History of LRFC 6 of 36

6. 1932 to 1933


As usual the season commenced on the last Saturday in September. It is interesting to note that pre-season training was not like it is today. The usual arrangement was that there would be practice sessions on the early Saturdays in September followed by an internal trial game on the Saturday before the big kick-off. In addition it was hoped that practice would be possible in the evenings during September and a ball was left in the changing room at the Bath Hotel, which could be taken out by players for their use at any time.

We began with a draw against K Gough's XV and on the 1 October we played our first match against Warwickshire Colts, which we lost 6-15. Up until the time of the War, Warwickshire Colts played a game or two every season against the better clubs within the County, as a way of scouting for talent. The side comprised players aged under-23 who had never played first class rugby. The home side was able to field its full strength team with no-one selected by the Colts and no age restriction. We had many club players selected for these games over the years and R.J. Jones and Tom Commander were called up for the Colts this season.

Cliff Harrison (right) continued as captain and we had a strengthened fixture list, including, Worcester and Oxford Exiles. We defeated both sides and also played Worcester's second XV towards the end of the season and scored 50 points against them. Overall the results were down on the previous season but we finished healthily in credit with 16 wins and a draw from 27 games. The team was more or less the same, with the notable additions of I.F. Barrell who was to become one of the mainstays of the pack over the next six seasons and C.W. "Pip" Moore, who came into the side against Warwickshire Colts and was ever present for the rest of the season. Others included L. Warr a wing three-quarter and H.J. Rollings a centre three-quarter. The second XV had their best season so far, finishing in credit for the first time with 12 wins and 2 draws from their 24 games.

Cliff Harrison recalls that this season we encountered one of the largest men to have played for England up to that time. He was the 18 stone M.S. Bonaventura, who was guesting for Banbury and proved very difficult to stop and bring down, but we only lost 5-6. With a few more cars available we were beginning to travel further afield and for a couple of seasons we had ventured to Oxfordshire to play the RAF team at Upper Heyford. In January 1933 we travelled there on a foggy day, but one of the players knew the way so the team set off undaunted. However, they took a wrong turn and several cars got bogged down on a muddy field. The game had to be cancelled.

We lost money for the first time with a deficit of over £3 on an annual turnover of £63. This was mainly explained by the subscriptions of non-playing members which was down from £27 to £17 although it is not recorded why this was the case. It may have had something to do with the general economic climate which was severely depressed during the early 1930's, following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

First XV - 1932-33 Bill Foss (Hon Secretary) IF Barrell, L. Warr, Tom Commander, Todd Davies, Ron Boroughs, R.G. Jones, George Gibbs - David Parfitt, R.C. Smith, H.J. Hooper, Cliff Harrison Arthur Ogden, Les Coles, A.L. Flay - Pip Moore, John Raby