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A
brief history of Wilsons Cricket Club (1935-1985)
by
R.J. Taylor (Hon. Secretary)
The
usual practice is to begin any history at the beginning and to
trace a sequence of chronological events up to the latest date
of the subject. Sadly with Wilsons Cricket Club this is not always
possible as much of the old recorded history of the club is lost,
probably for ever. However, we have some personal recollections
from the "old timers" to begin our story.
The
origin of Wilsons is with Willsons the Printers of Nottingham
and Leicester and with its proprietors the Willson family. The
Willson family and their business originated in Leicester and
purchased a business in Nottingham prior to the First World War,
and Mr Eric Willson recalls that the contract of purchase contained
the name Wilsons with one 'L'. The first cricket began with games
between works teams from Nottingham and Leicester. This was in
the 1920's and received the encouragement of the late Mr L.H.
Willson (father of Mr Eric Willson) who was the head of the family
business and a former cricketer himself.
The
business thrived, the number of apprentices grew and with them
came an increasing interest in playing just a little bit more
cricket. Thus it was in 1935 that Mr L.H. Willson agreed to purchase
the first complete set of kit and organised fixtures began.
The
fixtures were played on Wilford Road on a ground not far from
Wilford Power Station, and it was thought at one time that the
company would buy the ground. The purchase however, just never
happened and the club made its first regular home at the Forest.
In
1938 a new recruit arrived on the scene in the Nottingham works,
a cricketing fanatic by the name of Arthur Cook. No one could
have guessed the significance of Arthur's arrival, as he was later
to become the foundation stone of the cricket club and also the
most trusted employee of the Willson family. But in the following
year a man called Adolph Hitler intervened and stopped play for
seven years, and the bulk of the members were called up for a
rather bigger contest in which the participants wore a khaki outfit
and the opposition certainly never played cricket in either the
literal or metaphorical sense.
It
was 1946 before the old military kit bags were replaced by the
rather dusty cricket kit bag which had been carefully stored.
Willsons Sports Club began to function again. Regular social meetings
took place in the News House, a public house on St James Street.
Harry Barker, a signwriter with Willsons joined forces with Arthur
Cook to establish a cricket club again.
Alas
there were now insufficient numbers within the works to form a
team and "outsiders" were included for the first time. Mr L.H.
Willson intervened once more and attained a coveted place for
the team to play at University Park. The long association with
Highfields had begun.
Willsons thrived as a happy family club involved in friendly cricket.
It obtained a cherished reputation for sportsmanship and for its
large following of lady supporters. Doug Johnson and Keith White
were amongst the outsiders who joined the club, and brought friends,
relatives and workmates with them.
Gradually
the numbers of outsiders in the club increased and eventually
in the latter part of the 1960's only Arthur Cook remained of
the Willson's personnel. It became obvious that the club could
and should no longer claim real asociation with the company. Another
new wave of recruits arrived, five of them almost simultaneously
from Bilborough Grammar School.
On
23rd March 1970, 15 members of the club unanimously agreed to
disband Willsons Sports Club and reform as Wilsons Cricket Club.
Doug Johnson had the combined tasks of both Secretary and Captain,
and Arthur Cook became the first Honorary Life Member in recognition
of his outstanding efforts in the past. The name Wilsons with
one 'L' was retained to preserve the link with the past and because
of the good reputation previously enjoyed.
The
new generation included some fine cricket players and there was
an increase both in the standard of cricket within the club and
in the number of fixtures. Limited overs cricket had become popular
and in the 1970's there was a general drift of clubs into league
cricket. Friendly fixtures of adequate standard became more and
more difficult to obtain, and the club had heard of the formation
of a new league called the South Notts Cricket Union. Wilsons
became founder members in 1974 of what was to become the Notts
Cricket Union.
The
Club adapted well to the new challenge and its league record is
recorded herein. Suffice to say that it is the outstanding playing
record of the past decade in that league.
In
1978 the club participated for the first time in the new Highfields
Sports Club project undertaken by Beeston Hockey Club. However,
the magnificent pavilion and club house were not to be complimented
by a similar standard of playing surface. The Highfields pitches
steadily deteriorated each year and as a consequence of this,
the long association ended in 1983.
How
very sad that the club should be driven from its home by sheer
negligence of the very pitches for which the ground was once famous,
and on which small clubs would clamour to play.
The
club moved to its present home at COD Chilwell in 1984 season
courtesy of the Army and thanks largely to the efforts of the
present Chairman.
And
that briefly brings us to today and the Golden Jubilee which is
a remarkable achievement for such a small club. Wilsons has survived
the transition from a "works team" to an independent club and
thrived on it. It is a club which has never owned its own ground
nor had more than one team at a time, and it is a club which still
succeeds in turning out eleven players on a summer afternoon who
enjoy playing cricket with a friendly club.
Part
2 (1985-present) to follow ...
Wilsons
CC cumulative averages (to end of season 2005)
Wilsons
CC club records (to end of season 2005)
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