URCHINS ?

[Lurchin Urchin]

Tuesday night a Tonbridge fan asked why we are called the Urchins. Had to say I did not have a clue! Can anyone enlighten me?

[Richard Macey]

May be it's something to do with us being Hornchurch

 

Just a guess

 

[Uncle Urchin]

there are two lines of thought on this and I prefer the more romantic second one which can be found in most old urchin proggies in the club shop today...

 

the urchin song

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

So nothing to do with Barnardo's then?

[Eastside Urchin]

i thought it was something to do with a home for stray mental naughty kids

[YELLOW]

Urchin is latin for hedgehog is it not?

 

So you are all hedgehogs!!!

[Eastside Urchin]

that is indeed true yellow.

[lesbos]

its interesting isnt it to find out the origins of such things,for example coventry city have an elephant on their club crest,why? because every season they face a 'mammoth' struggle to avoid relegation.

[Dagger03]

hornchURCH and upmINSter = URCHINS

 

 

But in fact the story goes back much further than this to when the club first moved onto the land which has remained their undisputed home for over fifty years (other clubs please note) - the land was infested with urchins, which is the old medieval name for hedgehog - the cost of removing them was enormous until someone came up with the idea of importing a Russian Eagle Owl, whose favourite food is urchins. This also accounts for the bronze statue of the eagle owl which sits proudly over the EastSide.

 

However, simultaneously and at the same time, there was a Dr Barnardo's home just up the road, where the police houses were subsequently built, and which is now upper class houses, to the left of the road as you go up towards the White Hart public house, (which of course is no longer the White Hart). The nickname for the inhabitants was Urchins (ie as in street urchins) - they used to be ballboys at the ground, which was not enclosed at first, and whenever the ball was booted a long way out of the ground, the cry of 'Come on you Urchins' was immediately raised.

 

There is a further sequel to this - the Urchins, ie the ballboys, were paid one penny per match, but en bloc they refused to accept this as they claimed it would effect their amateur status.

 

Another theory, and one which has faded into the mists of time, is that the land right down to the river INGgrbourne was owned by the chURCH - and that Urchins is a corruption of (ch)URCH ING(the G became an S), ie the medieval name for the land owned by the church as far as the river Ingrebourne.

 

Note too that the ground was in fact two thirds in Upminster and one third in Hornchurch - the river Ingrebourne forming the boundary - when the ground was developed it was necessary to re-route the river westwards approximately 85 yards, to its present location, behind the river side stand - if you look at old OS maps, you will notice that the river cut right through the football pitch - you can also check this against Google Earth photos which clearly show the old and new course of the river.

 

Hope this has been of service to someone.

[Lurchin Urchin]

Thanks for all this!

I think I will revert to saying "I haven't a clue"

But obviousley point them in the direction of Unc's book when it comes out!

[Uncle Urchin]

Originally Posted By: Lurchin Urchin

Thanks for all this!
I think I will revert to saying "I haven't a clue"
But obviousley point them in the direction of Unc's book when it comes out!

like all legends LU we can never really know where the nickname orginated from but who cares.....its a good name and we'll keep it....(where did Unc come from )

as for the book.......

its coming its coming...

[Dagger03]

LU - I can reassure you that my version is one hundred percent correct - surely you do not think I would make such a thing up.

 

And if only you had been there today, we had another first for Bridge Avenue - a black ladybird with red spots - an absolute rarity, and seen by many who were there.

[cantos]

I though it was an acronym for....

 

Uncles Russian Crumpet Have Insatiable Needs Sexually.

[Eastside Urchin]

i saw a ring ouzel at the bridge house today

[Hookey]

I thought it was because people from Hornchurch were known as "Hornchurchians", which over time got corrupted to Urchians then Urchins.... More plausible methinks!!

[stantheman]

I watched the team occasionally in at the recreation ground as Upminster, and started going every week just after the move to the Bridge. The Urchins nickname was well established then and no-one seemed to know why. That suggests that it was too close to the name-change to derive in part from "Hornchurch".

 

The other theory at the time derived from our strip. At the time amayeur teams were changing over to the new "Italian" strips of collarless v-neck shirts and short shirts. We stayed for a long time in long-sleeved shirts with collars and baggy shorts which made us look scruffy - hence "urchins".

 

I seem to remember that we changed to the new-style strip for the cup-final (Essex Elizabethan Trophy I believe) against Grays which we lost 5-1, and my Mum blamed the loss on the new strip!

[Mini Goose]

Originally Posted By: richard193

its interesting isnt it to find out the origins of such things,for example coventry city have an elephant on their club crest,why? because every season they face a 'mammoth' struggle to avoid relegation.

What about Bowers badge? They have a duck, This is because there pitch spends most of it's time underwater.

[YELLOW]

Was it disco duck?

[Mini Goose]

Nah crispy duck

[Eastside Urchin]

There was a childrens home next to the old hornchurch bus station,the childrens home is now a housing estate,st leonards i think,opposite the Harrow pub.

The childrens home housed kids from all over east london and was quite well known.As far as i am aware this is the reason why!