Meeting Geoff.
Back in 1969 England were still the World Cup holders and one evening over the Christmas period Newlands under 13’s were about to unveil their new kit to the world!
Such an event warranted big names and at the time there were none bigger than West Ham’s Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. Unfortunately Bobby Moore had to send a sub, West Ham’s Johnny Sissons, but it did not spoil the evening. Also present was Kenneth (they think it’s all over…it is now) Wolstenholme.
The new kit was a replica of that worn by the England team and it was to be used for an upcoming European trip to Holland, Belgium and Germany.
Back row: Ken Wolstenholme, Geoff Hurst, John Sissons, Martin Peters. Middle Row: ?, ?, Andrew McKenzie, Barry Delieu, ?, Jeff King. Front row: Leon?, Tony Driver, Kenny Blom, ?, Shaun Murphy. Kneeling: ?, Danny Doran.
We trained once a week at the then Newlands Holiday camp under the supervision of Brian Hills and played every Sunday, managed by his younger brother Les.
I don’t remember us winning too many trophies but we were a team of triers that probably lost as many as we won. None of us went on to make a career playing although our goalkeeper was one Jeff King!
I cannot name all of the players but can recall a few.
With our souvenir footballs
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i can name 3 of the other players who are mark dillaway, trevor moore and gary kemsley . leon’s last name was allen.I played with them a year later under les hills and we won the thames valley under 13s league. also playing then were mark hill in goal , shaun murphy captain steven brooks, glen milne, roy robinson, myself and gary heale
Hi, Very strange to see some of the old boys. I used to play back and my brother Stuart was on the wing. He designed Kings badge which was a lion rampart, blue on white. Also regular players were Pete Whenman (his dad Reg had the cockle stall and they both went on to Dagenham Football Club before they joined with Redbridge), Tony Leeming, Steven Yeo (before he disappeared !!!!). I went to school with Jeff for a while at William Read before he switched Leigh Beck – the Milne brothers were good friends of mine at that time -best wishes Glen and Gary ! Gary Heale was another good friend, his father had the local saw mills and I believe he was related to the famous Heales furniture stores. I don’t remember Kenny Blom being in the side when we played as he fancied himself as a tough guy and arranged a scrap with me at the Casino. I had a crossy all the way there that evening and he didn’t show up ! Any time Kenny -ha ha ha water under the bridge. Its nice to hear names like Brian Hills, his brother Les (we bought his old van on that field ) and all those mentioned -I do hope they are all well. Best of Luck chaps. Malcolm
Hello Tony and Danny. I believe at least Danny went to William read like I did and then furtherwick park. Tony I apologise I remember you being a very nice lad, but think you only went to furtherwick, I might well be wrong. Do you know what happened to terry palmer?
Hello Peter, You are quite right, I was at Long Road before Furtherwick. I have been reading all of your other comments with interest as it is very enjoyable to recall those happy days.
I do not know what happened to Terry. Like a lot of others I lost contact with most after leaving school but I do speak a lot to Stephanie Montgomery (a name I am sure you would remember!).
All so long ago but wonderful times.
Good luck, Tony
Newlands started off as regular once a week childrens match organised by the holiday park host Brian Hills. He couldn`t kick a ball to save his life but was a great one for organising and entertaining the kids.The weekly match was between Campers and Residents, (who lived locally or were children of the holiday camp commitee.)
Our first trophy came about 1967 when we beat Eastwood Falcons 3-2 after being 2 -0 at half time. Keith Shirley scored 2 and Barry Hewitt 1, I made 2 assists after nearly missing the match as my train from my home in Dagenham was delayed.
With so much interest in the club it grew thanks to Brian Hills efforts and the wonderful, generous Jack King, camp owner. From that emerged Kings Sports which contained a lot of younger players boosted by some of the stronger players seconded from the Newlands team. Kings line up was Geoff King, Peter Wellman, Colin Jones, Brian Deal, Stevey Kew,Jeffrey Dingle,Steve Yeo,,Stephen Fordham,Tony Leeming, Alan Bell and myself, Stuart Roberts.Tony and I were top scorers for Kings,though Tony would pip me at the post every year.My brother played for the under 13s and was strong full back but wasn`t able to make the journey to Canvey every week when we moved back to Dagenham.
