Ruislip Manor

Ruislip Manor FC was a non-league football club, formed in 1938, that hailed from the London suburb of the same name in the northwest of the capital and was based at Grosvenor Vale. It folded while playing as Tokyington Manor in the summer of 2014.

The club joined the London League in 1951-52 after playing in local competition, under player-manager Charlie Drinkwater, who brought Football League experience with him. A move to the Spartan League followed in time for the 1958-59 season.

The Athenian League was joined as a Division Two side in 1965-66, with Manor going on to be crowned champions in 1972-73. The competition was swallowed up by the Isthmian League in 1984-85, with the Ruislip outfit being placed in Division Two South. 

As members of the restructured Division Two in 1991-92, the team were promoted to the second tier Division One as runners-up. They remained there until the completion of the 1995-96 campaign, when they finished in the relegation places.

Manor went down to the Spartan League, which became the Spartan South Midlands League a year later following a merger. The boys of Grosvenor Vale were placed in the Premier Division South.

Third place in 1997-98 was rewarded with promotion to the Premier Division after further restructuring, where they remained until the 2007-08 campaign, when they were relegated. Yet, bigger issues were to unfold.

 

The Ruislip Manor Social Club was sold while in debt to new owners. The football club was evicted, with Wealdstone FC becoming tenants of Grosvenor Vale, leaving Ruislip Manor FC homeless. The committee resigned at the same time.

Terry Springer from the Tokyngton Community Centre took over the club and its debts and changed its name to Tokyington Manor, playing home games at Viking Sports at Greenford before having to postpone several games in 2019-10 owing to it being unsafe, while a Division One side in the Spartan South Midlands League.

The league punished the club with a one-year ban, before they returned in 2011-12 playing as tenants of Amersham Town at Spratleys Meadow. They took a sabbatical for the 2012-13 season before returning to action in 2013-14.

That was to compete in Division Two of the Middlesex League. Home games were played at Northwick Park Playing Fields and Gibbons Recreation Ground. The team finished second from bottom in the table, and the club finally folded.

My visits

Saturday 15th May 1999

An interesting day, all things considered, for this naïve pup who had recently moved to London. Despite applying for several jobs, I had heard nothing back, so I answered an interesting ad where a company was recruiting on a sunny Friday afternoon.

The people all employed by the company seemed upbeat as I and other potential members of the team witnessed cheers and applause for each other as sales figures and success stories were related. I even headed back to where I was staying near Brixton with my brother Paul in a positive frame of mind.

Returning the following morning, I was designated a leader and a colleague. Off we traipsed towards a railway station, with me still not sure of what was going on. I was given a Zone 1-6 plus extension to St Albans travelcard for the day and told that we would be going door to door selling our wares.

This did not exactly fit into my plans, nor my skill set, being a relatively shy bloke who was normally sold poor quality goods rather than selling them to others. After a few minutes thought as we walked, I announced I was resigning before even being officially employed.

It didn’t go down particularly well, but I don’t like wasting mine or others' time. Plan B was quickly in operation as I went visiting as many non-league grounds that I’d never previously been to as possible after a mooch around the city.

I seem to recall that the current home of Hillingdon Borough, then of Ruislip Town, followed by Kingsbury Town, were two at the later stages of the day, with the FA Trophy final being played, but I considered the ticket price too expensive.

Grosvenor Vale, after Wealdstone FC became tenants

On I continued, with there just being time to call in to Ruislip Manor as the light began to fade. What a job I had trying to locate the entrance, despite having an A-to-Z map book. Eventually, I cracked the code and went inside for a mooch around.

It was not a thing of beauty and showing signs of age, but it had a seated stand on either side of the pitch, the nearside one at a strange angle, and a cover behind the far goal. The facilities were at the near end in the corner behind the goal.

I never got to see a Manor home game, even though they played midweek matches on a Monday night when there wasn’t much else to do. Friends who went regaled me with tales of getting their hot drinks out of proper mugs.

Once Wealdstone became tenants, I visited many times, including the opening game once they had tarted up the venue, which can be read about on their page.

 

 

All About This Blog

Welcome to my blog covering clubs and stadiums in the English League System along with the wonderful people responsible for keeping them going and their maintenance.

Since I was a little lad, I've been fascinated in football and more so where games are played. With my love of travel and curiosity of the game I wanted to visit as many grounds as possible and see games wherever I could.

I was fortunate that my dad also loved the game and spent so much of his spare time taking me to matches. As I got older the boundaries widened owing to my location and increased wages to Europe and indeed the world. The sight of a stand or a floodlight pylon in the distance immediately heightens my senses and eagerness for a closer look.

