Seem to recall there was a Football Combination game v Arsenal played immediately after the 6-0 win , does anyone else remember this , or is it just me getting old ?[/quote]
You're not getting old! I'd quite forgotten about this, until you mentioned it, Dartington. It only goes to show that a number of heads (and memories) is far better than one. I'm pretty sure you're right. I certainly remember one Combination match being played directly after a first team fixture and it would make sense that this was the one, as it was the last game of the season. I remember savouring the thrashing of Bradford in the knowledge that there was another match directly after. We just stayed put - as did quite a few others - and watched the Reserves (as we called them then) finish their own season.
At the risk of straying into another thread, I used to love going to Football Combination matches at Home Park on either a Saturday afternoon (First Team one week, Reserves the next) or a Tuesday evening. If it was the latter I would have the match on my mind all day in school, most certainly at the expense of my concentration in class! The Football Combination afforded us the chance of watching our own youngsters and a mix of out-of-favour First Teamers or those working their way back from injury. A similar mix was on show from the opposition and this resulted in me seeing some big names (then) in the flesh. In the course of a season reserve teams of Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, West Ham etc etc were paraded in front of the meagre but passionate crowd (averaging around 300-500 but exceeding 1000 if there was something special about the fixture). Without checking my "programmes" (a single sheet of A4 paper, folded in two, with the teams in green print) I can remember watching the likes of Peter Marinello, Charlie George and Bob Wilson from various Arsenal teams and Billy Bonds and Clyde Best from West Ham. The classic 1961 match that drew such a large Reserves crowd when Spurs included Jimmy Greaves (recently signed from Italy) was before my time, sadly.
But it wasn't all about the opposition. I can remember as if it were yesterday watching Paul Mariner turn out for the reserves for the first time. "Bloody hell!" I thought, "He looks as though he knows where the goal is." And, of course, he did...
Although I can understand the economic reasons for withdrawing from it many years ago I really miss the old Football Combination days.