WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
We catch up with Colchester United’s Watney Cup winners
PHIL BLOSS admits he didn’t have time to be nervous after being thrown into the deep end for the Watney Cup final against West Bromwich Albion.
Colchester qualified for the pre-season tournament by being among the two highest scoring teams from each division who had not won promotion.
Dick Graham’s side hit the national headlines after their exploits the previous season in which they dumped the mighty Leeds United out of the FA Cup.
They disposed of Carlisle United and Luton Town at Layer Road to face West Brom at The Hawthorns in a game which finished 4-4 after extra-time.
Mick Mahon had scored twice for the U’s, with Dave Simmons and then Brian Lewis putting them 4-3 ahead, only for Jeff Astle to score in the last minute to take the game into an extra 30 minutes.
But neither West Brom, who also had Len Cantello and Colin Suggett on target, nor Colchester could find a winner and the game went into penalties.
The Baggies missed twice from the penalty spot to give Bloss the chance of glory in only his second senior outing and take the Cup back to Essex.
“Ken Jones was going to play in the game, but he got a bad blister after playing against Luton in midweek,” said Bloss.
“I don’t remember if he had a fitness test or didn’t even make it.
“I think I got about an hour’s notice that I was playing after turning up at the ground thinking I was going to be a substitute or something like that.
Honest
“I was just a young kid around the scene at the time, and in those days they didn’t have a big squad of players, so they had to use the young lads such as myself.
“I wasn’t nervous. I didn’t have enough time to think about it, if I’m honest, which was good.
“If I’d had two days to think about it, I might have been.
“But when you aren’t told until an hour before the game you don’t have the chance to get nervous, do you? You just get on and do it.”
Bloss was one of a number of youngsters blooded by Graham and he stepped up to the mark after Dave Simmons, who was originally supposed to take a penalty, backed out.
“I’m not sure how the penalties worked, to be honest,” said Bloss.
“When it came to taking my penalty, someone asked who was going to take it, but nobody volunteered.
“So, being young and naive, you don’t have nerves, do you?
“I didn’t think it was that much of a big deal at the time. I probably would now.
“And we had been practising them, to be fair, though I never thought a penalty was a big deal.
“I don’t mean that to sound pompous, I just don’t think about these things.
“When I said I’d take one I think all of the older players said ‘thank God for that’. I think there might have been others willing to take one but were happy if someone else wanted to take one.
“I had taken some penalties for the reserves and I had always taken them from being a young kid. When you do it all the time, it’s not really a big deal. You look at players taking them in major games these days and people get in a hell of a mess.” 1. Denis Mochan: Full-back. His brother Neil was a Scotland international. Denis was a Colchester coach ad returned to his native Falkirk, where he ran his own taxi business and was a school caretaker. 2. Dave Simmons: Striker who scored in Colchester’s famous FA Cup win over Leeds. He was an insurance agent for the Prudential in Cambridge until he lost a fight with cancer in 2007, aged 58. 3. Eric Burgess: A defender who was the ex brother-in-law of Bruce Forsyth. He worked in the West End fashion industry for 30 years and then ran Creative Concepts UK in Elstree. 4. Graham Smith: Goalkeeper who worked for Adidas and Le Coq Sportif and was on the board at Chelsea. He then founded First Wave Sports Management and was director of football of Sacramento Republic. 5. Brian Garvey: Central defender who won a Third Division title with Watford after coaching at Wolves and Arsenal. He then emigrated to Melbourne, where he was a security guard until retiring. 6. John Gilchrist: Right-back who won a Fourth Division title with Millwall and managed Tonbridge Angels. He worked as a taxi driver and then ran a pub before he died in August 1991, aged 51, after a long battle with a kidney illness. 7. Brian Gibbs: Winger who won a Fourth Division title at Gillingham. He worked in the meat manufacturing business, then a local hospital. He died in January 2014, aged 77. 8. Phil Bloss: Midfielder and sonin-law of Dick Graham. He ran his own estate agents, Bloss and Associates, for more than 20 years and has been involved in property investment. 9. Brian Owen: Winger who won a Third Division title with Watford. Stayed in the game as a coach and physio to many teams, including England, and has most recently scouted for Hibs. 10. Bobby Cram: Full-back and captain of the Colchester side that beat Leeds. Uncle of runner Steve. He lived in Vancouver, when he died of a heart attack in April 2007, aged 67, after working as national manager of a courier service. 11. Brian Lewis: Midfielder who won a Second Division title with Coventry City. He lived in Bournemouth and was a salesman for a furniture shop in Christchurch. Died after a battle with cancer in 1998, aged 55. 12. Mick Mahon: Winger who scored the goal for Wimbledon that knocked Burnley out of the FA Cup. He became a school examinations officer then taught PE at St. Benedict’s School in Colchester, near Layer Road.