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Dave Moss and Dave Syrett.

In the 70s I played for the Swindon Town Supporters Club Cricket team. We played in the local Thursday evening league and had a few weekend games too. For one season Dave Moss and Dave Syrett played for us. Both were friendly guys and joined in with all the usual banter. Dave Moss was a very good left-hand batsman and right-hand fast bowler, also bowling the occasional over of leg-spin. Dave Syrett was a stylish right-hand batsman and medium pace bowler.

During the year they played for us we got to the final of the evening league knockout cup. Each team bowled 10 eight-ball overs, bowled by 10 different players. In the semi-final, played at the Wills cricket ground, we batted first. Dave Moss came in on the last ball of the first over and was out off the last ball of our innings, having scored 80 runs from our total of 105.

Before the final was played the Town players had started pre-season football training, and our Daves weren't allowed to play in case they got injured.  Without our two stars we were stuffed by 10 wickets :-(

There was an article about Dave Syrett's family in the Western Morning News last December.  http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/footballer-s-family-simply-mad-Seat/story-25149004-detail/story.html

I remember being very excited about Dave Moss in my Pannini 'football 84' sticker book as he was born in Witney!

I spent one night in hospital in the next bed to Kenny Stroud about 15 years ago, we had about a 2 hour long chat about his Town and shitty days.

I used to go in kammys shop in Bathurst road as a kid when I lived in Gladstone street...I recall him having a red setter...so to speak

Matt Hewlett came in to my Uni shop when I was working there five or so years back. I think he was selling sandwiches for his brother's company or something similar.

I used to play in the same team as Lou Macari's son so met him quite often and occasionally he used to come along and train us.

Most recently met Super Sam at the back of the Arkells, got my son's picture with him.

Nathan and Louis Thompson use the restaurant in the building I work so I see them quite a lot. Spoke to them earlier actually!

Was in Hardings in the 90s and remember telling lee Collins he could be good if he wasn't such a headless chicken...
Also saw fjortoft and nijholt in cairos and told them how great I thought they both were(jan must have scored by then)

Weed on Joey Beauchamps foot once in a nightclub toilet in Oxford. True story. Then he got all stroppy and started giving it the old 'dont you know who i am?'

Saw Ralphy and Nathan Byrne have a dance off the other week

I used to deliver Kammys Gazetter & Herald when I was about 11 or 12, nice bloke always said hello but I was too scared to speak to him about footbakll back then.

Quite a few to be fair.

Used to live down Shrivenham Road and I would often see the town players around the County Ground extension. We used to raid the bins at the end of the season for thrown at boots and footballs! Quite a few Mitre Deltas and Puma Kings were binned! We also used to play the youth team who lived in that house at the time by Stratton Bank, Jamie Pitman used to play quite a bit and we thought he was sh1te.

When town started training at the BR Ground, they had some youth team goals which we used to use. One afternoon in pre-season the first team turned up when McMahon was manager. He was pretty fuming we were using the goals and made up take them back to another part of the field. Always remember the whole squad being silent when they were warming up and watching me and mate lumber a goal across the field.

Have had a few encounters on nights out. Aaron Brown and Leroy Lita were in the Apartments in town, and Aaron Brown got all funny when I said it was an unlucky defeat that day. Think we had lost to Grimsby 1-0.

Got a cab home with Charlie Comyn-Platt and Andy Nicholas after I steamingly convinced them that I was a trainee journalist. To be fair they subbed me the fare.

Remember seeing David Lucas, Scott Cuthbert and Alan O’Brien in the Spot and I couldn’t believe how much of a muscular beast O’Brien was. It was the year we got relegated under Hart and he basically called me a mug for having a season ticket, and I suppose he was right. He did get a couple of Jagers in though.

Cuthbert was adamant we weren’t going down, and I suggested that they should play some Slipknot in the dressing room before games to liven it up a bit. Obviously didn’t , as we may well have stayed up.

Last year on a stag do I ended up sitting next to Paul Bodin at the Froch boxing match at Wembley, so had a good old chat to him and pointed out that it was 21 years ago to the day that he scored the penalty in the Old Wembley to get to the prem.

Played against Charlie Austin (he was about 15) in a cup final when he was playing for kintbury rangers...I've still got the yellow A4 one page program.
Not so much of a claim to fame was playing against Gary Elkins...I think I was just about quicker than him as he must have been 15ish stone

I recall I may have done the same in a pub toilet in Oxford (cannot remember which one but it was on the High Street.

Also when I used to drink regularly in Witney (cough 20 years ago!) a girl I knew was at it with Wayne O'Sullivan - he never seemed to venture to Witney though!

Not player but our Premiership manager John Gorman.

