The Old Shorehamers (London) Football Club

Founded 1963

50th Anniversary Celebration - 27 September 2013

SHOREHAM COLLEGE IN 1953

In September 1953, aged eight, I went to Shoreham College (then called Shoreham Grammar

School), as a Boarder.

At that time, the School had about 300 pupils (all boys from 8 to 18) and about 100 were

Boarders, who mainly came from the London area. There were also students from abroad

and sons of people working in the forces or diplomatic services across the world. The Day

Boys came from the Shoreham area and along the seacoast each side, and some by daily train

on the Steyning Stinker or the Horsham Flyer.

 Two railway carriages were exclusively booked to take us from Victoria Southern Railway

Station to Shoreham-by-Sea station. The School was then at Pond Road, in the middle of

Shoreham, and overlooked St Mary’s Church and the Playground overlooked the railway

line.

LEAVING SHOREHAM IN 1961 (after 8 years)

It was a bit of a shock leaving Shoreham aged 16 and living in London, as all one’s best

friends had been made at Shoreham. We used to meet up, but this was not so easy as we all

lived in different parts of London.

 Several of us played Saturday football for quite good clubs. Peter Jones played for Finchley,

and Ron Stean and I played for the Polytechnic (at Chiswick) which had about 10 teams.

Eventually, we both made it to the First Eleven and we both scored in Polytechnic’s 100th

Anniversary football match against the Southern League X1, which at that time was the top

amateur Football League in Southern England.

STARTING THE LONDON OLD SHOREHAMERS FC

The three of us decided to try and start a London Old Shorehamers Football Club. The OSA approved of the idea and agreed to pay for our first football kit of red shirts and black shorts and red socks for 11 players, which cost about £15 in total. NB: See attached a Voucher worth

3 shillings (15 pence) with which you could buy lunch in February 1962.

We ascertained that there was the Sportsmans London Sunday Football League and asked

if we could join. This was a little ambitious as we did not have a team at the time, nor

a ground. They said they would give us a trial and then consider whether we would be

admitted to the League, into the bottom Division. This was in March 1963. We had found nine

Old Shorehamers to play, but unfortunately, the Sunday we were playing on was the morning

after the night when the clocks went forward. One of our players did not know about the

clocks changing and arrived one hour late (or half an hour late on the pitch); and another had

his 21st birthday party the night before and did not show. So we had seven players at Kick Off

time.

We managed to find three other footballers looking for a game on Clapham Common and

we played the match. It was 0 – 0 at half time and we finally lost 0 – 3. We were tiring by

the end as some of us had played the day before (Saturday) and others would not have been

fit. We were being watched by League officials, so we were afraid we would not be accepted

into the League.

The good news is that we were accepted into the League commencing September 1963.

Nearly all London Councils provided football pitches, by permits which could be bought

for all one’s fixtures for the season. We acquired such season tickets at Tooting Bec. We

moved our home ground a number of times and settled eventually at Marble Hill Park, which

is beside the river between Richmond and Twickenham and very picturesque.

HOW TO RUN A FOOTBALL CLUB

I became Secretary and Ron Stean, Treasurer and Michael Longley was our first Chairman

and Tony Copping our first Captain.

We tended to change who was the Captain every season or so and this worked well. Whilst

we enjoyed ourselves before and after the matches (in the nearest Pub), when the matches

commenced, we were very committed in seeking to win and the Captain would speak

loudly if and when necessary.

When we started, we had a rule that each player had to be an Old Shorehamer. Indeed our

first left back was Ian Robinson, who had contracted polio since leaving Shoreham. His

courage in playing was immense. We also had other players who were not totally natural

players and we all encouraged them (as a team) and many improved over the years

considerably.

There were no substitutes allowed then and it became evident that we could not play our

best 11 each week and ask others to stand in when someone was away or injured. So we

developed the Squad System (before Manchester United, Manchester City and others have)

whereby everyone in the Squad that we had would be played fairly.

Some of our players travelled very large distances - Peter Jones from Finchley, then

Hertfordshire, Graham Grove from Bromley in Kent and David Knight from Sussex, for

example. For those who like their OSA history, David’s uncle, Cyril Holloway, was the first

Treasurer of the OSA which was formed in 1927 and Cyril served as President of the OSA

from 1957 to 1970.

Just playing Old Shorehamers was not feasible in the medium term and in the third year,

David Braint and Roger Vernier commenced playing for us. David Braint was a work

colleague of mine at Merrett, Son and Street, where Clyde Dixie was a Partner. Clyde Dixie

had been Treasurer of the OSA from 1957 to 1970 and was President from 1970 to 1978.