Some of the players were to young to be in our team but we did extremely well none the less with Newlands doing slightly better due to them having players that were all of the age and build required for that division. A fine example of that was Geoff King who was chosen to play in goal above a much older player when the two splintered teams reunited to reform our original team,(plus one or two newbies) for our challenge on a prestigeous Majorcan cup in 1971.My headed goal knocked out Porto Christo and we faced the Majorcan champions, La Salle in the national stadium. I was on the bench until half time ,displaced by family favouritism but I went on at half time and made two beautiful passes to Alan Harding who scored on both ,cancelling our 2-0 deficit and bringing the game to penalties.;Alan Harding our captain nominated himself,Steve Yeo, Les Potton and me to take the penalties. Yeo,ey made us panic when he sent the keeper the wrong way but miss struck the kick but it rolled over the line just quick enough to cross the line. Geoff King was fantastic in goal and finally after getting his fingers close to the 3 penalties that beat him he pulled of a fabulous save robbing them of a fourth goal on their final penalty. The last penalty was down to me and in a stadium of thousands of partisan people ,(Palma proffessionals were playing next) my legs resisted buckling long enough to score the winner.
Kings were great days and Reg and Cynth Wellman, Ron Leeming, (my dad as I called him) and the other parents and brothers, ( Barry Jones) who drove us to matches were like one big family.
My best wishes and thanks to all of those mentioned .
The embryonic team was created from those who were regulars after Brian Hills had announced that football tournament at the ‘horses field’. it was a knock on from England winning the cup in ’66 .The horses field described it pretty well- imagine the aftermath of the Somme ,smoothe it out a little , add some grass , not a lot , just to add a bit of colour . Fill remaining holes with water and insert goalposts .That is what we played and trained on .
My brother and I were already playing football and had been regular campers since around ’64 ,at the time when the camp consisted of mainly lagoons ,chalets and a few ancient vans that were evicted from other sites like our old one as being to old for the new swinging sixties .The Kings were great and happy to take us on.There was excitement in the air when the new foundations what was soon to be the swimming pool, were laid down. By 67, Jeff and other regulars ( I mean regulars , every weekend and the 6 weeks including November 5th and the Christmas parties !) and locals, were firm friends.Except for Steven Collins ( the site mangers boy )!
In 1970 Jeff asked me to come to Mexico with him for the World Cup, but I was already booked for a later family holiday in Italy, for which I didn’t need the funds (babysitting nephew and niece) but instead learned how to water-ski and down G&T’s with the best of them! I remember Jeff being over the moon with his souvenir white Emlyn Hughes No. 10 shirt, when he returned!Probably worth at least £10 now!
The team was originally created from those despite the age of the individual. There was no ‘under 13’ side at all. At the beginning there was barely a team. When a regular 11 could be selected the kit was bought. The strip was all gold and of course the funds provided by Jack King, managed by Brian. Jeff, although younger than I ,was a big lad for his age and as Stuart said a great goalkeeper thus securing his place. I played traditional right back (the position I played at my junior school when they formed a school team after World Cup fever ) the other full back was filled by whoever turned up , my brother ( 2 years older than I ) on the right wing (No. 7) ,others included and not yet mentioned – Steven Morris called ‘Mo'( because of Steven Yeo ) Brian Hills’ ward , and I believe Tony Nash (Nashy) also played . The confusion of names gave rise to Tony Leeming being called ‘Larry’.The choice of ‘Mo’ was always controversial as in some cases better players had to be dropped a difficult decision for any manger ( and guardian) to make under the circumstances.Kenny Devine also played a few matches .Les Hills was newly married and lived on the camp near our van , but was not at that stage involved but kind of assisted.
