28th April 1928
SWINDON TOWN 0-1 SOUTHEND UNITED
Division 3 (South)
The penultimate game away at Swindon, who were in fourth position, with a home record boasting only two defeats in seventeen matches. Southend had never won at Swindon in thirteen visits, five pre war and nine afterwards and in fact lost all thirteen, and on current form few expected much difference, but the game was won for Southend by a strange goal.
The Blues were awarded a free kick some forty yards out and was taken by Jack Andrews but the ball floated over everybody's head and deceived the goalkeeper who scrambled the ball out, but only after the ball appeared to have crossed the line. The referee however waved play on and Billy Hick was on hand to crash the loose ball back into the net. Both players laid claim to the goal, but it had to be awarded to Hick. With still one game to be played The Blues had reached their highest total of points in their eight years in the Third Division.
London Combination: Arsenal were the visitors at the Kursaal in the Blues last Combination match of the season, Arsenal needing a win to guarantee the title however the Blues with three amateurs in their ranks pulled off their performance of the season to win 1-0 thanks to a goal by Wadsworth. Arsenal still had a game to play and managed to gain the title in this match.
Arsenal won the London Combination by one point from, Tottenham, West Ham were four points behind in third place, followed by Brighton, Chelsea and Portsmouth. At the bottom Crystal Palace finished bottom on goal average from Watford, Coventry. QPR and Charlton finishing just above. Southend finished 13th out of 22 clubs.
At the end of the season Torquay United (42 votes) and Merthyr Town (27 votes) were re-elected to the league, the next nearest club was one called Argonauts with 16 votes. This club was a franchise club, it had no team, no players but what it had was Wembley Stadium as a ground, it was seen as a money making operation, to play league football at the newish national stadium. The other applicants were Ketrring who only got 3 votes, and Petreborough and Fletton United with 2 votes. Peterborough and Fletton folded in 1932 and Peterborough United came into being two years later and, it wasn't until 1960 that Peterborough finally got a League club.
15th December 1928
SWINDON TOWN 1-3 SOUTHEND UNITED
Division 3 (South)
Swindon were tenth in the table, Southend twelfth separated by just one point. The Robins had been in fourth place but four successive defeats had spoiled that, but they had stopped that sequence with a 4-2 win over Luton. The match was played in appalling conditions with thick fog making visibility very poor. As the play disappeared in the gloom they only way the crowd would have any idea what was going on was by the roar of the crowd from the other end, and rumours were constantly being spread about alleged goals at the other end.
At the end of the first half Swindon were a goal up, but in the second half Jack Bailey equalised for the Blues and the game seemed to be heading for a draw until four minutes from time A shot was put in on the Southend goal but Billy Moore saved. The referee who was half way up the field signalled a goal as the ball had crossed the line before Moore had saved. The crowd behind the goal saw the referee swamped by Southend players and fog, and they persuaded him to consult the near linesman who said no goal. It was now the turn of the Swindon players to besiege the referee and this time consult the far linesman, amazingly the referee now gave a goal. It's fair to say that with all this confusion that tempers were ruffled and there was a fair amount of hostility. Almost straight from the kick off Swindon attacked a cross came in, Moore and a Swindon forward went for the ball, Moore tried to fist the ball, but the Swindon player ended with a bloody nose and the ball ended up in the net. The crowd were incensed claiming that Moore had deliberately hit the player in the face.
At the end of the game several policemen had to create a gangway to allow the Southend goalkeeper safety to the dressing room. Thirty minutes after the end of the game the angry mob were still waiting for him to emerge, but he had already left by another exit and was drinking elsewhere with some chums by this time.
On the same day the Reserves were also playing;
London Combination: The Junior Blues lost at the Kursaal, to a very strong Cardiff side which included twenty welsh cap Len Davies (who was Cardiff's leading goalscorer in five seasons of Cardiff's golden era). The pitch was dangerous underfoot but First Division Cardiff were the brainer side and won 0-2.