Margate Fc History Site

[Drummer]

Take a look at the new stuff Jeff has put on the site today - marvellous!

[Blue Banshee]

some great old pics

[Drummer]

Forgot to add - just look at the crowd for a Margate v Sheppey FA Cup game.

 

On the Sittingbourne game it features their goalkeeper Round. I believe that was Len Round and for us kids (then!)a bit of a star - he had an article, "An Englishman in Scotland", in Charles Buchan's Football Monthly just prior to that about his time as an English pro footballer in Scotland.

[Jeff Trice]

Glad you spotted the update, most of the photos I added were from the late great Alan Kay's collection of MFC memorabilia. Lots more unusual / rare pictures to come which I'll hopefully add gradually over the course of the next few days.

[margateshot]

Fantastic photos, what exciting times they must have been,

[Jeff Trice]

In the midst of adding some more photos which I'll detail on the main page of the site once they're all uploaded but in the meantime here's a great taster...

 

http://www.margatefchistory.com/turn%20of%20century%20card.jpg

[Drummer]

Jeff, you must be having the time of your life there .... and please keep it going!

[Coffin Ender]

Couple of things noticed in the Sheppey pix.

 

1) No advertising boards around the pitch. When did that start at football?

2) No boardroom. Obviously our directors must have had alternative accommodation at the time, but when was the current boardroom built?

 

Oh, and the goalposts look enormous!

[Drummer]

Just looking through some of my old football books there doesn't seem to be much evidence of advertising boards around grounds until the sixties.

 

I don't know when the current boardroom was built, although I suspect it was as late as the 1990's but does anyone remember the old "Committee Room" that used to be alongside the old main stand at the Coffin End side?

 

Regarding the goals, I seem to remember that the goal posts in the mid 1950's were still the square type, not rounded.

[Jeff Trice]

This is quite exciting - the site prompting conversations ! Just been looking through and the earliest evidence I can see of advertising boards at Hartsdown Park is during the 1960/61 season - there's some action photos for a game against Ramsgate where you can see a couple of boards. Also noticed hoardings in the pictures of the 1959 FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace but couldn't see any earlier than that.

[Coffin Ender]

Just looking through some of my old football books there doesn't seem to be much evidence of advertising boards around grounds until the sixties.

 

I don't know when the current boardroom was built, although I suspect it was as late as the 1990's but does anyone remember the old "Committee Room" that used to be alongside the old main stand at the Coffin End side?

 

Regarding the goals, I seem to remember that the goal posts in the mid 1950's were still the square type, not rounded.

 

When I started going (1980) the current boardroom was in place. As you say the big green shed (Coffin side of main stand, to become the tea bar in the 90s) was used for other purposes (I'll take your word it was a committee room). In those days the tea bar was on the other (Hartsdown Road end) side of the main stand and was staffed by two elderly women. This was on the site that for a while in the 90s was the nerve centre of the supporters club.

 

I also remember on Saturdays there was always a game outside on Tivoli Park. Spectators would go to the top of the terracing along the side of the pitch by the Coffin End to see some of the action in the half-time break. I think it was Phoenix Rovers who were usually playing.

[Jeff Trice]

First time I ever saw a rat was underneath the old tea hut run by the two old ladies. Happy days.

 

Just added lots more photos to the site, details can be found at...

 

http://www.margatefchistory.com/index.shtml

 

Also ditched the forum / message board as it never got used and will revert to notifying people about updates on this forum instead. Going to look into setting up a Facebook group too.

 

Hopefully my tinkering with the site won't have messed up the look of it, the main menu should all be on one line and look like this...

 

 

...if it doesn't then I'd appreciate it if you could let me know.

[Coffin Ender]

Sean Connery - ha! Why wasn't Kenny Lynch in the Jimmy Tarbuck XI? Tommy Steele, he was a true star, kids. Forget your 'grungestep' or whatever you listen to nowadays.

[Jeff Trice]

There was some story I read somewhere about us being moderately close to signing Jimmy Tarbuck before he got famous. If he ever did. Can't remember the specific details though. Maybe the catch was we had to sign Kenny Lynch too and the club couldn't afford both of them.

 

Meanwhile for anybody interested I've now managed to set up a history site Facebook group for people to join if they wish. Just do a search for Margate FC History and ask to be a member. Don't know much about groups or what I'll do with it but it's there anyway.