The following report was taken from the AFA Record, the official publication of the
Amatuer Football Alliance. The writer clearly has a keen sense of occasion
and when reading this the best results are achieved by playing Land Of Hope And Glory
and saluting a picture of the Queen.
There is currently a war in Eastern Europe involving British Forces, two
previous conflicts, one with Iraq and the other with Argentina. England
won the World Cup in 1966, and even some failures since. In 1969 Neil
Armstrong set foot on our lunar satellite, the moon, creating a giant
step for man and a giant leap for mankind. Whilst history was being written
in many forms of high expectation, not only with success but also failures,
Bank of England since the mid nineteen fifties, have never been successful
in winning a trophy in any A.F.A. competition they have entered. On 17th
April, 1999, very close to the end of the second millennium, that all
changed, and a club that was formed in 1908 seemed that they had been
born again. Ecstasy raised the roof of the Cuaco club following their
defeat of Midland Bank in the London Financial Challenge Cup.
With hard fought exchanges and not a quarter given by either side, Bank
of England took the lead thirty-five minutes into the first half. Wake
up Midland Bank was the cry, and they did come to life forcing Bank of
England onto the back foot. All to their credit with relentless pressure
they equalised minutes before the interval from a well-worked corner.
I could hear moaning from the defence of the Bank of England suggesting
that it was not a corner, but being well-placed behind the goal as I was,
the original shot took a slight deflection.
After the half time interval, try as they may, Midland Bank could not
break the resilience of Bank of England and the game became somewhat congested
in n-ddfield. But wait, Bank of England broke through with a well timed
accurate pass minutes from the end of the game, when the ball was slotted
past the Midland keeper leaving him to pick the ball out of the net. No
ref, it was not offside, the game was won and Bank of England were overjoyed.
The match was well controlled by Roger Hiller with his assistants Trevor
Dicks and Tony Holding, all of whom enjoyed their day. The trophies and
awards were presented by Colin Sharp a Life Vice President of L.F.F.A.
and the A.F.A. also President Elect, as I write of the A.F.A.
Much thanks must be given to Cuaco for the use of their facilities, and
as always they were second to none. The hospitality provided by Cuaco
was the very best, and on a final note, who was the player that disappeared
on the coach back to Roehampton, leaving his Wife stranded with the car
at Beckenham, but no keys. I would imagine the poor lad was ripped to
pieces when the girl got hold of him.
Well done Bank of England and don't leave it so long next time.