Graeme Humphrey’s Memories

Graeme Humphrey

What is your name ?
Graeme Humphrey.

What is your date and place of birth ?
27/08/1965 – Kingston upon Thames.

Where do you live ?
Wickford, Essex.

What was the first Margate / Thanet match you ever saw and what can you remember about it ?
My dad took me to the 1973 Spurs game but I have no memories other than how many people there were !

18th April 1979 – Margate 2-3 Cheltenham. I was 13 years old. I don’t remember much about it other than it was raining heavily and I was not instantly hooked – I did not start going regularly until the following season when Lennie Lee was the main man up front.

What was the first away game you went to ?
Canterbury away in 1981 – a 0-0 draw on a freezing night.

Who is your all-time favourite Margate / Thanet player and why ?
A tie between Lennie Lee – the bearded wonder – and the immaculate Bill Edwards. Lennie for being such a hero in my wide eyed youth, and scoring goals that I shall always remember. Billy for being the rock upon which the unbelievable success of the last 5 years has been built.

Who would be in your all-time favourite Margate / Thanet X1 ?
(Playing 5-3-2 Kinnear style)

1 Joe Radford
2 Greg Oates
3 Eliot Martin
4 Bill Edwards
5 Billy Plews
6 Sam Sodje
7 Jay Saunders
8 Norman Fusco
9 Steve Dudley
10 Lennie Lee
11 Martin Buglione
Subs: Vic Medus, Lee Turner, Mark Munday, Adrian Jordan (or was it someone else?) and Gordon Bines (if he wasn’t in Nigeria).

Of all the Margate / Thanet matches you’ve seen which is your favourite and why ?
Hard one – toss up between Orient 1-1 Margate and Woking 0-1 Margate (1998 Trophy). Both momentous days and brilliant performances in big matches.

What’s the best goal you’ve ever seen a Margate / Thanet player score ?
Eliot Martin’s FA Trophy winner at Woking, in Jan 1998. A majestic finish with his right foot from the edge of the area after cutting inside the full back. The day I truly believed we were going places at last.

What one game in the club’s history do you wish you’d seen and why ?
This years home win v Orient – I went to the away match but work commitments meant I missed the replay.

What are the top three highlights of your time supporting Margate / Thanet ?
1. Brackley away in 1999 – finally we got out of the Southern Division for the first time since I had been a fan.
2. KSC win against Dover in 1994 – I still have the video.. what a day.
3. Cambridge City away in April 2001 – won 2-0 with both from big Phil Collins. The Conference beckoned..

And what are the three worst things you can remember ?
1. Bill Roffey – a clueless manager, player, and personality who took the club backwards fast.
2. Finishing bottom in our first season as Thanet United in 1982 and realising that a) I supported a very poor team and b) I could not stop going despite this!!
3. Lennie Lee leaving us to play the best years of his career at Dover.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve witnessed during a Margate / Thanet match ?
Derek Sole playing a reserve match in white plimsolls.

Do you have a favourite piece of Margate FC memorabilia or do you own any unusual items ?
No not really. I have a 1973 Spurs programme and a few from the 60s. I own 5 shirts and 4 scarves, including a Thanet United one.

If you could re-sign one former player who’s still playing elsewhere then who would it be and why ?
Eliot Martin – he was class, and we need a left wing back at the moment ..

Have you ever seen a full season of competitive matches (ie not missed any) or come close to it ?
I came close in 1984/5 when I was at college. I saw all the matches bar three.

How many games would you say you’ve seen in total ?
Roughly 400.

What’s your current favourite away ground ?
Stevenage, Dagenham but the winner for memories is Woking.

And which current away ground do you least like ?
Barnet is a rusting heap.

What’s your all-time favourite away ground ?
Woking – see above. For comedy value Ruislip, Burnham, and Sittingbourne’s White Elephant arena.

And which ground out of all the ones you’ve ever been to did you like least ?
Hounslow. Noisy, and I saw someone killed by lightning on the cricket pitch next door (1987).

Which Margate / Thanet player that you never saw play do you wish you’d seen ?
Phil Amato.

Have you ever played football on the pitch at Hartsdown ?
Yes – once in a charity match against Chelsea youth when I was at school.

Which Margate / Thanet kit is your all-time favourite ?
The hilarious 1985/6 light blue which allegedly went that colour in the wash.

And which have you liked the least ?
I was never a fan of the Tesco Value kit with the blue and white stripes – especially the shorts – that we wore the season we played Fulham.

Added to the site in 2003.