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Cricket

You may not think of cricket as being a dangerous sport, certainly where no-one dies, but for animals it has been a different story. A goose met its end when the batsman

"... hit a six down out of the bottom, over the road and he killed a lady's goose."

Subsequently, a cockerill and a duck have also suffered the same fate.

Football

The date or even the year Longhope Football Chub was founded is not known at present. It was believed to have started in the 1940s when they were members of the North Gloucestershire League. However, a newspaper article from February 8th. 1913 records the monthly meeting of the League and states that Longhope were to play Hatherley on March 29th. of that year. An even earlier article, of 1911, mentions Longhope Football Club when they attended the annual meeting of the North Gloucestershire League. The league itself was founded in 1907 [1] but the club may have had origins before then.

By 1920, they were playing in the Second Division of the North Gloucestershire League [2].

Longhope were champions of division three in the season of 1949/50.

Longhope Win the Double

Perhaps one of Longhope's most impressive performances came in the 1959/60 footballing season when, not only did they come top of division two, they also won the George Sandoe Cup. The table on the right shows the position of the clubs after Longhope had played all but one of their games; they could only be overtaken by Wilton Rovers Reserves who have five games in hand. By some co-incidence, these two teams were due to play each other in the final of the George Sandoe Cup.

The cup final was held at Newent on the afternoon (kick-off 3:30) of Easter Monday 1960 and this was the first time that either team had made it through to the final of this particular cup [3]. The previous time the two teams met, on the previous Saturday, the game finished 2-2. An unknown newspaper article describes the event:

"Practically the whole of the village made the journey to Newent to support Longhope.
    The Gloucester team, playing well together, opened the scoring but this only put new life into Longhope who stormed into the attack and drew level with a goal by A. Ferry. From then on to half-time they penned Wilton in their own half and by half time had added further goals through D. Haines, Clutterbuck and Brady. D. Morgan and H. Gurney at full back were a tower of strength ably supported by captain Gerald Wyman and T. Scrivens and G. Hardwick. Tony Davis in goal also had a good first half.
    Early in the second half Longhope went further ahead with a great goal by B. Haines. This meant that all the forwards had scored. Longhope then seemed to ease up and Wilton, taking advantage of this, scored two quick goals.
    These reserves put new life into Longhope, who again went into the attack and it was only the brilliant play of the Wilton goalkeeper that prevented further goals, and Longhope were worthy winners.
    The cup was presented to Gerald Wyman by Mr. M. Phillips Price.
    The team, with all their officials and supporters, returned to their headquarters, The Plough Inn, where the cup was filled and filled again." [3]

The excitement didn't end there, however. Wilton Rovers Reserves needed to win their last game of the season against Popes Hill United to finish top of division three and, therefore, finish ahead of Longhope. An unknown newspaper article describes the match:

"There were many Longhope football fans among the crowd who last evening saw Popes Hill United beat Wilton Rovers Reserves by 4–1, because if Wilton could have won this vital game they would also have won the league (NGL Division 3) championship.
    As it was, Popes Hill's excellent win means that the league championship now goes to Longhope.
    The Hill scored after seven minutes through K. Knight, and nearly got another when Foot, the Wilton full back, headed off the goal line. When Wilton attacked in turn from the left, Jackson missed a glorious chance of equalising.
    Soon after the re-start E. Knight made it 2–0 for Popes Hill. First real movement by the Wilton forwards resulted in Halford reducing the arrear. and at this stage Wilton were very much in the game with Popes Hill centre half playing well for his side and Brain (left-back) also checking many dangerous movements.
    A break away from Wilton pressure brought Popes Hill a thrid goal, scored by Clive George and three minutes from the end, Charlie Kibble put the issue beyond all doubt." [3].

Both cups were on proud display at Longhope AFC's third annual dinner held at the Latchen Rooms [3]. Guests, of which totalled 115, were greeted by pale green and white (the club colours at the time) flowers. Mr. J. Bradley, president of Longhope AFC "spoke of the success of the last season and mentioned that it had been the first time in the club's history that two cups had been won in the same season." [3].

Below are some pictures taken on the day. For those of you watching in black and white, Longhope are playing with stripey socks.

References

1. Private documents [04]
2. Private documents [03]
3. Private documents [06]

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