With the sad (in my eyes, anyway) news this week that the club are not going to contest the Sussex Senior Cup this season, I thought I would look back to when we first gained entry into what was then (and probably still is, for many local sides) a very prestigious competition.
To many it will seem an irrelevance but to those of a certain age we have enjoyed a few good times, some healthy local rivalries and with a couple of memorable away days at the Goldstone for winning finals in the early 1990s. (past club legend Dave Haining pictured below with the trophy after one of our wins)
Dave Haining with Senior Cup.
I can appreciate that finances and squad size mean this is probably a sensible decision. Also, having seen Ronan Darcy limp out of the recent game against Brighton U21s after a mistimed tackle from an opponent, the necessity of using valuable first-team players in “minor” competitions is a risk which needs to be balanced against giving game time to those not featuring regularly in League One. Anyway, hopefully in years to come we will be able to run a larger squad and field a side in the competition again, albeit with a younger team of prospects, perhaps?
All this, though, was a complete contrast to our earliest appearances in the Senior Cup, in the days before the New Town, when Crawley had a population of just a few thousand and was still playing intermediate level football.
In the 1927-28 season, we had won the Sussex Intermediate Cup, beating Hailsham 6-1 in the final at Haywards Heath. This may not sound a big deal these days, but we had special trains running for spectators and a large crowd at the game, who would then meet the team on their return to Crawley Station and give them a hero’s welcome and parade down to the White Hart for a victory celebration, led by the Crawley Town Band!
The winning team – for those who might have had family members playing – was A Baker, D Cook, A Morgan, Ted Horn, A Miller, A “Ranji” Horn, W Joy, A Henley, Alec Begbie, Wally Elliott and P Parsons. Scorers were Joy, Henley (3) and Begbie (2).
On the subject of relatives, my mate Steve Horn (fellow East Stand season-ticket holder and son of 1950s Crawley player Don Horn) is the grandson of Ted Horn and great nephew of “Ranji” both of whom are pictured in the Montgomery Cup winning side of April 17th 1926 (beating Haywards Heath 3-2 in the final A.Miller, Ted Horn pen, Alec Begbie) as currently no photo of the Intermediate Cup winners is available, anybody have one?
April 17th 1926 Montgomery Cup Winners , Horn’s in front row
In light of the Sussex Intermediate Cup win in 1928, the “Reds” (as they were then known, before we got our proper nickname of the Red Devils 60-odd years ago) were invited to enter the Sussex Senior Cup. Club historian Tony Pope provided me with some details of our early Senior Cup exploits, and it would appear we went out of the cup in the second round by 3-1 (Don Cook penalty) on 9th February 1929 to Littlehampton.
We fared no better in the 1929-30 season when, again in the second round, we lost at Worthing by 4-1 (Begbie) on 8th February 1930, with Ted and “Ranji” Horn both in the side.
Defeat again followed in 1930-31, this time in the first round on 1st November 1930, with a 5-1 (J Bratley) thrashing at home to Newhaven.
Worthing would again be our conquerors (we always seem to lose to Worthing!) on 31st October 1931. Although drawn at home, for some reason we switched the game to Worthing’s ground – which may have helped contribute to an 11-3 defeat (Percy Bridger, 2, Begbie, pen), with Ted Horn our unfortunate centre half that day!
That would seem to be the extent of our Senior Cup exploits until just after World War Two when we would play a two-leg second round game against a team from HMS Marlborough, losing 10-3 away but winning the return 5-2 at home (which at that time was Yetmans Field, West Green). We then played regularly in the competition from 1950 through to turning semi-professional in 1962, with only one final appearance to show for it, in 1959 at the Goldstone, when we lost 2-1 to Worthing (again!).
