Football Programmes of Yesteryear No. 10: Yeovil Town v Enfield, 25 March 1997

A match between sides in first and second place, little more than a month before the end of the season, will always have an edge to it. When those sides are Yeovil Town and Enfield, two giants of Non League football, when the home side is managed by former Tottenham Hotspur and Rangers legend Graham Roberts, and when you add in the fact that Roberts had formerly managed Enfield and had tempted a number of their former players to Huish Park, then the attraction becomes even more apparent. Indeed, so attractive was this match that not only did eight thousand and seven people turn up to watch, but an estimated two thousand others were locked out- the biggest gate for a Non League match this decade.

Only one point separated the two sides as the match kicked off. The Glovers had the best home record in the Division, with only one defeat, whilst Enfield’s away form was even better- they were still undefeated on the road. The two were the only possible winners of the title barring a miracle, as the sides chasing them, led by Purfleet and Yeading, were a further twenty points or more behind with a maximum of eleven matches remaining.

The hosts had lost only two matches on the road themselves, and one of them particularly rankled. They’d travelled to Southbury Road on November 9th and a crowd of one thousand, three hundred and forty nine had seen Enfield triumph by three goals to nil. Those were three of seventy goals tonight’s visitors had managed in their thirty one matches so far this season, far and away the best scoring record- and they had the best defence, too.

The Managers

Graham Roberts had a distinguished playing career, though not one which was short on controversy. A mainstay of the Tottenham Hotspur defence which had won the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Cup once, he also picked up six caps for England and isn’t slow to mention that it should have been more. His biography details his dislike of Spurs manager David Pleat, and it may well have been that relationship which saw him head to Scotland, signing for Rangers who were then managed by Graeme Souness.

His time at Rangers saw a league title, a league cup, a court appearance- he, along with Chris Woods, Terry Butcher and Celtic's Frank McAvennie were arrested after a match between the old firm, which ended 2-2 and saw Woods, Butcher and McAvennie sent off, with Roberts going in goal. They were charged with a breach of the peace for events on the field of play, and eventually Butcher and Woods were actually convicted- Roberts charge was found ‘not proven’ whilst McAvennie was found not guilty. He left Rangers after a fall-out with Souness, and went on to lead Chelsea to promotion back to top flight before falling out with Ken Bates and moving on to West Bromwich Albion.

His managerial career then started at Enfield, where he was in charge from 1992 to 1994. The side never finished lower than third in the Isthmian League during his time in charge, but that wasn’t good enough for a club with Conference aspirations and he lost his job, starting the following season as a player with Slough Town. He then moved to Stevenage, before being chosen as player/manager of Yeovil Town in January 1995- only he wasn’t allowed to play, as Stevenage wouldn’t release his player registration without Town paying them a reported twenty five thousand pounds transfer fee. Town were at this point in the Conference, desperately fighting relegation, and wanted Roberts on the pitch as well as in the dugout, but they ended up finishing last and being relegated back to the Isthmian League, which they had left as champions in 1988. He finally got to play the following season.

His first full season as manager, 1995-96, saw the Glovers finish fourth. He eventually left the club in January 1998 after one hundred and fifty four games in charge, and later managed a number of other Non League clubs, Scottish club Clyde, and the Pakistan and Nepal international sides.

George Borg

As a player, George was part of Millwall’s Division Three promotion winning side of 1976, and he also played for Wycombe Wanderers, Maidstone United, Dartford, Dulwich Hamlet, South Africa's Cape Town City, and Carolina Lightning in the United States where he turned out alongside Rodney Marsh and Bobby Moore.

Roberts’ Assistant at Southbury Road, he succeeded him in the hotseat and was there until 1997. He led the club to the Isthmian Title in 1995, but sadly the club were denied promotion to the Conference on financial grounds, Slough Town going up instead. The following season they missed out on the title by one goal. They also had a superb run in the FA Cup in 1994-95, defeating Hemel Hempstead, Purfleet, Ruislip Manor, St Albans City, Cardiff City and Torquay United on the way to a two-nil Third Round defeat against Leicester City at Filbert Street, watched by more than seventeen thousand fans.

