In 1992 the STC factory having been taken over by Northern Telecom. announced that the site was to be sold. From then on every Saturday at the Club was a bonus. Meetings of the different sections discussed plans to set-up a sports club within the Sidcup area, with this in mind the Footscray Rugby Sports and Social Club was formed to pursue a bid to lease the sports facilities at Footscray. This was unsuccessful, on the 30th September 1993 the Footscray Sports club closed.

With the loss of the sports club the different sections drifted apart, the football and rugby sections were still trying to secure a new venue.

The rugby club negotiated with the social club of Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, to use their bar for Thursdays and Saturdays. Home games were played on the pitches of Kemnal Manor School, (located at the junction of the A20 Crittal's corner).

In June 1993 the Rugby Club were offered the opportunity to bid for the sports ground at 239A Footscray Road, New Eltham, SE9. This long and arduous task was taken on by Andy Delord, negotiations on the lease details were concluded in April 1995. (Andy was meticulous in his dealings with the council, too the point that after any telephone conversation with them he would record the details to paper, send a copy to them with the note that if there was any fault with his record, then to notify him, this process paid-off). The end of season games incorporating; "The Olds and Bolds", (always the last Saturday in April ), took place at the Footscray Road site, (239A Footscray Road, New Eltham, SE9), although there were no changing facilities. The pitch that was marked-out ran west to east, (now converted to use as a football pitch). After the games, the club retired to Jocks club, in Leysdown Road, Mottingham, SE9.

The site consists of 22 .5 acres and used to have two sports pavilions, one being Hayes Wharf. (Greenwich Council had used it as schools playing field). Both pavilions had been destroyed by vandals. Training took place with the aide of portable power generators supplying the electricity for lights that had been erected. This facility was also used by the Football section for a time until they moved on too another club. With the advent of the new ground and a lease of 125 years the only thing that stopped progress was lack of money. Paul Young and John Chandler loaned the money to put a building on the site. The old STC factory had a portable building originally used as a first aid post, this was given to the Footscray Sport Club. The club arranged transport of the three units, each 36 feet long by 9 feet wide. It was remarkable the skills that people whom one had known only on the rugby pitch or in the bar possessed. Drains, water pipes and power cables were discovered or replaced. The three units were assembled, the interior was reformed into a bar, with male and female toilets, a kitchen, two changing rooms, a shower room and a small broom cupboard for a referee. The walls and the floor of the shower room were fibre-glassed, this saved having to tile the area. The members set-to and ran underground power cables into the club house, water supplies to the club, and to the middle of the ground. The club inherited the tractor and some of the old ground maintenance machinery from the factory site, without which we would not have been able to continue. Even with this equipment we found that we had some costly bills maintaining it. Four football and two rugby pitches were marked out during the summer months. A cricket pitch was re-turfed, and a second one prepared.

Footscray RUFC

Footscray Extraordinary General Meeting - Briefing Pack

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