The Goldstone Wrap

From the Evening Argus on 30th August 1970:

Police were today guarding the Easthourne home of football star Barry Bridges after he received a threat that his two young sons would be killed unless he paid £5,000. At his detached house in King’s Drive today Bridges, capped four times for England and last season’s leading goalscorer for Queen’s Park Rangers, said the threat had been made in a letter sent to him yesterday morning. “It simply said that unless I paid the money my two sons would be killed. It said I would be getting more details later. So far I haven’t heard any more.

“The letter was typewritten on paper that looks like it was torn out of a notebook. It was very badly typed. I received a telephone call last night but when I answered it the caller did no reply. So I put it down and haven’t heard anything since.

The Bridges have two sons, Mark, aged seven, and Andrew, aged four.

Bridges said that other telephone calls have been made to his house while he and his wife Irena were out. They were received by the children’s many, 16 year-old Sandra Green, who lives in with the family.

He said other calls had been received at the New Wilmington Hotel in Wilmington Terrace, Eastbourne, in which the Bridges have an interest.

“We can’t afford to take any chances. We are keeping the children in for a few days,” he said.

“I think it is the work of young people doing it for kicks. They have read about death threats to Bobby Moore’s wife and Bobby Charlton’s wife: I think they are jumping on the bandwagon. But it’s a bit worrying all the same.

“On the other hand, if it is someone’s idea of a prank then they want their heads tested.”

His Polish wife Irena said if somebody wanted to get hold of the children they would have had plenty of opportunity in recent few days.

She said: “Barry has been busy with football and I have just opened a new boutique so we have not seen much of the children lately. They have been going out a lot while on holiday.”

I’m not sure whether it relates to this story. However, a month later, Bridges moved from QPR to Millwall. I’m unsure whether he moved house. Two years on, in September 1972, Pat Saward signed the ex-England striker for Brighton & Hove Albion, in a club record £29,000 deal. Here he is in action against Aston Villa in a creditable draw during his Brighton debut that month:

Unfortunately, the Albion fans did not see the best of Bridges, although he began to show a great run of form towards the end of 1973/74, before he was released. Subsequently, he had a spell playing in South Africa before returning to Sussex to run New Wilmington Hotel in Eastbourne.

In 1972/73, Pat Saward’s Brighton were having a horrendous time at the foot of the Second Division, losing ten consecutive League matches. However, there was excitement in the air in the shape of a cup tie at the Goldstone with the superstars of Chelsea.

From a magazine in January 1973:

Brighton and Barry Bridges eagerly await their Cup crunch with Chelsea on Saturday, if only because it gives them the opportunity to forget all about their Second Division troubles.

Albion’s desperate struggle for survival – they are firmly rooted at the foot of the table – will be forgotten at the Goldstone Ground on Saturday as the spotlight shifts to the Cup and Chelsea.

As former Chdsea striker Barry Bridges says: “It will be nice to forget about our League position for a change and just go out on the park and concentrate on one result.

“It’s a tremendous draw for the club and a dream draw for Bert Murray and myself who both started our careers at Chelsea.

“Personaily, it will be nice to see most of the Chelsea lads again. I grew up at Stamford Bridge with Peter Bonetti, Ron Harris and Ossie. It will be great to meet them again even though they are on the opposite side.”

Can lowly Brighton really raise their game and shock Dave Sexton’s men on current League form?

“You can forget about League form in the Cup,” claims Bridges. “It’s the way you play on the day that counts. The Cup has a way of lifting everyone and with home advantage I feel we must have every chance.
“Mind you, I’ve got tremendous respect for Chelsea. They are a fabulous side with allround ability. I’ve still got a soft spot for them and try to see them whenever I’m in town.

“I know our League form has been very disappointing but this is the sort of draw that could really gee us up. A good performance against Chelsea could stoke up a lot of confidence after a lean spell.

“Our big problem at the moment is that we have stopped scoring goals. I’ve only scored a couple of times lately and I’m not too happy about that.

“But goals seem to come in spells for me and it would be nice to break the ice against Chelsea. It would be even better if we can beat them because the directors and manager here have worked very hard for success.

“The potential here is tremendous. When the club was going for promotion last season home gates were over the 30,000 mark. The whole set-up here is geared for success. Even though we are struggling in the League you couldn’t find a better atmosphere.

“There are no chins down just because things aren’t going right. As I said, the folks here deserve success. It’s a crying shame that we’re struggling because the facilities here are second to none.

“Obviously, we need to start getting the right results now before it’s too late. A win against Chelsea could be just the boost we need to get out of trouble in the League. So we’ll all be trying really hard.” The obvious sincerity of Bridges, veteran of over 400 League games and a consistent scorer with Chelsea, Birmingham, Queen’s Park Rangers and Millwall, will be a key factor in this intriguing duel.

And Brighton will be banking on his goal-den touch to give them the shot in the arm they need.

Well, what a humdinger of a match it turned out to be, with two sending-off and some horrendous foul play. A quite incredible atmosphere by the end!