Let’s hear from other former players with tales of skill, artistry and football magic!

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As early as 1926 it was hoped to start an Old Bordenian Football Club, but nothing materialised.  The first match (apart from the annual game against the School) was played against the Old Anchorians (Gillingham County School Old Boys) on November 5^th 1927, and the return game in March 1928.  The next effort was in the spring of 1930 when three friendly matches were played.

During the 1930-31 season three friendly matches were played against the Kent Farm Institute and two against the “East Kent Gazette” F.C.  At the Annual Meeting on 4^th July 1931, it was confirmed that an Old Boys F.C. had been formed at a special meeting on 25^th June when H .E. Smith was elected secretary and Ango Ponton captain.

The first minutes available are of a meeting held at the School on 20^th July 1931.  There was an attendance of six and various propositions were made which put the Club on a competitive footing.  A further meeting held at the George Hotel on August 21^st and attended by eleven members really got the Club moving and from that point it was an active member of local football.  At the 1932 Annual Meeting Roy Cole was elected captain, a position he held until 1958.  In 1935 Roy became secretary and from then on was the main prop of the Football Club.

Throughout these years the playing record of the Club had gradually improved and the 1936-37 season was the most successful the Club had had.  They won Division II of the new Brompton and District League, the East Kent Secondary Schools Old Boys’ League and the Sittingbourne Charity Cup.  The full playing record was Played 35, won 27, drawn 6, lost 2.  The New Brompton League table was as follows:-

The East Kent Gazette of May 8^th 1937 carried a three column spread of a report of the Sittingbourne Charity Cup final when the Old Boys beat Minerva 4-1 together with details of the season and the photograph which appears below.

The 1937 Team.  Standing: S.Callaway, J.G.Overy, K.C. Foster, E.L. Bush. E.J. Bush, C.W. Harris.  Sitting: L.Luscombe, F. Knowles, R.G. Cole, L. Lukehurst, W.G. Taylor.

A regular player missing from the photo was C.G. Cole who was playing cricket for Kent, the first time in the Club’s history that it had been honoured in this way.

The following season the Old Boys won the Sittingbourne Charity Cup and this proved to be the last pre-war effort of the Club as hostilities put paid to football as an organised Club until 1946-47 when the Cup was again won.

For the next few years the playing record was just average until in 1952-53 the East Kent Old Boys Cup was won to be followed with the Sittingbourne and Milton District League Championship in 1953-54.  This successful run was maintained in the following season when the Old Boys were runners-up in the Sittingbourne and Milton District League and the New Brompton League.  This season saw the Club awarded the New Brompton League Sportsmanship Cup.

The 1960-61 season was also reasonably successful, winning the East Kent Old Boys’ Cup, reaching the final of the Sittingbourne League Cup and being awarded the Sheppey League Sportsmanship Cup.

At the annual meeting on 29^th September 1961 Roy Cole relinquished the office of secretary after 25 years.  Jeff Spice was appointed and carried out the duties until 1967 when he was succeeded by John Collins.  From 1961 onwards fortunes were of a varying nature with the Club awarded the Sittingbourne and Sheppey Combination Sportsmanship Cup in 1965-66.  From this point on difficulties in keeping the team going gradually increased until at the annual meeting in 1971 it was decided to call it a day and after 40 years of varying fortunes the Football Club closed a very interesting chapter of Old Bordenian history.

Much of the early success of the Football Club was mainly due to Roy Cole as Hon. Secretary, player and captain for over thirty years – a truly wonderful record.  The Club was also fortunate to have had several players who turned out regularly for periods of from ten to twenty years.

Only two years passed before the efforts of Mike Pack, Greg Pope and Peter Lusted saw the Club reformed and entering the Combination division of the Medway Area Sunday League in 1973.  The squad consisted of mainly Old Boys, a couple of boys from the School and a few friends.  Finishing third in the division the Club was promoted and within a couple of years a second team, under Roger Goodger, was started which played in the Sheppey Sunday League.  Many memories exist including one game where due to a car breakdown the opposition started with only seven men.  Almost immediately an Alan Snelling tackle reduced them to six and we went into a quick 5-0 lead.  The missing players arrived and we hung on to win 5-4.

