MY FAN PROFILE

 NAME-Rob Urwin

FIRST HOME GAME EVER SEEN-Southport v Hartlepool on January 24 1969, we won 3-0 I was visiting the town with my parents and we called in to Haig Ave. My first game as a fan was 26 Feb 1972 when a year after moving to the town from Hull and having stopped sulking about the move I decided to venture along to Haig Avenue and from that moment I was hooked. 

FIRST AWAY GAME EVER SEEN- Hull City v Southport in the FA Cup 5^th Round on 5 March 1966. I was a Hull City fan at the time! My first away match as a Southport fan was Bury v Southport on 3 February 1973 and we won 1-0 with an And Provan goal. 

BEST GAME EVER SEEN-Southport v Hartlepool to win the 4th Division Championship in the 72/73 season will always rank as very special particularly Alex Russell’s goal in the 93^rd minute to equalise and clinch it. A truly magic moment. 

WORST GAME EVER SEEN-For some reason I always remember the 0-0 draw against Gillingham in 72/3 as being particularly awful. I think expectations were high and I had got up off my sick bed but the 11 man defence made for a truly boring game. 

BEST OCCASION(S)-Has got to be Wembley. I never thought that I would see my team playing there and despite the result I can now say that my team once played at Wembley. The lump in my throat as the team walked out was an emotion I never thought football could bring. Others that spring to mind are the semi at Slough and the awesome performance of Paul Futcher that day and of course the FA Cup win at Mansfield.

 WORST OCCASION(S)-Not a match but the day we failed to gain re-election to the Football League will rank as one of the worst. Richard Griffiths ( who later had a short spell as secretary of the club) and I went down to the Café Royal in London to be there when the announcement was made and I will never forget the look on Ken Watkins, the Visiter reporter at the times face when he came out the meeting to tell us. He was ashen. John Church had tears in his eyes and Walter Giller looked as if he couldn’t care less. That said a lot and that moment summed up our next few years of turmoil for me.

Match wise it has to be losing 3-1 at home to St Helens in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup in the 80/81 season. Rock bottom had been reached. 

FAVOURITE EVER PLAYER-George Dewsnip, my hero as a player and George Jones was a great man even though he did once pinch my sausages on a trip back from Colchester!

 FUNNIEST MOMENT WATCHING SFC-A Northwich Victoria fan was having a go at Southport fans in our first non-league season calling us Football League rejects. I just turned to him and said “so are you” at which he decided to argue the point that Northwich were never in the Football League. You had to be there but when some aging chap reminded him that they did have a short stint in the FL his face was a picture and he offered me a place in his quiz team! 

BEST GOAL SEEN SCORED BY SOUTHPORT PLAYER-Gary Cooper v Hull City in the League Cup in 77/78 season meant an awful lot to me and it will always stand out as the best goal I ever saw. 

BEST GROUND VISITED WATCHING SFC-Wembley obviously but I thought the whole set up at Rushden & Diamonds was, for the level of football, absolutely brilliant.