
season of 1984/85 (personally the only one I ever was lucky enough to
be a part of), coincided with the most shattering of memories. It was
of our final league match of the season. Unknown to us, Gary Pettifer
had gone along to watch, in mid-week, our closest rivals for the Championship,
Villa Park, play their final game of the season. They duly won; easily
I think something like 8-1. So, at that moment they were top by virtue
of goal difference. So that meant that we had to get a point from our
last game of the season to finish ahead. Come the Saturday, we were all
keyed up and raring to go. Gary Pettifer, who had kept quiet about the
aforementioned, had done his usual brilliant job in the dressing room
of instilling confidence in us all in his unique style. Out onto the pitch,
and we were all convinced we were going to win, and clinch the Championship.
It was a nervy sort of match, with the team we were playing not really
that fussed about it - no promotion or relegation issue with them. It
was simply their last game, and most of their lads wanted to go out with
a win. They weren't a charity, and obviously knew the score with regards
to us wanting to win so badly. As the match got underway, I began to take
note of the number of people who were now watching. Normally about 10,
but on this occasion significantly more. I can remember thinking, "Who
the Hell is this lot?" in the first half, but then got stuck in and in
retrospect didn't even notice anymore. At half time I'm sure it was 0-0,
and Gary's getting wound up. The second half gets underway and I'm sure
it was good old 'twin-tub' Carpenter that weaved a bit of left wing magic
and put us 1-0 up with about half an hour to go. Sure enough, he does
it again - 2-0, 10 mins to go. Then a bit of a disaster - it must have
been the only time in the whole match when the guy I'm marking eludes
me and somehow they scramble a goal. So, 2-1 with only a few minutes remaining.
Gary Pett is now going absolutely barmy - 'Do you want this?' he keeps
shouting. Some of the people watching are by now getting very enthusiastic
towards our opposition, and word has got round that it's the lads from
Villa Park. After a few scary moments, the full time whistle goes - we've
done it! A really great, and ultimately unique, feeling. Obviously we
were delighted, and by now the full story of Villa Park's win in mid-week
is filtering through. It was an unusual, to say the least, feeling seeing
you nearest rivals seemingly supporting an 'unknown' team. Luckily for
us, we hadn't played anywhere near as well as some of the, it has to be
said, GREAT performances that we as a team had put together that season
- but we had done enough. Then it was back to the clubhouse to celebrate.
However, upon stepping in you could tell that something was wrong. It
was about 4 o'clock, and on the TV to greet us was a vision difficult
to forget. Bradford City's ground was ablaze. Yes, a cigarette had ultimately
let to the ignition of a whole stand at this old, old ground. The scene
was extraordinary. Thousands of people were gathering on the pitch watching
the scene unfold. Replays were attempting to convey how rapidly this event
had occurred. As we all watched in sheer disbelief at the TV screen, the
memory of our 'win' seemed insignificant. Then someone piped up with a
witty quip, and we gradually got into the spirit of the occasion. The
Bradford nightmare was an issue that would ultimately have serious repercussions
on the infrastructure of Stadia throughout the world, let alone England.
But for now, that was a matter that only time would determine how serious
it really was. Despite this undoubted shocking event, we did not want
to lose this moment. Gary P did his level best to encourage us to drink
the luke-warm fizzy stuff he had brought along, claiming it to be France's
finest. We shared with all, had a laugh and a drink and then a few of
us reflected on the events of the day. We all rallied around and proclaimed
that we were ready for the Cup Final on the forthcoming Wednesday. We
won. Brilliant. Only football can stir the memory as above. Thank goodness
I was a part of it. There's no doubt in my mind that some of the events
that have shaped my life were merely as a consequence of being a part
of Cornish FC and all that went with it. Thank you to all those people
that I share some special memories with. The Easter Trips away, generally
to Devon. The beers after a match. The general camaraderie. Finally, thank
you to everyone out there who ever put up with me, and yes my wig is still
going strong! BOB KING, June 2002.
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Back Row:
Gary Pettifer, Phil Ibbs, Trevor (Buzz) Smith, John Bylett, Paul Vincent,
Gary Palmer, |
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If anyone can supply the issing
names, please contact me at the following email address: tony@becken.fsnet.co.uk
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