Yesterday's Heroes

Yesterday's Heroes <

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Yesterday's Heroes

What better way could there be to kick-off a new series of articles about some of United's greatest playing heroes, than by featuring our current manager, John Rains ?

Although John himself would be the first to admit that he was not the most skilful, exciting or extravagantly gifted of players, there have been few in the Sutton pantheon of stars who could match him for effort, reliability, determination and a fierce will to win. John joined the Club in 1974, after making his Isthmian League debut with Bromley. He was on the verge of signing for Bishop's Stortford but our then manager, Ted Powell, persuaded him at the eleventh hour that the more local delights of Gander Green Lane would be a better stage for his talents. It was, in hindsight, the most valuable move that Ted ever made in his time as manager.

John made his debut on 11th November, 1974, away to Walton & Hersham. It was a game most notable at the time for a four-goal performance by Alan Ives, the undoubted star of a 5-1 win. However, Sutton's other goal that evening was scored by John Rains.

Despite the odd game at full-back, John quickly established himself as a regular in the heart of the Sutton defence. His parents, Jack and Lil, supported him at every game and became just as much a part of the Sutton scene as John himself. His son's staunchest supporter, Jack was also his fiercest critic, and never fell into the "my boy can do nothing wrong" trap that seems to afflict so many soccer mums and dads. To complete the family picture, younger brother Tony started to make a name for himself in the youth and reserve teams.

After Powell, Sutton struggled to find the right manager and there was a correspondingly high turnover in the playing staff, with the lack of stability reflected in the team's disappointing league form. One of the few things that we could rely on then was that John Rains would turn in another big-hearted display. "If only we had another ten like him" would be a common shout from the terraces. The arrival of Keith Blunt finally saw Sutton start to build a real team. Blunt's approach lacked frills, but his coaching was deservedly held in high regard and he certainly knew how to teach a defence. The arrival of proven players such as Bobby Green and Steve Rogers and the emergence of Tony Rains, with experienced 'keeper Dave Collyer as the last line of defence, saw United construct an effective rearguard, but there was no doubt that the lynchpin was big John. He was the natural successor as skipper to Larry Pritchard and certainly led by example, becoming almost as famous for his goalscoring exploits as his defensive capabilities. John's greatest strength was perhaps his aerial ability, which made him a great asset in both penalty areas.

In 1979 John was voted Player of the Year and captained the side to victory in the Anglo-Italian Tournament. It was the start of an era of almost non-stop success for a side of many talents. Players such as Ray Sunnucks and Micky Stephens provided the skill, with Micky Joyce and Paul McKinnon to bang in the goals, but if anyone personified the style and desire of that team, then it was John Rains. He captained the U's at Wembley in 1981 and almost led the side to the league title a year later. In November 1982 John was asked to play as a makeshift centre-forward by Barrie Williams for a game away to Hendon. The move proved so successful that John played the rest of the season up front, finishing with 25 goals. He also achieved the dubious distinction of becoming probably the only Sutton captain ever to be jeered by his home crowd for a scoring a goal. That moment came in the 11-1 thrashing of Leatherhead, when John notched the eighth goal. The reason for the boos was that Joyce had scored the first seven himself. John also scored the ninth, before Joyce completed his personal record haul of nine goals. The twosome obviously worked well together, at one stage sharing four hat-tricks in consecutive games: John scoring his trebles in cup tie wins over Windsor & Eton and Carshalton Athletic. The season ended with the U's completing a cup treble unprecedented in their history, and John notched the vital winning goal in the first leg of the Hitachi Cup Final against Wycombe Wanderers.

In 1985 John finally achieved his ambition of captaining the team to win the Isthmian League title. Controversially the Club did not seek to take up its place in the Gola League but a year later, with all off-field problems resolved, John again lifted the giant Championship shield and started the 1986/7 season in the Vauxhall Conference. It was a promotion that came just too late for the deserving stalwart. His best years were undeniably behind him and, as John will readily admit, training was always an activity in which his forte was watching the others do it better. John was awarded a testimonial, in which the U's beat a strong Wimbledon side 3-2, and after the Surrey Senior Cup had been won for the fifth consecutive year, John finally severed his playing links with the club. He made 685 appearances and scored 131 goals; a quite remarkable record for someone who played the lion's share of his games in the middle of the defence. John moved on to Epsom & Ewell but quickly decided that he did not want to play out his years at a level too far below his own high standards. It was amazing to most Sutton fans, who watched John week in and week out, that he never received an England cap.

John not only enjoyed a long and glorious playing career at The Lane, he was one of the most popular players ever to don the chocolate & amber and played the game with exactly the right spirit, always giving 100%, full of aggression but rarely troubling the referee.

He turned his hand to management, falteringly at Epsom and Worthing, and with Sutton as reserve team boss, before enjoying very successful spells with Dorking, Molesey and Carshalton. In 1996 he returned to what many would regard as his second home, and immediately transformed the team into genuine title challengers, finally becoming one of the few players at any level to both captain and manage the same club to championship triumphs.