In 1997 he left to manage Aldershot Town, where he won the Isthmian League Division One title in his first season. He followed that with the League Cup, two Hampshire senior Cups, an Isthmian Charity Shield and a runner up spot behind Dagenham and Redbridge. He has since managed Braintree Town, Enfield Town, Chelmsford City and- briefly- Brentwood Town, amongst others- returning to the Braintree hotseat last December.

The Players

We’re going to look at the players based on those featured on the back page of the programme, although we do know that the Town lineup was a little different, Clement coming in for Harvey. We can’t find out whether Enfield made any changes to the squad shown.

Yeovil Town

1. Tony Pennock- the keeper made more than two hundred appearances for Yeovil, and also turned out for Wigan Athletic and Hereford Town, amongst others. He’s most recently been coaching at Hull City.

2. Jerry Gill- Jerry also played for Leyton Orient, Birmingham City, Northampton Town and Cheltenham Town, and for the last three years has been manager at another former club, Bath City.

3. Micky Engwell- Micky, from Grays, started his career at Southend United and also played for Crewe Alexandra, Chesham United and Slough Town, amongst others. He spent time as manager at Boreham Wood, and later returned to the club as coach of the Development Squad.

4. Graham Roberts- Player/Manager- see above

5. Lee Harvey- started his career at Watford, before moving on to play for St Albans City and Aylesbury United. After playing for Yeovil Town he turned out for Slough Town, Hemel Hempstead, Chertsey Town, Berkhamsted Town and Edgware Town, as well as Boreham Wood, where he was co-manager for a while with Micky Engwell.

6. Rob Cousins- made two hundred and thirteen appearances for Yeovil over four seasons. Also played for Forest Green Rovers and Tiverton Town. Was later a manager at Yate Town.

7. Colin Fielder- joined the club from Woking, and also played for Aldershot/Aldershot Town, Slough Town and Farnborough Town.

8. Paul Turner- played at Arsenal and Cambridge United before moving on, his clubs included Enfield, Farnborough Town, Bedford Town and St Albans City. He moved to St Albans from the Glovers for a club-record fee (for the Saints) of six thousand pounds.

9. Howard Forinton- came through the youth ranks at Oxford United before joining the Glovers, and moved on afterwards to play for Birmingham City, Peterborough United and Torquay United principally, before returning to Huish Park in 2002.

10. Dean Birkby- he was Bath City’s top scorer and signed for Yeovil for a reported ten thousand pounds. Also played for Gloucester City, Newport County and Forest Green Rovers, amongst others.

11. Graham Kemp- later moved on to Chesham United with manager Roberts and also played for Slough Town

12. Warren Patmore- one of Yeovil’s greatest ever players, with one hundred and forty goals to his name, he had previously played professionally at Cambridge United, Millwall and Northampton Town. Went on to play for Woking, Northwood and Margate, and these days is apparently an estate agent.

14. Danny Adams- we can’t really tell you anything about Danny apart from the fact that, so far as we can see, he made only half a dozen appearances. If you can fill in the blanks, get in touch!

16. Steve Brown- another player who later followed Roberts to Chesham, he made more than one hundred appearances for the Glovers. Starting out with Charlton Athletic, he was later manager of Slough Town and Boreham Wood.

Enfield

1. Andy Pape- had three spells with the club and had many medals to show for it, including League Championships and an FA Trophy win. Also had a number of England caps. Previously played for Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic.

2. Darren Annon. Played for Carshalton Athletic, Brentford and Kingstonian before joining Enfield. Went on to play for Farnborough Town, Margate and Havant and Waterlooville, and a number of other clubs.

3. Paul Underwood- Played for Sutton United, Kingstonian and Carshalton Athletic before moving to Enfield. Went on to have an impressive professional career with Rushden and Diamonds and Luton Town before illness cut short his career.

