Here's an article in the latest MCIVTA reviewing the night in question from the photo's....
ARTICLE: Mid – Sussex Blues Legends Night 4/11/11
On Friday, 4th November, the Mid-Sussex branch of the OSC had their annual Legends Night.
We were joined by such luminaries as Tommy Booth, Paul Lake, Richard Edgehill and Dave Watson. John Stapleton, celebrity City fan and friend of the branch came along and Susan Bookbinder also joined the panel as the superb compere for the evening.
As per previous legends nights, the evening was superbly organised by John Joyce and ably assisted by his wife Julie, Rod Cummins and Mark Seacombe.
The start of the event was slightly delayed due to the late arrival of a couple of our guests but this gave the rest of us a chance to take advantage of the cheap beer provided by our hosts at the St Francis Sports and Social Club in Haywards Heath.
Following some smashing food, the panel settled down for the Q & A which, as in the past, has always proved very lively.
Tommy Booth was the star of the show, probably due to the fact that he had arrived early and spent the afternoon in the hotel bar where he was staying! Tommy is a master of delivering a long tale timing the unexpected punch line that 3 or 4 times brought the house down.
The question of who was hardest, Tommy or Dave Watson was asked and following a heated but comical debate the general consensus came down on Dave`s side, purely due the fact that he once conducted an interview for TV whilst having his eye stitched up!
Paul Lake, after signing many copies of his fantastic book brought a bit of reality to the proceedings with his description of the high`s and low`s of his career. Sadly it was one of the down`s which prevented this true City great from achieving his promise.
Richard Edghill bravely told us how he dealt with the stick he received from City fan`s during his time at City. Listening to him talk about these times and how he dealt with these problems proved, in my eye`s, that here was a man much braver and committed than some who have donned the sky blue shirt, and one more recent, who refused to!!
John Stapleton always adds his reporting skills and sports knowledge to our debate`s and the lovely Susan Bookbinder also contributed to the general banter and kept the discussions lively, flowing and interesting.
With the formalities finished, an excellent raffle was drawn. The money collected went to Paul Lake to be passed to the CITC fund.
Many drinks and feisty discussion discussions followed well into the early hours. It was interesting to hear some of our legends thoughts on the John Terry affair!!
I have not yet mentioned the true star of our evening. The F.A. Cup!!
The cup had come along with two large friends, the two Craig`s who were perfect gentlemen all night. The look on the faces, both young and old, of the 80 or so who had come along to our evening was great to see. Many photos were taken with a small charge levied which further filled Paul Lakes CITC pockets by over £ 300 pounds. It was great to see grandparent`s, parent`s, son`s, daughter`s and partner`s gathered around the F.A. cup with smiles on their faces. Thanks to the club for allowing the cup to come all the way down to deepest Sussex for us to bask in its beauty!!
As I`ve just mentioned, we had just short of 80 people at this year`s legends night, the eighth if I`m not mistaken, and by far the best which all my recent e-mail`s seem to confirm.
Thanks once again must be given to John Joyce, who brought the whole evening together and arranged for our quests to attend. The committee also helped JJ pull this night successfully out of the hat and, on behalf of all those who attended; I would like to thank all of them for a great night that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. Roll on next year!
Pete Dutson, Mid Sussex Blues Chairman, (Peter.Dutson at chartisinsurance.com)
p.s. If anyone is interested about reading about our branch you can reach us on
www.midsussexblues.co.uk.
Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 2:07 pm