Stuart mentions the Majorca trip in 71 . They stayed at Jacks Hotel in Calla Millor .Although still officially a team player , I couldn,t go as there was not enough funds in the pot for both of us but by that time there was plenty of subs . My mother also supported the trips to Belgium and Holland that Stuart had made with the team, that he forgot to mention. All these trips were subsidised by the generosity of the Kings , of course. I think Pink Floyd put it well in ‘Money’ – I think I’ll buy me a football team !In my opinion , and it is only my opinion although an educated one , I would stick my neck out and say that if Jeff preferred karting ( and he did dabble with a couple of Bultacos , but just for fun ) instead of football there would have been no Kings F.C. that we are talking about here.
Memorable games were Concorde Rangers – I think that was at the old Canvey ground near the Sea Front , Leigh Rangers ( I was elected to take the penalty late in the second half by ‘Larry’ and Yeo Yeo , down hill – like 1 in 4 – and against the wind as everyone was pretty knackered after running up and down the bloody hill (its probably a hang gliding club now). I dummied the keeper to his left but unfortunately the ball glanced off his right post the wrong side! Hulbridge , who we beat 5-0 , I scored from my position running through the opponents and beating the keeper to get the last before the whistle blew . Basildon , who we also beat , but Jack was so chuffed about the game , he ended up driving the Rolls the wrong way down the new arterial road for a short distance , uttered a few oaths in Gaelic French and cut across the road ! We also played away at Central Park in Dagenham , felt a bit odd playing away in your home town.Fred and Henry a couple of Newlands ‘campers’ turned up from central London to cheers us on .
So in actual fact I never played for the under 13’s at all !As I said apart from Jeff and Kenny Blom for reasons already mentioned , the above mentioned players in the photo are a mystery to me.I know the vast majority of those mentioned by my brother as I had already said.
By the time I got to secondary school ( a boys school) in 1969 after the Canvey Floods Part Dieux in 1968 ( for those with an accurate memory this was the year of the torrential downpour in late August that lifted the manhole covers ) , I was at William Reid ( we actually swam back to school in September at the start of term and I was still playing for the same team at Kings ( just to add – I was the best swimmer at William Reid at the time with Mark Brewster a close second-not that they had much of a pool -a 3M cube of rubberised canvas ) but returned to Dagenham later that year . Football was not the game played at a tough Dagenham boys school ‘ football being for pansies’ ( not much change there then !) – I had discovered Rugby!By the time my brother left school at Easter 1972 to work in Fords, I had taken his old job in the Working Mans Club as cellar boy,and was playing Rugby for Robert Clack which meant no more trips to Canvey with a few exceptions – caravan redecoration – stuff like that. I either stayed at home on my own , or with my sister or friends .I went back for occasional visits in early ’80’s , but for me Canvey had died under housing development !
The same happened to Jeff King (the Rugby thing that is) when he eventually went up to secondary school , I went to see Sir John Cass ( I think that was the name of his school near Rayleigh) playing Goresbrook School near our home in Dagenham as he asked me to come and cheer him on . Jeff played the game as a natural ,and I believe he dropped kicked a goal from the halfway line -pretty natural thing for goalie !Jeff successfully returned to football of course .
Rugby became my game ,(as I enjoyed water skiing too ), which my 15 year old son has also taken up , having played for the under 15’s since he was 13 .A chip off the old block .I still get to run the line and coach a bit ! He has just returned home having had a huge scrap with Romford RUFC !
The Wellman’s ( apologies to them as I got their surname mixed up with a Gina Whenman at William Reid – anyone remember Gina?) ended up at Dagenham Football Club , Peter playing and I believe actually captaining the side for a time as I have said, and Reg on the club committee.
Took a visit to Canvey a while back , good to hear Jeff doing well after his op and Jack looked well , Jeffs daughter Holly in complete control!Lets hope you continue to make Thorny Bay a very family orientated site like the old Newlands .
