Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Didn't know Newman as a person but he was hard as nails on a football pitch.
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[Albion] Gavin Geddes
- Thread starter Ernest
- Start date
Didn't know Newman as a person but he was hard as nails on a football pitch.
Same here, I was a couple of years older, but knew the sporting Newman boys. Plus a year older than them possibly, was Adrian Chipper, another talented sportsman who played in the Peacehaven team I think.
The two younger Newman brothers were childhood stars at boxing. Wasn’t he the enforcer in his football teams.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Darren was yeah, in the days when you could put a foot in.
Gavin Geddes was also a good striker at the semi professional level for clubs in between county league and Div 4. Players at the level, not just GG, are often bloody good footballers. Usually after not making the grade at pro clubs.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Back in the day there was really no defined non league pyramid, so players at county league level could easily step up to the bigger non league clubs. A fair few did, but county level was a good place to be. The level at Sussex league now is no better than West Sussex Prem was back in the 90s, very poor and we are expected to chuck a tenner at the gate to watch it!
I’ve now seen the family’s FB posts. Bottom line is that you should report the abuse they allege and not extort for it. Why didn’t he?
Desperate spin if you ask me.
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GT49er
Well-known member
Well, thanks for that. That was at a period when through distance, poverty, young family, a more than full time job - and no internet - I was about as far as I've ever been from keeping up with The Albion. All in all, rather glad that Wiki is as ignorant as I was - not a name I'd be proud to link with The Albion.
I know players from different eras, including ex Albion released at age 19, who played to high level in what I still think of as Athenian or Isthmian. Far better than county standard, when they dropped to county, they outclassed the opposition. County league players I’ve known remember facing them as a bloody nightmare.
Digressing, do you know anything about the wages paid? I was told that players who moved to Burgess Hill (when their new owner came in) were paid £150 per appearance.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Can't mention any defined game wages but there were a few clubs in the 90s that were paying that sort of money. I remember (naming no names) one player going to Burgess Hill and getting the promise of a newly fitted kitchen as part of his contract.
Some of the better players, eg Glenn Geard, were given jobs by the manager resulting in players having to move en mass when the manager changed club, or risk losing their job or just not being paid money owed. Getting paid at the end of the season was one that a lot of players fell for. Either the money had dried up or payment was conditional on re signing.
Yes, some payments were in the £100s per game, not bad for the mid/late 80s.
We’ve gone right off topic ......but far more palatable
Yes, some payments were in the £100s per game, not bad for the mid/late 80s.
We’ve gone right off topic ......but far more palatable
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
Talking about the old days is good though, I agree with your sentiments however.
Sussex Nomad
Well-known member
I know a lot of players that never saw the riches promised to them.
If it's the same Gavin Geddes, which all the clues suggest it is, his Facebook Likes page indicates some rather questionable leanings, Football Lads Alliance being one. Seems to have an interest in football hooliganism and far right politics.
https://m.facebook.com/gavin.geddes.9/about?lst=100009371044214:1047187626:1549225616
https://m.facebook.com/gavin.geddes.9/about?lst=100009371044214:1047187626:1549225616
Jam The Man
Well-known member
He was not a decent player for us and barely lasted a season, having signed after a trial spell.
All I can recall about him is that he lived literally over the road from the Goldstone, and that he was stick thin, and was as pale as a man can be - which I believe lead to a stint in The Simpsons for him:
Borrowed with pride from Hiney. Please delete if not allowed.
All I can recall about him is that he lived literally over the road from the Goldstone, and that he was stick thin, and was as pale as a man can be - which I believe lead to a stint in The Simpsons for him:
Borrowed with pride from Hiney. Please delete if not allowed.
Last edited:
thedonkeycentrehalf
Retired
- Jul 7, 2003
- 8,635
Woody has a book out? Any details as I reckon that would be one hell of a read given some the stories about him.
Last September (2018) Geddes actually played in a match featuring former Albion players in memory of former Albion player John Shepherd. He even scored a goal.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.br...atch-in-memory-of-ex-albion-ace-1-8636886/amp
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.br...atch-in-memory-of-ex-albion-ace-1-8636886/amp
I knew GG as a kid. He was part of a local group of us who would spend hours on evenings and weekends playing three and in, or headers and volleys, at Nevill rec (once we’d been kicked out of the Blatch Mill hockey goals by the school caretaker.)
Even once he was signed for the Albion he’d still turn up sometimes. I remember once kicking him on the shin, really hard (completely accidentally) and a massive egg sized lump blew up on his shin. He was bricking it about being in trouble at the club, for playing and getting hurt, outside of training.
Wish I’d kicked him harder, reading that.
Even once he was signed for the Albion he’d still turn up sometimes. I remember once kicking him on the shin, really hard (completely accidentally) and a massive egg sized lump blew up on his shin. He was bricking it about being in trouble at the club, for playing and getting hurt, outside of training.
Wish I’d kicked him harder, reading that.
This is Geddes holding a Brighton & Hove Albion wreath at a Football Lads Alliance march in 2017...
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