Reminiscence

Concord Rangers  0  Millwall  4

Friendly

My pal Derek has lived in lots of places.

Currently residing in Nottingham, he’s also set up base in places such as Cambridge, Maidstone, Bromley, Surrey, Grays and indeed a place called Yoshkar-Ola which for those uninitiated is around 500 miles East of Moscow.

But, most importantly, where was he born and raised? Canvey Island, that’s where, until the floods came in 1953 and they were forced to up sticks. Derek, deep down, is an Essex boy, he may not have the spray tan or the white Merc, but he’s Essex through and through, so much so, to this day he will still eat jellied eels straight from the Thames estuary, the sick man!

I made Derek a promise at the end of the season, I was going to go and watch a game at Concord Rangers, and as a thank you for his generosity to me over the past twelve months, I promised to take him to the town, and back to the place he has such fond memories of.

Bingo, a pre-season friendly against Millwall on the first Saturday of July looked as good an opportunity as any, and with a kick off at 1pm we decided to make an early start and take advantage of the glorious weather and spend some time on the sea front.

An 8am start from Casa Jarvis saw us pulling into a car park on the sea front at around 10.45am, and that gave us ample opportunity to wander over to Sue’s Café, past the various eateries and amusements, to take on board a hearty breakfast and a cuppa.

Derek has fond memories of the place, pointing out various landmarks and remarking on what used to be where, but what I wanted to do was have a walk up the steep slope onto the wall that has been built to protect Canvey from the storm and tidal surges that wreaked so much death and destruction.

Canvey is like Holland, much of it is below sea level, so having an adequate defence facility is critical to prevent any kind of repeat. Once we were stood on the wall looking out towards Sheerness and the Isle of Sheppey, its’ hard to imagine what it must have been like when the water quite literally rose in a matter of minutes and spread into the streets and homes.

With the sightseeing done and a game to go to we got back on the road and followed the route around the coast, past the street Derek was born in, and onto Thames Road which leads to the home of National League South outfit Concord Rangers.

So, what are Concord all about?

It seems the name Concord comes from a beach, which sits slightly West of Canvey sea front, and the club itself are a relatively young creation having been formed in 1967.

The Beachboys joined the Essex Senior League in 1991, winning it for a third and final time in 2008, which in turn earned a promotion to the Isthmian League. Two seasons in the First Division North beckoned before they beat Enfield Town in the Play-Off Final and made it to the Premier Division.

A fourth placed finish in 2012-13 saw them get to another Play-Off Final, this time Lowestoft Town were beaten and little Concord Rangers, the club that were always historically the poor relations to Canvey Island FC, had made it to the National League South.

The relationship between the two clubs has always interested me, and yes, they would have met in the early days of Concord being in the Essex Senior League and then for a couple of seasons in the Isthmian Premier, but by 2013 Concord have held higher status in the town. Do they get on? No idea, but they play in the same colours and one of the hashtags the club promotes is Concord Island, so read into that what you will!

The ground at Thames Road is a good one, but not good enough for National League top flight football as they were denied the opportunity to compete in the Play Offs last season due to not having the requisite grading. The finished in a hugely creditable sixth place under the stewardship of ex-Leatherhead boss Sammy Moore, but disappoint was duly to follow.

Thames Road is quite literally a road that runs from the main road out of Canvey, to the Thames, if you could carry on through the gas storage facility you would be in the drink! It is indeed very close to the river, although to be fair, Canvey Island FC is a little bit nearer the water if we want to get controversial.

I did like the ground though, once through the turnstiles the clubhouse is on the left and was doing a very decent trade on a roasting day in Essex. To the right is the main stand, with two small Atcost seated stands to either side of it, and I suspect here lies the grading issue, with the seats not forming part of the same structure.

Moving round to the Thames end is a small area of cover, while on the side opposite the main stand is a TV gantry and further small Atcost’s either side. Behind this side of the ground is the Thorney Bay Caravan Park, a monstrous site of human holidaymaking!

Finally, at the clubhouse end is a covered terrace that runs across the width of the pitch, before coming to a halt at the players tunnel which is in front of the clubhouse and dressing rooms.

A very decent crowd of 1283 had pitched up to watch a very strong Millwall side (albeit they changed it completely at half time), come away with a comfortable 4-0 victory. They lead 1-0 at half time, and scored three more relatively late on in the second period.

Concord put up a good fight but as you would expect, Millwall’s Championship quality was indeed too much for them.

A good turnout from South London had made it to the island, and from time to time they did find their voices, but like most, the pull of the bar and the plastic glass was more of a pre-occupation. The three members of the local constabulary in the ground didn’t have too taxing an afternoon to be fair.

At the final whistle we made our way out of Canvey and back along the A13 to the M25. I’d enjoyed my day, but most importantly, Derek had too.

Next stop, Maidstone United, all being well, but if he thinks I’m taking him to Russia he can think again!