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History
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| | Possibly stirred by the horrific prospect of Saturday afternoons
at the shops, our odyssey began in deepest Bexleyheath in the autumn
of 1991. The freshly minted Queen Mary College Old Boys FC versus St
Mary's OBFC. We had wanted to call ourselves Old Queen's FC, but
were overruled by the old hands at the AFA. In borrowed black and
white stripes a pretty shambolic bunch gathered at a desolate rec in
south east London. That first game improved immensely once the parks
staff had located the second cross bar.
Credit for the idea goes to Rob Gardner, now residing in the USA.
Along with Rob, Dickie Fulham and Neil Hughes devoted many waking,
and most working, hours to getting the club off the ground.
Bexleyheath heralded a season of friendlies aimed at proving our
eligibility for Old Boy's League status. With no real home pitch
most games were away fixtures against 5th and 6th teams.
With many of the early team members used to "soft" college
football we had to acclimatise quickly to the more muscular style of
the playing fields of north and east London. Fortunately the
burgeoning bulk of Dickie Fulham and the sheer dirtiness of
Hughsie's play compensated for some shrinking violets.
Like Chelsea pensioners a few more of the original eleven remain
in or near the club today. Phil Butler, later captain and manager of
both 1st and 2nd teams turned up midway through the first half. Fred
Dadzie, now a pillar of the community, was notorious for his
pre-match lager and fags habit.
Other opening day stars included;
Goalkeeper: Matt Harris, playing his one and only game for the
club.
John Rigby: housemate of Gardner and Hughes and part of the now
mostly forgotten Ilford Soul Brothers
Jason McCue: 2 goal hero on the day, but soon to disappear
Richard "Ken" Gurney: King of the dragback,
retired a couple of years ago to spend more time with his DIY.
Steve Toland: Now playing in the same team as Rob Gardner in New
York.
Al Nedjari: An early star of the old boys who gave it all up for
an acting career. He later starred as Samir Rashid in Coronation
Street.
We only lost once that season and so were elevated to the dizzy
heights of Division 2 North for the following season. Other stars of
that first season included Basil Nwalema, the oldest left winger in
the world, Ian "Doris" Marston who took over as goalkeeper and Neil
"I've got a cold" Morton.
Over the season the kit changed to green - it was the cheapest
kit in the shop. With money tight we sought sponsorship from all
corners. QM old boy David Sullivan turned us down saying he
preferred to support children and old people - he then bought
Birmingham City (what might have been...).
Above all the club was started by people who met at Queen Mary through
football and wanted to continue to play the game with mates. In the
decade and more since that inauspicious day at Bexleyheath rec that
spirit has prevailed. After all that's what Saturday afternoons are
for.
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