Sunday October 31st 1982 and a past Banbury United side took on the then present Banbury United side. The idea was to raise funds for the club and to make a donation to help provide facilities at Britannia Infants School which was to be turned into an old people’s day centre.

There were some club legends from the 1970s on show in the past side, including Colin Holder, Pete Svenson, Bob Haynes, Colin Moulsdale and legendary strikers Tony Jacques and Tony Foster.

Below is a photo of the past side that started the game, the players are:

Back row (left to right): Tony Jacques, Pete Svenson, Derek Evans, Bob Haynes, Denis Casey, guest goalkeeper Mick Pond, Paul Day.

Front Row (left to right): Terry Evans, Colin Holder, Colin Moulsdale, Tony Foster, Ian Richardson.

A photo of the Banbury United present side that started the game is below, the players are:

Back row (left to right): Russell Gordon, Jerry Mansfield, Dick Pratley, Dave Matthews, Steve Robinson, Mike McFarlane.

Front Row (left to right): Mark Charnley, Dave Woodland, Wally Hastie, Ian Bowyer, John Davie.

Whilst those at the Spencer Stadium that day were enthralled to see their heroes from the past, sadly the attendance was nothing like that which watched them in the 1960s and 1970s with just around 200 turning up!

The past team scored three goals, Tony Foster, Colin Holder and Tony Jacques being the goalscorers, though not surprisingly the present side were too strong and much fitter to make it a close encounter and scored 10!

Below is a report of the game and a couple of photos:

There was also a penalty shoot-out competition prior to the game which the Wheatsheaf won, beating Hook Norton in the final, their reward being a half time shoot-out encounter with a “celebrity” Banbury United side consisting of past players who had gone on to higher levels in the game.

Photo of the Wheatsheaf team:

The Wheatsheaf team was though well beaten by the “celebrity” Banbury United side in the half time shoot out competition, scoring just the once through Phil Wright while for United, Martin Singleton and Mark Boyland scored twice, Mick and Ollie Kearns once each, though Kevin Wilson failed to score from his two efforts!

Pictured below is the Banbury United “celebrity” side:

Left to Right: Martin Singleton, Ollie Kearns, Mark Boyland, Kevin Wilson and Mick Kearns.

Four of the five players in the Banbury United “celebrity” side made over 1,500 Football League appearances between them. Martin Singleton made 191 Football League appearances, Ollie Kearns 358, Kevin Wilson 602 and Mick Kearns 356. All four were local lads who had started their careers at Banbury United. Though Mark Boyland did not play in the Football League he did have a lengthy spell in the Football Conference, playing for Aylesbury United, Wycombe Wanderers and Cheltenham Town.