rpb

One of the differences about the game over the past fifty years - I don't think we lost any of the 1960 team due to bigger clubs coming in for them back then...

I think you are talking about Little Ron... Big Ron was signed from Norwich for £50 000 in 1966.

I think he came on as a late substitute against Blackpool and played one other game (Sheffield Wed?) before calling it a day.

Only three of our third division champions team (1960) went onto appear in the first division with Saints in 1966 (Paine, Sydenham and Huxford). Assuming that the master plan comes to fruition and we get back to the Premiership, how many of the current squad will make the journey with us?

He was very sharp but he did have two great wingers (Paine and Sydenham) supplying chances and George O'Brien playing alongside him - towards the end of his career with Saints he seemed to have problems staying upright!

Not that bit - the article underneath...

This is funny - well it amused me, anyway... http://crabfootball.com/news-article/pompey-probed-by-trading-standards-over-internet-sales/#more-2107

I was only a day out!

Now there's a surprise! http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/Pompey-bidders-miss-deadline-to.6157772.jp#5044927

It's alright, PES explained it earlier - it's called 'rope a dope'.

It does sound very Pinnacle-esque but if they have paid up £3m for exclusivity then perhaps they do mean business...

To be honest people were far more upset about losing to Tranmere. This looks interesting ... http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=755558&sec=england&cc=5739

I seem to remember Pompey, then in the Championship, playing at Man U in the cup and losing 4 - 1. I was surprised then how up beat your fans were - they were full of self congratulations about how well the team had played, how well they sang, how well the bell was rung... It happens.

Weston, read his post again - it was obviously 'tongue in cheek'.

Isn't it a bit ironic that they are about to be saved by someone who loves horses?

You can't say that Nickh didn't warn us... http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/Millionaire-on-verge-of-Pompey.6150322.jp

It sounds very promising but we found that the ones who talked a lot were the ones who didn't deliver.

I expect that we will have to keep on eye on this... http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/list_chancery.htm

Hamilton - weren't you at SMC? They produced some fine chess players over the years - good to see that you are carrying things on.

Peter Marshall used to run the Hampshire team - I used to get called up to play board 30 for games against Cornwall or Devon as nobody else wanted to travel that far. You would go all the way to Exeter and discover that they couldn't get enough players to play anyway and end up watching the other games! Horace Parsons used to organise the Club Championship - he was in his eighties when I knew him. One of the few players to specialise in Birds Opening.

Len Walters - he, Peter Marshall and Horace Parsons were the mainstays of the club back then. I seem to remember that Perrin went by the name of Reggie but that night not have been his actual name! I used to be a controller at Pat McEvoy's Portsmouth Tournament (the Under 100 grade section). I believe that Hollington fell out with the HCF and moved on to Scrabble - he died about ten years ago.

Last year 'Happy Clappers' were called 'Lowe Luvvies'.

It was around then that Pat McEvoy and Terry Hollington took over Junior Chess in Hampshire and Portsmouth became very strong (at chess anyway). Looking at the Southampton Chess Club's website Hall of Fame, I was fascinated to see many names still active from twenty five years ago - Walters, Perrin, Buckmaster, Bell, Summers - I have been beaten by them all!

They haven't updated it for two years Oaklands Community School is now called Oasis Academy. I won their Under 140 grade Tournament in 1984 but they only have the winners listed from 1989 - all that effort for nothing... (I only won it because one of the other finalists fell asleep during a game and lost on time)

I used to play there in the 80's - I think that Southampton Chess Club is based at Oasis Academy, Lordshill now. I keep meaning to rejoin but twenty five years of inactivity would take some getting over.