Micky Stephens

We looked at the career of John Rains, now we turn our attention to a player who was probably responsible for laying on the great majority of his goals. In fact, when we are talking about Micky Stephens, that is a claim that could probably be made with regard to most of the great Sutton strikers from the late 1970s through to the 1990s.

Micky Stephens, or "Able" to virtually everyone who knew him, was always destined for great things. Even as a schoolboy he was talked about far and wide, and perhaps the only surprising fact about his long and successful career is that it was all spent as a semi-professional player. Certainly, the London pro' clubs all looked at him. Whether they thought he wasn't quick enough, or wasn't strong enough in the tackle, or didn't score enough goals, we'll never know. Undoubtedly, there would have been an element of truth in all of those criticisms, but with the ball at his feet, wow ! What a player ! The professional game's loss was most definitely our gain.

When Micky Joyce scored nine times against Leatherhead, it was "Able" who tormented the defenders and provided the chances for the arch-poacher to finish off. But it was in the away game at Fetcham Park a few weeks previously that the damage was really done, "Able" was on fire. He turned his marker this way and that, inside and out, left him lying on his backside and then went back to beat him again. It was a masterclass in wingplay and a joy to behold.

Ironically, the lowest point of Mick's football career probably came on what was also one of his finest nights. In 1982 Sutton defended the Anglo-Italian Trophy away to Triestina. It was a windy night, conditions were difficult, but "Able" made light of them. Anybody who claims that he couldn't tackle was obviously not there on that night. Covering every blade of grass, winning tackle after tackle and using the ball with his usual consummate skill, "Able" was Man of the Match in the eyes of everyone but the official adjudicator. How ironic then, that it was his missed spot-kick that decided the penalty shoot-out.

Other never to be forgotten moments include the win over Coventry, and the two very different Stephens corners that produced our goals, and more indicative of his skill, the cross that presented Paul McKinnon with our third goal against Aldershot: a cross made on the run and without looking up, so perfectly placed that all McKinnon had to do was put his head in the way of the ball. As I said earlier, Mick didn't score as many goals as he could have done but one to savour came away to Harrow Borough in 1986, when he finished a jinking run with a cracking shot that swerved so violently a whole army of goalkeepers would have struggled to keep it out of the net.

Rod Brookes

Perhaps it was just me, but I always thought that Rod Brookes looked like a trail-weary cowboy. Put him in a black coat with a six-gun strapped to his waist and he would have looked right at home in Tombstone or Abilene. I didn't see the start of Rod's Sutton career, when he joined from Wimbledon in 1965. Amazingly, at least to those of us who became used to seeing him as a defender famous for his no-nonsense approach, Rod joined as a striker. Indeed, his goalscoring record at Sutton did merit some consideration in those early days, with 14 goals from 34 games in his first season and 15 goals the next year.

But it is as the hard-man of United's defence or midfield that Rod is best remembered and, probably, most loved. But in those pre-Vinny Jones days being hard did not necessarily mean being nasty. The only time Rod lost his temper was away to Prestwich Hays, a week before the Leeds game, when the Manchester side decided that the proximity of the big FA Cup tie made it an ideal time to opt for aggression and provocation. Well, Rod bit his tongue for most of the game but when the red-mist finally descended, he at least had the satisfaction of knowing that not only did he deserve to be sent off, his opponent would know about in the morning !

A mainstay of the team in the late 1960s, Rod enjoyed some vintage moments with the U's. In 1967, his goal against Hitchin brought two valuable points on the run-in to the title. Rod played against North Shield in the 1969 Amateur Cup Final and against Leeds United in the FA Cup in January 1970. He was an ever-present in 1970/71, when the U's finished as runners-up behind Wycombe.

Although QPR may have invented the long "Rod-ney" chant for their own favourite, Rodney Marsh, in the days when Sutton fans occasionally made some noise of their own the chant transposed easily to Gander Green Lane and the rather less flamboyant, but no less charismatic, figure of Rod Brookes. When Sid Cann's team started to break up in the early 1970s, Rod was in the second wave of departures. Unlike many of his contemporaries though, he did not end up at Loakes Park. Instead, like Shepherd, Bladon and Jelly Rod chose the second most popular destination, Champion Hill. For a while that Dulwich side threatened to win the major honours, and Rod was usually a thorn in our side whenever we met.

Rod is now a member of our Former Players Association and hopes to get up to see a game or two this season, although he admits that he is now a season-ticket holder at Gillingham.

Paul Rogers

When Paul Rogers initially appeared in the United first eleven, he was an unlikely candidate to be transformed into one of the Club's best and most popular players. One of many to take the Chipstead-Sutton route, Paul represented the U's at both youth and reserve level and when he made his first team debut in 1983 it was as a centre-forward. Despite his success at the junior levels, Paul never looked quite at home playing upfront in senior football. He did manage to add his own little footnote to Club history though, when he scored our first goal in the Vauxhall Conference, at home to Telford in a match we drew 2-2 (Paul Thornton netted our equaliser).

