As the lockdown continues and people find more curious ways to amuse themselves, we at TSOF have continued our tour through the archives and are pleased to confirm we shall be partaking in no fucking TikTok or lip syncing videos. Necking pints and baking bread remain open options at the time of writing.
With the current wrangling over when and how to finish the premier league season getting a lot of media coverage despite hundreds of people literally dying every day (we are strong advocates of the null and void method for reasons unknown…), we got thinking about our own former top flight players. With the discovery of players from our past such as previous blog topic Don Roper being discovered, we surmised we might be able to put together an XI of ex-top flight Magpies.
But were there enough players to do so? Well, reader, you’ll be delighted to hear there are, and we’ve even managed to get a few subs and a manager. We’ve elected to use a 3-5-2 formation purely due to a chronic lack of defensive options. So, without further ado, here is the side of ex-Dorchester players who have played top flight football in England;
Manager: Tommy Rowe.
Not only did Tommy play in the top flight with Portsmouth, with whom he would win the 1939 FA Cup, he would join the RAF during the Second World War and train as a bomber pilot. He would complete 39 successful bombing missions of Germany and would be awarded the Distinguishing Flying Cross (DFC), but be shot down on his 40th mission over Germany and would see out the last two years of the conflict as a prisoner of war. When peace returned, Poole born Tommy would return home and manage Dorchester for a season in 1953-54. He lived locally in Dorchester until he passed away, aged 92, in 2006. He was the last surviving member of Portsmouth’s FA Cup winning side. A former Dorchester manager, top flight honours winner, awarded the DFC, a war hero. Quite a straight forward choice for the managerial position.
Goalkeeper: David Best.
Another former manager, David Best would arrive at the club in 1976 as a player and go on to manage the side in the seasons that followed. This would be after he had made over 500 football league appearances for Bournemouth, Oldham, Ipswich and Portsmouth, with his time at Ipswich coming in the top flight between 1968-74. He is well regarded there having been voted into their top 100 players of all time. He would guide us to second place in the Southern League Division 1 South in 1977-78 which included a 16 game unbeaten run, using his links at former club Bournemouth to bring in some high quality players. But more on that later.
Defender: Jon Gittens.
One of the loans in this squad, Jon would enjoy spells in the top flight with both Southampton and Middlesbrough in the late 1980’s and early 90’s. A player who played in the first ever game I saw in 1995 (Brighton reserves v Portsmouth reserves in 1995, if you’re asking), his name is one I always remember as my Dad once said to me; “Jon Gittens couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo”. A phrase that 6 year old me did not understand. Jon would come to us in January 2001 on a three-month loan deal from Nuneaton under Mark Morris before moving into coaching with Fareham. At Fareham he would be sent to the stands for calling a referees assistant a “chicken nugget.” He would sadly pass away last year aged only 55.
Defender: Mark Morris.
Recently voted as manager of the 30 year team poll we ran, it was as a player that Mark Morris first came to the club in 1997. He amassed over 500 professional appearances with his time at Watford in 1987/88 seeing him play in the first division. He was in charge of our last trophy win of note when we won the Dr Martens Easter Division in 2003/04 (AGM Cup results deemed invalid for this blog) and guided us to becoming founder members of the Conference South, but it’s his defensive abilities that see him become part of this back line.
Defender: Graham Roberts.
Spurs legend Graham Roberts would join the club in 1977, scoring 33 goals in 79 games in a more advanced position for us, before he moved South in 1979 prior to his move to Tottenham, he’s an easy choice for this particular side. Sold for £6,000 to Weymouth and then onto Spurs for £35,000, Roberts is the first player to play for Dorchester and then go onto be capped at the highest level by England. We think. A proper footballing hard man who would win 6 England caps, two FA Cups, a UEFA Cup, the SPL and the Scottish league cup, he completes the back 3 alongside Morris and Gittens.
Wide left: Marcel Gaillard.
Marcel Gaillard is not someone we had ever heard of until the lockdown came about, but we’re glad to have found out some more about the Belgian winger. Marcel would move to Crystal Palace post World War Two in 1947, before a move to the champions of England, Portsmouth, in 1951. Seven goals in 58 appearances in the top flight would follow, including the decisive goal in a win at Old Trafford, before he would move to Weymouth In 1953 where he would make 308 appearances and score 156 goals. He would move to the Magpies in May of 1960 as a player/manager scoring four goals in 14 games before an ankle injury forced him to concentrate on the management side of things, a job he would do until 1964. He would sadly die way before his time, aged only 49.
Wide right: Don Roper.
The subject of our last blog , Don Roper would play 321 games and score 95 goals in a ten year top flight career at Arsenal between 1947-57 before joining Dorchester around the same time as manager Marcel Gaillard. Don would make 103 appearances and score 31 goals for us, helping us to a club record 115 goals in the 1960-61 season. Two time First Division winner, FA Cup finalist and England B international, Don and Marcel will be assuming the possibly quite unfamiliar roles of wing backs. Needs must…
Marcel Gaillard back left, and Don Roper stood next to him. 1962-63.
Midfield: John Matthews.
Joining Arsenal as an apprentice in 1971, John Matthews would make 45 appearances between 1974-78, scoring twice. He would though have the misfortune of being at the club at the same time as Liam Brady, so his playing time would be limited at best. A hundred plus games for both Sheffield United and Plymouth would follow in the coming years before joining us in the 1990 season from Torquay.
