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URCHINS ?

Lurchin Urchin

By Lurchin Urchin
in Hornchurch Forum

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Miss.A.F.C.Hornchurch Enthusiast

Miss.A.F.C.Hornchurch

Posted
Posted

quote=dagger04]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.

 

why dont these knowledgeable facts be put on the offical website under some thing like "Facts about AFC Hornchurch"

....just an idea...

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Serious Sid Newbie

Serious Sid

Posted
Posted
Originally Posted By: Annie
why dont these knowledgeable facts be put on the offical website under some thing like "Facts about AFC Hornchurch"
....just an idea...


Ah, no rest for the wicked! laugh Will see what can be done but we are short of spare buttons. Nett, could also make a good article for a matchday programme.
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Serious Sid Newbie

Serious Sid

Posted
Posted
Originally Posted By: cantos

Are you saying Nettes articles are not normally good,


You little mischief maker Cantos. laugh

What I meant to say was .....

"Nett, it could also make a good article for a matchday programme.....

But you knew that already. laugh

Rumour has it that you are doing the match updates on Saturday Cantos. Good man. smile
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Dagger03 Apprentice

Dagger03

Posted
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Excellent idea Annie, and here's a few more facts for Sid to consider - Hornchurch were the last senior club to stage a home match at Brooklands, home of a now defunct club called Romford FC - this was right at the end of the season and Bridge Avenue was being re-seeded. Sorry but I have completely forgotten who it was against.

 

And yet another fact - Tunbridge Wells FC, Met Police FC, Eton Manor FC. and Shenfield FC have all staged home matches (one each) at Bridge Avenue. In so doing, Shenfield FC became the first ever Essex Intermediate Lge club to stage a home match under floodlights.

 

And of course Hornchurch are the only senior club in Essex to have played two league matches on the same day at the same time - Max, when was it and what was the scores, and why was it?.

 

And right here, right now, I am looking at what is probably the fastest selling non-league badge of all time - it is the famous Hornchurch FC 'Friends of Football' badge. And why was it such a fast seller? Sorry, but the reason cannot be published.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dagger03 Apprentice

Dagger03

Posted
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>>ohhh why not?

it cant be that bad.

 

It really should not be made public on a public forum - I will bring the badge to Northwood tomorrow.

 

But the reason is that the 'Friends of Football' bit is abbreviated on the badge to 'F ofF' - and certain persons thought that this abbreviation stood for something entirely different.

 

 

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Urchins Rookie

Urchins

Posted
Posted
Originally Posted By: dagger04
And yet another fact - Tunbridge Wells FC, Met Police FC, Eton Manor FC. and Shenfield FC have all staged home matches (one each) at Bridge Avenue.


As have Merstham FC. They were drawn at home to us in the FA Cup one season and could not play at their ground for some reason so they switched it.

Also, one year in the close season the council dug the pitch up to install much needed new drainage. Unfortunately instead of doing the sensible thing and starting the work in mid-May they started at the end of July and the pitch was not fit for the start of the season. Consequently the league closed the ground and we had to play our first few home games at other grounds. One of these was against Thame United which was played at Tilbury on a Sunday. Whether it was the first non-league game to be played on a Sunday will need checking but it was certainly very unusual at the time. We lost - 1-0 I think - which unfortunately was not very unusual.

Our club has been at the forefront of many things - one of the first non-league clubs to have a website, one of the first to have their own domain name (www.urchins.org) and of course one of the first to publish video clips of goals.

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