I hope this site gives you the chance to share in my pleasure and experiences and set you on the road to adventure. If you get half as much out of the hobby as I've done, I can guarantee some great memories, good friends, and stories to pass on to future generations. Give your local club a try today. They'll be delighted to see you!

Everlasting thanks primarily to my late and very much missed and dearly loved parents; my dad, Bob Bernard, and my mum; Ann, who put up with endless years of football chat and my brothers Nick and Paul. Thanks to all my friends who offer encouragement along with my wonderful wife, Taew.

Please feel free to post any comments (please use sensible language - I want everyone to be able to enjoy reading) or ask any questions relating to visiting grounds or events. Make sure you keep having a look as the site is continually updated.

If you click on a lot of the pictures, you will get a larger version on your screen. I have also added links to video clips on YouTube where appropriate for those of you who are bored of reading or are filling in time at work. I haven't always gone for the most obvious choices, but items that will be in some cases unusual but always historically interesting.

I also have blogs covering clubs outside England and one dedicated to Thai Football. Please feel free to take a look.

Rob Bernard Sisaket, Thailand

Wembley Stadium History 1

An account of my visits to the old stadium can be read about here and here.

Wembley Stadium was built by Sir Robert McAlpine in North West London in exactly three hundred days and opened to the public on 28th April 1923 for the FA Cup Final. The stadium was originally called the British Empire Exhibition Stadium as the whole area was to stage the British Empire Exhibition of 1924.

Its opening day became one of the most famous in British sporting history. The game was not all ticket as the FA didn't think the crowd would necessitate it. Up to 300,000 gained access as chaos reigned. The official crowd as listed was 126,047. The game was in danger of being postponed as fans were on the pitch until PC George Scorey on his white horse Billy, cleared the playing area.

The stadium before the roof was added

The stadium was built on a site where a tower once stood which became known as Watkin's Folly. The original idea was to demolish the stadium after the exhibition but it was saved at the suggestion of the chairman of the organising committee.

After the exhibition, an entrepreneur, Arthur Elvin started to buy the disused buildings and demolish them and cashing in on scrap value. The stadium had gone into liquidation so Elvin purchased it. He eventually sold it back to the Wembley Company which paid him shares to give him the largest stake and the role of Chairman.

The final game. October 2000

In 1934 the nearby Empire Pool (now Wembley Arena) was built and it became a venue with the stadium for the 1948 Olympic Games. The stadium was basically a bowl with an upper and lower section. Behind the goals was open terracing with covered seats down the sides and open benches at the front. The crowning glory was the trademark Twin Towers behind the North Stand.

In 1963, a new translucent roof was erected over the whole of the stadium as well as the installation of an electric scoreboard. The stadium also held many other major sporting events as well as football. From 1936 to 1960 it held the first fifteen World Speedway Finals. 

The greatest day

It staged a further eight, with the last in 1981, as well as hosting the Wembley Lions at various times between 1929 and 1971. It held every Rugby League Challenge Cup Final from 1929 as well as the 1992 World Cup Final. Wales used the venue to play International Rugby Union whilst their own Millenium Stadium was being constructed.

Greyhound racing was also a prominent feature, ever since a dog called Spin won the first race at the track in 1927 in front of 50,000 punters until the stadium closed. Wembley's owner's refusal to cancel the regular greyhound racing meant that the match between Uruguay and France in the 1966 World Cup was played at White City.

Evel Knievel in 1975

It also staged Gaelic Sports, American Football, Equestrian Events (including the Horse of the Year Show in 1970 which ruined the pitch before the FA Cup Final), WWF Wrestling, an incredible motorbike stunt by daredevil Evel Knievel as well as many music concerts, including the staggering Live Aid Gig on Saturday 13th July 1985.

Of course, it is with football that Wembley will be forever remembered. Apart from the greatest of days on Saturday 30th July 1966 when England became World Champions and our other games during the tournament, it staged every FA Cup Final, as well as each League Cup Final from 1967, and each Charity Shield from 1974.

For the first twenty-seven years, the only England fixture played there was the game against Scotland until every game was staged there. In European club football, Wembley staged the European Cup Finals in 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, and 1992 as well the Cup Winners Cup Finals of 1965 and 1993. The stadium also staged the final of Euro 96 as well as all of England's games in the tournament.

It gave amateur and semi-professional players their greatest ever days, staging many Amateur Cup Finals as well as the FA trophy from 1970 and the FA Vase from 1975. It was the ambition of every footballer in the world to play there. Pele described it as thus: "Wembley is the cathedral of football. It is the capital of football and it is the heart of football."

The final FA Cup Final at the stadium saw Chelsea beat Aston Villa, while the final game saw Germany defeat England on Saturday 7th October 2000. It took three years before the stadium was eventually demolished. The new stadium was going to be realigned and it was said the Towers could not be saved. This was extremely sad and it upset many members of the public.