Midfield: Keith Miller.
Although it was at Bournemouth that Keith would really make his name, he did play for at West Ham between 1965-70. Appearances were very scarce, but they count and we could really do with a player of his class in this midfield. Keith made over 400 league appearances for Bournemouth in a ten season spell before his release in 1980. A move to us would follow and he would ironically line up against his former club as we agonisingly lost 2-1 AET in a replay at Dean Court in the 1981-82 FA Cup. This was after holding them to a 1-1 draw at the old Avenue ground in the first game. He would later manage us for seven years between 1984-91.
Midfield: Matty Holmes.
Another one of the easiest picks for the side, club legend Matty Holmes would would enjoy top flight football between 1992-97 with both West Ham and Blackburn. His professional career would be cut short in February of 1998 after a challenge from Wolves Kevin Muscat. His spell with us would see him make 170 appearances with 19 goals alongside league and cup wins in that time, as well as the win which saw us cement our place in the Conference South.
Centre Forward: Martin Chivers.
Quite how an ex-England international and UEFA Cup winner can be our player manager for half a season and no one seems to mention or remember it does baffle us somewhat, but it did happen. After several seasons with Southampton and helping them to the top flight in 1965-66, Chivers would move to Spurs for £125,000 in 1968 and he would become a two time league cup winner (70-71 & 72-73), win the UEFA Cup (71-72), and earn 24 England caps scoring 13 goals between 1971-73. His time at Dorch as player manager in the 1980-81 season would only last half the term, but he’d still score 14 goals in that time (not tap ins either) before travel and other commitments become too much. One of the other forwards in that Dorchester side was…
Standing, left to right: Pete Peavoy (trainer), Martin Chivers, Tony Chutter, Bob Brittain, Trevor Senior, Mick Stone, Richard Burley, Barry Dominey, Barrie Thomas, Paul Thorne, Bill Hall (physio), Ray Ames
Seated, left to right: Trevor Townsend, Brian Lee, Steve Flay, Hedley Steele (Capt), Stuart Bell (caretaker manager), Kevin Leigh, Barry Harman and Billy Foreman.
Centre forward: Trevor Senior.
After several prolific season with us from the late 1970’s before moving to Portsmouth for a then Southern League record fee of £35,000, Trevor would then go on to play top flight football with Watford, but it is his scoring exploits at Reading that see him fondly remembered there to this day. He is still their record goal scorer with 184 goals in 362 games. Trev would help us win the Souther League in 1979-80, and by the time his move to full time football with Portsmouth came about in December 1981, he had already scored 40 goals for us that season. A remarkable scoring record.
Substitutes;
Goalkeeper: Neil Finn. Played on New Years Day in 1996 for West Ham due to an injury crisis which made him the youngest ever Premier League player at the time. He was with us on loan in 1998 so he meets the criteria!
Midfielder: Steve Gritt. Steve would play nine games on loan for us from Bournemouth, scoring four goals in the process in 1976. He would become a Charlton legend playing 435 games for them between 1977-93.
Midfield: Harry Redknapp. Long before the heady heights of an FA Cup win with Portsmouth, Champions League campaigns with Spurs and an I’m a Celebrity win that led to a jam roly poly endorsement, ‘arry was a footballer, and a good one at that. Part of the West Ham side that was stacked with legends of the game, it would be Dave Best using him links with Bournemouth that would see Harry play for us in the 77-78 season.
We at TSOF would like to stress that the mascot in the front is in fact a toy magpie and NOT what it looks like. Standing left to right: Eddie McManus (assistant manager), Alan Hooker, Harry Redknapp, Steve Jones, Dave Best, Peter Poore, Trevor Brinkworth, Richard Burley, Peter Peavoy (trainer)
Seated left to right: Martin Bridge, Mike Green, Hedley Steele, Greg Ayles, Micky Galpin
Centre forward: John O’Rouke. Played top level for Ipswich and Coventry between 1968-71 but is considered a cult hero at just about all of his ex-clubs as best as we can tell. An average of almost a goal every other game or better at Luton, Middlesbrough, Ipswich and QPR, before moving to Bournemouth and then onto us in 1977 where he would spend 3 seasons. Another man who is sadly no longer with us, succumbing to cancer in 2016 aged 71.
Centre forward: Ron Davies. A top flight career at Southampton where he would keep another further Magpie, Martin Chivers, out of the side with a record of 134 goals in 240 games, he would play for Portsmouth and Manchester United before a spell with us between October 1976 and February 1977. He was capped by Wales 29 times scoring 9 goals. He would sadly pass away aged 70 in 2013.
So there you have it, a team of ex-Dorchester players to have played in the top flight of English football. Have we missed anyone out (except Danny Ings, more on him another time…)? Look out for more from us in the coming weeks, this is keeping us sane and quite frankly much more fun to write about compared to another away defeat in the outskirts of London in one of those terrifying zone 4 suburbs. Up the ale house cloggers and don’t forget er to wash your hands to the soothing sounds of Blaze Away. SV.
Huge thanks to both Bob Brittain and Headley Steele for their knowledge and assistance with some of the old photos. It’s greatly appreciated.
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