Nightmare In Bournemouth

London, UK

Where have the years gone?

Hundreds of fans boarded a “football special” forty years ago to the day at Margate Station en route to Dean Court the home of Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. In the starting eleven for the “Cherries” was one Ted MacDougall, one of the most feared strikers in the Football League at the time. Ted would be treated “like any other player” said Margate manager Les Riggs to a local newspaper. (At half-time with the score 5-0 Les jokingly asked the Bournemouth manager John Bond to substitute the Scottish striker. Bond refused). The Margate side included former Tottenham Hotspur star Eddie Clayton and former Brentford goalkeeper, the late great Chic Brodie.

The train journey to Bournemouth was unremarkable for the several hundred Margate fans and a grey miserable wet day only became worse when the referee blew his whistle for the start of the match. Within two minutes, Ted had notched his first. Margate’s David Jarman then should have equalised but within a few more minutes the game as a contest was over. Elsewhere, Everton were beating Bournemouth’s local rivals Southampton 5-0 at half-time which seemed to make things a little bit easier for the travelling support, who by now, were not only down-in-the-mouth but soaking wet. The heavens remained “open” until full-time whistle. Final Score: Bournemuoth 11 Margate 0. Ted’s nine goals in that match remains an FA Cup record for the competition proper*.

The Margate team was on the train back to Waterloo. They seemed in good spirits despite having played in Margate’s heaviest ever FA Cup defeat and a far cry from their brilliant 3-0 victory over the same opposition 10 years earlier.

* Paul Jackson scored 10 for Stockbridge Park Steels in a qualifying round of the FA Cup in 2002. They beat Oldham Town 17-1.

Tags: Football