The new stadium has better access, views, scoreboards, seats, catering, and general facilities but not the same buzz of the old place as the white towers came into view and fans walked up the steps to the turnstiles and saw the pitch through the gates for the first time.

I wrote this piece exactly ten years to the day of the final game. I didn't realise I'd miss it as much as I do.

Thanks for the memories.

My personal memories

It's hard to write something relatively brief on a place that gave me so many memories so I'll use an article I wrote for the Scarborough Athletic fanzine, Abandon Chip. Hopefully, this will give you some idea about the place. Please check out the two sections on my visits to the stadium for more details, pictures, tickets, and programmes.

Some of my happiest football memories were spent at the old Wembley Stadium. I was fortunate to see my beloved there four times, including three victories. I was actually a bit disappointed when I got inside for the first time in April 1973. It looked nothing like it did on TV, although Mally Thompson’s winner more than made up for my initial impressions.

I was lucky to make my second visit by the time I was only 8 years old. I had an incredible experience at the 1974 League Cup Final between Wolves and Manchester City, which was played out in front of 100,000 fans.

A teacher and driving instructor Mr Smith ran a bus from Scarborough. I’m not sure where he got the tickets from, but my dad took my brother Paul and me. I was filled with eager anticipation on the way down the motorway. What would such an enormous crowd be like? I was soon to find out.

When we got to our terracing entrance on the concourse it was soon apparent that there was no room to get in. This was a major design fault with the old place in the days of terracing in the lower tier. People congregated around the entrance to gain a better view thus restricting people from getting into the free space further down. 

Mr. Smith played hell with the authorities. Amazingly we were taken through a room and down some steps. We emerged in the player's tunnel and I stood next to the players who were lined up waiting for their cue to walk out. We were then placed at the front of the terracing amongst the Manchester City fans to enjoy an excellent game.

I attended the first ever Merseyside final when Everton and Liverpool battled out a goalless draw for the 1983 Milk (league) Cup. I was at college in Borehamwood at the time. My housemate, Aberdeen fan Andy, suggested we go down to take in the atmosphere, get a programme, and then go home to watch the game. As soon as I got there I was determined to get in.

Andy gave up and left me to my fate. I was about to pay £10 to a Liverpool fan before a decent bloke stopped me, explaining that he was trying to sell me one that had already been used and was then passed back. I wandered about before a local approached me. We negotiated on a tenner to get in. 

He had gathered up a few others who wanted to go in but didn’t have tickets. He gave us all hats to wear (some blue and some red) and ushered us towards a turnstile. There was no sign of any tickets. As soon as we got in he took back his hats and went back outside for more custom. He’d been on the fiddle with the turnstile operators! I remember asking him how I’d pass through the gate inside to reach the terracing without a ticket. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s up to you, mate”.

I now drink in a bar with some blokes of a similar age to me who said they never missed a game at Wembley and often would never pay. They either gave the gateman a few quid and kept going or would sneak in below someone going through. The best tale is of one of them giving a steward a few quid for his fluorescent bib. 

Scarborough. FA Trophy winners 1973

He would then use it to go up to the gate pretending to be a steward with some fans who’d been directed round to that particular entrance (the fans either been his mates or punters willing to pay a backhander to get in). The cheeky sod even used it to get through the crowds to get home quicker (allegedly!). Apparently, there were a lot of lads using similar ruses. I dread to think just how many people really got in.

I also saw some memorable England games at the Venue of Legends. Without a doubt, the most memorable few weeks were based around Euro 96. I was lucky enough to attend all the England matches. The atmosphere against Scotland and Spain only matched the performance against the totally distraught Dutch. 

The final game. October 2000

I was lucky enough to see Brazil, Holland, and Germany three times, as well as Argentina and Italy plus many other teams of varying quality (a freezing cold January night going all the way to see Cameroon being the low point).

A memory that will always stick in my mind apart from the many memorable matches that took place before a World Cup qualifier against Poland in 1989. The England players were warming up. The Geordie trio of Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne, and Peter Beardsley were practicing together. They pinged perfect passes to each other before each in turn would carry out a cameo in ball juggling. 

It went on for 10 minutes and the ball didn’t touch the floor. I was at the anti-climax of the last-ever game against Germany, which was overshadowed to a certain extent by Kevin Keegan’s resignation at the end of the game. We were in a club behind the stadium when the news flashed up on the TV. It brought the biggest cheer all day.

By now I was living within three miles of the stadium. I watched for the best part of a year while it stood dormant, surrounded by political and financial arguments. Members of the local community and corporate hospitality played lots of matches on the sacred turf. Sadly I couldn’t find a way of getting a game.

