Saturday 29th October 1927
Walsall 0-1 SOUTHEND UNITED
Division 3 (South)
Walsall had transferred from the Northern Section and were currently in fifteenth place having won four and drawn two of their eleven games but hadn't scored in their last three games. They played at their Hillary Street ground, later to be renamed Fellows Park, at this time the ground had no stands on it whatever, with open terraces on three sides, behind one goal was just a brick wall which formed the back of the adjacent laundry. Before the First World War Walsall had played in what is now their traditional red and White, but at this time Walsall played in a strip of Claret and Blue copied from Aston Villa.
A crowd of about 7,000 turned up, and from the very outset Southend showed their dominance and should have been four or five goals up at the interval but it was goalless. Billy Hick had clearly been off form in recent weeks, and there was criticism that he had kept his place but after twelve minutes he scored with a great solo effort, reminiscent of his former form. Walsall then came into the game a lot more but couldn't break down the solid Southend defence. For Walsall this was the fourth game without scoring, but things got worse for them they lost their next match at Northampton 0-10.
For the fans that didn't go to the game the main way of finding out the result would be in the Saturday night papers. In the 4.30 p.m. of one London paper it had the score correct, but later when the vendors were calling "correct Southend result" the same journal gave Walsall the win. Two other papers which had the result wrong in the first place corrected it to the right result in later editions.
The return fixture was some five months later in the season.
Saturday 10th March 1928
SOUTHEND UNITED 2-1 Walsall
Division 3 (South)
Walsall were struggling just two points above the re-election spots and had won just three of their fifteen away games. They were three games since their last win but that had been a 7-0 thumping of Coventry.
It was a strange day, brilliant sunshine following a snowstorm, but the visitors Walsall were a mediocre team and their performance did little to dispel the Arctic atmosphere. Southend soon took control with a two goal lead, the first by Fred Baron whose persistence in chasing the loose ball finally paid dividends, and the second by Dickie Donoven. At this stage it looked like the Blues would reach a record score, but as time progressed they found themselves being dragged down to Walsall's level, and after they pulled one back the only interest is could the Midlanders salvage a point.