Rebels' century of memories

I harbour a soft spot for Worthing and the town football club as in the Fifties it was then my brief to cover Worthing's fortunes and get to know the players some of whom today still pull my leg about the gaffes and good times. There didn't seem to be any bad moments only laughs galore and more than a few occasions when the locals did themselves proud.

Talk about a close-knit community. The vast majority of players were born and bred in and around Worthing and the occasional player from as far away as Brighton and Hove was regarded as something of a foreigner but nonetheless welcome once having established their credentials in the school of hard knocks.

Those seasons of fond memory are recalled by three club stalwarts, Ron Kerridge, who also kept goal for Lancing and Arundel between 1954-67, Wilf Hugill, former Worthing skipper and Sussex representative who numbers Horsham and Eastbourne among his other clubs, and Paul Damper, Worthing's secretary these last five years.

They all combined to produce a pictorial history of Worthing in a limited edition of 600 copies that sold like hot cakes at a tenner each at the Woodside Road display. Nearly a year of diligent research uncovered a mass of archive material going back to the formation of the club in February, 1886. In those days Worthing played on Broadwater Green, Homefield Park and Beach House Park. The players changed in the Boat Club at Splash Point. By 1892-93, Worthing had won the first of their 21 Sussex Senior Cup finals, beating arch rivals Eastbourne 2-1 at the County Ground, Hove, before a 3,000 crowd.

The result was telegraphed to Worthing and the news quickly spread. When the team arrived at the station a cheering crowd conveyed them to the town hall where the celebrations continued well into the night. Then Worthing fielded two teams whose players were required to reside within a six-mile radius of the club's headquarters.

The remarkably sharp team pictures unearthed by the archivists revealed a marked preference among the dandies for waxed moustaches and, amid growing popularity at the turn of the century, the Worthing Association and Athletic clubs merged to become even more powerful.

Shirts worn before the Great War sported a badge depicting three fishes on the town emblem. The fish were mackerel, the main catch of the locals and until the late Twenties the team were known as the Mackerel Men. Just a few miles to the east Shoreham's team were the Mussel Men.

The most famous member of Worthing's side in the early 1900s was Charlie Webb, who was in the army and played between tours of duty. He later, of course, played for Ireland as an amateur and Albion and was manager at the Goldstone for an incredible 28 years. How good a player was Webb? Trawling through the records were any number of favourable references. How about scoring nine of the 11 goals when Worthing beat Fulham Amateurs in 1907?

Around this time Eric Hanmore captained Worthing Boys and just missed out when the club reached the FA Amateur Cup quarter-finals. In a 1-1 draw with Gillingham, Webb missed an open goal and Worthing lost the replay while the REs went on to win the trophy. Although Worthing lost, their supporters hauled the team round town in a cart, cheering all the way. To this day Worthing remain the only Sussex club to have reached the last eight of the competition.

When Webb's time at Worthing was over due to the war, Hanmore, nicknamed Scruffy, developed into a fine forward. He survived the war with the Royal Sussex, although his team mate Joe Taylor was killed at Gallipoli. Poor Taylor was one of 14 Worthing players who didn't return from the front. By all accounts he was some player. In 1906-07, Taylor scored 52 goals that stood as a club record for many years and, in 1912 he scored 12 in one game, a club record that still stands.

In 1920-21 Worthing became founder members of the Sussex County League from the West Sussex. There was a bit of a row and from that time on the club nickname has been the Rebels. Worthing became the first county league champions and repeated the feat seven times. A severe ankle injury to Hanmore ended his playing days in 1926 and he took over as club secretary, a position he held until 1964. His retirement after 38 years in office was typical of how people in football then stuck to a job year in, year out. His total association with the club was 56 years and he died in 1975 aged 82 and the old players still tell their favourite Hanmore stories.

He worked at the Town Hall and was a stickler for keeping immaculate books. When players claimed legitimate expenses they were grilled unmercifully and had to account for every halfpenny. Recalled Ted Streeter: "I travelled from Horsham and Eric wanted to know the exact bus fare and doled out exactly the right amount. I never heard of anybody getting away with anything and his reputation was known throughout the county."

By the mid-Thirties, Woodside Road was enclosed and the team reinforced by that splendid centre-half John Langridge. Other county cricketers later to play for the club were Jack Eaton and Ken Suttle. Early in WW2, Eric Parsons, who came through with Worthing Boys, played for town club and later distinguished himself with West Ham and Chelsea.

It was, therefore, delightful to see Eric at the open day with his wife. In the immediate post-war era came a crop of players who simply oozed talent at their particular level. The Wood brothers, Arthur and Ron, formed the right side of the attack with Vince Taylor, a sweet moving left winger who packed a deadly shot, and Bill Wren spearheading. Actually Wren's most prolific season was 1938-39 when he hit 61 goals in 43 outings.

Both the Wood boys and Taylor were even fitter after war service and in 1948 Worthing resigned from the County League and joined the Corinthian, a significant step up. It was Ron Wood who scored the last Worthing goal at Woodside in the local league and the first there in the Corinthian. In common with Arthur, he never knew what it was than to give his all as 136 goals from 1947-53 testifies. Arthur, the elder brother, has been dead for some years but Ron, with wife Pat, was at the celebration and so too were Vince Taylor, Norman Martin, Johnny Lambourne, Tony Murrant, Jimmy Huntley and Ken Shearwood.

The talk was of absent friends, Reg Bowles, surely the finest left back ever to play for Sussex, elegant Jack Sturgess, Fred Burstow, the Worthing dustman who dominated at the back and once, in a blinding rage after losing at Slough, took out his dentures and stamped them into the mud.