Jimmy McGuffie is well remembered in Southend. He drove past here every day on his way to work at the Radar Station. We were all sad when he left the are, and country, suddenly! and even sadder still when word reached here he was dead.
He was playing in the Southend team when I started out around 1976, he seemed old to me but was likely only around 30, if that.
He had to be kind of coaxed into playing but when he did he was a whippet like centre forward, lightning fast over 5 or 10 yards, far too fast for any of the defenders we played against. He scored lots of goals for us. It was obvious he had played at a much higher level.
Manager, Alex Ronald forbad him from doing anything other than poach or mooch inside or just outside the penalty box...no chasing back, no wing play, he was to save his energy for the chances that came his way. He did not need much persuading on that one!
He wore white boots which made him seem faster and even more of the star he was.
He ran the Southend boys team as well, he started lots of us off playing......the main core of the team that were still playing together in the big team 25 years later.
He had a son Stephen but nobody has heard anything from him since they went away.
Jimmy McGuffie..........a real blast from the past.......
Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:58 pm