Walking along Piccadilly in London with SWMBO when we spied a bloke walking towards us. He looks familiar thinks we. he looks at us either like a) he recognizes us or b) (and more likely) wondering who the fuck the knobbers were that were staring at him :D

Twigged it was The Man himself so said hello. He stopped for a chat and a trip down memory lane. Bloody nice bloke.

Calin Calderwood once said 'howdydoody' to me once when I was getting tickets at the CG.

When I was once walking past the CG with a cig, John Gorman told me that smoking was bad for my health. No mention of the coke and E's though, but then he may not have noticed.

I think that's about it.

Or maybe he thinks they're good for you.

I once saw Chris Blackburn piss in a plant pot opposite Faringdon Road Park.

Fair call.

My most recent encounter was on the Speed Awareness course I attended 15 months ago.  (Caught doing 35 mph in a 30 mph limit, if you’re interested.)  Even though the course was some way outside of Swindon, I found myself on the same table as a well known ex-player - who turned out to be a complete gent and more than happy to talk about his time with the Club.

Unfortunately (& for obvious reasons), I’m not able to identify the player concerned.  Sorry.   ;)

Went to school with Ian Herring
Also went on a few benders with Jakub Jesionkowski

I bumped into Paul Bodin and the youth team in London about 8 or 9 years ago.  They were playing at Orient away and having a mid afternoon stroll along the embankment.  An utter, utter gent.

Used to have the odd beer with Leigh Barnard and we got stinking drunk on a Tuesday. He threw up in training the next day and was dropped for Saturday. Played against Chris Guthrie who was nails. Also played against Chris Ogden who was an absolute gent. Came across Alan Mac a few times another absolute gent. Bumped into chalkie in a shop in yate. I was wearing my town top he seemed surprised but I didn't do the embarrassing you're god thing. In hindsight I should have.

No experience here however, I would assume that the town players of olden day were a lot more friendly to speek to in the the street rather than the modern day don't you know who I am. Only an assumption though.

Can't help but bump into Phil King on a regular basis

Dave Syrett lived over the road from me in Warminster 2000 - 2003...

Played against John Kelly in the 90s at Tisbury in Wiltshire. Seem to think that Macari wasn't too keen on him....was bombed out very quick.

Oh my god this brought back so many funny memories! You must of written about it on here and I saw him in the apartments when I was drunk and asked him about it!

Who? So quick I never noticed him and that was when I was watching regularly.

I played against Ernie Hunt in a Schools match once, and against Roger Smart and the Town Under-18 team, both times well beaten. I often see Roger around Old Town and we speak.

I used to be a regular in the Dolphin when Phil took over. Remember seeing Jimmy Glass in there and Bobby Howe was pretty much a fixture for a while.

Played in the same county schools team as Dave Syrett,played against Roger Smart for Tisbury when he played for Trowbridge reserves.Gave up my parking space for Sean Morrison once

Met Andy Frampton, Aiden Flint and John Paul McGovern at Liddington. My kids wanted autographs. Frampton refused. JPM and Flint were both really nice to the boys.

Met Sean Taylor a lot when he was setting up the Elite development centres. He was always a bit stand-offish, but to be fair there were always loads of dads wanting to get in the way of the coaching by wanting to talk to hom about his Swindon days.

Shaun, it's Shaun.

Met Glenn Hoddle - years ago, wandering around Newbury with a couple of Spurs players the day before they played Town in the cup, 1980.

I used to manage a boys team that played in the same league as Croft, who Peter Coyne's son played for. First game of the season we played them at home and I refereed the game.......and asked Peter to mark my performance after the match (10/10 in case you're wondering.....and we lost 6-1 against a Croft team of 9 players). I think Lou Macari's boy(s?) played for them as well, if I recall correctly, but for an older team.

We used to have training sessions on a field at the back of a pub. One evening Tom Jones, just signed (from Aberdeen...?) and staying in the pub, came out to watch us train and I had a chat with him. He also came to present prizes at the end of the season a couple of times. Tony Galvin and Micky Hazard also performed this task one year, just after Ossie had left for Newcastle.

And Don Rogers was our president. Met him loads of times - at the club as well as in his shop where we used to buy our trophies and kits.....

Oh and I fixed Joe Butlers PC a few years back when he was (may still be) on the taxis. Had a long chat about Wembley and having armed police in the dressing room in Napoli in 1969 thinking he wouldn't get out of the ground alive!

(http://i.imgur.com/L4hX1FN.gif)

Seen and know of loan player mishaps and some are quite bad. Happened to a good friend of the wife's, so can't really say. But this player then was kicked out fairly quickly, and had history.

My best friend lives with a current member of the team so he comes round my house quite a lot, got my baby a signed shirt when he was born which I have framed in his nursery which is ace!

