Good Old Sussex by the Sea

Tim Quelch

Description

Tim Quelch takes a nostalgic look back on a 60s childhood and early adulthood immersed in Sussex sport. Hastings United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Sussex County Cricket Club were his three great loves, his passion for football ignited by United's plucky 1953/54 giant-killing side that came tantalisingly close to a fifth-round FA Cup clash with Arsenal. Later, Brighton secured Tim's lasting loyalty when he witnessed their brave 1961 FA Cup battle with First Division champions Burnley. That same year, Tim was captivated by explosive Sussex batsman Ted Dexter and mesmerised by West Indian fast bowler Wes Hall. Good Old Sussex by the Sea takes us on a whirlwind tour of the highs and lows of Sussex football and cricket in the 1960s, a time when local allegiances counted and expectations of success were more modest. But it was hardly an age of innocence as Hastings United's involvement in a major police corruption scandal shows. The book recalls a rollercoaster ride of triumphs and woes, bringing to life many local heroes of yesteryear.

Sujets

• Críquet
• Sussex
• Cricket

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 24 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785316579
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2019
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Tim Quelch, 2019
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978 1 78531 619 7
eBook ISBN 978 1 78531 657 9
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Contents
Thanks
Introduction
1953 New Elizabethans
Hastings United v Norwich City
Sheffield Wednesday v Hastings United
1956 My first date with Elvis
Brighton Hove Albion v Watford
1958 My First Walk on the Wild Side
Brighton Hove Albion v Aston Villa
Hastings United v Wisbech Town
1960 Great Balls of Fire
Brighton Hove Albion v Burnley
Hastings United v Brighton Hove Albion
Sussex CCC v Lancashire CCC
Brighton Hove Albion v Leyton Orient
Tonbridge v Hastings United
Brighton Hove Albion v Halifax Town
Hastings United v Hinckley Athletic
Sussex CCC v Worcestershire CCC
1963 A Year of Living Pruriently
Hastings United v Chelmsford City
1964 Youthquake
Guildford City v Hastings United
Brighton Hove Albion v Darlington
James Humphreys: Hastings United s Mr Big ?
1966 Swinging Britain
Sussex CCC v West Indies
Wisbech Town v Hastings United
1967 My singular Summer of Love
Sussex CCC v Kent CCC
1968 Farewell to Sussex
1968-2019 What Came After
Kit Napier: Brighton Hove Albion 1966-72
1972-73 In Place of Strife ?
Willie Irvine: Brighton Hove Albion 1971-73
1977-79: Labour Isn t Working
Alan Mullery: Brighton Hove Albion 1976-81
1981-83 Put Out More Flags
Peter Sillett Hastings United 1979-83
1989-2000 Babel Belt
Dust and Diamonds : Sussex CCC 1968-2019
Last Words
Sports books and journals consulted
A tribute to my family
Thank you, mum and dad for such a happy adolescence, for fostering and supporting my passion for football and cricket and for helping me achieve ambitions I once thought were beyond me. Thank you, Liz and Lydia, my wife and our daughter, respectively, for your constant love, care and encouragement in all aspects of our happy lives together, tolerating, supporting and sometimes sharing my passion for sport. I hope that in time our grandchildren might discover such joys for themselves.
Tim Quelch, September 2019
Thanks
I WOULD like to thank everyone who has helped me in writing this book. If I have overlooked anyone please accept my apology I am deeply grateful to former professional footballers who gave me generous amounts of their time, notably Ken and Alan Ballard, and Keith Tucker, all of whom played for Hastings United. I am very appreciative of the support I have received from other authors, namely Dave Thomas, who allowed me to use extracts from his biography of Willie Irvine Together Again ; Ivan Ponting, who encouraged me to write this book as well as granting me usage of his eloquently written obituaries; Roger Sinden, for allowing me generous access to both of his lovingly assembled histories of Hastings United, including use of his captivating interviews with former Hastings United players; Paul who gave me access to his absorbing interviews with ex-Brighton players. Thanks are due to both the original Hastings United and Brighton Hove Albion for use of material from their historic match programmes. Thanks go to Daren Burney and his colleagues at the current Hastings United who have shown great interest in this book, offering to play an active role in its marketing and sales, and assist with its charitable fund-raising objective. National and local newspapers have provided rich sources of material. Thanks go to the Hastings St Leonards Observer , whose editor kindly permitted me to use extracts from their coverage of the original Hastings United including use of six atmospheric images from the 50s and 60s. Thanks go to the Brighton Argus , who have previously, kindly granted me permission to use material from historic interviews with former Brighton players, which are replicated in this publication; and to the national press for supplying material, rediscovered in unattributed cuttings in my boyhood scrapbooks of over 50 years