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'98 - What a Season
- '99 |
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There can be no
doubt that the 1998/99 season was one of the most exciting in the clubs
history. And it was all down to Big Jeff. Is there a more successful
manager anywhere on the amateur circuit?
Promotion from Div.
1 to the Premier was won quite early on with a convincing home win against
old rivals Wealdstone. We had been humiliated in the away game in November
and so the revenge at Park Lane was sweet. |
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Then, as we went
into the last three weeks of the season it seemed that the championship
itself was up for grabs. Could we do it? Unbelievably, as soon as the top
prize was within reach, the team started to go to pieces, remember that
awful night at Croydon? We had beaten them easily at home in February but
on that windy Wednesday night in Surrey, nothing would go right. In truth,
it was one of the worst performances seen in a long time. |
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Jeff obviously had
a few words with the players because they bounced back from the 3—0
drubbing to take three points from Chertsey, the Essex Senior Trophy
against Leyton Orient at Roots Hall and then, eventually, the vital
mid-week win at Maidenhead.
The only
disappointment was that we had to do it away from home. How much nicer to
have been handed the cup on our own turf.
The Maidenhead win
was all the sweeter because they had given us a 4—0 good hiding at our
opening game of the season. The scoreline was rather flattering to them
though. It wasn’t entirely due to good play by the visitors, but rather
because of Brian Horne limping off in the opening minutes with a calf
injury. To be a ‘keeper down was bad enough, but for Steve Tilson (who
was to prove to be our best player and top scorer for the season) to put
on the Tango-Orange jersey was Canvey’s real downfall. |
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Eventually, Tilly
went on to score 34 goals over the season and was voted the Supporters
Player of the Season. What a great asset he was, and still is, to the
team. With 18 goals apiece from Bretty and Parms, not forgetting Willo’s
dozen, no wonder we won the league. And we won a lot of friends along the
way. Apart from Wealdstone and Romford. |
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Another early
injury, and one that the Yellow Army never got over, came on an August
evening at Grays. Simon Liddle broke a leg and he was taken to hospital.
It was his last game for Canvey as he took the whole season to get over
the nasty break and eventually, at the start of this season, he decided to
join Corinthian Casuals. Simon is a great loss to the club and everyone at
Park Lane wishes him the very best of luck for the future. |
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Another injury—or
series of injuries plus a bout of shingles—meant that we didn’t see as
much of Jonah as usual.
It seems that every
season sees Andy is top scorer, but with only a handful of full matches
played, the mantle slipped. Mind you, he still scored 12 goals. Not bad at
all!
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The most memorable
game of the season has to be Whyteleafe away. The scoreline was 5—5 but
what that doesn’t tell you is that with only ten minutes to go, Canvey
were winning 5 – 2. With only five minutes to go, Canvey were still
winning 5 – 3. How could we let the match go when we were in such a
superior position?
The worst game of
the season? Has to be the FA Cup run that came to an embarrassing halt at
Lowestoft. How could Canvey possibly go down 4—2? How could they play so
badly? It will take a long time to live that one down.
The best memory of
that game came off the pitch when Tony Richardson squared up to the
Suffolk constabulary. Rumours that he was joining up to be a Special
Constable took a long time to live down.
Tony went on to become rather ‘famous’
for his “Look at me!!!” trademark, now well known at most Ryman League
grounds. |
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Fans had been known to
criticise some of the match officials, but Paul eventually took matters a bit too far when
he ran the line himself! Not that he was biased - the Canvey kit was
pure coincidence!
The highlight of
the season was the cup match at Cheltenham. It was a fantastic day out, a
fantastic game and fantastic atmosphere. The only disappointment was the
score. Canvey just failed to grab the equaliser, but they won so much
respect and admiration from the Gloucestershire faithful. Had we been able
to force a Park Lane replay, things might have been so different.
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CANVEY'S
most improved player of the season, nay, of the decade, wasn't on the
pitch.
In fact, he is famous for being 'off-pitch'
It was Fred the Bugle who doubled
the number of notes he could play over the season. Poor Fred, he can
play all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order |
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The other success
of the season was the Canvey programme. Over the season fans saw it grow
from 28 pages of adverts and little editorial content to something that was
looking quite respectable. Match reports and other information that was
going onto the clubs unofficial Internet site was beginning to appear in
the programme.
Some weeks there were
three or even four match reports written either by Merv, Bob or Ian. Mind
you, the relationship between club and website was often tetchy,
especially if a point of view expressed in a match report didn’t
coincide with the club’s own. But Canvey Island Football Club is a big
club with big ambitions. Plenty of room for more than one opinion.
All views expressed
are the personal views of Merv and not of the club or Canvey OnLine
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