The Cat Posted 16 February, 2016 Share Posted 16 February, 2016 (edited) A friend of mine, Mark Sanderson, has written a biography of the man whose FA Cup Final winning goal made him one of our most legendary players. The book is coming out on Monday 2nd May - 40 years and 1 day since that famous moment - and features input from many of the people who were close to Bobby including family members, ex players (Mick Channon, Alex Stepney and Martin Buchan among others), many of his friends and maybe the odd person from this message board. Mark has spent years researching the book and has conducted many interviews, venturing deep into some of the less salubrious parts of Portsmouth for a large number of them, gaining information from people that have not before had the chance to share their memories of Bobby. This is not the story of the 76 cup run, that has been extensively covered in Tie A Yellow Ribbon, but is a celebration of Bobby's life as someone who managed to transcend the rivalry between the club he played for and the place of his birth, and whose goal sparked spontaneous street parties in both cities. I think many would agree that as a Saints fan Mark deserves our respect for his efforts in bringing the story of Bobby's life into print and for spending a great deal of his time sat in various backstreet Portsmouth pubs surrounded by diehard Pompey fans to gain a chunk of the material. More information can be found at the link below. Keep an eye out for further updates as the book gets closer to release. http://bobbystokes.wordpress.com Edited 16 February, 2016 by The Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lets B Avenue Posted 16 February, 2016 Share Posted 16 February, 2016 Why was it "infamous"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saintquin Posted 16 February, 2016 Share Posted 16 February, 2016 Met Bobby at Poopsmuff dogs one evening. When I thanked him for giving me one of the best moments of my life he said "You're welcome". Then changed the subject straight away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dronskisaint Posted 17 February, 2016 Share Posted 17 February, 2016 Look forward to it....although I wasn't aware that there were any salubrious parts of his home town to venture deep in to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan The Flames Posted 18 February, 2016 Share Posted 18 February, 2016 Did he transcend a rivalry? Was there much of a one in the early 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted 18 February, 2016 Share Posted 18 February, 2016 Did he transcend a rivalry? Was there much of a one in the early 70's. I've wondered the same thing. When I was a kid my recollection was that when the half time scores were read out over the tannoy there was always a cheer if pompey or bournemouth were winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSanderson Posted 18 February, 2016 Share Posted 18 February, 2016 Hi everyone, Thanks for spreading the word Rich. Bobby would get the train back to his place in Southsea after a Saints game. He'd even stop off for a beer in Guildhall Walk in Pompey on the way home, often with then PFC player Keith Viney. This after his FA Cup Final winner. I wouldn't fancy Mick Channon's chances of doing that in the same era. But 'Fan the flames' raises a good point, as when the rivalry became what it is today is a bit of a grey area. Denis Hollywood played in the derbies in the 60s and told me that sure, you wanted to win, but the atmosphere on the terraces wasn't as nasty as it later became. Terry Paine agrees. I spoke to the son of Ron Reynolds, a Saints keeper we got from Spurs in 1960. He lived in Portsmouth and his son went to school in Portsmouth, (as well as playing Pompey schoolboys with Bobby) and he said he didn't get much grief for his Saints conections. Somehow there was a sea change whereby we went up to division one in 66 and they stuttered. The general consensus from Pompey's end is that Saints hadn't struggled enough to earn the right to play top flight football. That the consistent low crowds, or what they called low crowds, didn't merit first division football. Either way, there's a bit of a chip on the shoulder on some PFC fans on the subject. But by the mid 70s things had changed, use effectively relegating them down to div 3 in 76 with Mick Channon's late goal probably stoked the fires. Throughout the 1980s Bobby would go and watch both teams. Perhaps the biggest grief he got was when playing for Pompey in 77/78 when they got relegated to div 4. But Paul Gilchrist bore most of the fan's brunt in that season. I also found out PFC chairman Ian McInnes grew up with Bobby in Paulsgrove. We were in touch over email and once he found out I was a Saints fan he invited me to Fratton Park, although he was worried the atmosphere might be a bit much for me. We had a bit of banter about that. Anyway, enough of me rambling. Hoping to do a book signing at St.Mary's on April 30. Will keep you all posted. All the best, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cambsaint Posted 18 February, 2016 Share Posted 18 February, 2016 I went to Portsmouth School of Pharmacy in the late 60s early 70s There was rivalry, yet even though I lived for a year almost opposite the gates on Nottarf Krap, I never felt threatened although I obviously never looked for trouble. Obviously I wouldn't leave any Saints related stuff in my car, I used to go to every home match, either by train or car, that was the main reason for choosing Portsmouth over Brighton, which was by no means as cool as it became. The rivalry was there and of course there was hooliganism at the time, but outside the hoolie brigade the rivalry was mainly fairly friendly.