ago. The references listed at the end of this book have helped improve my understanding of past times, enabling me to present a more rounded portrait, not only of the football and cricket, but also of life in Britain and elsewhere, during the last 70 years. If I have inadvertently breached copyright anywhere in this book, I hope that the copyright owners will please accept my profound apology. This book is being written to raise funds for the British Lung Foundation. All my royalties will be donated to this important cause. However, if any copyright owners wish to pursue their concerns, would they please address these first to my publisher, Pitch Publishing at Yeoman Gate, Yeoman Way, Worthing BN13 3QZ. Last, but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my friends, notably Roger King, who carefully proofread my earlier drafts, suggesting helpful amendments and supplying copious memories and statistics; and to my publishers Paul and Jane, and their assistants, Michelle, Dean, Duncan and Graham for their experienced guidance and high quality assistance.
Tim Quelch, October 2019
Introduction
AFTER MOVING North in 1968, I began watching my dwindling local side, Burnley FC, suggesting, perhaps, that tough love is sometimes the more captivating kind. Yet my interest in football and cricket started in East Sussex, where I was born and bred. Here, I supported Hastings United, Brighton Hove Albion and Sussex County Cricket Club, learning quickly the harsh price of loyalty. For soon after I had resumed watching Hastings United in August 1960, the U s dropped like a stone. They fell out of the Southern League Premier Division in 1961, and kept falling, careering to the bottom of the league below 12 months later, forcing the club to seek re-election in the chilly summer of 1962. While Brighton narrowly clung on to their Second Division status in 1961, they, too, were relegated a year later, and after enduring the harsh winter of 1962/63, the coldest I can remember, they continued to drop, finding themselves in the Football League basement in May 1963. Conversely, Hastings were then embarking upon an unexpected, if short-lived, revival.
Sussex County Cricket Club was afflicted by a similar malaise. After gaining fourth spot in the dank summer of 1960, helped by the 3,086 runs plundered by Ted Dexter and Jim Parks, they subsequently slumped into mid-table mediocrity. And despite enjoying a brief reversal of fortune, when they won the new Gillette Trophy in 1963 and 1964, they lost their one-day crown a year later and completed the 1965 County Championship season next to bottom.
It may seem a contrived virtue summoned by necessity, but I remain fonder of underdogs who scrap for mere morsels and strive to punch above their weight, than the giants accustomed to wealth and glory. This predisposition is derived from my deceased father. He never hitched his wagon to big names. He supported Brentford, then in the third tier. His message to me was not to expect too much. Not that I drool over failure. For while my love of modest causes often leaves me disappointed, the unexpected triumphs seem so much sweeter. Sometimes I wonder whether I could have sustained my support of Burnley as they hurtled towards oblivion in 1987, without this sturdy Sussex education.
Coincidentally, both Brighton and Burnley have faced identical catastrophes -Burnley ten years before Brighton. And both clubs were rescued by their loyal fans, whether in the boardroom, on the pitch, on the terraces or beyond. Both clubs endured existential traumas, and both have survived triumphantly. And now both fly the flag of the small guys , determined to lower the colours of the opulent fraternity in a league bloated by obscene wealth and greed. So, while I continue to be an ardent supporter of Burnley, I remain fond of Brighton, having watched them during the intervening years, in triumph and woe, at the Goldstone, Gillingham, Withdean and the Amex. Regrettably, no one could rescue the original Hastings United in 1985.
I have an abiding loyalty to Sussex CCC, too, while being a well-wisher for the club that now bears Hastings United s name. In fact, I extend similar goodwill to many underdogs , from Barrow to Aldershot; from Accrington to Torquay; from Morecambe to Hartlepool, all of whom I have watched in the last 60 years. If this is brazen promiscuity, it s a perverse kind.
Tim Quelch, June 2019
1953 New Elizabethans
The Black Hills of Dakota
MY EARLIEST memory of East Sussex is of the stunning view from the hilltop council house estate where my parents and I lived for most of the 1950s. The newly built, white stippled houses were formed into a tight circle, as if defying a marauding Sioux war party. From this lofty Wealden ridge, the view extended over the undulating pastures and woodland below to the distant whale-backed downs and the glimmering sea. Had Satan chosen this spot to tempt Jesus, he might have succeeded. As beautiful as this location was, it gave little protection against the buffeting gusts of wind which would blast through our cracked walls and ill-fitting window frames with ghoulish shrieks. As for the established villagers, our reticent hosts, their frosty reception matched the elements.
But with their mu