Club Celebrations and Reunions
70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Icklesham Recreation Ground
Saturday, 21st July 2007
Much hard work went into arranging the 70th Anniversary Celebration which was held at Icklesham on Saturday, 21st July 2007. The majority of the organisation was done by David Mayne, George Potter and Jack Brown with thoughts of how to mark the occasion starting many months before and a great deal of time was taken up in trying to trace past players.
A football match was played in the afternoon which was followed by a reunion in the Memorial Hall in the evening. This was attended by around one hundred and fifty present and past players, friends, guests and their partners. Thanks to the kind generosity of the Icklesham Horticultural Society, a marquee was borrowed which was set up adjoining the hall to provide more room. Tickets cost £7.50 per head and included a first class buffet which was supplied by the Robin Hood while the Queen’s Head organised the bar.
AFTERNOON FOOTBALL MATCH
Icklesham Recreation Ground
The events began with an inter-club football match at the Recreation Ground in the afternoon where the ‘reds’ beat the ‘green and whites’ by 7 goals to 2 with four goals from Bob Baker, one each from Martin Hill and Peter Drew with the scoring being completed by a Stuart Adams penalty. Martin Tytherleigh and Ian Carter replied, both Peter Drew and George Potter appeared for both sides and Jack Brown refereed the game.
| ‘GREEN AND WHITE’ TEAM 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Back row (left to right):- Steve Beale, Aaron Leach, Neil Hastings, Michael Chester, Martin Tytherleigh, Ian Carter. Front row (left to right):- Bill Burt, Peter Drew, Trevor Saunders, Wayne Bumstead, Colin Gill. |
| ‘RED’ TEAM 70TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION Back row (left to right):- Richard Fuggle, Stuart Homewood, Kevin Earl, Jimmy Fuggle, Stuart Adams, Tony Forster. Front row (left to right):- Bob Baker, Phil Wall, Joe Beardsley, Mike Beaumont, Carl Burns, Martin Hill. |
Match Details
EVENING CELEBRATION
Icklesham Memorial Hall
In the evening the celebrations continued with a reunion in the Memorial Hall where players representing every era met up with old friends to reminisce about their time with the club. Those present included Les Beeney, part of the meeting at Thompson’s Tea Rooms in Rye in 1937 when the club was founded and the first captain of the club, John Archer, who played over 100 games between 1940 and 1965, Albert Cane, a player between 1942 and 1952, Len Fuggle, a member of the minor XI which won the Hastings Minor Cup in 1943-44, Ernie Philcox, an England Schoolboy International who played for the club between 1940 and 1946, Alan Shearer, who made nearly 100 appearances from 1944 to 1949 and Bill Southerden, a club member from 1941 to 1945. Seven members of the Sussex Junior Cup winning side of 1963-64 were present – Chris Ades, David Ades, Jack Brown, Bill Burt, Bryan Butler, Mike Hills and George Potter as well as two others in Brian Barden and John Parsons who may well have played but for injury. The club was so pleased that both Pam Dunlop, widow of Andrew and Doris Holdstock, widow of Alf, a stalwart of the club, were also in attendance.
Several former players made long journeys to be there – Colin McPhail travelled down from Dunfermline, Brian Barden from Northants, Mike Hills from Suffolk, while both Colin Gill and Colin Shearer came all the way from Devon. Guests included John Cornford, a life vice-president of the Sussex County Football Association, Dick Milton, chairman of the East Sussex Football League, Eddie Potter, vice-chairman of the Hastings and District Football Association and Alan Apps from the Robertsbridge Charity Cup.
The buffet was available from 8 pm and then at 9 pm Bob Baker, as Master of Ceremonies, introduced the speakers. George Potter, the club president began the speeches and was followed by John Cornford on behalf of the County Football Association. Andrew Dunlop and Mike Hills then recalled their memories of the club.
At the conclusion of the speeches, a raffle to raise money for the various charities supported by George Potter’s sponsored ‘Walk around the Cinque Ports’ was drawn, player of the year presentations were made as well as awards for service to the Club and a most successful evening drew to a close.
THE SPEECHES
