Sport
It’s all there in black and white: Colin’s By Steve Keenan sport@blackmorevale.net
Calling all Sherborne Town FC fans! Super fan Colin Goodland needs you to help complete his lockdown project – the entire history of the club. Colin already knows a great deal about the club, having spent 15 years as secretary and his digging has already unearthed a lot more information. For example, did you know that: n In the aftermath of the Titanic disaster of 1912, Sherborne were invited to play a benefit match to raise funds for the wife and child of Harry Spinner, a former player of Yeovil Town, who was a third-class passenger on the ship. His body was never found. n Don Travis, a player/manager in the early 1960s, started his career at West Ham. He scored four goals on his reserve team debut and four more on his first team debut. It is still a record at the Hammers today. “We have lots of team photographs in our clubhouse depicting players who I wanted to find out more about,” says Colin. “Some of the older supporters would talk about certain
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COME ON YOU ZEBRAS: The current Sherborne Town side and, below, the first team line-up after the Second World War, wearing army-issued kit as clothing was rationed. Inset below: Super fan and Life President Colin Goodland
players who they would describe as the best player to play for Sherborne, or this or that team was the best ever. “This project combines my two passions, football and history. The club has been blessed with hard working individuals who I think we owe a great debt to, and their stories should be remembered.” He specifically mentions Ken Mullins, Bill Slate and Geoff Hunt, three “stalwarts” who have between them already spent 150
years of service, whether playing, managing or being involved in the administration of the club. Ken is one of three Life Presidents of the club – including Colin himself, who was honoured with the title by the club’s committee in January, 2020. “It was Ken who started the ball rolling with this project, giving me a brief outline of the past and I’ve continued from there. I started last October and found out some amazing things about the club…”
Did you also know that: n Rugby football was played at Sherborne School from 1846, introduced by headmaster Charles Thomas Penrose. It wasn’t until about 1880 that the two sports diverged. “I’m convinced the local boys would watch the public schoolboys play this new game and tried to emulate what they saw,” says Colin. n Two brothers from Sherborne were instrumental in the birth of the club: Herbert Seymour and his younger sibling, Walter.
