Ghosts of Richmond Past

On a weekend when several new signings feature against Richmond at the BPA,

I thought I'd dig out a few old programmes from past matches, and see how we performed back then, and look at a few notable names from the past.

After a speculative dig through the 'archive' (well, some random plastic boxes in the workshop) I managed to find four quite quickly, but selected three from these.

The oldest of these is dated December 31st 1966 - so not too long after England footy lifted the Jules Rimet, and some years before we took a brief stranglehold on the RFU cup competition. The teamsheet shows a list of who's who among Midlands rugby back then, with the likes of Ricky Melville, Rod Webb, Tim Dalton, Billy Gittings, the finest scrummager I ever saw - Phil Judd, Jim Broderick, Ron Jones etc. featuring.

'Club Notes' praises the Supporters' Club, majoring on their competition to guess the weight of a Hillman Imp Super (I had one!) with luggage and passengers, and the winner drove home in the car. Maybe something for the current incarnation to emulate(?) but the procurement of a locally manufactured vehicle at the right price might be a challenge...

Also noted was the ticket allotment for Twickenham matches, with stand seats available at £1.10.0 (£1.50) and standing at five bob (25p) and up. Different days indeed, as this included an Australia international as well as Ireland, Scotland and France games.

The game finished with a 9-6 win for Cov (Scorers unknown at this time)

Next up, a 13-6 win for Cov on December 6th 1980, with tries from Maisey and Clifford, and one conversion and a penalty from Steve Thomas (who also failed with three penalty and and one conversion attempts!). The glory days of '73 and '74 were now well in the past, yet Cov were still formidable opposition. Club President Peter Rossborough was listed at full-back, with the threes including Will Maisey's uncle Simon, and Dave Foulks - an u15s international while attending Woodlands School in, if memory serves, 1969. Apologies if I'm a year out with that. I only ever played against David in inter-house games (we were in the same year), and having done that, you'd never forget what a tough opponent he was!

Others to appear included Steve Thomas, Steve Brain, Steve Wilkes, Rob Fardoe, Nirmal (Mal) Malik, and a certain Graham Robbins (among others of course).

Yes, they were still a top side, although not having their best season by their own very high standards, and currently lay sixth in the Midland Merit table on only 43.75% (but well clear of seventh-placed Northampton on 25%).

'Club Notes' include mention of the aforementioned Robbins' selection to the upcoming Midlands side, along with Brainy and Thommo who were to bench. Barry Ninnes enforced retirement gets a mention, as does Paul Knee's extended absence due to cartilage work. With a name like that, I guess it was almost inevitable at some point! On that tack, the notes bemoan the fact that injuries had hit the squad very heavily thus far, hampering continuity of selections, and contributing to the below-par season. Supporters' Club notes include mention of David Duckham's autobiograph 'Dai For England', with signed copies available for £6.95).

Oh, and 'Your Programme Editor' was listed as a certain John Butler, Press & Publicity Officer. 

The final programme is dated 4th December 1982, with Cov running out 23-4 to the good.

Marcus Rose and Huw Davies feature this time (Davies was away with Cambridge for the 1980 fixture), with Rosey moving to the left wing, and with Maisey on the opposite flank. Thommo was still holding down the scrum-half berth, with Wilkes still propping, alongside Lee Johnson at loosehead this time. Rob Fardoe and Brian Kidner made up the engine room, with Paul Thomas, Robbins, and Malik in the back row. Paul Knee had recovered, and was on the bench.

Programme notes allude to a decent run of results, with reversals coming only at the hands of Bath (A), Newport (A), and Leicester by a narrow 12-14 margin at Coundon Road.

In the Merit table, Cov had by now pinned down second place on 87.5% from eight games, but with little chance of dislodging Tigers at the top on a very impressive 100% from six games. Mose followed Cov on four wins from six, with Bedford on 50% (six matches). Rugby Lions, once again, were rooted to the bottom on 0 from four matches.

On a slightly different subject, there was an appeal for donations of trees from John Gardiner. Maybe that sounds a little odd, but John had been doing sterling work in landscaping the Coundon Road ground, and was looking for donations to allow him to plant them around the perimeter, in an attempt to improve the views from inside and outside the ground!

Once again, JB was the man with the pen for this one.

That's it for this week, but I'm hoping to make this a fairly regular feature if possible, and intend to start digging out more old progs from the store, if I indeed have any. With that in mind, if anyone has old copies I could beg (just a PDF or even JPGs would suffice if you don't wish to lose them) I'd be most grateful. Please PM me. Thanks.