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Colin’s labour of love recording club’s history

blackmorevaleMarch 18, 20210 Comment0

Calling all Sherborne Town FC fans! Super fan Colin Goodland needs you to help complete his lockdown project – the entire history of the club.

Colin already knows a great deal about the club, having spent 15 years as secretary and his digging has already unearthed a lot more information.

For example, did you know that: 

In the aftermath of the Titanic disaster of 1912, Sherborne were invited to play a benefit match to raise funds for the wife and child of Harry Spinner, a former player of Yeovil Town, who was a third-class passenger on the ship. His body was never found.
Don Travis, a player/manager in the early 1960s, started his career at West Ham. He scored four goals on his reserve team debut and four more on his first team debut. It is still a record at the Hammers today. “We have lots of team photographs in our clubhouse depicting players who I wanted to find out more about,” says Colin. “Some of the older supporters would talk about certain players who they would describe as the best player to play for Sherborne, or this or that team was the best ever. “This project combines my two passions, football and history. The club has been blessed with hard working individuals who I think we owe a great debt to, and their stories should be remembered.” He specifically mentions Ken Mullins, Bill Slate and Geoff Hunt, three “stalwarts” who have between them already spent 150 years of service, whether playing, managing or being involved in the administration of the club. Ken is one of three Life Presidents of the club – including Colin himself, who was honoured with the title by the club’s committee in January, 2020. “It was Ken who started the ball rolling with this project, giving me a brief outline of the past and I’ve continued from there. I started last October and found out some amazing things about the club…”

The first ever team photograph was taken in the 1901/02 season

Did you also know that: 

Rugby football was played at Sherborne School from 1846, introduced by headmaster Charles Thomas Penrose. It wasn’t until about 1880 that the two sports diverged. “I’m convinced the local boys would watch the public schoolboys play this new game and tried to emulate what they saw,” says Colin.
Two brothers from Sherborne were instrumental in the birth of the club: Herbert Seymour and his younger sibling, Walter. Both fought in the Boer War (1899-1902). Colin has been combing the archives of the Western Gazette newspaper and one report has thrown up a mystery, that of a match on the Terrace Playing Fields in 1888, the current home of the club. However, the club was only officially founded in 1894. A number of team photos have survived from the last 120 years including one from 1901/02 where the team are wearing half black, half white shirts – hence the team’s nickname of The Zebras. Curiously, half the team wear black on the left side: the others on the right. There is also a team photo from 1946. “These are the lucky lads who returned from the fighting in Europe after the Second World War,” said Colin. “This is a photo of the first Sherborne Town team reformed. I’m sure the kit the team is wearing is an army issue one as clothing was then rationed.”

The trophy-winning team from the 1920-21 season

Did you also know that: 

Jim Wiltshire from Sherborne was the referee in charge of the 1947 FA Cup Final (Charlton beat Burnley 1-0). “Incidentally, he applied for the £1,500 a year Newcastle United manager’s job!” says Colin.
In the 1960s Sherborne Town produced two lads who played professional football: Len Vallard and Dave Noake, who played for Reading and Luton Town respectively.
The club reached the last 32 in the FA Vase 2007. They were the lowest ranked club still in the competition, losing 2-1 to Mildenhall. Colin feels he still has 25% of the club’s history to cover and collate and is appealing to fans for their help. He said: “I am looking out for any items (newspaper cuttings, team photographs, or stories) from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Anything would be greatly appreciated.” Today, the club has senior teams in the Toolstation Western League First Division and the Cadburys Business Park Dorset Premier League. It also has a strong youth set-up, with teams from under-6s to under-18s, and a ladies’ team. But it’s not just the players that Colin wants to acknowledge: “I`ve uncovered unsung heroes, chairmen and presidents of the club who gave a lifetime of dedication to enable the youth of Sherborne to play football. “Some will say it’s all about the players on the pitch, but there’s a lot of people who play a huge part off the field of play.”

The first team line-up after the Second World War, wearing army-issued kit as clothing was rationed

The current Sherborne Town side

Colin hopes to turn his research into a book in the summer. If anyone has any information, or would like to sponsor a page in the book, you can contact him at colingoodland@live.co.uk.