Remembering the five aside league at Hanwell Community Centre (1960 winter season)
Hanwell Community Centre played host to two exciting five aside league championships in 1960, with both the junior and senior leagues offering plenty of unpredictable thrills and spills throughout the season.
The junior league was decided on the last day of the season, with Wasps losing their first game of the evening against nearest rivals Pompey, setting up a nervy final match against the lowly Trotters. Wasps kept their nerve and won the game to secure the top spot. The champions finished the season having scored the most goals (248) and conceded the least number of goals (58).With the championship decided, it then became a fight for the runners up position between second placed Pompey and third placed Kingsley Rover. The two teams met on the final game of the season with Pompey just needing a draw to stay ahead of Rover. Rover threw everything at Pompey but couldn't penetrate Pompey's outstanding three man defence, marshalled by Roger Brown, C. Armstrong and D. Wood and a draw gave Pompey the runners-up title.
Bottom-placed Holborn celebrated the end of the season with their first double victory. From the 48 games played this season, Holborn had only won seven games and conceded some 236 goals. All in all, the junior league was certainly an entertaining championship, Fairway's 10-2 trouncing of Panthers and Bombers' 9-1 beating of 1st B.B were all season highlights. It was also a season not short on controversy. Gnomes' gallant 4-1 defeat to Kingsley Rover will be remembered for the Gnomes only being able to field two players, while the Hornets were found to have played an unregistered player for six matches during week 18 and had their points deleted and awarded to their opponents.
A similar controversy marked the senior league with the Nomads team being disqualified after 40 games of the 51 game season. Ford Green FC took over from the Nomads, and assumed the latter's league position and remaining fixtures. Highlights of the senior season must surely include Taywood's 4-3 victory over the marvellously named 6th Comets. One of the biggest upsets of the season was Hanwell O.B's 3-2 win over eventual champions, Squares, in week 22, who up to that point had only lost two games all season.
Squares ran out worthy champions of the
senior league, some 14 points ahead of runners-up Grange Park. The champions
only conceded 78 goals during the 51 game season and clocked up some 237 goals
of their own. Perivale Srs. finished bottom, managing only six wins all season.
John Porter
Follow @JohnPorterSport
Memory added on April 9, 2014
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