Chelmsford were an up and coming non-league side in 1939 in the previous season they had defeated Dalington and Southampton 4-1 in the Cup before bowing out at Birmingham in the fourth round and had made an unsuccessfull attempt at applying for admission to the Football league.
Relations had always been excellent between the two clubs until these two meaningless matches.
Sat. 7th October 1939
Relations had always been excellent between the two clubs until these two meaningless matches.
Sat. 7th October 1939
Friendly fixture :
Chelmsford City 5 - 3 Southend United:
This was a friendly match between two sides that have always had a good relationship but the match was spoiled by ugly incidents, scuffling and police involvement.
The trouble happened with Southend four goals down to Chelmsford and they suddenly decided to do something about it, some of the tackles became rough and retaliations occurred. It culminated in scuffles between groups of players which apparently the referee failed to notice for several moments.
In between this the Blues had retrieved three goals scored by Harris, Martin and Bell.
Then the inevitable happened Chelmsford were awarded a penalty to the disgust of the Southend men. Fisticuffs again occurred, twice the ball was kicked from the field, the penalty taker claimed he was impeded in his run up but a goal was scored.
Then the inevitable happened Chelmsford were awarded a penalty to the disgust of the Southend men. Fisticuffs again occurred, twice the ball was kicked from the field, the penalty taker claimed he was impeded in his run up but a goal was scored.
At the end of the match scores of Chelmsford supporters from the crowd of about 3,350 invaded the pitch to demonstrate against the players, Harris especially singled out and the Police had to clear a path to the dressing rooms.
Team: Hillam; Fairchild & Robinson; Harris, Jones & Leighton; Smirk, Bolan, Martin, Bell & Ormandy
Sat. 28th October 1939
Reserve Friendly fixture:
Southend United 7 - 4 Chelmsford City
For the second time in three weeks a match between the near neighbours of Southend and Chelmsford was the subject of unpleasant incidents and a pitch invasion by spectators.
The trouble occurred between a Chelmsford defender and Hall the Southend inside left and some choice tackles had been inflicted on Hall which had brought shouts of disapproval from the crowd.
About three minutes from the close of play something happened between the two which meant that they stopped playing the ball and reigned blows on each other and had to be separated by other players. The referee immediately sent Hall off the field which didn't please the disgruntled crowd and some spectators from the popular side invaded the pitch to demonstrate with the referee.
The Police managed to bring the situation under control and removed the spectators from the pitch, although when the game resumed some two or three minutes later some supporters were still on the pitch. While one can understand during a Cup tie that this sort of behaviour can boil over, there is no excuse for a war time friendly.
The match started in somewhat scrappy fashion and Chelmsford gained a deserved 1-4 lead, the Blues scorer being Hall, but the United then scored three goals in as many minutes to draw level at the interval, the goal scorers being Allen, Lewis and Sibley. In the second half Southend dominated and but for the city goalkeeper the score would have been even higher, Hall, Reeve and Singleton scoring.
The attendance was 740 who paid £41 19s 6d in admission.
Team: Roper; Fairchild & Robinson; Harris, Jones & Reeve; Sibley, Lewis, Singleton, Hall & Allen.
Extracts from "Southend United Under the Shadow of War 1934 to 1946"
by Peter William Baker to be published November 2010