It might sound hard to believe but once upon a time ago, we managed a 7-0 victory as the late April sun glistened over Southchurch Park and our Media Officer, Andy Wilkins was there for the first of many times to see us in action.

To set the picture for you, the 2015/16 had seen a lot of change in the air for us. Wayne Seal had departed as manager in the winter with former-Thurrock Reserves manager Stuart Marshall taking the reigns alongside former-Thurrock Reserves Assistant Manager Jack Tebbutt also joining in January of 2016.

Much of the idea from January to April was just to finish as good as we possibly could before building on into next season with promotion very much in the mind of ideas for Marshall. Maybe not so higher above in the boardroom but the dream was there regardless.

As Andy wrote in his blog:
It was Saturday 30th April 2016, I have my exams starting in 4 days time and I feel that with no more Canvey Island FC games to see, it was right that I decided to visit a new ground that was within 1 hours distance whether it be walking, cycling or using public transport.

That only left one option for me and that option was Southchurch Park which is home to Essex Senior League side Southend Manor and that is exceedingly close to the seafront.

For me, I left my house at 2pm and with a quick trip to Southend Central station, I managed to cycle for 5 minutes before reaching Southchurch Park. I was then greeted upon the small turnstiles door with two volunteers at the turnstiles who were rather nice.

I paid £4 in admission with a further £2 on a programme. When I first entered the ground, I had around 15 minutes spare to lose and for 10 of those minutes, I was just adjusting to my new surroundings of which I thought was rather nice for once. In many cases, it was a complete opposite to Staines Town in Surrey of which that being the club that I had visited the week before.

There wasn’t any music or announcements being made as there was no PA speaker but that didn’t bother me. I had enough time to look inside the programme and within that time, the players had come out and I was set to be entertained and I felt it.

The game started positively for the hosts. In fact, it only took 6 minutes for Manor to get their first goal of the game. The first goal being from a poor defensive clearance by Greenhouse which led to the first Manor goal and it was a short range effort inside the penalty area."

That first goal of the game coming from Micky Hopkins. A player who has since reunited with Jack Tebbutt on many occasions since leaving Manor.

Wilko further wrote:
"For the next 15 minutes, I did wonder how long would it be before Manor get their 2nd as they were playing the better football with some superb long balls being made. And in the 21st minute, Manor doubled their lead which was truly deserved once again."

That strike coming from Michael Bottone who has been recently playing his trade for Neil Blackburn's Laindon Orient in the Essex Olympian League.

"The 3rd and 4th goals came after each other in the 43rd and 45th minute. The 3rd goal being due to another load of attacks by Manor and then the 4th being as a result of the Greenhouse defence not being ready enough following their 3rd conceded goal."

Those strikes coming from Christy O'Donoghue. A player who sure knew how to hit the net on many occasions during his stay with us.

Wilko added:
"Half time rolled around and I made the quick trip into the clubhouse and this is where the hospitality marks roll up. It offered a look of a 50’s diner in some aspects and that's what I liked about it. There was a big wooden board displaying the names of the players who were named player of the season in their respective years.

I happened to notice a few other people buying a burger from this food bar and I personally bought myself a burger for £2.50. My only problem was that it took me 10 minutes to wait but then again, I was looking up the scores at the other games so it wasn’t half as bad."

The second started for us with the scoreline at 4-0. And Wilko adds:
"Once I recieved my burger, I went outside to see the 2nd half begin. It only took 3 minutes for Manor to make it 5-0. Once again, Greenhouse were caught off guard following the restart. I know this may sound arrogant but I starting to wonder whether I could see double-figures for the first time if the defence was so bad. But then again, I can’t knock Greenhouse for trying to persevere considering the circumstances."

That goal coming from the friendly giant in Eamon Payne who has gone on since leaving us to play for Witham Town, Redbridge, Clapton, Sporting Bengal United, Epping Town and Bishops Stortford Swifts in recent seasons.

"6-0 eventually came but this time being a superb effort from outside the 25 yard box by number 11 of Manor.In fact the shot was so good, I consider it to be my best goal of the season that I’ve seen and its beats the goal that I saw Glenn Poole do for Canvey Island against Chelmsford City in July 2015 whilst in pre-season."

It was our man O'Donoghue getting the goal which actually secured his hattrick in the game. If you know who was the last man to get a hattrick for us since O'Donoghue did it in 2016, send your answers on a postcard.

