Once more, the faithful gathered at the home of Gloucestershire Cricket Club for the next instalment of the cycle of lunches under the Blue Diamond Club banner.
Let’s clear one thing up before moving on: you don’t have to be a member of anything to attend these lunches, just pay and attend, if you feel so inclined, and spend a pleasant few hours in the company of like-minded Bristol Rovers supporters.
Some regulars opted not to attend this one, as skipper Tony Mills had arranged it on the day that Steve Evans and his side were in action in a crucial game at Barrow, and several Blue Diamond regulars were already on their way to Holker Street by the time our opening batsmen strolled out to the crease, otherwise known as their dining table.
Prior to piling on a few excess pounds, we were able to cast an eye over a sea of green from our elevated position overlooking the outfield, where groundstaff were working feverishly on the outfield under the watchful eye of my mate WG Grace, who was situated, as always, just outside the entrance to the pavilion.
When I say working feverishly, I’m stretching the truth just a little, as they were actually enjoying a tea break with the radio on full blast and admiring the work already carried out, which, given the amount of rain we’ve had, was pretty amazing. The last time we were in residence, the outfield was flooded, and they were planting a rice crop!
That’s now been harvested and things are gradually getting back to normal and that morning the men with the mowers and pitchforks were concentrating on the bit in the middle, where the games aficionados lob a ball to a bloke with a lump of wood and wait for him to hit it as hard as he can (probably called the square, or the wicket).
Anyway, the work being carried out there was simply covering it over with canvas sheeting. Presumably, to keep any more rain off, as the new cricket season is fast approaching.
And so, as the sticky wickets were fast becoming a thing of the past, our attention was drawn to the fact that dinner was about to be served.
The skipper once again neglected to say WG (Grace), though he did manage to redeem himself when he announced that our guest speaker, namely one Francis Prince, formerly of the parish of Eastville and a legendary Rovers midfielder from way back when and also a veteran of 362 league games, 22 league goals and the holder of four Welsh U-23 caps.
Proceedings began with the skipper, who had remembered his microphone on this occasion, setting out the order of play for the day. The opener would be meat and two veg with a miniature steak pie thrown in and a generous helping of gravy.
That would be followed by the selling of raffle tickets before the second course of lemon posset arrived, and then it was time to relax and listen to our guest speaker.
A fabulous sum of £520 will be going to Great Western Air Ambulance. Thanks to you all.
The food, as always, was superb – far too much, but most of us refused to admit that and ploughed on until our plates were empty. One or two were caught mopping their gravy up with their bread rolls; I haven’t seen people doing that for ages!
Although numbers were down mainly due to the skipper’s aforementioned faux pas, the 60 or so guests were not shy about parting with their hard-earned cash and a sum of over £520 was raised for the charity of the day, the Great Western Air Ambulance.
With the pudding swiftly devoured, it was time for our speaker to take the stage – well, he stood up, as there wasn’t a stage, and was handed the microphone by our skipper.
There was me thinking that Frankie was used to public speaking, but no, the first words he uttered were that this was his debut at after-dinner speaking! Obviously, the skipper, in his eagerness to hire a former Rovers footballer, had forgotten to ask if he’s done this sort of thing before!
Fortunately, Frankie was entertaining, interesting and humble, even when one of our lower-order batsmen professed to being a Swindon Town fan after Frankie happened to mention that he had made his Rovers debut against the Swindon Robins. Following a brief (very) history of one or two legendary Swindon players, we managed to get back on track, and Frankie regaled the audience with his journey to Eastville and his career highs and lows.
Obviously, he played in very different times, and he certainly didn’t have an agent, or else he would have been informed that Rovers had been contacted by Newcastle United about signing him. Frankie only found out about this once he’d retired – that’s how it was back then!
Signed by Bert Tann, he also played under Fred Ford, Bill Dodgin, Bobby Campbell, Harold Jarman and Don Megson and played alongside some of the other Rovers greats, namely Stuart Taylor, Wayne Jones, Brian Godfrey (who he played under at Exeter), Kenny Stephens and Lindsay Parsons. He spent 22 years as Torquay United’s Football in the Community Officer after he retired.
Still looking as though he could play football, he continues to live in Torquay, cycles every day and plays bowls, and he’s been up to take in quite a few games at The Mem this season.
He brought with him some memorabilia collected during his career, including match-worn shirts from his Welsh U-23 games. How did we know they were match-worn? Well, he’s never washed them, and the red Welsh shirt was still carrying mud from the game! The others included shirts from games against England and Scotland – they were ones he acquired after swapping his shirt and, like the Welsh one, they have yet to be acquainted with his washing machine. Maybe they are worth more if not washed; perhaps someone can enlighten me!
Sadly, he didn’t quite manage to win a full cap for his country. The closest he came was back in 1972 when Wales played England at Ninian Park in a World Cup qualifier, and although he was on the bench, he didn’t get any game time. So, no cap, and no more call-ups to the full international squad.
His two Welsh caps were also on display (although he played in four internationals at U-23 level, caps weren’t issued for every game, but for each season, and so he has two). They weren’t presented to him by the Welsh FA, but sent to the club for them to hand out, and he still has the box they were sent in. There was also a photo of him being presented with one of the caps by former club Chairman, the late Douglas Mearns-Milne.
It was both interesting and informative to hear the brief recap of his career in his own words, and now the skipper will have to work hard to ensure that he brings in speakers of the same calibre for future events.
As always, the raffle took place before the close of play, and while the skipper failed to win a prize, our guest speaker did; a Mother’s Day Apron, since you ask. Yours truly managed to win a bottle of red, which went down well whilst savouring the three points our lads picked up at Barrow later that evening.
To all those who came along to our latest dinner, thank you for your continued support. We hope to see you all again, along with any newcomers you can persuade to join us, very soon.