Getting off the boring subject of an even more boring game…
Stuff football !Is the time right for the old values of entertainment to make a comeback , knobbly knees,making a mummy out of your husband from toilet roll, tarzan competitions and fancy dress . God bless ‘Queen of the Pineapples’!Ron Leeming and Brian Bibby on the door ? ( Ron of course being a gentleman and father to all!) I remember his fits after laughter at the cartoons and collages we did for the adult male taste !
I would also like to add an apology for all the dodgy pieces of music played by Brian on Radio Newlands as a wake up request . Radio Newlands operated behind the club and as we helped to clear up the glasses and bottles after the ‘good night campers’ routine , the only way out was through the bar, past the mic and turntable and out the back gates . This presented an excellent opportunity to drop off the ‘requests’ .So to all those who woke up to Tiny Tim , Screaming Lord Sutch or The Crazy World of Arthur Brown , I am sorry . Well , no I am not ! Nor am I sorry for getting up on the stage and singing the latest top 10 number on a Sunday afternoon with the drummer and organist who had not learned the numbers.But I do apologise to the Beatles , The Rolling Stones , The Monkees et al! Must of sounded pretty awful ! And thanks to Jeff K for the Esther and Abby Ofarim duet , he was as crazy as I was, or perhaps just encouragable!
Hi all, remember those days well, I too played for Newlands and Kings Sports a couple of years before you, Alan Lawton and Peter Short are two names I remember from our team, I remember Kenny Blom, Leon Allen ( I went to school with his sister Debbie and knew his brother Nigel) and Gary Kemsley. John Sissons trained us for a while if my memory serves me correctly – good times 🙂
So who remembers the tour to Belgium and Holland? Must have been 69 or 70, we played on a cinder pitch in Aachen next to the main stadium and watched their senior team play Hamburg in the evening, played in a sandstorm in Blankenburg and had an bit of a fall out with the locals and a Welsh rugby team in Valkenburg with Les Hills trying to get us all out for a punch up and Brian the opposite ??
I do Neil and it was early 1970. We lost 4-2 on that cinder pitch but appear to be older than us. I also remember watching the Aachen game after and Brian telling us to calm down after our vicious taunts at the Germans with our chants …”England 4 Germany 2, Hallelujah” :). I think we ran around Aachen before the game causing a bit of mayhem.
I had forgotten the Blankenburg game but I did not play in that one.
Valkenburg was a good place as I remember but I would have been no good in a punch up as I was the size of a shrimp!
One of the trips we went on was a visit to the scene of the Battle of the Bulge.
It was my first ever trip abroad and it was very memorable.
Hi Tony and Muck lol, I am in the photo above between Barry Dulieu and Geoff King.Names missing back row on the left Mick Mullaney , Mark Dillaway, and it was Leon Allan.Also between Kenny Blom and Shaun Murphy is Gary Kemsley. I went abroad too on that trip to Holland ,Belgium, and Germany although being in the younger group, we only played 2 matches and didn’t go to Germany. We played in Holland against lads almost 2 years older in a good little Stadium and beat them 1-0, they wasn’t impressed and as our coach was pulling away, it was stoned !! Lol. THe 2nd game was in Belgium somewhere , I remember we went to a MelI Park, kinda theme ,it was great there. We were playing a Germany boys side. And as they ran out on the pitch we noticed almost to a boy , that they had same haircuts,like a Germany helmet . We fell about laughing thinking we didn’t know who was going to mark who. Our joy was shortlived however as they were very good and smashed us 5-1.The following year though, the same team came over to tour UK, and we had a rematch over Waterside farm I think ,behind where tip is now and golf course. A lot of people came to watch and we Won 4-3. Two other memories of the trip, 1 good and 1 not so good lol. Firstly in Belgium opposite where we stayed there was a concrete pitch with goals, and nearly every afternoon till early evening we’do play matches against all the locals, great fun made some friends. Secondly in the dorm we were all in, the older lads decided to induct us younger members into a game they had invented it was called ‘Tap Taps ” lol. It involved 2 lads holding you down and the other one using two fingers Tapping hard and repeatedly on your Chest bone, it did start to hurt after a long period ,I know I had it done lol. All in all a Brilliant trip
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