A DoDtS tribute to former Shrimpers striker Les Stubbs.
Aged 19 in 1948, Les was starting out his career with Southend in between doing his national service.
STICKY MATCH
The meeting between the Blues Reserves and Charlton is expected to be a sticky match. Hankey will be back leading the forward line unless Nash is unfit to play in which case he will be between the sticks. If so the Reserves centre forward position will be filled by Leslie Stubbs of Great Wakering making his first league appearance.
From the Southend Stadium 25th March 1948
F.A YOUTH CUP
L. Stubbs the Great Wakering Rovers centre forward had the satisfaction of scoring one of the three goals in which Essex defeated Liverpool at Grays in the first leg of the F.A County Youth Championship final.
From the Southend Standard 6th May 1948.
It's good news to hear that Frank Sheard has finished policing in the R.A.F. and next season will devote his full time and energies to "policing" centre forwards.
Stubbs the Wakering centre forward who showed such great promise last season and who gained a spate of goals is now confining his shooting to Artillery pieces in the R.A. It is hoped he will be available for matches here during the season though.
French has at last hung up his khaki battledress in the deepest cellar and will be on full time basis for the Blues this year but John Dudley promising young inside forward and brother of centre forward Frank is now in the Navy but hopes to be available during the latter half of the season.
From the Southend Standard 1st July 1948
26th December 1949
London Mid-Week League: Southend United Colts 5-1 Millwall
Southend defeated Millwall 5-1 with the scorers being Stubbs (2), Coleman (2) and Ken Jones.
Thursday 30th March 1950 Div. 3 (South)
Newport County 2-1 Southend United
The game at Newport was a disaster Blues losing by the odd goal in three. Many chances were missed and in the closing stages United literally threw away the points.
Dennis Thornhill was troubled with an old leg injury through the match, and after the game Frank Sheard was called to make the journey to Torquay.
The forward line obviously lacked punch at Newport and Leslie Stubbs, the Great Wakering youngster recently released by the Army, was also called on to make the journey for Saturday.
Team: Nash; Loughran & Walton; Gawler,Thornhill & French; Jones, McAlinden, Wakefield, Morris & Clough
1st April 1950 Div. 3 (South)
Torquay United 2-4 Southend United
"Bravo, Blues - that's the stuff to give 'em!"
It was a great day for United with both sides recording victories scoring eight goals between them and conceding only three. To win at Torquay was no mean feat, they smashed the home sides unbeaten home record which stretches back to 5th March 1949.
The win at Torquay was a pleasant surprise to Supporters and was achieved with the minimum of chances, opportunistic goals being the secret of Southend's success. The first goal came after six minutes, a long pass found the home defenders hesitant and Stubbs took control of the situation to turn the ball past the advancing goalkeeper.
While Southend were sprightly and quick of the mark it was Torquay that did the majority of attacking and few were surprised when Torquay headed the equaliser after twenty minutes.
Southend won the game in the early stages of the second half when they scored twice in four minutes. The first was after two minutes when a long pass was latched on to by Wakefield who beat the goalkeeper to the ball in a split second. The second goal was in the way of a gift a wayward back pass was seized by Stubbs who raced in and scored with a clean cut shot.
For a long time after this Devon tried hard to get back into the game and were rewarded after twenty minutes when a goal was scored following a flag kick. However Southend responded strongly and with ten minutes to go Clough scored with a header that was a winner all the way and from then on the Blues dominated the match.
Team: Nash; Loughran & Walton; Gawler, Sheard & French; Jones, McAlinden, Wakefield, Stubbs & Clough.
7th April 1950 Div. 3 (South)
Southend United 2-2 Ipswich Town
Leslie Stubbs, former Great Wakering centre forward, made his first appearance before the 17,000 critical Stadium supporters and succeeded in scoring one of the Blues two goals however this was not sufficient for a win and United had to be content with a point in a 2-2 draw.
Despite Ipswich's lowly position they played forceful bustling football which put the Blues off their normal game. Wakefield was on the top of his form but Southend received a severe shock when the visitors took a surprise lead after 26 minutes with a deflected shot which crept past goalkeeper Nash.
Blues responded almost immediately with a clever back flick from Wakefield to Stubbs who scored with a fine low drive, this just three minutes after the opening goal.
The second half was only a few minutes old when Ipswich scored again, the linesman waved frantically for an infringement by an Ipswich player but after consultation with the referee the goal was allowed to stand.
Southend's second equaliser of the match was scored by Clough after 52 minutes.
Team: Nash; Loughran & Walton; Gawler, Sheard & French; Jones, McAlinden, Wakefield, Stubbs & Clough.
8th April 1950 Div 3 (South)
Southend United 3-0 Aldershot
With a greatly changed side United defeated Aldershot by 3-0 on a day when good football was extremely difficult but the Blues took their chances well.
Aldershot played well in the second half playing against a strong headwind and their forwards did pose problems. The first goal came after 35 minutes when Wakefield took a pass from Stubbs who dribbled his way through before netting with a low drive into the corner of the goal.
The second half started with Aldershot pressing strongly but it wasn't until 32 minutes had passed that United gained their second goal, Stubbs working his way through on the left, spread-eagled the defence sent in a hard drive which was seized on by Davies running in to score.
In the closing stages with the crowds making their way to the exits, Southend scored their third goal, with Reg Davies converting a Clough corner.
The attendance was 12,000.
Team: Nash; Lindsay & Walton;Wallbanks, Sheard & French;Butler, Davies, Wakefield, Stubbs & Clough.
During 1949-50 Season Less Stubbs made 7 appearances and scored 3 goals in the Division Three (South)
Extracts from "Southend United the Boom Years 1946 to 1955" by Peter William Baker
A picture of Les in action for Chelsea later on here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1352952/Former-Chelsea-favourite-1955-title-winner-Les-Stubbs-dies-age-81.html?ITO=socialnet-twitter-dmailsports
The Stubbs Files ('Levi', cool)
Outside-left
Stubbs started and ended his career with Southend. Drake signed him for £10,000 in 1952 and three years later he was a key member of the squad, none more so than at Wolves when he scored a late equaliser before Bentley struck arguably his most important goal of the season.
He returned to Roots Hall in 1958 but quit in a row over wages. He took a job with the Fire Brigade before being lured back by Southend to finish his professional career, although he carried on playing for his local team until he was 53.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leslie Levi Stubbs | |
| Date of birth | 18 December 1929 (1929-12-18) | |
| Place of birth | Great Wakering,[1] Essex, England | |
| Date of death | 2 February 2011(2011-02-02) (aged 81) | |
| Playing position | Inside Forward | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1948-1952 1952-1958 1958-1960 | Southend United Chelsea Southend United | 83 (40) 112 (34) 22 (3) |
| ||
(Player info
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/4374647.stm#stubbs who S24 thank for the use of the photo, and wikipedia, for their full article go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Stubbs)