'Proud day' as Marlow FC celebrates 140 years (From Bucks Free Press)
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'Proud day' as Marlow FC celebrates 140 years
6:20pm Saturday 20th November 2010 in News By Lawrence Dunhill
Cllr Bendyshe-Brown (left) with Maurice Oram
MARLOW FC is one of the oldest football clubs in Britain and the players marked its 140th anniversary today by banging in four goals.
The chairman of Wycombe District Council was in the Oak Tree Road crowd this afternoon to watch AFC Hayes get thumped 4-1.
Councillor Bill Bendyshe-Brown also helped release dozens of blue and white balloons into the sky before the kick-off to celebrate the milestone.
Fan Maurice Oram, 75, has been following the team for 20 years. He said: "I go to all the home and away games and this is obviously a very proud day."
The club has managed to bring together dozens of old team photos and memorabilia for a small exhibition in the clubhouse, with some items dating back to the 1800s.
Cllr Bendyshe-Brown said: “I'm more of a rugby man but I do enjoy football and keep up with the leagues.
“It's wonderful to come and celebrate this. It's fantastic that they were one of the original clubs to enter the FA Cup and have entered it ever year since.”
Chairman Terry Staines first arrived at the club as a player in 1974.
He said: “We played Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup in one of my first games and they beat us 1-0 after a handball. They were only a couple of leagues above us then.
“I played until 1980 but carried on as a supporter and gradually started helping out and getting more involved.”
“We are one of the oldest clubs around and hopefully we'll all be here for the 150th anniversary as well.
The club was formed in 1870 at the Compleat Angler Hotel and was one of the original entrants into the first FA Cup a year later. It even contributed a share of the £25 to buy the first trophy.
The club's ground until 1919 was Crown Meadow, now the Riley Recreational Ground, until a brief spell playing at Star Meadow.
Marlow's long-serving honorary secretary Alfred Davis, who had held office since 1891, then died in 1924 and it was decided that a fitting memorial to him would be to build a permanent home for the club.
The Alfred Davis Memorial Ground on Oak Tree Road saw its first game in 1928 and is still the club's ground today.
Controversial plans for a new stadium at Little Marlow Gravel Pits were rejected in February this year, but the club has since gone back to the drawing board.
It recently announced it is looking at a groundshare on a new site with Flackwell Heath FC (see link below).
Comments(3)
BOGITS
says...
1:05pm Sun 21 Nov 10
sparky49
says...
9:31am Mon 22 Nov 10
BOGITS wrote:Spot on old boy. My 11 year old son and I go as often as we can (I do shift work) and he really enjoys himself. Trouble is it is the same old people there and the club does not push it self in the town. What about flyers around the pubs,shops and schools etc. It wont cost a fortune. I remember the Berks and Bucks final at MK Dons only 400 turned up and again it was not promoted in the town. WAKE UP MARLOW!
I agree that such a day should have been more publicised but for what its worth in Marlow a lot of the locals wouldnt know where the club was and would probably have to set their sat nav in their flash car to get their as they dont use their legs to walk anywhere. Perhaps the fact that the Football Club has bearly survived is due to the people who are involved at present. I would like to see more local people come to watch the games and show their support in these days of hard times in non-league football. I thought the councillors comment "I'm a rugby man" stated his aims towards perhaps the Wasps?
sparky49 says...
10:21am Sun 21 Nov 10