dunsbyowl Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) Is it really ten years since we lost the Mick P? Remembering the Wednesday #Legend Mick Prendergast who sadly passed away #OnThisDay ten years ago, aged just 59. Prendo made his debut 51 years ago in April 1969 and scored 59 goals in 206 appearances for #SWFC. Always gave 100% and had the heart of a Lion! The date of his death was also, by a quirk of fate, the anniversary of that memorable Southend game in 1976 and one of the most important night's in Wednesday's history. Goals by Eric Potts and Prendo earned #SWFC a 2-1 victory, and secured 3rd Division survival, in front of (at least) 25,802 jubilant Wednesday fans. Edited April 28, 2020 by dunsbyowl 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 But for his numerous injuries I'm sure he would have attracted the top flight clubs ......the club did him no favours for later life by pumping him full of cortisone to get him on the field . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurujuan Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, torryowl said: But for his numerous injuries I'm sure he would have attracted the top flight clubs ......the club did him no favours for later life by pumping him full of cortisone to get him on the field . The Star suggests, he did have offers from bigger clubs, and wasn’t interested in leaving Wednesday. They also describe him as a battering ram of a centre forward, but my early recollections were, that he wasn’t that type of player at all? Edited April 29, 2020 by gurujuan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladeshater Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 My hero as a kid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 Just been reading the Star article - great work as ever ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 43 minutes ago, gurujuan said: The Star suggests, he did have offers from bigger clubs, and wasn’t interested in leaving Wednesday. They also describe him as a battering ram of a centre forward, but my early recollections were, that he wasn’t that type of player at all? I think danny Williams tried to sell him to oxford but prendo turned it down, I know he was very family oriented and lived in the denaby area all his life which if the star is right would account for not wanting to leave ….your right he had a bit more about than being a battering ram . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nut Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Played against Mexborough Main Street when i was 18/19 and Prendo was a sub for them. Was really hoping he'd come on as I played centre half but he didn't. He would only have been about 33 then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradowl Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 We was speaking to him in a boozer at Mexborough (think it was called Sportsman) a few years before he sadly died. He was struggling with his legs then. Players played when they really shouldn't have been in them days, only one substitution so if you got injured you most likely just carried on playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckwheat Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 Amazing that they injected cortisone as a matter of course to get players to play in games. Not bothering about the future problems it would cause. Prendo was definitely NOT a battering ram type forward. he had agility, awareness and knack of being in the right place to score. Don't think he ever played in the top flight. Wonder if he had gone to one of the big clubs how his career would have progressed. Also an extremely nice bloke. Spoke to him when I was getting his autograph and he talked to me like a pal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfie Tupper Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 I think he played for us in the first division - scored on his debut away at Newcastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 14 minutes ago, Buckwheat said: Amazing that they injected cortisone as a matter of course to get players to play in games. Not bothering about the future problems it would cause. Prendo was definitely NOT a battering ram type forward. he had agility, awareness and knack of being in the right place to score. Don't think he ever played in the top flight. Wonder if he had gone to one of the big clubs how his career would have progressed. Also an extremely nice bloke. Spoke to him when I was getting his autograph and he talked to me like a pal. the last time I saw him was 1986 he would have been 35 years old and he was hobbling up the street and told me that he was waiting for the PFA to sort out an operation for a replacement hip …..shocking how the clubs treated there players and read somewhere that he was registered disabled at a very young age . ...appalling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredmciverslovechild Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 One of the biggest regrets of my life that I couldn't get to the Southend match. Living in London at the time I just couldn't make it....though I had managed to get to Shrewsbury for a Tuesday night match a couple of weeks before! Didn't get to find out the result till after the 10pm news on the radio....agony! Prendo was probably the most honest player I've ever seen, gave his all. He epitomised out on the pitch what every fan on the terrace felt about Wednesday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecap Owl Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 I would take 100% guys like Prendo and Joicey over many of the over rated self important forwards nowadays... Didn't make crazy wages back then and played for the love of the game... Yes, we were crap back then but that didn't matter... Remember Mick scoring a brilliant goal at the Leppings Lane end against York (I believe) - can still remember the entire play... RIP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradowl Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 On 29/04/2020 at 10:29, Alfie Tupper said: I think he played for us in the first division - scored on his debut away at Newcastle. Correct, 68/69 season in a 3-2 defeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GLOwl Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 What a great attitude and commitment this guy had, and a great name to boot. We were pretty poor in those days but players like Prendo gave their all. Mention of his name takes me back to going to the games when there were generally 10k at an evening game, wooden seats, cushions if you were posh, and the smell of cigarettes, cigars and bovril. When I went to college, one of the girls renting in the same house as me had her boyfriend come and visit her most weekends and he was quite a bit older than her. I got talking to him and it turned out he played and scored for Southend in this game! It was Alan Moody. Imagine meeting the guy who put us very close to league 4 for the first time in our history! He was a really nice guy and I got on really well with him. This article has made me look him up and wow, he's had an incredibly tough time of late, poor guy. He had to have both legs amputated a few years ago to save his life. Southend did some fundraising and bought him an adapted car, what a great gesture. Compare that to how premier and championship footballers are behaving at present, makes you realise who the good people are. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1963owl Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 On 29/04/2020 at 08:05, bladeshater said: My hero as a kid mine too. Hes buried next to my parents in denaby cemetery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlyegg Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 'When Michael Prendergast scores a goal, you can shove ya Curry up ya hole.#~ Still one of my all time Wednesday favourites..and the song as well 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearwood Owl1 Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 Probably useless fact - he was the first Owl to score in each of Divisions One, Two and Three for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellis Rimmer Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 He's got an Owls crest on the back of his headstone which says player of the year and the season that was which looks nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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