The Wands of Grassmeade 1967-1973. Part 2: Defenders

In part one of this mini-series, I wrote about the goalkeepers who kept custody of the Grassmeade goalposts. In this recollection, it is the turn of the defenders. Unlike the goalkeepers, there were plenty more defenders available for the club to choose from. Some came and went while others became benchmark warriors in the Wands' defence.

In a way they were the players who never received much credit but, without their sterling effort in every match, the Wanderers would most definitely have struggled to put up a good fight against many of their stronger Metropolitan League rivals.

Peter Clark and Alan Bishop shared the right-back position during the late 1960s, until Clark's departure during the 1968-69 season. After that, Bishop made the position his own until he was replaced by Peter Deadman. Across from the right there was Alan Howe, a member of the famous Howe family that frequented lower league EFL clubs in the London area during the 1960s, at left back. Howe was a solid defender who was strong but precise with his tackling. There were not many strikers, especially wingers, who got the better of him. Bobby Baker signed for the club in 1968, initially as cover for Howe, but Baker became the regular left-back when Howe finally hung up his boots in the 1970-71 season.

In the centre of the defence was the ever-dependable John Dorey, the team captain. In modern times, Aaron Wan-Bissaka of West Ham has been credited for his perfect execution of the 'scoop tackle' but, I saw Dorey perform the very same manouvre many a time at Grassmeade to thwart breakaway attacks by opponents. Dorey was also the penalty taker for the team. Trouble was, the few times I saw him take one, he missed. Classic examples are the one he launched over the bar against Chelmsford City, which is still orbiting the planet, and against Sheppey United in the badly-run Autumn Shield, when the big guy Barry Fullager in the Ites' goal saved it. I can forgive John for that miss as we were never likely to win that competition anyway. John Faulkner fitted into the defence alongside John Dorey but, when Faulkner left to join Sutton United for the 1969-70 campaign, Jimmy Allen arrived at the club in the same season and partnered Dorey as a double-edged central defence unit. Faulkner went on to play in the FA Cup for Sutton against Leeds United and was then signed by the once-giant Yorkshire club.

After the mass exodus in January 1972, the Wands trialled several nondescript defenders in the nine games that interim manager Jimmy Paris was in charge of the team. The less said about that period in the club's history, the better. Moving on...

John Biddle's tenure of the manager's position began with a handful of defenders from his old 279 Chislehurst club. At right-back was Peter Dinan, brother of central defender Terry Dinan. At left back was John Pocknell. Alongside Terry Dinan was Phil Emblen, also a central defender. Eventually, during the 1972-73 season, Biddle replaced Pocknell with Billy Wood and Peter Dinan with Gerry Collier, a versatile player who could also play a good game in midfield. Dave Prountzos later arrived from Ford United (now Redbridge) where he was their lead scoring striker and he challenged for the right-back position. Wood played until the club moved to Oxford Road and was replaced by Bill Hennessey. For a short period of time at the start of the 1972-73 season, the central defence consisted of Terry Dinan and John Moore; the latter eventually left the club when the Wands moved to Oxford Road.

In the next part of this mini-series, I will be exploring the midfield players who turned out for the Wands at Grassmeade, during the six years that I entered through the turnstile in Chelsfield Road. Among them are some well-remembered names, who gave those of us who attended the games at the time, some wonderful memories.