It was a switch to midfield that galvanized Paul's career. With a striker's touch and eye for goal allied to a prodigious work-rate, Paul also soon showed that he could tackle like a tank and he became a regular in the team's engine room. Like "Able" Stephens, Paul became much better known by his nickname, "Curly".

His finest moments came in the FA Cup. In the replay against Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park, a match which many still regard as the finest display ever by any Sutton team, Paul was the best player on the pitch by the proverbial country mile. If a suitable offer had come in at that stage, perhaps Paul would have turned 'pro, but he had an excellent job in the City and it would have been hard for many clubs to meet his expectations. Paul was no doubt delighted that he stayed at Sutton, because the next year, of course, brought even more FA Cup glory. Perhaps we didn't play as well against Coventry as we did up at Boro': perhaps "Curly" was not the outstanding player on a day full of heroes: but in a midfield battle with fiery Scot Dave Speedie, it was the local lad who stole the honours.

Conference football came easily to Paul and for a long while he resisted offers to turn professional, but the urge finally became too strong and after we had been relegated back into the Isthmian League in 1991, he joined Sheffield United. In modern terms, Paul had a relatively long and succesful career at Brammall Lane, before moving on to Notts County and then to Brighton, where he is still in the first team.

Larry Pritchard

Now is the time to make some admissions. Firstly, of all the players that I have seen wearing the Chocolate & Amber, my favourite has to be Larry Pritchard. Secondly, the reason I first picked him out was not admiration for his matchless midfield skills but that, as a ten year old, I liked the sound of his name !

I was introduced to the U's in 1967 by a schoolfriend whose favourite player was Terry Howard. Naturally, I had to settle on somebody different. It didn't take me long, however, to realise that in a team full of star players there were a few who were more equal than others. Ted Powell, the England captain, and coveted striker Mick Mellows, were two who stood out, but it was Larry who really caught my eye.

Now, the tactical acumen of a ten year old boy may be a little questionable but, to my mind, in his first spell at the Lane Larry played quite differently than in his post-Wycombe days. The younger Pritchard was enthralling to watch: a blur of deft touches; short, jinking runs, well-timed tackles and shots on goal. If nothing else, the statistics at least confirm that in the late 1960s Larry used to score many more goals. In fact, his five goals in the 11-1 defeat of Clapton were a club record until Micky Joyce scored nine against Leatherhead. He was also a stalwart of the England and Great Britain amateur international sides, later confiding that one of the most disappointing moments of his career came when defeat against Spain brought the realisation that he would not be going to the Olympic Games in Mexico.

It is hard to describe all of Larry's attributes. It is easier to discuss what he couldn't do on the football field……keep goal ! Even though he wasn't the tallest of players, Larry also seemed to do remarkably well in the air, the result of excellent timing. He was also an honest player, not only in giving 100% effort at all times but also not having the need to resort to dubious tactics to thwart opponents.

When Sid Cann's team broke up after the Leeds FA Cup tie, in which Larry's shot off the bar so nearly gave us the one goal we craved, I was devastated when he joined the exodus to Loakes Park. With Powell, Mellows and Waughman also joining the ranks of a team that already boasted the likes of Searle, Gamblin, Horseman and Holifield, there was little doubt which team would dominate Isthmian football for the next few years. Larry duly collected title medals in three successive years but, joy of joys, when Powell took over as United manager he was able to persuade his old colleague to re-join him.

At thirty, and with his best days behind him, few would have considered it likely that Larry would actually play more games for the U's in his second spell than he did in his first ! Of course, the style had changed a little. Some of the pace had ebbed away, he no longer covered every blade of grass in every game, and the forays in to opposing penalty areas were less frequent. But the skill and cunning were still there, as was the will to win. Initially made captain of the team, Larry had given way to John Rains by the time the U's reached the FA Trophy Final in 1981, 16 years after his club debut at the age of 21. That last gasp defeat meant that a Wembley cup final win was the one major honour to elude Larry in his distinguished career. He finally hung up his boots in the 1983/4 season , having played a record 786 times for the U's, scoring 134 goals. As player/coach and then as first team manager under Barrie Williams (as general manager), Larry saw the team go from strength to strength, culminating in the Championship successes of 1985 and '86 . His testimonial match, against a strong Spurs side, was watched by an amazing crowd of 5,020 - Larry actually opened the scoring after just 4 minutes and, no, it wasn't a set-up !

The shock FA Cup exit at Yeading in 1986 was the prelude to Larry resigning in regrettable circumstances, and he had a spell as manager of Walton & Hersham before returning to Sutton to look after the youth and reserve teams under Alan Gane. When Gane was sacked, the Club turned to Larry to mastermind the fight against relegation and, with help from Ted Shepherd, that battle was duly won. However, at the end of the 95/6 season Larry decided that he did not have the time to devote to the job and so tendered his resignation, thereby ending over thirty years of involvement in senior non-League football. Apparently, his golf is doing well these days !

Dave Farebrother

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