1912 Woburn Sands Stars Football Team

Woburn Sands - Stars Football Club
Woburn Sands Stars Football Club – 1912 Cup Winners

This postcard shows the Woburn Sands Stars football team with the cup they won in 1912 for being the winners of their division of the Second League in Bedfordshire.

As the North Bucks Times of 27th April reported:

Woburn Sands brought their league programme to an end this Saturday when they defeated Wootton Blue Cross by 2 goals to nil. They have not lost a single match this season and for the first time in the history of Woburn Sands, a cup has been brought to the village

In actual fact, they had won all their games, except two which they drew. Amongst the games that season, they had beaten Biggleswade 2-1, Newport Pagnell Autos 6-1, Bedford Park Rangers 7-0, Marston Rovers 5-0 and Luton Ivy United 4-1.

Although winning this trophy for heading their respective division, they then had to play Harrold for the inter-division cup, on a pitch at Kempston which had an extreme slope and was very hard and bumpy. Although leading 1-0 at half time, in the second half the hill was against them, and the lost 2-1.

Bedfordshire Times, May 3rd:

Unusual scenes were witnessed on Saturday evening when the Stars arrived home with their cup. Their supporters were evidently not so disappointed as were the players, and if they had won the English Cup, they could hardly have had a more loyal reception. A crowd several hundred strong gathered at the railway station. The brakes were quickly illuminated with Chinese lanterns and headed by the Woburn Sands Band, playing popular airs, they went in procession to the High Street. ‘See the Conquering Heros Come’ and ‘Home Sweet Home’ were rendered. Capt, Mr Bob Neville was lifted shoulder high under the lamp in the Square, with the cup in his hand. Mr Sanders, of The Swan Hotel, filled it with port wine. This was soon drunk, and the cup was filled many times, and as many times emptied. The proceedings were kept up until nearly midnight. The team are to be congratulated on their brilliant displays during the season……The cup, with photos of both teams in the final have been on view this week in Mr Whitmees shop window.

Whitmee was a dairyman, who had a shop in Wood Street.

The team was Bazley (Goalkeper) J. Hebbes, C. Lindon (backs) R. Neville (capt.), R. Sinfield, Rev H. Stratton (minister at the Primitive Methodist Chapel) (halfbacks) W. Gilkes, Ted Day, C. Clarke, E Taylor and A. Fleet (forwards)

…but war was just around the corner, and ‘The Woburn Reporter’ records in 1916 that all the current Woburn Sands Stars team had long since signed up and gone to war, and that three had already been killed.

This postcard has been sent, signed ‘Hec’, to a member of the Newman family. ‘Hec’ was Hector Newman, 33, the son of a local draper and grocer. It looks like he managed to get in on the picture, if the arrow indicates himself! The card was produced and sold by Bathurst, the local chemist, who had premises where the chemist still trades from today. Two generations of the Bathurst family ran this business from 1906 till about 1975. Their postcards are always interesting, and they seemed to have concentrated on special events and celebrations rather than the usual view cards. _uacct = “UA-2415288-1”;urchinTracker();