From that Bloxham Road farmer's field and somewhat basic pub changing rooms in the early years, we have chronicled how Banbury Rugby Club refined and developed both on and off the field during the first eventful 50 years of its existence.

The story now unfolds of an even more eventful and dramatic 25 years as the club reaches its milestone 75th anniversary on the eve of the Millennium.

Through all the trials and tribulations, Banbury RFC has slowly but surely established itself not only on the county's, but on the country's rugby football scene.

Now worthy members of the formidable Midland One League, the club has aspirations of National League status. And why not?

Banbury has a Bodicote Park home to be proud of, the envy of many more illustrious opponents, and on the threshold of its 75th year, it is now goring more than a few opponents under the new and appropriate name of Banbury Bulls, finishing among the front runners in Midland One and finalists in the Oxfordshire County Cup.

And the future looks bright too with the Colts winning their league and also finishing County Cup finalists; the under-16s winning everything they entered; and the mini rugby youngsters collecting cups and trophies all over the country.

Achievements of these proportions could have only been dreams as the last crumbs of 50th anniversary celebrations were cleared away.

In fact, Year 51 was not one of the most auspicious!

Three players - wing forward Dave Osborne, prop Ian Heywood and centre Richard Court - were selected to play against Buckinghamshire, but in the Saturday-to-Saturday grind the 18 games lost by the first team meant the trophy cupboard was bare.

Off the field events appeared to capture the interest more. Even the mundane replacement of the changing room ceiling with asbestos sheets, which today would have health and safety officers turning several shades of purple, and a continuing search for a third pitch, occupied the attentions more than any 80 minutes on the pitch.

An area identified at Bodicote had, for a short while, raised hopes of a new pitch, but because of various objections, planning permission was refused.

The fact that a fund-raising Old Tyme Music Hall was described as "possibly the season's most enjoyable function", probably says it all about season 1975-76!

The next season was pretty uneventful too.

There were probably a few jokes about Lickorish (Alan) giving the opposition a licking as he finished top try scorer with a modest eight, four coming in one game against RAF Brize Norton, but the game against Chinnor in the semi-final of the Oxfordshire County Cup was no laughing matter.

It is remembered as one of the most controversial results in Banbury's history.

There have probably been plenty of dubious decisions since, but the one which gave Chinnor three points and an eventual 12-10 victory did cause plenty of angry comment at the time. It involved a drop kick at goal by Chinnor's fly half Mark Ireland which was signalled good by referee A Douglas, but he appeared to be the only one on the ground to think the ball had gone over the bar, everyone else seeing the ball pass at least a foot under!

But while this was a costly decision as far as the First XV was concerned, the lower XVs will recall the season as also being more costly than usual!

After tormenting long-suffering coach drivers for years on their way back from fixtures with their "Can we stop at this pub for half an hour?', deep in Gloucestershire they got their come-uppance.

The story, as told by "trainee professional' lager drinker Martin Helby, who incidentally introduced Bedford and England International Brian Keen to the club, was, that after calling at the third pub on their way home, the players returned to the coach, an hour late and way past closing time.

Their usual silly grins disappeared when they discovered the driver was missing, and for the first time in their lives they were forced to have a collection for him, not as a reward for his normal patience in waiting for them, but to entice the driver, who shall remain nameless, out of the pub and back into the driving seat.

Another sort of "silver collection' spilled over onto the playing field the next season too.

Bob Heywood, broken toe and all, had come up with a try which gave Banbury a 8-3 victory which brought the club the Alan Wise Cup for the first time in six years, while the club narrowly missed out on more silverware in the final of the Oxfordshire County Cup.

The County Cup this year had the added incentive of gaining the winners admission to the first round of the prestigious John Player Cup the following season, plus prize money of £450. And how close Banbury came.

They reached the final for the first time, accounting for Oxford Marathon and RMCS Shrivenham and a recorded a 10-8 revenge win against Chinnor in the semi-final thanks to two Ted Holly penalties in the last 15 minutes.

