Days of glory for Dawley team
Eric Sargeant has received a number of calls after we published a photo which supposedly shows him and his footballing teammates.
If it were true, he would be quite a young prodigy. "I would have been about 10 or 11," he tells us.
Far from it being, as we said, a Sankey's team in which he played at the official opening of the Sankey's stadium at Hadley in 1959, the picture actually goes back to earlier that decade and a completely different team, Dawley Rangers FC, pictured in the 1952-53 season when they had won the Wrekin Minor League and the Millington Cup.
The photo was loaned to us by Mrs Margaret Hammond, of Madeley, whose late husband Maurice was one of the Dawley team - the captain, no less, with the ball at his feet - and also played for Sankey's at that later 1959 occasion.
So let's get the names straight. A caption on the border of the picture names the Dawley team as: Back row, left to right: Rev H. Hamilton (chairman), H. Phillips, P. Ward (manager), R. Edge, L. Roberts, K. Davies, D. Candlin, S. Bailey, H. Ward. Front row: T. Brown (secretary), R. Corbett, M. Simmons, M. Hammond (captain), D. Jones, P. Allsworth, L. Withington (trainer).
Maurice, like Margaret, whose maiden name is Parr, hailed originally from Dawley, and he played for a number of local teams.
Both Maurice and Eric, who lives at Sutton Heights, played in the "Sankey of Wellington FC" team which played "Vauxhall Motors (Luton) FC" to open Sankey's football ground on Saturday, August 29, 1959.
There is a picture of the occasion and Eric, who was 18 at the time and living in Madeley, can name many on it.
"I am directly under the window with the dark hair. I played wing half, left half, in those days. Alan Clift was the goalkeeper - he is behind the man cutting the ribbon in the goalkeeper's shirt. Next to him on the left as you look at it with dark hair is Alan Perry, who went to Australia. Next left is John Thompson. He was a Sankey's stalwart many years ago and played cricket for Priorslee as well.
"Next along, tall, with blond hair, is Maurice Hammond. Next (at the front) is me (there's somebody in the background between them). To the left of me (in the background, partially obscured) is little Harry Phillips. He was a hell of a player. He was from Dawley and was a full back.
"Next left with his face almost totally hidden is Frank Gellatley. He worked at Sankeys and played at Sankeys and for Donnington Wood. Second from left at front with dark hair I think is Alf Davies, who played for Wrockwardine Wood, I think. Far left is Harry Wallace. He played for Sankey's for a long time."
Alas, that splendid football stadium at Hadley is no more, now covered in housing.
"It was the best pitch in Shropshire. It was brand new. A guy called Tommy Arnold was the groundsman. If I remember he would not let you train on the pitch. It was his 'front lawn.' He was a terrific man."
Eric said he would have turned in his grave to know that the Sankey's pitch has now disappeared, having been built on.
"Every time I go down to Lidl I scream because of the Sankey's ground not being there any more."