( In those days the Milton Hoolies used to go and join the Millwall and try to take over the Pompey end.) I left the area before the rivalry became vicious, and all the rubbish about dock strikes was never mentioned in the 70s. I think that as Portsmouth's decline deepened they began to hate our success especially in the great days of the early 80s under McNenemy and the virulent dislike began in Portsmouth and was mirrored in Southampton. The situation now is nothing short of ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeweahscousin Posted 22 February, 2016 Share Posted 22 February, 2016 I caught up with Mark for an exclusive video interview:- http://georgeweahscousin.com/interview-mark-sanderson-on-his-forthcoming-bobby-stokes-biography/ Really looking forward to the book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 22 February, 2016 Author Share Posted 22 February, 2016 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bobby-Stokes-Portsmouth-Scored-Southamptons/dp/1785311379 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitzhugh Fella Posted 22 February, 2016 Share Posted 22 February, 2016 I went to watch Portsmouth in the 1966-67 season a couple of times and even went in the Fratton End but there was no real hatred then, but football hooliganism was in its infancy. The real nastiness started when we met them in the early 70s after we got relegated and boy did it get nasty. I remember a mob of about 100 attacking the Fitzhugh pub when there was about 20 of us barricaded inside and boots coming through windows such was their desperation to get at us. From then on it went downhill but their hatred for us has always outstripped our hatred for them; mainly because of our greater success ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david in sweden Posted 22 February, 2016 Share Posted 22 February, 2016 I went to watch Portsmouth in the 1966-67 season a couple of times and even went in the Fratton End but there was no real hatred then, but football hooliganism was in its infancy. The real nastiness started when we met them in the early 70s after we got relegated and boy did it get nasty. I remember a mob of about 100 attacking the Fitzhugh pub when there was about 20 of us barricaded inside and boots coming through windows such was their desperation to get at us. From then on it went downhill but their hatred for us has always outstripped our hatred for them; mainly because of our greater success ever since. I think some of the " on-the-field punch ups" didn't help the situation either...Duncan. I can recall Terry Paine's violent encounters with Pompey LB Roy Lunnis. Think Lunnis was a muscular 6' 4 ".... but Terry gave as good as he got - despite the obvious difference in their physiques. Were they both sent off in one game? I know a few fans around me got " pretty mad " at their confrontations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeweahscousin Posted 23 February, 2016 Share Posted 23 February, 2016 I'd love to see how much JWP would be welcomed in Pompey if he scored a winning cup final goal for us. To be fair, they did seem quite chuffed when AOC got his first England call up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 23 February, 2016 Share Posted 23 February, 2016 I'd love to see how much JWP would be welcomed in Pompey if he scored a winning cup final goal for us. To be fair, they did seem quite chuffed when AOC got his first England call up. After he left us though presumably ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSanderson Posted 23 February, 2016 Share Posted 23 February, 2016 After he left us though presumably ? Yes, Terry Paine mentioned Roy Lunniss! Bobby's era was a very different one from today. Paulsgrove was very much home to him and he continued to live there until his mid twenties when he bought a place in Southsea. So as far as Paulsgrove residents were concerned he was one of them. He took his cup winning medal back to the pubs in Paulsgrove on the Sunday night after the Saturday cup final. 500 people turned up and held street parties. Bobby's family gave me some great photos you can see here http://bobbystokesbook.com/2016/01/28/the-day-portsmouth-celebrated-a-southampton-goal/ It's difficult to imagine JWP popping in to a Portsmouth pub for swift half. Or even having a swift half at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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