The first team continued moving up through another four divisions before winning Divisions 3 and 2 in consecutive seasons, remaining unbeaten in the League for both those years.  As a result of this success the team was promoted to the Premier Division.   After several years finishing in the top half of the Division the second team also moved across to the Medway Area Sunday League to seek new challenges. We were grateful to Bryan Short for allowing us to use the School pitch and for some of us it brought back memories of school and those early Latin lessons from Ken Booth where we learnt those important football verbs – vasto, vastare, vastavi, vastatum, and jingo, jingere, squeaksi, smackbum.  The first, often used by the Julius Caesar First XI , meant to “lay waste”, whilst the second loosely translated meant “ the half back passed the ball to the winger who rounded the full back, centred and the centre forward rose in the air and nodded home”.   Whilst we were not averse to following Caesar’s tactics on occasions, we preferred the more poetic route to goal.

Local football is very dependent on referees giving their time in what appears an often thankless task.  We generally enjoyed good relations with our refs who ranged from bad to excellent.  One did leave us lost for words however after a particularly physical affair in the Kent Cup against one of our former mining villages.  In the very first minute our goalie, Andy Mattocks, comfortably collected a cross only to have an opposing forward throw himself at him a good ten seconds later, leaving him requiring attention.  This set the scene for the match and we eventually lost by one goal.  In the changing rooms afterwards the referee said to us “you were doing really well until they started kicking you about”.  Was this the start of the current “Respect” policy being preached by the FA?  Clubs were expected to provide their own reports of matches to the local press although the League Secretary always provided full scores and league tables.   They were not without the odd misprint, and one away game which ended 0-0 although we did everything but score, was reported in the paper as  0-¹/8, a meagre return for our efforts!

Near the end of the season, previously postponed matches had to be played mid week, and it was not unusual to find a group of smart, refined young men in suits assembled at a changing room in the backwater of the Medway area, having made all sorts of excuses for leaving work early so that they could embark on a mystery adventure with British Rail from London or elsewhere.  Changing into football kit saw changes in character akin to Clark Kent into Superman, and no doubt also fuelled by often being greeted by the opposition as “Old Bordonians”, many points were won in these encounters.  The young men never looked so refined in their suits afterwards!

The 1976  squad.  Rear: Nigel Snelling, Alan Snelling, Colin Hills, Lee Orgill, Brian Nottle, Steve Jarman, John Jonstone, Peter Webb.

Front:  John Keys, Mike Pack, Greg Pope, Jamie Henley, Rob Wiberg, Peter Lusted

Over the years, natural turnover in players occurred with boys going to University or job changes meaning moves away.  It was rare however for players to move to other local clubs and many remained with the Club for their entire playing career. Fortunately agents had not made an appearance at this level and no unreasonable demands were therefore made on players to open boutiques, write biographies or be caught in flagrante delicto.  The main concerns were trying to get up on a Sunday morning after a lively Saturday evening, paying the match fee and putting up the goalposts!  We actually started one away match and after ten minutes had to stop and dismantle our goals, as apparently the several sets of posts and bars had become mixed up and the teams on one of the other pitches had just been unable to assemble the remaining pieces into real football goals. Clearly MFI produced more than just household furniture.

Unfortunately an influx of new players had seen the percentage of Old Boys in the first team drop and success had been to the detriment of club atmosphere and team spirit.  It was felt that this needed to be resolved so it was decided in 1981 that the Club would continue as one team only in Division 6, leaving those players that wished to continue in the Premier Division under another name.   The move was the right one and the team, comprising mainly Old Boys with other long standing club members won Division 6 that year.

In 1983 a friendly match was arranged between two teams of players who had played for the Club.  On this occasion it was “Young” Old Boys against “Old” Old Boys, but the concept of a reunion match continued for many years, usually on Boxing Day.  In this same year, after running the Club since its reformation Peter Lusted handed over the reins to Martin Graham, but had to step in again as Martin’s work took him out of the area.

Paul Chappell then took on this role for three years before Nick Gimson stepped into the firing line for the next five years.  The team again moved through the divisions and having finished second in Division 1 was promoted to the Premier Division once more.   The next few years were tough and relegation was only just avoided twice.  Phil Griffiths then took the hot seat in 1992 and the team had some good finishes only missing out on promotion to the Senior Section by 4 points in 1995.  Phil stayed in charge for 5 years before Kevin Irwin took over for a short while but problems attracting sufficient players were causing difficulties on the field and the Club again finally came to an end just before the new millennium.

