1951 – Football

SCHOOL FOOTBALL 1950-1951. Taking the 1st XI first, we note that the recent season fell into two halves ; in the Autumn term only one match was lost, but in the Spring term we lost all our five games, four by the odd goal. This disappointing result was a sign of the value of R. Brown, who left in December. We could not balance the team to offer Ireland the support to win games. Our backs were excellent, but the halves and forwards both needed R. Vick badly. Among the forwards, Ireland and Lewis won our games, but on the very wet grounds the re-mainder were disappointing. The Colts XI had a disappointing season too, because they so often had to play without Coleman and R, Brown (Uplands) who were needed by the 1st XI. Boys from Form II were asked to play, for both Form IV and III are having a poor patch. These junior players are good but small. When Form II has become our senior Form we should have a good 1st XI. House matches were good. without excelling last season's A few individuals rather dominated play. As the details below show. Drake had the best results, largely due to the speed of Clarke and Ireland, both extremely hard to stop. The junior House matches were excellent, with Drake and Wren slightly outplaying the other sides. The Stroud XI, in the English Shield, beat Bridgwater, before being heavily thrashed by Bristol, who ultimately reached the last eight In the A, J, Stevens' Skidd, the N. Cotswolds provided slight opposition, but the Forest of Dean, the winners, beat Stroud 6-2, in a game which we should never have lost. The season ended with a fine County game at Stonehousc in April. With the final kick, Gloucestershire beat Worcester -shire 3-2, a very lucky win. The game was a magnificent struggle on a hard, dry pitch. No boy of this School was selected, but Priestley of Wotton, and the District XI, scored the winning goal. Coleman played well in all Trials, and as Captain of the District XI, was a tower of strength. Finally, Ireland won his County Colours v. Middlesex. The game was lost 2-4 but he is said to have played very well in a fast keen struggle which only went to Middlesex by a narrow margin at the end of the game. The following large number played for the School; Elliott, Young, R ; Scriven, Clarke, G ; Coleman, Vick, K., Brown, R. Smith, J., Fowler, Edgeworth and Slatter; Amos, Stockwell, Hodges, Ireland (Captain), Lewis (Vice-Captain). Brown, R. (Uplands), Brown, G , and Stratford.
RESULTS.
Katharine, Lady Berkeley's G.S
Sept.	23	" A "	v.	Tetbury Grammar School	0-1 Lost
	30	1st XI	v.	Cirencester G.S	4-2 Won
Nov.	4	1st XI	v.	East Dean G.S.	4 -2 Won
	11	1st XI	v.	Katharine, Lady Berkeley's Grammar School, Wotton-under-Edge	6-3 Won
	18	1st XI	v.	Dursley G.S.	1-2 Lost
	25	1st XI	v.	Bell's G.S.. Coleford	7-2 Won
Jan.	18	1st XI	v.	Katharine, Lady Berkeley's Grammar School, Wootton-under-Edge	3-4 Lost
	27	" A "	v.	Tetbury Grammar School	3-1 Lost
Feb.	3	1st XI	v.	Dursley G.S,	2-3 Lost
March	3	1st XI	v.	Bell's G.S., Coleford	4-6 Lost
	17	1st XI	v.	Cirencester G.S,	2-3 Lost

2nd XI.
Oct.	14	v.	Dursley G.S., 2nd XI	0-4 Lost
Feb.	24	v.	Dursley G.S., 2nd XI	6-0 Won
COLTS.
Sept.	30	v.	Cirencester G.S. Colts	2-5 Lost
Oct.	7	v.	Katharine, Lady Berkeley's G.S. Wotton-under-Edge	3-3 Drawn
	21	v.	Stonehouse Secondary M.S.	8-3 Won
Nov.	4	v.	East Dean G. S., Colts	0-4 Lost
	18	v.	Dursley G.S.. Colts	2-4 Lost
	25	v.	Bells Grammar School Colts	4-1 Won
Dec.	2	v.	Dursley Secondary Modern Sch.	3-6 Lost
Jan.	20	v.	Dursley Secondary Modem Sch.	2-4 Lost
	7	v.	Longlevens Secondary M. Sch.	0-8 Lost
Feb.	3	v.	Dursley G.S. Colts	1-12 Lost
	10	v.	Colts	1-1 Drawn
March	3	v.	Bell's Grammar School Colts	4-0 Won
	10	v.	Brimscombe Secondary M, Sch.	4-0 Won
	17	v.	Cirencester G.S., Colts	1-8 Lost
April	5	v.	Brimscombe Secondary M. Sch.	6-2 Won
Other Games
March	28	Gloucestershire V		Middlesex	2-4
April	23	Glos V		Worcs.	3-2
English Shield
Oct.	28	Stroud and District S.F.A.		Bridgwater	2
Nov.	11	Stroud and District S.F.A.		Bristol	10
A. J. Stevens' Shield.
	Stroud 8			North Cotswolds	0
April	30	Stroud 2		Forest of Dean	6
Form V
Nov.	2	Form V		Marling School Prefects		0
Feb.	27	Form V		Marling School Prefects		1

	AUTUMN TERM		SPRING TERM
	Senior	Junior	Senior	Junior
Arnold v. Drake	02-Mar	0-1	0-5	0-0
Scott v. Wren	0-2	0-3	01-Jan	0-5
Arnold v, Scott	6-0	03-Jan	01-Feb	02-Jan
Drake v. Wren	3-0	01-May	3-0	02-Feb
Arnold v. Wren	03-Jan	0-2	01-Jan	0-1
Drake v. Scott	07-Jan	6-0	09-Jan	0-1
RESULTS IN POINTS. Arnold 10. Drake 18. Scott 5. Wren 15.
In summarising, we have to record the wettest season known to any of us in the School- for 70 years in fact. We congratulate Ireland (Gloucestershire), Coleman and Brown, G. (Stroud District). Next, it has been felt that, as the new afternoon time-table allows only forty minutes for the whole process of reaching the field, changing and playing, a longer period would be valuable and this will be arranged for September. We hope to see James Buist, Gloucester City, as a coach again ; his quiet methods were very helpful. Finally, we had to say goodbye to the very useful field beside the workshops, to allow space for further buildings. It was of very great value, for instance as the home of six-a-side competitions, so we hope that one day we may enjoy a similar field near our School.