Roger Cross

[Baby Boomer Bee]

This makes sense looking back now, Cross was a big bloke but not a natural target man and didn't get many with his head. I wonder what would have happened if Blunstone hadn't left? Everett was a decent bloke, dealt a poor hand by the board, but Jim Langley would have been the better choice at the time.

I would be interested in others views of Roger Cross. I saw a lot of his games in a Bees shirt and whilst he had the right build for a top grade forward and certainly and looked the part for me he only ever flattered to deceive. Somehow I always wanted him to deliver more than he actually did. No doubt ChorleyBee and GeoffBee among others who seem to possess and encyclopeadic knowledge of former Bees will have some interesting comments.

 

[Bangor Bee]

I would be interested in others views of Roger Cross. I saw a lot of his games in a Bees shirt and whilst he had the right build for a top grade forward and certainly and looked the part for me he only ever flattered to deceive. Somehow I always wanted him to deliver more than he actually did. No doubt ChorleyBee and GeoffBee among others who seem to possess and encyclopeadic knowledge of former Bees will have some interesting comments.

Roger Cross was a classy player but had no pace. I don't think anybody could call John O'Mara classy, but in the air he was fantastic. During his one and only great season the crowd expected him to score every time we went forward. I remember one goal at Exeter that was a header from the edge of the penalty area but went in with the power of a shot. God knows why Blackburn bought him (or we sold him) as they played without wingers, which were essential for O'Mara.

 

[Wise old Bee]

I would be interested in others views of Roger Cross. I saw a lot of his games in a Bees shirt and whilst he had the right build for a top grade forward and certainly and looked the part for me he only ever flattered to deceive. Somehow I always wanted him to deliver more than he actually did.

I always felt he had an aversion to heading the ball and I remember him regularly chesting down long balls rather than flicking them on. He did have a kick like a mule with his left foot though and had a hell of a long throw. Dodgy haircut and white boots too! He has had a decent career as a coach but presumably never fancied being a manager. He wouldn't get in my favourite X1 from my time but he would be in the squad all the same.

 

[GEOFFBEE]

I would be interested in others views of Roger Cross. I saw a lot of his games in a Bees shirt and whilst he had the right build for a top grade forward and certainly and looked the part for me he only ever flattered to deceive. Somehow I always wanted him to deliver more than he actually did. No doubt ChorleyBee and GeoffBee among others who seem to possess and encyclopeadic knowledge of former Bees will have some interesting comments.

I agree with what you, and others have said on Roger Cross.
Wonderfully gifted, and the right build etc, he was, for a while, by far our classiest player, and very good to watch.Yet we felt there could have been just that bit more to come...
I think he was the very first Bee to wear white boots.He must have been very brave, because, with his pop star hairstyle and stylish movement it was not long before some wag in the crowd shouted out " Oh look.It's poof in boots!"
He was, I believe, also our first long throw expert( but not as far as David Hunt)
He joined us from West Ham, and certainly showed some glimpses of what he learned from the likes of Ron Greenwood, Geoff Hurst etc.
When he first left us, for Fulham, he made himself a bit of a hero with their fans for scoring two fine goals in a derby match versus QPR.After returning to BFC he was subsequently transferred to Millwall, and later went into coaching at QPR and Spurs.He did in fact, make a return to Griffin Park on May 15th 1983, when appearing for Happy Wanderers in a charity match versus Brentford Athletic.I was one of the guys marking him! No way could I get the bloody ball off him, and he certainly didn't seem like a poof that day!

 

[SH]

Seem to remember a long throw competition between the London clubs (maybe Evening Standard or local TV) which he was in... or my memory may have a couple of loose connections.

 

[macsalisbee]

Seem to remember a long throw competition between the London clubs (maybe Evening Standard or local TV) which he was in... or my memory may have a couple of loose connections.

Long throws became popular and I think Ian Hutchinson won.

Cross had a tremendous shot-especially from free kicks. He buried one against Watford in 73 using the 'stop-start' free kick routine. Unfortunately Watford did the same to equalise!

He was an elegant player, not suited to Div 4 IMO. Lack of pace was his real problem. Interesting that he's become such a successful coach

 

[Wise old Bee]

Cross had a tremendous shot-especially from free kicks. He buried one against Watford in 73 using the 'stop-start' free kick routine. Unfortunately Watford did the same to equalise!