"Elite development" .What a load of old Cods wallop that was.
Took my eldest to a couple of sessions @ Devizes, was"nt prepared to pay the rip off fee for training kit etc.
Shaun Taylor seemed a bit embarressed(sp) by the whole set up imo .
Deliver building materials to Paul Batty now and again,crackin bloke.
Beat Charlie Henry in a game of pool.
Steve White nicked a beer off me in Holland.
Stood on Fitzroy Simpsons foot(in Holland).

Have met Simon Cox have an autographed photo, met quite a few players when I was with the Trust and went pitchside.

Found Danny Wilson to be a real nice guy and happy to chat

I have dealt with Jimmy Quinn & Lou Macari over the phone for various football things

Don Rogers served me in the club shop, John Gorman signed a book for me (nice guy). Went to a party in Gloucester about 22 years ago. The house we crashed at was owned by a former town player, he was there. Dave something?  He was in his 40's then, so probably played in the late 70's or early 80's

I've come across numerous ex players over the years, played against and through youth football but I'll stick with surprise incidents.

Iffy onoura phoning my house offering my son a trial at the club.

Arthur horsefield was a warehouse manager a a depot I used to deliver to around the mid 2000's in thurrock. Had no idea who he was until we got talking one day and after hearing where I was from said he played for the club and it went from there. Spoke regularly to him for quite a while after that but not seen him for years after route changes for me. Would think he's retired now.

I play 5-aside football against old Andy Williams (ex-Wales international) every now and then.

 So many down the years....

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/robus1971/10401131_44283974084_3918_n_zpsww2xwq8q.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/robus1971/media/10401131_44283974084_3918_n_zpsww2xwq8q.jpg.html)


here's when Bodin knocked me out

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/robus1971/10401131_44283969084_3735_n_zpshuo9qscy.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/robus1971/media/10401131_44283969084_3735_n_zpshuo9qscy.jpg.html)

theres Sean Taylor punching me so hard my eyes have popped out of my head

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v365/robus1971/1931144_44545144084_312_n_zps4tz6somr.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/robus1971/media/1931144_44545144084_312_n_zps4tz6somr.jpg.html)

White and Rowland

If he walked sideways,with his elbows in the air  . . . . Dave Syrett  :sherlock:

Andy Rowland looks the spitting image of John Trollope  :)

ha ha how embarrassing..

That was a cracking day Yeovil, remember when we used to have fun.....

Jerel Ifil in TK Maxx about a year ago. He walked in and only had a look at one shirt. He went to put it back on the rack but cocked it up and dropped it on the floor. He then turned and walked straight back out, he'd been in there for maybe 20 seconds.  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

A mate and I shared a sauna with several players during the first pre-season trip to Finland, including Fjortoft who was mega keen to ramp up the heat. I wore Shaun Taylor's Town top for a 'beach' volleyball game and got laughed at a lot by John Moncur.

Peed next to Mark Walters and Scott Leitch in a club during the second Finland trip. Walters was reluctant to talk shop, but Leitch was more than happy to listen to a couple of pissed Town fans telling him how ace he was.

Bumped into Luongo a couple of months ago and told him I thought he was having a great season and best of luck etc. His Mrs seemed more grateful to hear it.
Met Coops in town had a quick chat, Jerel Ifil was my personal trainer for 3 month, he's fuckin sound.

Can you bump into Mass again and tell him to pull his finger out for the last 10 games of his time here

When we draw with Walsall on the last day of season in 2007, a Corona holding Sofi Zaaboub walked towards me, in the CG carpark, hugged me while singing 'we are going up' and then signed a 'Keep off the Grass' card.

I didn't ask for the hug.
I didn't ask for an autograph.
We were going up though.

I sold Ossis Ardiles and Chic Bates some folding chairs once. True story.

I also had a drunken altercation with Neil Ruddock at Hartlepool one season. Luckily for me, he didn't react when I called him a wage stealing cunt (or something along those lines, can't remember the exact words I used as I was very, very drunk at the time).

So many over the years.

Probably the most stand out was speaking to Ossie Ardiles on the phone in the office.
At the time was playing golf with Kingy and Micky Hazzard.

Turned heads when putting him on speaker for a few seconds saying it was a World Cup winning captain.

Bumped into Frank Burrows in a Floridian airport. Me wearing a Town shirt. I was dumb struck as I was only 14 when I stood in the Town End watching him. Couldn't find the words to talk to him, I felt like a pranny.

Anyone go to the pre season friendly at Wycombe just prior to our Premiership (I think) season?

I was the copper in the control booth wearing his Swindon Town scarf.

Rank having it's privileges and all that, I managed to sneak into the dressing room prior to the game to say hello and met the team :)