A bit of the old place still lives on. East Tower Flagpole Base at Brent River Park

Eventually, demolition began, without a lot of publicity. I went to the snooker at the Conference Centre one Sunday in March 2001 and took my camera to try and take some snaps. I was astonished at the sight as I approached. All that was left was the South Stand (where the TV cameras went) and the magnificent towers. 

Within a few weeks, the lot had gone. I felt extremely sad as so many memories disappeared for good while future generations would have to rely on stories, videos, and pictures.

Wokingham Town

 

Wokingham Town FC is a non-league football club from the town of the same name, that was originally formed in 1875. They moved into their home ground at Finchamstead Road in 1906 playing in local competition prior to joining the Metropolitan League in 1954.

A move to the Delphian League followed in 1957-58, where they remained for two seasons before becoming members of the Corinthian League. When that competition folded, a place was provided in Division One of the Athenian League, where Town remained until becoming a Division Two side in the Isthmian League of 1973-74.

The second tier later became Division One, which Wokingham were crowned champions of in 1981-82. The following season saw the side take Cardiff City to a replay in the first round of the FA Cup, while the 1987-88 campaign saw an appearance in the semifinal of the FA Trophy. 

Telford United won the tie on aggregate to reach Wembley in what were halcyon days for the ‘Satsumas’ as Darren Barnard and Paul Bence were among the leading performers. In 1989-90 Wokingham were Isthmian League runners-up narrowly missing out on a place in the Conference.

Finchampstead Road. Image taken from Twitter/X

However, the cash begin to dry up which caused financial issues, before the team was relegated to Division One in 1994-95 and then Division Two in 1997-98. The Finchampstead Road ground was sold and demolished in 1999 to raise cash, with the club becoming tenants at Stag Meadow in Windsor.

A further relegation to Division Three followed in 2000-01, which was retitled Division Two after restructuring a couple of years later. In 2004 the club merged with Emmbrook Sports to become Wokingham & Emmbrook FC and being placed in the Premier Division of the Hellenic League under manager Glenn Duggleby.

Finchampstead Road. Image taken from Twitter/X

The club relocated to Emmbrook’s base at Lowther Road in Wokingham, which failed the ground grading requirements and saw the Satsumas demoted to Division One East of the competition. The club decamped to Larges Lane in Bracknell in 2009-10, winning promotion to the Premier Division under Wayne Wanklyn. 

Back at Lowther Road with Roger Herridge appointed as manager, the club was again fell foul of the ground requirements and were sent back down to Division One East at the end of the 2012-13 campaign. After a runners-up place twelve months later, W&E secured the title in 2014-15 under joint bosses Dan Bateman and Matt Eggleston.

The side was relegated in 2015-16 after a spell as tenants of Henley Town FC leading to the appointment of new manager, Clive McNelly. Matt Eggleston later replaced him as the club put its future in its youth set up. Lowther Road was upgraded with new floodlights and a stand in 2019.

Matt Cronan became manager in September 2022 taking over from Eliot Whitehouse shortly after the club began life as a member of Premier Division North of the Combined Counties League after restructuring on the non-league set up. The side finished towards the bottom end of the table for three successive seasons. 

Darren Purbrick was given the managers job in April 2024, with the club changing its title to Wokingham Town FC a couple of months later.

Wokingham Town FC will play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Stag Meadow, Windsor

Wokingham Town 0 Tring Town 0 (Friday 28th September 2001) Isthmian League Division Three (att: 44)

Wokingham Town were a club who were really struggling after losing their much-loved Finchampstead Road ground in the town and were victims of an overspending owner who promised plenty. Just eleven years previously they had finished as runners up in the Isthmian League but were now in the bottom division and without a home ground and having to play at Stag Meadow.

I went by train on a pleasant late summers evening after work and enjoyed sitting at a riverside pub reading the London Standard before setting off for the ground. I managed to get lost on the way, before a local put me right. The clubhouse was good, as was the ground which looked to have had a recent makeover.

I had a chat with a Town fan who was quite jolly to say what his club had been through when I asked about their chances of getting a new ground back in Wokingham.

Stag Meadow had an old-fashioned Main Stand on the halfway line with new tip up seats and open terracing either side. A new terracotta track divided this side from the lush pitch. There were a few rows of open terracing either side with the clubhouse, offices and changing rooms standing towards the Park End.

Both the Park and Town Ends behind the goals had open terracing. The far Enclosure had a low roof running virtually the full length of the pitch with shallow terracing. The game was unremarkable, but at least the Main Stand offered me a good view. I walked back to the station, which took a lot less time than the way there!