1959 Sussex Senior Cup Final Programme
1959 Sussex Senior Cup Final, Ernie Randall & Programme
It would then be 13 years before we were eligible for the competition, when it was opened out to all clubs on the scrapping of the amateur status. Sadly, a 3-2 home defeat to Brighton meant a quick exit that season and it would take until 1990 before we would finally win the competition, beating Eastbourne United 2-1 in the final at the Goldstone and retaining the trophy the following year with some very belated revenge over Littlehampton, again by 2-1 (see post match pic with John Maggs & trophy).
1991 SSC Final Post Match Team and Trophy
Enough of the Senior Cup for now, though, as we look back 20 years to 18th September 2004. This was our first season in the Conference after winning the Southern League and cup double the previous season, and by coincidence – bearing in mind our opponents in last weekend’s postponed game – we were up against Burton Albion at their old Eton Park ground, a side managed by Nigel Clough at the time.
18th September 2004 Burton away lost 1-0
We had made a steady start to life in the Conference, and after a 1-0 home win (Danny Davidson) over York City the week before, in front of 2,134 fans, we found ourselves a very respectable seventh place in the table, despite some disappointing away results.
Sadly, we would fail again on the road as Burton ran out 1-0 winners after we gifted them a goal on the half hour as a result of a poor back pass by midfielder Charlie Mapes. Despite Burton having a player sent off in the second half, we couldn’t find an equaliser and went down to our third away defeat in a row.
Our side that day consisted of Phil Smith, Ben Judge, Ryan Palmer (Adrian Deane, 75 min), Matthew Rees, Ian Simpemba, Fiston Manuella, Robert Traynor, Charlie Mapes, Daniel Davidson (Daniel Marney, 62 min), Charlie MacDonald, Neil Jenkins (Allan Tait, 55 min). Unused subs were Andy Little, Sami El-Abd.
After a 2-2 draw (Tait, 2) at Canvey Island the following Tuesday, we would get back to winning ways in our next home game, on 25th September, against Forest Green Rovers, winning fairly comfortably by 4-2 (Tait, Manuella, MacDonald, 2) in front of a crowd of 1,943.
Later that season we would gain a rare win over Worthing by 3-2 (MacDonald, 2, Davidson) at Broadfield in the FA Trophy round three, before disappointingly losing a home replay in the next round to Cambridge City by 2-1 (Simon Wormull) after a 3-3 draw (Sacha Opinel, Mo Harkin, Tait) at Cambridge.
Returning to the Sussex Senior Cup, however, and we would see a further win in the competition that year after a 5-0 victory over East Grinstead (Jenkins, Traynor, Tait, 2, Daniel Platel) and a 5-1 victory over Hailsham (Mapes, Jenkins, Davidson, MacDonald, 2) presented us with a third-round tie against Brighton. This was played at Worthing, where we would come out 2-1 winners (Marney, Fouahde Belaid) after extra time to set up a semi-final against Lewes. I must admit, any memory of our second goal-scorer that day has long since faded. Anyone remember him?
Sussex Senior Cup 2004-5 Rnd. 3 v BHA, won 2-1
The semi-final, again at Worthing, on 5th April 2005 against Lewes, would result in another 2-1 victory, with a first-half goal from Neil Jenkins and new signing Steve Burton also scoring just before the break. We controlled the second half before Conference South side Lewes grabbed a consolation goal in added time.
The final, at Priory Lane Eastbourne, was played on 2nd May 2005 against surprise finalists Ringmer in front of a disappointing crowd of 1,009, with us running out comfortable 2-0 victors.
That cup win was some small consolation for a league campaign which had started so well, and even featured a 2-0 home win live on TV (Morecambe, on Monday 21st February, in the snow, in front of 2,516) to have us dreaming of the play-offs, at least. However, we faded badly by the end, struggling to pick up points away from home, and ended the season with four straight defeats, finishing in 12th place on 57 points.
Having said that, we would all have taken that at the start of that season, going as we were into a very strong league (much as we are now), and I think most of us would be quite happy – ecstatic, even? – with a similar position this season?
Come on, you Red Devils, oh and welcome back Corey!
Mick Fox – mjfjo@yahoo.co.uk
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