Derby’s ongoing attempt to finally win the FA Cup had seen several near misses down the years and season 1932/33 would turn out to be another of those, the club eventually reaching the semi-final where they would lose out to Manchester City.

An eventful third round tie at Molineux ended in a 6-3 victory for the Rams and the fourth round draw sent them to the Essex coast and a meeting with Southend United who were sitting mid-table in the Third Division South and had eliminated Exeter, Scarborough and Watford in previous rounds.

These were the days when the FA Cup really mattered to clubs at all levels and, as ever, the potential for a giant-killing result would grab the headlines. Only a couple of weeks earlier, Walsall had beaten the then-mighty Arsenal in one of the all-time shock results, Gateshead held Manchester City to a draw and non-league Corinthian had gone close in their tie with West Ham so it was with, perhaps, slight trepidation that Derby made the trip south. Even more so, given that their fourth round tie with the same opponents 7 years earlier had seen the Rams go down to a 1-4 defeat.

No mention of this match would be complete without reference to the unusual facilities used by Southend at the time. The club moved in to the Kursaal Stadium in 1919 and would stay there for 15 years before moving to the Southend Greyhound Stadium until Roots Hall opened in 1955. The Kursaal had no specific capacity though, as was common at the time, and as can be seen in the photo below, a good 75% of it comprised of terracing.

The Kursaal itself was actually one of the world’s first theme parks and the football stadium was situated inside the park’s boundaries. Indeed, it was right next to one of the main attractions which was the unusually high water chute ride allowing those using it a view of the pitch as they awaited their turn to slide down! That can be seen on the left side of the photograph behind the small building where the club office was located.

And so to the match itself. Southend issued a 12-page programme, slightly larger than the standard size of the time, costing 2d. Line-ups are spread over the centre pages, not too much in the way of editorial and, as is often the case with these old programmes, the advertising is of greatest interest and, understandably, the various theme park attractions are highlighted throughout the publication.

The match kicked off in front of an official attendance of 15,188 which, as it turned out, would be the second-highest crowd for any Southend game at that venue and, in the best traditions of the old trophy, the tie turned out to be the proverbial “game of two halves”.

Derby played what would be termed ‘possession football’ these days, barely allowing the home team the opportunity to move into the Derby half. Reward came after just 7 minutes when Jack Bowers volleyed home from a Sammy Crooks cross, followed shortly afterwards by a shot from the edge of the penalty area from inside forward Howard Fabian in one of just 12 appearances the famous amateur player made for the Rams. Before the interval, Jack Bowers netted a third and the tie looked done and dusted only for Southend, who up to then had adopted a more than physical approach to the tie, going into passing mode themselves and seizing the initiative from a Derby side who suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves very much on the back foot.

Fred Barnett hit the post twice then, in the 55^th minute, Jack Morfitt’s shot rebounded off the bar only to be forced home by the wonderfully named Theophilus Pike. Jack Bowers had a couple of opportunities to complete his hat-trick but Southend’s pressure told and Morfitt netted for them in the 89^th minute.

Stoppage time back then wasn’t as pronounced as it is today and the Rams managed to see out the final two minutes leaving The Kursaal with, no doubt, a feeling of great relief.

Round 5 saw a home tie with non-league Aldershot at the Baseball Ground and a 2-0 win to earn a quarter-final tie at Roker Park against Sunderland. After a 4-4 draw (oh for a highlights reel!), and a 1-0 replay win it was off to Huddersfield for the semi-final with Man City.

No Wembley appearance for the Rams, though, as they succumbed 3-2 to a City side who were well beaten, 0-3, by Everton in the Final in front of 92,950 spectators.

As for the Kursaal stadium, well both it and the theme park itself are, sadly, no more. Tastes change and gradually, one by one, the attractions closed down between 1973 and 1986. Today, all that remains is the front offices which have been converted into retail units though at least the tower above those offices remains.

As with the Baseball Ground, the area where the actual Kursaal Stadium stood is now occupied by housing.