An impartial view of the final from Oxford Mail reporter Ron Grimshaw tells what might have been.

Under the headline "Lucky Oxford Snap Up Cup', he wrote, "A try midway through the second half, scored after more than a suspicion of a knock-on in the build up, gave Oxford a providential 10 -7 victory over Banbury in the final at Iffley Road." This report summed up the frustration felt throughout the club.

But for all that disappointment, it was still viewed as a good season for the club with the 1st XV winning 24 of the 34 games played, scoring 561 points against 256, and Mick Battly finishing top points scorer with 145.

And there was better to come in future seasons if the blossoming of the mini rugby, set up by Gerald Webb, Sam Miller and Harry Colegrave, was any guide...

But season 1978/79 was not going to be their year either!

Bad weather devastated the season with a complete white-out in January and most of February because of frosts.

The season looked as if it might go on for ever though in the first Saturday fixture of the new year on February 24th when the referee at Towcester had trouble with his timepiece. It eventually took three spectators to convince him that his watch had stopped and he had played an hour in the first half. Helped perhaps by all the extra time Banbury ran out 15-0 winners!

The season had started well with Banbury winning eight out of the first nine First XV fixtures with notable wins against Leamington 7-4, Long Buckby 17-6 and a 16-12 victory over Old Leamingtonians which had the added spice of Banbury coach and Number 8 Peter Evans being ex coach of the Old Boys side, and the coach of Old Leamingtonians being ex Banbury coach Vic Wilton.

It is a small world alright, and during this season too another former Banbury coach John Williamson played for Kenilworth at scrum half in their 32-10 win over Banbury at Glasshouse Lane.

It was a year when Banbury made an early exit from the County Cup followed by a defeat in the final of the Oxford Club Floodlit Cup.

They did enjoy their Easter Tour that year though, winning all eight matches in Lancashire and Shropshire to end the season on a high note with a record of 24 wins out of the 33 games played and Barry Broad topping the scoring with 18 tries and 226 points.

The club's top team, however, was the Third XV Bulls who lost only one and drew two of the 25 games played with one of their try scorers during the season being a promising 17 year-old Martin Court - a future Banbury captain.

Tries - the glut of them - were a regular clubhouse topic of conversation in the 1979/80 campaign when the club boasted a couple of real prolific scorers.

Former captain Keith McNeil seemed to relish the shedding of the responsibility of skipper and he set a scorching pace.

In September alone he scored two tries against Stratford, three against Evesham, one against Old Coventrians, two against Birmingham and one against Drybrook. Then to cap it all, in the first round of the Oxfordshire County Cup, now sponsored by the brewers Morland, he scored five in the

74-0 win over Cholsey. An injury slowed down the rate, and Scott Orchard overhauled him with 25 tries against Keith's 21. But, coming back from injury, a further nine tries in the lower sides, and 12 in the 71-9 County Cup win over RMCS Shrivenham, saw Keith finish the season at the top of the try scoring table. The First XV finished the season with a massive 140 tries, with Ray Shaw scoring 249 points - all except five of his conversions being in First XV matches - and Barry Broad, 162.

Cup matches dominated the season, and it is interesting to note the names of some of the contestants no longer featuring in fixtures today, like RAF Benson, Westminster College, Radcliffe Infirmary, RAF Brize Norton, RMCS Shrivenham and Oxford University.

However, for the princely sum of 20p admission by programme, a crowd of 500 saw Banbury gain a 12-3 win against Oxford Old Boys in the semi-final of the County Cup, only for bogey side Oxford to deny them again in the final by a 13-6 margin.

But later in the year there was some consolation, with Banbury, bolstered by the return from injury of Brian Keen who missed the earlier encounter, beating Oxford for the first time in 15 years in the semi-final of the Oxford Club Floodlit Cup. They went on to beat Oxford Old Boys 18-3 in the final, Oxford Mail's man-of-the-match Mark Isham scoring the last try.

