Thetownend.com

This Saturday marks the 50th anniversary of Swindon's visit to Horsham for an FA Cup 1st Round tie. Not, I'm sure, an event that would warrant much more than a statistic in the STFC history books but an historic one for the West Sussex club for whom the Robins' visit brought a club record attendance of almost 8,000 to our old ground on what was only our second ever appearance at that stage of the competition. Coincidentally, Horsham host Hastings on Saturday, the side that provided our 4th qualifying round opponents that same year, and we plan to mark the anniversary with a commemorative programme in which we look back at that Swindon tie and the personnel involved. A number of the Horsham players to have appeared in that match are expected to be present on Saturday and the club's official website will also carry a feature in which we will be publishing some of the memories that our supporters have of that day. To balance it up, I would love to hear from any Swindon fans who might have been at that match in '66 and find out what you remember of the occasion. Perhaps it was the masterful performance of a young Don Rogers? Maybe it was your impressions of the ground? If you would like to share your memories, please email me at [email protected] by midday on Friday 25th November and I will do my best to include your comments on our website.
Many thanks
Mark Wells
Horsham FC Committee Member
www.horsham-fc.co.uk

Wow. I'm not too far from Horsham, good luck. Too young to have been there, there maybe one or two who went there as boys here though.

Fill him in Reg....you were there!!

 I was there. Ground seemed to be a park pitch roped off, with people stood 10 deep. Some low life tried to nick my hat which my mother had knitted and got a slap.....probably not a good move on his part.

 Always thought the crowd given as 8,000 a bit suspect....possibly guesswork  :) Can't remember a thing about the game.

Me too.  Went with my father and sat in a wobbly, temporary stand on the halfway line. Remember Mel Nurse having a stand-out game and scoring a goal.  May still have the programme somewhere.  Think it had a green, yellow and white cover.

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/MatchCentre.asp?Tab=NewspaperReport&MatchID=19670601

Unfortunately I was only 9 months old but I know my dad and cousin were there and said about how rammed to the rafter (metaphorically speaking) it was, I am sure my dad went partly because he didn't want to stay home with a screaming 9 month old baby :)

I went out with a lass from Horsham once, she was proper crazy!

I didn't go to the game sadly, mainly as I was -9 at the time.

I've never been back, through or met anyone from Horsham since.  Maybe flown over it, in or out of Gatwick, not sure on that though.

It's not really on the way to anywhere, only reason I've been there is because I had 2 nieces at Christs Hospital I used to visit and take into Horsham for lunch.

Interesting to note that over 3 years later 7 of our team appeared at Wembley to thrash the Arse.

Power would have had them sold pdq! Ah, happier times.

I was there, cannot remember the game, but an interesting train journey - we have have had two "specials" for that one!  Must have been around that era then when we visited Grantham in the cup, thrashed them but there was some crowd trouble as I remember!

Somewhat different transfer market as well...

I've had relatives in Horsham for as long as that, but didn't go to the match as I hadn't caught the bug at that stage, my father may have done though.

Laced up boots and corduroys

I was there, just a nipper (as my dad would say) at the time.
One thing that intrigued me was that in the match day programme there were "pen pictures" of the town players.
There were only three photographs printed : Don Rogers, Mel Nurse and Dennis Brown who as it turns out were the three goalscorers.  Spooky.

Should have had a bet on Dennis Brown beforehand, That would have put some "Money in your Pocket"   I thank you..

Would you like your coat?  :)

Already wearing it

 Dennis Brown was a cracking player.  Gutted when he left. Unfortunately for Bullets, he mangled his knee in a car crash, which although not career threatening probably stopped him from going to a higher level.

Remember that game and the top era for the town. For some reason loved wingers and town always seemed to come up with them. Will always cherish this time when we had an abundance of them Don/Eric Weaver/Bruce Walker and later Don Heath

Think we also exchanged Denis Brown for a winger from the Cobblers - Bobby Jones. Danny loved his wingers.

Just before you also had Mike Summerbee, Arnold Darcy, the legendary in wider football Graham French, Peter Leggett and a fave of mine Wee Tommy Henderson, a midget from the Sweatie winger mine situated in Strathclyde, before its recent closure.

Tommy scored the first goal v Oxford at the Manor, a thumping drive from well outside the box.

Was that not on his debut?

No he scored v Hull at the CG on debut.

Don't forget Trevor Anderson. Pretty sure he was our leading scorer one season in the 70s.

Not bad for a winger.

Jones was a Gashead through amd through....over 400 games and 100 goals for them in 2 spells, either side of short stints with Cobbblers and us where he wasn't much good. Another Danny duffer was Barry Lowes, he'd made his name at Barrow and Workington, definitely a school of hard knocks, and probably explained why he could barely move in the 2 games he played for us.

Nobody's forgetting Trevor, it's just he came 10 Years After

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW5M5xljdCI

I would have classed Anderson more as a number 10 than a winger anyways.

And a rocket it was too, beating a Hull side that won the league. 3 goals in 11 league matches for the 5'3" (or 4") winger, yet he moved on at the end of the season, and hardly played much after that. Wonder why? Injuries?

As for the Horsham match: it was a bloody long way in my mates car, the ground didn't have any terraces (prob my faulty memory) so the view was crap, and it was one of the first places I bought an (underaged) pint.

Of course it was the great Town team that later beat the Hurst/Moore/Peters Hammers and had the 3 epic matches v Forest.

When I see Big John Henderson, throwing arrows, I think of Wee Tommy. There used to be a purity about Scottish football, now long gone. You can still find it in darts.

Jocky Wilson said

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ao9p3ou7-U

Hull had some forward line at that time Reg Chris Chilton,Ken Wagstaffe and Ian Butler. They were a bloody good team with long term manager Cliff Britton

Thank you for all your responses. It's been interesting reading through them all and I'm glad it managed to open up a nostalgic debate among some of you  :). For those that may be interested, a full feature on the match is now on Horsham's official site and can be found at http://www.horsham-fc.co.uk/2016/11/26/remembering-swindon-fifty-years-on-2/.
Thanks again, and all the best for the rest of the season and beyond.
Mark Wells
Horsham FC

Cheers Horsham, all the best.

I learnt something about our team.

An interesting read.  Good work!

Enjoy your day.

Good read that, made me think we don't often see diving headers  these days. Why's that?