TLG appeared bright and early, getting to Roots Hall some half-an-hour before the scheduled start and, having signed in, proceeding to the ground some ten to fifteen minutes later. Once there, we joined the likes of official website editor Dave Scriven, SUFC media man Ross Hill and the Southend Evening Echo’s Chris Phillips inside as the press gathered in front of the dugouts.
An old friend in Anglia Television’s Donovan Blake was also present, and he quickly set about interviewing former Norwich City and Peterborough United front man Drewe Broughton, who was ready and willing to speak to anyone polite enough to ask for an interview. Meanwhile young starlet Michael Kightly, physiotherapist John Stannard, goalkeeping coach John Stannard and bosses Steve Tilson and Paul Brush all laughed and joked inside the home substitutes’ bench.
Finally, some thirty minutes later, the rest of the side appeared in dribs and drabs, making their way over to the seats and advertising hoardings that made up the peripherals for the squad photograph. This took some time to set up, with Messrs Scriven and Hill, plus the local photographers, struggling to arrange the side in its best order. Tilson asked for the short men to go down the front – “off you go Jay!” – but it was the back row that caused all the problems.
Darryl Flahavan’s lack of inches is well-documented, and he and Bart Griemink struggled to align themselves in the middle of picture. The more witty members of the website fraternity – Lee Morgan and Paul Napper from ShrimperZone, almost had the chance to use the headline ‘Stuck In The Middle With Drewe’ when he split the two shotstoppers, but finally it was agreed that Lawrie Dudfield would supplement the end. All through this, poor old Tesfaye Bramble appeared to be nodding off.
At last we were all set to go, and the newspaper guys, television cameras and website representatives were free to snap away in a variety of different shots – starting off with the men from club sponsors Betterview Windows and Conservatories involved, then with Frankie Banks and his Football in the Community team before eventually simply a team shot.
After all that the squad sauntered off to the far side of the ground in front of the West Stand where there was an opportunity for individual pictures to be taken; chief joker appeared to be Duncan Jupp – have a look at his player profile for the evidence. After the players came the coaching staff, and Broughton again, club captain Kevin Maher and Darryl Flahavan were the foremost interviewees, whilst Tilson and Brush also delayed matters in front of the cameras and Dictaphones.
After a brief interlude, the youth team finally appeared, with new first years Taylor Lang, Joe North and Oliver Stroud amongst them, as well as recent trialists Ricky Dobson, George Shelious and Dan Bailey, all of whom seem to have a future, albeit for the next few matches at least, at the football club.
At the conclusion, it was time to grab a few words with the gaffer and an added bonus, yours truly again being interviewed by Donovan Blake, although whether my words of wisdom will make it onto Anglia News tonight is another matter – I suspect the likes of Tilly and Drewe are well in front of me!
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com