My First XI: Romford FC – Mike Woods

By Ian Townsend

Mike has watched Romford play for five decades. His chosen team spans each of them.


Having watched Romford play at various levels over the last fifty years – from Step 5 in the Essex Senior League, all the way up to what would have been Step 1 in the Southern League Premier Division had the National League System existed in the 1960s – selecting my first XI is no easy task. Apart from the sheer number of players to choose from there’s the small matter of how do you compare the merits of players who played at such different levels?

My XI is selected as much on the basis of what I believe would be a well-balanced team as well as the best players in each position, and although it is a 3-4-3 formation on paper, there’s lots of versatility with defenders comfortable in midfield and vice versa.

Goalkeeper:

Chris Lightfoot:

Romford have been blessed with a number of outstanding goalkeepers over the years, and here I have plumped for a keeper from the club’s Southern League days. Chris Lightfoot had the unenviable task of taking over from the legendary Andy Smith. He was a tall, imposing keeper, good on crosses and stopping shots whose calm assurance would inspire confidence in the rest of the team. Joined Romford in 1972 from AP Leamington, and left in 1976 for Leyton-Wingate. He kept 44 clean sheets in 174 appearances.

Defenders:

Danny Cossington:

Danny epitomises the 21st century Boro team, that is to say the years in which the club had no playing budget, during which time the club were lucky to have a number of loyal and talented players who were committed to the cause, despite a lack of monetary reward. Never gave less than 100%, he was exceptional in the air for a player who was often up against forwards considerably taller than he. Twice voted Player of The Year and hugely appreciated for his efforts by every Romford supporter. Signed as a midfield player, Danny spent most of his time at Romford as a central defender, where he was calmness personified.

Dave Bickles:

Sadly, no longer with us – he died in 1999, aged just 55 – Dave Bickles joined Romford from Colchester United, having previously been at Crystal Palace and West Ham United. He played over 250 times for Boro and was an elegant central defender who read the game well and had a bit of the Bobby Moore’s about him. In 1976 he took over the role of player-manager, which he retained until the club folded in 1978. As much as anyone, he was instrumental in keeping the club going through its traumatic last few seasons.

Terry Tapping:

Terry joined Romford from Arsenal as an inside-left, but it was as a swashbuckling left-back that he was best known. Another player who made the game look easy, he was possessed of a cannonball shot, put to good effect at free-kicks. He scored 132 goals in 709 starts. Particularly remembered – by me at least – for an FA Trophy tie against Cheltenham Town on a rather muddy Brooklands pitch in 1975 in which he was drafted into the forward line and scored in a 4-1 win.

Midfield:

Roy Sanders:

Holds the record for the most appearances in the old club’s professional era, 767 starts between 1960 and 1976. Roy was an orthodox right-winger of the old school who had many a tussle with the Southern League’s left-backs. Always a delight to watch him flying down the wing and pinging over crosses for his centre-forward. Roy was at a Romford FC book launch a few years back and looked as though with a couple of weeks training, he could still do a job on the wing.

Paul Evans:

‘Plank’ was a legendary figure at Romford, and to call him a no-nonsense player is a huge understatement, he was probably the most committed player I have seen in a Romford shirt. Paul was the sort of player that you hate to see lining up against your team but love to see in your colours. Inspirational, hardworking and even harder tackling, he weighed in with more than his fair share of goals – 28 in 110 games – including a hat-trick against Hungerford Town on the day that Boro clinched the Isthmian League Division Two championship in 1997. Although I’ve picked him to be the midfield enforcer, he would be equally at home in the middle of a flat back-four.

Danny Benstock:

Ostensibly a left full-back, The Rolls Royce, as he was dubbed by supporters, was just as often seen in midfield where he scored the majority of his 67 goals. A superb passer of the ball – even on the Sungate mudheap that was Boro’s home between 1996 and 2001 – he proved to be the perfect middle man between the ball winning Paul Evans and prolific strikers such as Vinny John and Steve Portway.

Martin Hayes:

Signing the former Arsenal man was something of a coup for Romford, and Martin Hayes proved that he wasn’t just going through the motions by scoring 57 goals in 124 games. His experience in the top-flight was obvious as his vision and ability to pick out a pass meant that he made as many goals as he scored. Martin was a joy to watch, a player whose class was obvious with every touch, and although strictly speaking a striker, I’d have him in a slightly withdrawn role because otherwise I’ll have to pick four to play up front.

Forwards:

Micky Ross:

Micky Ross joined Romford in 1993, the club’s second season after reforming after the 1978-1992 hiatus, and scored 26 league goals in his first season. A great target man and goalscorer, he weighed in with 57 goals in 106 appearances, holding the club’s goalscoring record for nine years. He achieved legendary status when he became the first post-1992 player to score a hat-trick for the club, all three goals coming inside the last ten minutes of an epic 4-3 FA Cup win over Grays Athletic in 1994.

Robin Chandler:

There were fewer better sights watching Romford in the 1970s than Robin Chandler racing clear of the opposition defence, rounding the keeper and tucking the ball into the back of the net; one such goal that he scored in that fashion, against Maidstone United in 1974, particularly sticks in my mind. The hat-trick he bagged as Romford won a Boxing Day derby, 3-1 at Chelmsford City in 1973 was also particularly memorable. Almost scored a double hat-trick in an 11-0 FA Cup win over Rainham Town in 1970, but had to settle for just the five. Scored 115 goals in 296 starts from 1970 to 1975. There are some forwards whose reputation scares the living daylights out of defenders; Robin Chandler was one of them. He had the misfortune to break his leg a week before Romford’s FA Cup tie against Football League side Gillingham in 1971, a game The Gills won 1-0 but which most supporters felt Boro would have won with Chandler in the team.

Paul Davies:

Paul, brother of Welsh international Ron Davies, signed for Romford from Charlton Athletic in 1975 as the club battled relegation, and was probably the most technically gifted player I ever saw in a Boro shirt. Dominant in the air, immaculate and poised on the ground, he was the complete centre forward and had scored in seven of the first eight games of 1975-76 when he suffered a terrible injury in a match against Ramsgate which effectively ended his career. Had he not been injured, Romford would undoubtedly have won the Southern League First Division South that season, a great player but a real case of what might, indeed ought, to have been.

Right, let’s have your First XI! Email your squad to Ian at townsendaround@gmail.com and you’ll see it appear here.

Where next?

My First XI: Aveley, Andy Potter Andy gives us his First XI direct from Parkside. Although looking at his selection, most of it comes direct from Mill Field.
My First XI: Ian Guppy, Bognor Regis Town Rocks stalwart Ian has dared to be different- he hasn’t given us a Rocks XI, but a side made up of players he’s seen play against the Rocks!

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