Bournemouth & Boscombe(A).16/04/55.

I think I've managed to visit Dean Court in each decade since the 1960s but April 1955 was a wee bit too early for me.

We've spoken before how the older generation of Cherries supporters often refer to the club as "Boscombe". Here you can see it in print, not just in Chatterbox's notes but also in the league table.

We talked recently too about reserve team football. Look at the number of fixtures Bournemouth had in the Football Combination in 1954/55. Fixtures against neighbouring teams in the cup and all the big London teams in the league. That's a world that simply isn't coming back.

And, study that Torquay line-up, and you'll see Eric Webber was still playing nearly four years after being appointed manager. He hung up his boots at the end of 1954/55 but, in making the best part of 150 league appearances, remember that he was very much a player-manager for some considerable time.

One other point. Six games to go; Bournemouth ahead of Torquay on goal average. We picked up nine points from those six games to finish 8th; Bournemouth just three points for  a final 17th place.