That was the night the "argument" free kick routine actually worked although it was attempted god knows how many times. Once in a while when we get a free kick nowadays you hear someone of my generation shout "try the argument!" Watford's goal that night was scored by ex-QPR skipper Mike Keen who, sadly, died a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Baby Boomer Bee]

I agree with what you, and others have said on Roger Cross.
Wonderfully gifted, and the right build etc, he was, for a while, by far our classiest player, and very good to watch.Yet we felt there could have been just that bit more to come...
I think he was the very first Bee to wear white boots.He must have been very brave, because, with his pop star hairstyle and stylish movement it was not long before some wag in the crowd shouted out " Oh look.It's poof in boots!"
He was, I believe, also our first long throw expert( but not as far as David Hunt)
He joined us from West Ham, and certainly showed some glimpses of what he learned from the likes of Ron Greenwood, Geoff Hurst etc.
When he first left us, for Fulham, he made himself a bit of a hero with their fans for scoring two fine goals in a derby match versus QPR.After returning to BFC he was subsequently transferred to Millwall, and later went into coaching at QPR and Spurs.He did in fact, make a return to Griffin Park on May 15th 1983, when appearing for Happy Wanderers in a charity match versus Brentford Athletic.I was one of the guys marking him! No way could I get the bloody ball off him, and he certainly didn't seem like a poof that day!

Great post GeoffBee (and others). Maybe it was that poodle parlour hair style that dictated his preference for chesting the ball down rather than heading it. I had forgotten the white boots bit. The first players I can recall seeing in white boots were some of Brian Clough's players probably JohnO'Hare, Kevin Hector around 71/72.

 

[ninebelowzero]

great player in his white boots

 

[North London Bee]

Considering the quality of some of his partners when he returned to GP - Webb, Woon, Poole, Simmons, French Cross id brilliantly and was a shining beacon in a time of poor football and little hope. I remember him scoring hat tricks in 2 consecutive home games against Chester and Mansfield when we were near the bottom of the League.

Held the ball well, fantastic left foot shot, great throw, not great in the air, not a lot of pace and a bit like Pinamonte in that he wasn't that keen to put himself about too much.

Silky skills and was a touch of class amongst a lot of dross around him.

 

[sonofabee]

Absolute class player who strolled around rather than sprinted but probably as he didn't have pace. Vaguely resembled a bigger version of Marc Bolan.
All been said, Alan Ball had the white boots as well as Alan Hinton but Roger was the first in the lower leagues. He scored one of the best goals I've ever seen at GP vs Rochdale. If I remember he chested a ball down from about 35 yards out and hit a left foot screamer from just inside the new road touchline attacking Ealing Road.

Remember reading the Evening Mail and being excited at signing a promising centre forward from West Ham and wasn't disappointed.

 

[blunstone]

Considering the quality of some of his partners when he returned to GP - Webb, Woon, Poole, Simmons, French Cross id brilliantly and was a shining beacon in a time of poor football and little hope. I remember him scoring hat tricks in 2 consecutive home games against Chester and Mansfield when we were near the bottom of the League.

Held the ball well, fantastic left foot shot, great throw, not great in the air, not a lot of pace and a bit like Pinamonte in that he wasn't that keen to put himself about too much.

Silky skills and was a touch of class amongst a lot of dross around him.

i was a big fan of his.

great left peg!

he was probably best suited to being second striker rather than leading the line.

a bit of star!!!

 

[North London Bee]

i was a big fan of his.

great left peg!

he was probably best suited to being second striker rather than leading the line.

a bit of star!!!

One of my first heroes and I dreamed of beong as cool as him.

What a player!

 

[Wise old Bee]

He would deffo be in my all-time Brentford Flash Eleven along with the likes of Alan Cockram and Billy Holmes although he had more ability than most of the contenders. Andy Woon looked a bit like the lead singer of "Sweet" so he would probably get in as well.