David Braint was not an active footballer, and he came along as supporter/coach and helped

as linesman to commence with. In time, he came onto the pitch, when someone had

dropped out at the last moment. In fact his footballing skills were quite modest to commence

with. However, over the next nine years he became an excellent centre half, playing 220 matches and scoring 38 goals and he was eventually elected as an honorary member of the OSA.

Peter Jones took over from Ron Stean as Treasurer and was brilliantly meticulous. Despite travelling from North London/Hertfordshire to West London, Peter was nearly always one of the first to arrive at the ground, with pen and paper to collect subs and tick off each name. Peter kept records of each of our players in each match for the ten seasons to 1974 and these are summarised on the attached schedules (4 pages). Those marked S are Old Shorehamers.

Peter Jones scored 187 goals in 250 matches and even more amazingly, Ron Stean scored

258 goals in 241 matches. In fact Ron played in our defence in the first season and a half, so

his goal record as a forward is 258 goals in 206 matches.

Our style of play was based upon sound defence and break away goals by the speedy Peter

and Ron. In addition to being speedy, Ron was tall and strong and sometimes he, the ball and

the opposing goalkeeper would all end up in the opponents net. Fair play, but determined.

The four Bradley brothers went to Shoreham and the younger three all played for us. David - 122

matches, Chris - 211 matches and Andrew - 59 matches.

WEST LONDON SUNDAY FOOTBALL LEAGUES

We had to leave the Sportsmans League at the end of the 1968/69 Season because they made

buying (and selling) £1.25 of raffle tickets a week compulsory (to fund the League’s costs)

and we could not sell £1.25 of raffle tickets a season let alone a week!

We joined the West London Sunday Football League, which had been founded in 1947, from

the 1969/70 Season onwards. These leagues were very well run by some dedicated ordinary

folk (fully supported by their wives and families). There were no emails or faxes then and

all the communications had to be typed or handwritten and then posted.

There were League Meetings to which every Club had to send a Representative. Whenever

our name was called out, they pronounced it as “The Old Sure Hammers” and everyone at the

meeting (about 100 people) would burst out laughing.

The League had rules and we (or any Club) could be reprimanded or fined for misdemeanours.

We did not suffer many, which could be for not having corner flags etc. However there are a

couple on our files where tempers had flared and the League had written to us accordingly.

We also had rules and could fine our members. One letter (in copperplate writing) that Peter

Jones has kept all these years, is from one of our players regarding his appeal to us against

our fine on him. His final letter says “Once again, I would like to thank all those involved

in considering my case and I would like to convey my apologies to all parties for having let

them down. I shall endeavour to see that this same type of thing does not repeat itself”.

I am not sure whether this is the style of how modern day footballers write their letters after

some of their misdemeanours or whether it is our chap who writes their letters for them.

RAMPANT, FUN, and TOURS

We started a magazine, the first edition of which was published in August 1964 with ten

pages (see Cover and Page 1 attached). As anyone who has tried to produce a magazine

knows, this was no easy matter. It needed to be written, then typed on a stencil and then

printed one copy at a time on a duplicating machine. No word processors, nor printers then.

We called it Rampant, after the lion on the Shoreham Crest. There are over 30 issues of

Rampant, the twentieth came out in Summer 1971 and the cover of issue 22 is below (click to expand).

They were entertaining and newsy, but the editorials were not quite like the Times or

Guardian.

Click to view.

We had supporters, of whom David Kelly was perhaps the longest serving, and quite a

number of us had girlfriends who supported us in miniskirts and high heels on Sunday

mornings (including during the cold mid-winter days).

The Club held social evenings at Christmas, end of Seasons and at other times. In fact, some

of us met up on Sunday evenings in the Red Lion in Crown Passage in St James’s. One

particularly memorable social event was held at the Elizabethan Rooms in Kensington. This

was just after Mark Cockburn had returned from Australia in November 1973. I knew he

was coming to the do with his wife Brenda, but no one else did. So it was a great surprise for

everyone. The evening was a riot, with various people dressing up as King and Queen and

Knave etc. for the night.

The Club went on Playing and Entertaining Tours, with girlfriends and wives. The first was

to Norfolk over Easter in 1972, where I have relations. This started a trend. The Club went

on tour to Paris in Spring 1973, where they won the Cup Competition (on Penalties - a

lesson for the England Team here perhaps). In Spring 1974,  the tour was to Brighton.

We have the Programme for the March 1975 Tour to Liverpool, where the Club took part in

the Liverpool Ramblers Twentieth Easter Festival. The write up on the OSFC is below (click to expand).