You will be forgiven for imagining that the story ends here, but although you cannot teach old dogs new tricks they can certainly put on football boots and race, well OK amble, around a football pitch.  Due to the efforts of Alan Snelling, the Old Boys played occasional games as a veteran team and although an old copy of the Maroon indicates that these were to end in 2001, enthusiasm dictated otherwise and the latest one was played on the school pitch in September 2008, involving just former players in both teams. Tony Clayton who had taught PE to many of the players came down to watch and claimed credit for the quality and longevity of his “boys”.  We recall that he was less complimentary during lessons!  Keith Shea is equally responsible for refusing to let players hang up their boots by organising 5-a-side teams, which included Old Boys, in the Faversham and Sittingbourne leagues during the last 20 years.  In more recent years these teams have taken on the name of Old Bordenians so the Club still lives on.

Throughout the last 35 years the Club has reached high levels of football winning various trophies but readers will be pleased to know that it equally won the Sportsmanship Trophy many times showing that success and sportsmanship can go hand in hand.  No doubt the obligatory after-the-match analysis at the nearest hostelry also paid dividends.

Thanks are due to far too many people to name in full but mention should be made of everyone who took on the role of running the Club, Bryan Short for his support and allowing us to play again on the School field, the School staff who helped us with access to the School, pointing schoolboys our way, or by playing, particularly John Weekes, John Macrae and Neil Redmond.

2008 Veterans.  Rear: Paul Bedelle, Matt Morris, Kevin Cope, John Kingsnorth, Andy Bushell, Alan Abery, Cliff Cork, Peter Thompson, Peter Lusted.   Front: Alan Irvine, Mark Spree, Keith Shea, Neil Redmond, Alan Snelling, Mike Pack, Rob Kemsley, Jamie Henley

This is only a short factual report of the Old Bordenian Football Club and it is the intention to add more details, names and photos to the website so that these records and memories are there for posterity.  The early years of the Club are taken from an article by Charles Harris in a previous Maroon, and the details after that have been compiled by Peter Lusted, Alan Snelling and Keith Shea.  We do however encourage everyone who played for, or had involvement with, the Club to send in your memoirs and photos – remember the performances get better with each telling of the story!  As a starter we have added a few thoughts of our own.

Peter Lusted’s comments – I feel privileged to have played firstly with the Saturday team from 1968 and then to have been involved in reforming the Club in 1973.  Particularly pleasing is that I know and have played with Old Boys from all the different eras right up to the last veterans game in 2008 , and likewise all the Club secretaries from Jeff Spice’s time in charge. The camaraderie of all the different age groups has been exceptional which is why we can still organise such games and get such a good response from former players of all ages. We are in the process of asking the FA to allow zimmer frames to be used in football matches!

Alan Snelling’s comments – The best thing about playing for the Old Boys was the use of the large School pitch. Most of the team had grown up with the pitch from schooldays in the 1960′s. The pitch was always in excellent condition (I spent of lot of time sliding along it) and in the 1970′s it was one of the largest pitches around and visiting teams were surprised at the size and also the slope. We were never the fittest nor the most skilful of teams but we had a terrific spirit. In the late 1970′s most players were roughly the same age and there was a real competition for places and the outcome of team selection meetings on a Tuesday (after training) was eagerly awaited. I have discovered some old photos and will be putting them on the website soon.

The season finished in May with an upturn in our fortunes. Disappointingly we couldn’t muster enough players to field a team on two of the last three weeks resulting in four 0-4 defeats in the record book, however, the last third of the season saw us win most of our games lifting us from a very poor 9^th place to a much more respectable 7^th.

This was the first season that the Sittingbourne 5 a side league comprised just one division and this pitted us against stronger teams than we had previously faced in the old Second Division. Even so we took points off of every team except for the league champions and, as you will see from the final league table below, they lost just 2 games all season.

Our winning run coincided with a few weeks of a relatively settled side and we did play some simple but effective football. We even had the league champions rattled before conceding two very late goals to lose a feisty game 3-0. So rattled in fact that they had two players booked, but with age comes experience and the referee didn’t spot our misdemeanours!

We were also runners up in one of the cup competitions but considering our recent good form, we were disappointed to lose the final, especially as we had beaten the eventual winners in an earlier round.