4. Steve McGrath- Came in from Yeading, apparently for a ‘five figure sum.’

5. Steve Terry- A seasoned professional with Watford, Hull City and Northampton Town. Joined the club a year previously from Walton and Hersham. Later turned out for Billericay Town.

6. Gary Fitzgerald- started life at Watford. Also went on to play for Hendon, Yeading, Enfield Town, Hemel Hempstead, Slough Town and Barton Rovers.

7. Paul Moran- started his career at Tottenham Hotspur, but was Enfield born. Played thirty six first team games for Spurs, had time on loan at Newcastle United and Leicester City, and also played for Peterborough United before joining his home town club.

8. Matt Edwards- another former professional, and another who began his career at White Hart Lane, before having far more success at Brighton & Hove Albion. Joined Enfield from Walton & Hersham.

9. Steve West- came in from Concord Rangers, who were then in the Essex Senior League. Had also previously played for Tilbury. Signed for Woking in 1997 for thirty five thousand pounds, made more than two hundred appearances there scoring fifty goals before moving to Dagenham & Redbridge. Also later played for Hornchurch, Grays Athletic, East Thurrock United and Margate.

10. Leroy May- went on to play for Stafford Rangers, Kettering Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Hereford United- who terminated his contract when he didn’t turn up for summer training, and revealed he’d been working as a stripper!

11. Lee Endersby- went on to play for Slough Town, Hendon and Bishop’s Stortford

12. Jason Tucker- A recent arrival, came in from Aldershot Town and had also played for the original Shots in the Football League. Also played for Bishop’s Stortford, Hayes, Yeading and Hanwell Town.

14. Shaun Marshall- we suspect this is the Shaun Marshall who won promotion from the Conference with Stevenage Borough the previous season, but can’t be sure! He went on to play-m very well indeed- for Boreham Wood.

16. Martin St Hillaire- Had fairly recently played for Yeovil, and was on his second spell with Enfield. Had also turned out for Harlow Town, Aveley and Harrow Borough. Was later manager of Hertford Town, played for East Thurrock United and Enfield Town, and also played briefly for Romford.

The match

Finding a detailed match report in these days where access to the British Library is fairly impossible was rather difficult. However we did find the following, taken from The Independent- which perhaps demonstrates quite how much of a stir this match created:

‘If ever proof was needed of the strength of non-League football below its top level (the GM Vauxhall Conference), it arrived on Tuesday evening when an astonishing crowd of 8,007 turned up to watch the Icis League leaders, Yeovil Town, take on second-placed Enfield.

It was the biggest non-League gate this decade, and has been bettered in the last 10 years only by the 9,432 who watched Lincoln City's Conference title-winning celebration against Wycombe Wanderers in May 1988.

"It was one of the best nights in Yeovil Town's history," the club's player-manager, Graham Roberts, the former Tottenham and Rangers defender, said. "It was incredible - there were people in the trees outside the ground." An estimated 1,500 people were unable to get into Huish Park - the capacity of 8,720 was not reached because Enfield's fans did not fill their area.

George Borg, the Enfield manager, said: "Unbelievable, that's the only word to describe it. It was magnificent support from Yeovil - the game was a great spectacle."

Yeovil took a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes with goals from Micky Engwell and Paul Turner - both former Enfield players - but two goals from the former Spurs forward Paul Moran levelled the score before half-time and the match ended as a 2-2 draw. Yeovil lead the league by one point, and both teams have 10 games left.

"The match was played in the right spirit and the crowd made it special," Roberts said. "We're still top - we can only lose the league now."

The aftermath

Yeovil went on to take the title by six points, picking up a massive one hundred and one points in total. The difference between the clubs, who each lost only three times all season, was that Town managed to win three more matches- matches which Enfield were only able to draw. The Glovers finished thirty four points above the next best club, Sutton United.

Town went on to win the FA Trophy in 2002, then take the Conference title- and promotion to the Football League- in 2003. They got as high as the Championship, for one season in 2013-14.

Our table came from the Isthmian Archive, which you can find HERE.