Click to view.

This is partially accurate and part humour and I hope you can tell which is which! Dick

Stokes wrote this – he was “the King” at the Elizabethan Rooms.

 Dick Stokes played for the Chiswick Polytechnic with us and was a little older than us. He

always kept a bottle of brandy in the back of the net and would occasionally take a swig

to keep himself going in a match. One match, the opponents scored a great goal right in

the corner and broke his brandy bottle! Dick was so upset by that but we were more

concerned that they had scored. Dick later went on to become Chief Executive of Slough

Borough Council.

SUCCESS and ACHIEVEMENTS

Whilst we played to enjoy ourselves, we also played to win. Many matches were against

very good teams. We lost our first three or four matches in our first Season 1963/64, which was

a little worrying. However we won the next match and finished that Season about three

quarters down in the bottom Division of the League. Gradually we improved, moved up the

Division Table and eventually out of the bottom Division.

 Success on the field came to the OSFC for the first time in Season 1969/70 when we won

the Cup by a score of 4 -2. We played in a proper stadium with a good crowd of spectators

and had press coverage. The headline in the paper said in part of its write up “It was no

surprise when in a surprise move, the Old Shorehamers broke away to score”.

The Club had another very successful Season in 1970/71 and carried off the Division Four

Championship. We needed to win the last match of the season to go top of the league and

when we did win, it was the first time in the whole of the Club’s history that we had been at

the top of a league table.

We formed a Reserve team in Season 1971/72 to strengthen our overall performance and

to give more games to our squad of players, which was now increasing in size. The WLSFL

Handbook for Season 1972 -73 shows that by then, we were in Division Three and that

the Reserves were in Division Seven.

In Season 1974/75 the Club finished as runners up in Division Two and the Reserves

finished in the middle of Division Five.

It is not easy to mention everyone who was involved with the success of the Club, but here

are a few more. Bob Hearn, another good centre back with 140 matches and five goals. Mike

Hoiles (probably our best player) was a very good midfielder who had been on Charlton’s

books as a youngster. At one match we played, a scout from professional football was

enquiring about him. Mike Hoiles scored 50 goals in 91 matches, from midfield, including

a goal (or maybe it was two) in the Cup Final (Peter and Ron scoring the others). Richard

Herriott was another good defender/midfielder who played 118 matches and scored seven goals.

Other very memorable players were Graham Grove - 114 matches and one goal (he was a

full back). Graham commenced playing in the 1968/69 Season and was about seven or eight years

younger than most us. Brian Preston played 101 matches and scored three goals from the 1969/

70 Season onwards. Both Graham and Brian were younger than us and therefore less strong

to commence with. They both were determined and improved considerably during their

playing time with us. Graham Grove’s elder brother is Richard Grove who was Secretary of

the OSA during the 1980s.

WHY IS THE LONDON OSFC NOT PLAYING NOW?

London OSFC depended on a continuous supply of new players coming from Shoreham

College – that is Boarders leaving who lived in the London Area.

 In 1965, Shoreham Grammar School had to move from the centre of Shoreham to Worthing at

short notice, with the Boarders being in various houses around Worthing.

The trend away from Boarding Schools commenced and eventually Shoreham College

became Day Pupils only, including girls of course, from the ages of 4 to 16.

Also our Players became older, moved away, married, started families, or went abroad, or

all five of these things. Our friendships have continued and several of us still meet up (for

many years in the RAC Club).

FOND MEMORIES

We have many fond memories and it difficult to pick out the best. One which I like is when

John Newman played for us against Polish Varsovia. It was winter, cold wet and muddy,

and they did not speak much English, and looked huge and as if they did not like us from

the start. John Newman had played Cricket twice for Sussex School Boys at Lords and

scored well each time - 91 not out I remember. After leaving Shoreham, John became a very

successful professional Flamenco Guitarist, which meant he had to grow his finger nails

long and put lots of strengthening nail vanish on them. He was playing centre forward and

chasing one pass forward, when about 3 of 4 Polish Varsovia Defenders closed in on him

at speed. John went down in a heap of mud beneath them and then let out a scream “they

have broken my nail!”. Fortunately, apart from his nail, John was unhurt...and we won a hard

fought match, with John scoring the only goal. More history for you - John Newman was

Best Man at David and Jenny Knight’s Wedding.

Christopher Wynne

24 September 2012

With thanks to Peter Jones for keeping the records for nearly 50 years, to the Rampant Lion

Magazines and to David Knight, Mark Cockburn and Ashley Warner for their additional helpful guidance.