Old Bordenians FC has entered the league again for next season and we hope to add a couple of Old Boys who have recently finished university. With a committed squad of 9 or 10, some with legs still in their 20s, we can look forward to a better season. Incidentally there is a vacancy for a further team so if there is a budding OBA 5 a side team out there then send me an e-mail (toshea@live.co.uk).

With most Old Bordenians footballers now in their 50s and 60s and it means that we struggle to find ‘appropriate opposition’. Thursdays are out because that’s pension day and during the normal football season many of the mobility scooters can’t cope with muddy bobbley pitches. Consequently, we don’t get together very often to the detriment of a very enjoyable social side to the OBFC. To resurrect that social side we plan to hire a hall, say once a month for an hour or so, and play some 5 a side before retiring to a pub. I was going to suggest we play some ‘gentle’ 5 a side etc but knowing how competitive OB footballers are I can’t see that happening. We will need around 15 committed players and I’ll send out details by e-mail soon. A straw poll of OB footballers taken at the Dinner suggested there is already considerable interest. Indeed, as the evening progressed, interest grew at a rate that was proven to be inversely proportional to the rate of beer flowing down the collective necks.

That Leyton Orient reserve kit will soon see the light of day again. I’d better wash it.

Keith Shea.

The Sittingbourne Five-a-side league runs several cup competitions each season and there is an opportunity to put a second Old Bordenians team in this year’s Charity Cup which is to be held on 13th or 20th May 2010 depending on the draw.

There is also an opportunity to enter a second team in next season’s league which runs from September 2010 – May 2011.

We have a set of shirts that we could loan out for the Charity Cup so if you are able to put a team of Old Boys together then let me know as soon as you can by e-mail toshea@live.co.uk and we’ll sort it out from there.

Keith Shea

Back row (left to right): Paul Beer, Henry Nye, David Heathfield, Keith Aylen, Paul Akehurst, Roger Usher, Roger Fahy.

However, statistics do not tell the whole story. The team that finished a mere 2 points ahead of us and on which we had inflicted a couple of drubbings during the season, dropped out of the league four weeks from the end of the season (due we are told to some HELLO/OK style problem involving the WAGs) to be replaced by an entirely different team which then went on a bit of a winning spree allowing them to move off of bottom spot on the last day of the league fixtures. To rub salt into the wound, two members of this new team had left Borden two years ago and played for the Old Bordenians until last season.

We did manage a little more success in a couple of the cup competitions where we managed to progress beyond the first round but in both competitions we were then unlucky to be drawn against the team that won the first division for the third year running. Even then we went down fighting and in one game we were beating them at half time.

But despite our final position we are not too downhearted. We have picked up points against all the teams in our division apart from the team that eventually finished top and we have performed well against teams from the top division in the cups, so we are capable of playing well and if we can become more consistent then we (to borrow a phrase used in most of my school reports) can do better.

Our demise from the euphoria of the last football report was due partly to our inability to field the same goalkeeper from one week to the next, but for the coming season we have a volunteer. After just three pints and a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape at the OBA Dinner, Dave Palmer declared an infinitesimal but nevertheless detectable interest in the goalkeeping position and before the Real Madrid representatives sitting at the next table could react we had secured his signature on a gravy-stained menu. Despite this aged acquisition we are at last managing to attract younger players to the team and this has allowed some of the Old Guard to retire gracefully from 5-a-side football and will ensure that the Old Bordenians Football Team will continue for the foreseeable future.

The Sittingbourne 5-a-side league is now being run by a larger and more enthusiastic committee and our progress can be followed in the local press from next season when it prints results and tables and on www.soccerweekend.com/league/index.asp?LeagueID=3867 .

As for the OB Veterans 11-a- side team, whose members show no sign of retiring gracefully or indeed at all (Peter Lusted has even come back out of retirement!), we look forward to playing the next in our series of extremely occasional fixtures in September.  

Keith Shea.

Team photo (left to right): Peter Thompson, Paul Bedelle, Paul Fletcher, Andy Bushell, Neil Redmond, Keith Shea, Rob Kemsley, Mark Spree, Alan Snelling, Mick Pack, Jamie Henley, and Cliff Cork.  Alan Abery appeared at half-time.

According to various historical records, the average age of this team is 53.