And so into what the club hoped would be the heady Eighties with former captain Keith McNeil stepping up as coach and hardly believing his eyes as 54 players, ranging from Colts to first team hopefuls turned up for one of the early training sessions.

There was a new man at the helm too with John Smith, back from Kenya, where he had been rugby correspondent between 1966 and 1972 for the "East Africa Standard', accepting the position of chairman.

Before emigrating in 1962, he had played for Banbury from 1949, and had in 1951 made his debut for Oxfordshire where he went on to make over thirty appearances.

John brought with him some new ideas and arranged for a past presidents' dinner at Whately Hall Hotel which attracted 26 former holders of the esteemed position.

The oldest was Tom Hankinson who was president in 1938 and '39, and also among the guests was Jock McKeand who travelled all the way from the Isle of Mull, but left straight after the dinner to attend the Scotland v Wales match at Murrayfield - a busy, but enjoyable trip for, besides meeting old friends at Banbury, he went on to see a Scotland win.

The year also saw some reflected glory for the club with member Gerald Webb starting his two year tenure as President of the Oxford Football Union, only the second member of the club to do so. Gerald had also been appointed to the England Colts' selection committee.

But on the playing field Banbury looked as if they may be making a name for themselves in their own right.

The season started with the First XV winning its first twelve games, starting with a crushing 40-3 win on the opening day of the season against Chinnor. It was a day of celebrations for the club, for all the teams opened on a winning note.

Included in the First XV's winning sequence were wins in the first and second rounds of the Morland Brewery County Cup against Oxford Greyhounds 15-6, and a 32-0 scoreline against Grove, with coach McNeil scoring three tries. Witney fell 25-0 in the quarter final of the competition, but Henley ended their cup hopes with a 16-13 win in the semi-final.

There was some consolation later in the season when they travelled to Henley's Dry Leas ground and regained the Alan Wise Cup with a 23-10 revenge win.

The first team won 26 of the 34 games played that season, but more satisfying from the club's point of view was that five teams regularly took to the field, even the Ramblers fifth team playing 16 matches compared with the previous year's five.

A season on, the teams failed to maintain this momentum and the closest the club came to real success was by reaching the semi-final of the floodlit cup where they suffered a disappointing 15-14 defeat by Oxford. Of the thirty games played by the First XV, sixteen were won and 13 lost with John Lloyd leading try scorer with ten in a total of 67.

But the disappointments of the season were forgotten when thirty players, in a party of 44, visited Ermont near Paris, to play two matches as part of a town twinning arrangement.

The Old Nicks probably blamed the 20-hour journey for their last gasp defeat, but the first team squad had a little more time to recover and recorded a 16-4 victory. The results were rather incidental, however, and a little hazy the following day after the French hospitality got into full swing!

It was a hangover that carried over into the 1982-83 term with the first and second teams having a shocker of a start. So insignificant were the performances, two sets of brothers playing for Banbury in the same match - Adrian and Martin Court, and the Rathbones, Alistair and John - proved a far more interesting topic.

However, the club's reputation was salvaged somewhat by the Bulls third string and the Wanderers fourth team both of whom won their first nine outings.

Luckily things did improve although, in a thriller of a semi final in the County Cup against Henley, the club came off second best again. Banbury had pulled back from being 12-4 down, with ten minutes left, to within a point when an injury time conversion attempt by Steve Moore fell just short.

The club was also to suffer another defeat in the final of the Oxford Floodlit Cup, when after beating Oxford 10-3 in the semi-final, lost to Oxford Old Boys 13-9. But, if their luck was out on the field, there was always the opportunity to change it in the clubhouse

It was a season, however, that the playing depth of the club continued to increase, with a sixth team having been formed - the Drifters/Benskins, led by Arden Morgan.

Banbury RUFC

3. 2020-21