 

[blunstone]

He would deffo be in my all-time Brentford Flash Eleven along with the likes of Alan Cockram and Billy Holmes although he had more ability than most of the contenders. Andy Woon looked a bit like the lead singer of "Sweet" so he would probably get in as well.

yes roger had a bit of the pop star about him - didn't like getting his hair dirty!

i found andy w. playing for bognor in the sussex league and got him a trial with my namesake. he first turned out for the bees in the old charity cup against spurs.

a hat-trick on debut! but i never thought of him as being like a member of sweet - but a bloody nice bloke. i drove him back to bognor after his hat-trick - i think he floated about six feet above the car! sadly that was the highlight of his time with the bees. he moved to maidstone and that was probably about his level in all honesty.

if we could have blended cross's shooting and throwing and general skill with woon's heading and commitment we would have had a truly great player !!!!

 

[Wise old Bee]

Fair do's to Woon he did his best and put himself about but couldn't be expected to shine in a struggling side. His first goal against Port Vale was one of my favourites at GP. Roger Cross was out on the Braemar touchline facing the crowd and hooked the ball over his head, it flew up as high as the roof of the Royal Oak and droppped for Woon who headed it in from about 10 yards. It was a grim season but his hat trick that day was one of the highlights.

 

[Sultan]

What made Roger Cross?

 

[GNBee]

What made Roger Cross?

Being nicknamed "Flossy" by some.
He could strike a dead ball at 69 mph and always looked pretty classy to me.

 

[wanderer paul]

My first 'hero' at 8 years old!!

All i remember of him was his boots and his 'class'.

 

[EnglishBee]

As I recall, Roger was a very classy player, but didn't fancy the rough stuff! As someone else remarked, he didn't like getting his hair dirty. Tremendous shot in his left foot though!

 

[Savannah Bee]

Had the right build, skills etc but you never knew what you were going to get from Roger. To be fair, as others have said, he wasn't exactly surrounded by talent and ended up pretty much a lone striker. Never appeared to be truly happy and enjoying his football. When the team played poor (which was pretty frequent during his time) then he didn't seem to bother. Other times he was dynamite. I remember there was a bit of an outcry when sold to Fulham for 25,000? (I think).

 

[DavidgRushden]

I always thought of him as a class player at the time and he could really turn on the style at times.However, he could at times become almost too frustrated with lesser beings around him and then noticeably "turn the tap off".

 

[Keighley Bee]

Happiest memory for me was him putting us ahead at Liverpool in a League Cup match. My uncle and I were there with a Liverpool fan, who had insisted we all stand in the Kop. The two of us went berserk when the goal went in beneath us, and all we attracted from the Liverpool fans was quizzical looks. Not so sure that we would be so lucky today.

 

[blunstone]

Happiest memory for me was him putting us ahead at Liverpool in a League Cup match. My uncle and I were there with a Liverpool fan, who had insisted we all stand in the Kop. The two of us went berserk when the goal went in beneath us, and all we attracted from the Liverpool fans was quizzical looks. Not so sure that we would be so lucky today.

i was there too! a great moment in the thrills and spills, ups and downs, of being a bees' fan.

 

[North London Bee]

i was there too! a great moment in the thrills and spills, ups and downs, of being a bees' fan.

Me too! Thought we played well. Sherwood fantastic in goal.

 

[Simon W]

Found this on You Tube whilst watching the Frank Blunstone video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7eatv16N4E

Never seen this before?

 

[wanderer paul]

The white boots.....? My brentford hero as a kid

 

[HertfordBee]

The white boots.....? My brentford hero as a kid

Mine too. A few years back, I helped his wife/family by giving them some photos of him in his Brentford playing days. I think they were compiling something to celebrate a 'big birthday. Afterwards, he sent me a thank you note, written on an A4 photo of himself from his Brentford playing days that I had not seen before. Even in my advanced years, it was quite thrilling to get such a thing from a former playing hero!!

 

[halibutbee64]

Looks very dapper. Interview very low key.

 

[Bigbee]

fourth from bottom in league four ,ouch ! " We've had a toss " lol

 

[BEESRULE]

Working with Chris Powell at Southend United . Roger turns 70 this year , wonder if he still has a pair of the boots !

 

[ruislip bee]

Working with Chris Powell at Southend United . Roger turns 70 this year , wonder if he still has a pair of the boots !

And long hair. My Dad always proclaimed a good haircut would make Roger a much better player!

 

[north wilts bee]

And longer shorts