1st XV 1971/72

Back row: Mr. C. J. Little, Gary O'Shea, John Churchward, Ian Smith, Pietro Stasi, Stephen Spencer, Kevin Hewitt, Paul Wilson, Guy Pettit
Middle row: David Cox, Roger Scase, Alan Wright, Mr. Wolsey (Warden), Malcolm Ireland, Stephen Shurety, Andrew Edwards
Front row: Steven Bishop, Kevin Hathway

I seem to think the dark jerseys were a by-product of the gym being burnt down that year but I cannot be sure. [The jerseys were kept in the storage area next to the gym so they certainly would have been destroyed then. - Steve]

John Churchward

John Churchward is correct in his thoughts that the black shirts were worn due to the normal white being destroyed in the gym fire.  What is also strange about the photograph is that Dave Cox and Steve Bishop appear to be looking away from the camera. If I remember correctly this was a form of silent protest because one of that year's players, Steve Tonks I believe, had been banned from the picture for, of all things, leaving the team mid season to concentrate on his A level studies (There's a twist). [Anyone know if this is true? - Steve]

Paul Wilson

The normal white jerseys were not actually destroyed in the fire but badly discoloured by the heat and smoke. Colin Little, ever resourceful, had them dyed black and the white badges sown on. I don’t think we wore them in a match, but I may be wrong. However, the Old Boys XV, of whom I was one, wore them in the annual match that following September.

I don’t think Dave Cox and Bish are actually looking away from the camera (Dave was always a bit of a poser, weren’t you Dave?) but it’s certainly true that there was a bit of a to-do over Steve Tonks, who was an automatic selection and had played enough games to “qualify” for the picture but had chosen to stop playing at some point during the season. I can’t really remember why he stopped – it might have been to concentrate in his A levels, but somewhere at the back of my mind I think it was that he just got fed up with Colin going on at him. Anyway, we had a team meeting in the remains of the gym, at which dramatic words were spoken and several of us told Colin that we were not prepared to appear in the picture without Steve. Colin refused to back down and the result was … that we all turned up. (Sorry, Steve. I still think you should have been in it).

Steve Shurety

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