'King' Arthur strikes again but Bournemouth's Mr. Redknapp isn't impressed! Any future Lifers in the Covered End?
I would have been there, Terry .....regular Covered Ender in those days.
Also loved your picture of Don Welsh and Sam Bartram with the FA Cup on the Lewis's coach. And what a quality bus - they don't make 'em like that any more.
But where's the rest of the team - I can only count a few? Blow the pic up, is that the driver decked out as the Pearly King?
Oggy, many of Lewis's coaches were requisioned during the war and they were then trying to build up their fleet again. The Bedford OB in the picture was probably the only 'open topper' they had then. I think the coach is waiting for the rest of the team who are on the class H2 tram rattling up the Woolwich Road: and yes, the driver does look like he's done up in a Pearly King outfit, after all some people think we're an East London club!
Very interesting and I have also never seen that before. When did it go and what was the house on the left?
As said above I think the fence and gates went in the mid-'70s but could be wrong. I always thought the house formed part of the club's offices and was demolished as part of the ground re-development. The actual photo is featured in the book 'Football Days: Classic Football Photographs by Peter Pobinson' unlike the snap below which features the clapped out Viva used to cart the March family about for many years.
Ha, ha. Not really CE, but it carted us around to God knows how many matches between 1971 and 1989 and I could bore you stiff with stories of our experiences up and down the country. No, the idea of posting that photo was to show the view of the main gate as most people now remember it and it's the only one I've got of that area. It was actually taken on the Tuesday after the last game and the club let us in to wander about taking photos of the deserted Valley. It felt very sad and depressing at the time. (And quite unintentionaly the 'gate' photo was taken from almost the same point as the original) AND.......of course I had the same car in 1971 as in 1985 with the same plastic CAFC badge from a Ty-Phoo tea offer in it all that time. Must make it some sort of icon!
That house on the left, didn't they build an extention around the ground floor and that extention became the clubshop to open just before we returned to The Valley and remained open until it was knocked down in summer 97 to make way for what is now the Superstore?
That house on the left, didn't they build an extention around the ground floor and that extention became the clubshop to open just before we returned to The Valley and remained open until it was knocked down in summer 97 to make way for what is now the Superstore? </
Was that building called Sawyer Lodge? Think it was gone by the time we came back but I'm not sure. Pretty sure that horseshoe shaped entrance was there in the late 70's, by then it was painted red with white lettering. Probably the only ground improvement for a good few years at the time.
Comments
Also loved your picture of Don Welsh and Sam Bartram with the FA Cup on the Lewis's coach. And what a quality bus - they don't make 'em like that any more.
But where's the rest of the team - I can only count a few?
Blow the pic up, is that the driver decked out as the Pearly King?
Very interesting and I have also never seen that before. When did it go and what was the house on the left?
As said above I think the fence and gates went in the mid-'70s but could be wrong. I always thought the house formed part of the club's offices and was demolished as part of the ground re-development. The actual photo is featured in the book 'Football Days: Classic Football Photographs by Peter Pobinson' unlike the snap below which features the clapped out Viva used to cart the March family about for many years.
http://cafc.digital-ink.co.uk/GalleryPicDisplay.ink?gallery=Stadium History
https://us.v-cdn.net/5000498/uploads/FileUpload/b7/ce6bc79dfcdc4b83cb761f8d8c5578.jpg
His expression just exudes vengeance :-)