"7-0 eventually rolled around with 20 minutes left and following this superb little effort. Greenhouse finally started to make some attempts and after 5 minutes, managed to threaten the Manor goal for the first time in the game however it was cut out well by the strong Manor defence."

No guesses needed here as it was Michael Bottone with another strike to his name. Who'd ever see the day we managed to see so many defenders score for us in one game?

Wilko summed up his 2015/16 season and his first visit to us as this:
"Full Time rolled around and it made me wonder what a season I had done. From Champion Hill to Southchurch Park. I have tried to cover a lot and this was my 47th game of the season which includes having seen 2 games involving Essex Senior League sides and 45 games involving Canvey Island FC.

What this game at Southchurch Park taught me personally is that there is still a lot to explore in non-league football in the sense that clubs like Southend Manor are waiting to be found by groundhoppers and soon-to-be dedicated fans.

In fact, I am struck by the fact that this is a great club that needs more help and as a result, I am going to be giving a donation of £50 to help make sure that this local club of mine survives. Not many people do things like this but I feel determined to as I want to give into my hometown community like I do with the community of Canvey.

For any groundhoppers that read this, I would recommend that you visit this club when your down in Essex as its a good club that has a got a great coaching team with a good chairman and volunteers at heart!

I will leave this for anyone associated with Southend Manor. I will return in pre-season and I cannot wait to see what additions that Stuart Marshall and his coaching team has added to this fantastic squad of players of which I feel may be able to mount a top 5 title challenge next season!

Wilko even added a rating of his first experience which was as follows:
Quality Of Ground: 7/10
Game: 9/10
Burger: 7/10
Hospitality: 8/10
Programme: 6/10

Go Again: Yes definitely. (Maybe in pre-season if I can)

Ultimately this was a bittersweet moment in Manor history for us. We've only ever scored 7 in one game since then and that involved West Essex in a 7-0 FA Vase victory at Southchurch Park on 10th September 2016.

Coincidentally, we've only suffered two losses of that heavy duty ourselves with an 8-0 defeat away to Stanway Rovers suffered in the Essex Senior Cup back on 30th August 2016 and a 7-0 defeat to Walthamstow in the Essex Senior League on 23rd November 2019.

We've suffered many 5-0 and 6-0 defeats during the course of the past 4 years but thats football for you in general.

The following season saw the hopes of promotion dashed quite somewhat as Barking ran off to become champions with 100 points earned and Clapton and FC Romania donning 2nd and 3rd place. We finished 7th that season.

Out of those 22 teams who participated in the 2016/17 season, 8 clubs have left the Essex Senior League due to promotion, relegation, folding and merging all taking place for some of them. Clapton are the highest placed side from that season to still be in the ESL with Hullbridge Sports being the lowest side in 11th to have been promoted since then.

As for our opponents that day, Greenhouse Sports, it was to be their last game under that current name as they soon changed name to be known as Haringey & Waltham Development before donning the name Woodford Town which is what they're known as nowadays.

The Manor Squad:
A lot of this squad stayed on for the following season under Marshall and Tebbutt however players like Rhys Fatt and Dan Okah were just a few to make the move upto the Isthmian North over the coming years following this game with moves to Great Wakering and Aveley being the original locations for these mentioned lads.

At this current point in time, Fatt has returned to Manor on a few occasions since and spent the 2019/20 season playing his trade for former-Manor gaffer Wayne Seal at Essex Olympian League side Leigh Ramblers before securing a move back to Burroughs Park but in the form of Eastern Senior League South side White Ensign who are managed by Brett Munyard.

Okah himself was still playing in the Isthmian North as of the 2019/20 season having played for Hullbridge and most recently Heybridge Swifts. As previously mentioned, Eamon Payne went off to play for a host of clubs and finds himself most recently at Billy Cove's Bishops Stortford Swifts in the Essex Olympian League.

Ryan Karrer has been noted as playing most recently for Rayleigh Town and Kent United Football Club.

Manor Squad vs Greenhouse Sports:
Michael Bottone: 21,60
Michael Hopkins: 6
Callum Jex
Ryan Karrer
Daniel Madden
Christy O'Donoghue: 43,45,55
Daniel Okah
Eamon Payne: 48
Lee Rome
Joe Shelden
Samuel Short

Subs:
James Coppins
Robbie Farrell
Rhys Fatt
Joseph Phillips
Stephen Solarin

When the day comes that we secure such another brilliant performance and scoreline like this, be sure to let us know as they don't come too often. In the meantime, we hope you've enjoyed this #ThrowbackThursday article.