Sublime skills, intricate passing, and dynamic teamwork – unfortunately none of these were on view during the match; however, the Old Boys did manage to string a few passes together and did most of the attacking.  Surprisingly, it was 0-0 at half time, much to the relief of the ball which had done most of the work.  The first half was marred by an accidental serious knee injury to one of the opposition and the rest of the match was played with much caution by all.  The first shot of the second half from Rob Kemsley unfortunately hit the ambulance as it passed behind the goal.  Luckily, Alan Abery was able to hit the back of the net twice in quick succession.  Then, overcome by sentiment, the Old Boys defence gifted 2 silly goals to the opposition.

Late in the game and largely unnoticed by all, Alan Snelling made a fantastic save – see photo.

Another match is being planned for September, so watch this space!

If you want think you qualify enough to play for the OBVFC, then please contact Keith Shea (keith.shea@crmanagement.co.uk)

The reason that we cannot be certain of our final position is that the League is still in turmoil following the mid season resignation of the one man who ran the whole thing. One of his roles was to update the website tables but those who stepped in to administer the League until the end of the season haven’t got around to doing that yet; nor have they provided a league table since February. So we’re all in the dark but all will become clear at the AGM in a couple of weeks time. We can then post the final Division 1 and 2 leagues onto this website.

We added yet another two father/son combination to the squad this season in the form of Mark and Kit Spree with Julian Cork being persuaded by his father, Cliff Cork, to join us. However, we are also likely to lose a couple of players in the close season including our goalkeeper (shot knees and stiff back from picking the ball out of the net). So we are on the look- out for a new ‘keeper and one or two outfield players to bring our squad up to 10 for next season which will be enough to mount a strong challenge domestically and, in the unlikely event of a major administrative catastrophe by UEFA, in Europe.

We have added a few younger players in the squad and so will drop the ‘Veterans’ tag and play as Old Bordenians ‘B’ in division 2 with the ‘A’ team continuing to play in Division 1. The new season starts in September and anyone interested in joining either team can call me on 07776 256526.

Keith Shea

The two Old Bordenian teams involved in the Sittingbourne Five-a-Side league have enjoyed a hiatus in the fixture programme following a succession of cancellations due to administrative problems suffered by the league. Thankfully those problems have been resolved and we are back into league action.

In Division 1 the Old Bordenians are progressing reasonably well. They have played two games less than the most of the rest of the division and are currently 4th out of 6th in a very finely balanced league. If points can be won from the two games missed (due to a wet floor – in an indoor venue!) it could move them into the top two. The division 1 fixtures resume on 29th November. Alex Bolden continues to organise the team.

In Division 2 the Old Bordenian Veterans are struggling in 6th place (yes, out of six) with two draws and six defeats from the opening 8 games. Until the 22nd November we had been selecting from only five outfield players all of whom are over 50, however we have now been joined by two younger players (Matt Norris and Simon Thompson) and in our 9th and 10th games we managed a creditable 6-2 win and a 1-1 draw. Indeed, Simon scored a first half hat-trick and so became our top scorer within 6 minutes of joining the team. So we are still in 6th place but now closing in on 5th. Even in those opening eight games we were buoyed by the fact that we were not being outclassed – just out run, so if we can secure the services of one or two more (fitter) Old Boys, we could yet climb to a respectable mid table position. (Contact Keith Shea on 07776 256526 if you are interested in joining the Veterans side).

Both teams now have a break from the league until mid January as the myriad of cup competitions gets underway. Wembley here we come*. With a bit of luck the two Old Bordenian teams will be drawn against each other so that we can all review, over a couple of beers, the walloping inflicted by the “Vets”.

In October we enjoyed playing a veterans (over 40s) 11-a- side match against a team from Faversham. We had played this fixture twice before with both games ending in a narrow victory for the opposition. The two sides are very well matched with the games being played in the right spirit and this time we emerged as 4-3 winners. We are hoping to play them again in the Spring. Our team that day was: Alan Snelling, John Kingsnorth, Paul Fletcher, Kevin Cope, Mick Pack, Dave Elmer, Alan Abury, Andy Bushell, Cliff Cork, Neil Redmond and Keith Shea. We were all walking normally again within a week.

There is also the possibility of an Old Bordenians v The Borden Grammar Teachers in the near future.

*Highly unlikely

Keith Shea

23rd November 2007