As part of our Centenary celebrations we are hearing from former members of the football club and are welcoming them to share their stories and memories. We were delighted to welcome Mike Wood to a recent first team game. Here are his memories of Upper Beeding Football Club.
"I was part of the original set up back in 1965 of Upper Beeding Football Club as they had formed originally as Beeding & Bramber FC. I was very proud to have joined them as Captain and number 8 (Right Half) and was just 21 years old at the time; a big responsibility and one I relished. I remember winning our first match 9-1 against Meridian that included a side consisting of several former Steyning first teamers.
A major highlight for me was when we won the Worthing League, division 2 in 1966/67 and reached the Hove & Worthing Cup Final in 1971, losing to Southwick when we played most of the game with 10 men after an injury—no subs in those days!
I enjoyed enormously the camaraderie associated with the teams I played for. Very often we would be playing matches on Saturdays and turn out again for Sunday morning matches, often switching round our playing positions—I remember one particular match in October 1968 playing up front for St Cuthman’s against a side from Portslade and scoring all five in our 5-0 win. It was just a day after Geoff Hurst notched up six for West Ham United on an 8-0 victory against Sunderland—Bobby Moore and Trevor Brooking got the other two in case you were wondering! I also remember once making the local newspaper sporting headlines for bizarrely scoring all four goals in a 2-2 draw playing for Beeding—now how often have you heard of that being achieved?
On Saturdays I played for Beeding and a particularly happy memory was in winning the Suttle Shield at Easter in the 1967-8 season. This turned out to be an amazing tie which was settled in a replay. I hadn’t played the first match having missed the previous four games through injury. We played Storrington at home in a semi-final and I was playing at the back that day. To be truthful, I wasn’t really match fit and we were 4-0 down inside the first twenty minutes and I hadn’t had a touch of the ball. Somehow we managed to turn things round and miraculously won 5-4 to lift the trophy, and I contributed by scoring from two penalties. We went on to win the final playing Excess Insurance at Hill Barn over the Easter weekend.
They say football is a ‘funny old game’ and that was certainly true the year before—though we certainly were not laughing as we approached the end of the season in 1967. We were up against an old foe in Shoreham Old Boys, in a semi-final Cup match, and I remember right from the referee’s first whistle at kick off, their player shot from the halfway line. We were all horrified to see our goalkeeper still putting his gloves away in the back of our net where the ball joined him. The goal stood and it turned out to be the only goal of the game.
Throughout my playing career, I suppose the most bizarre match of all was played in a howling gale at Vale Park, near Brighton, when we had to keep a finger on the ball to keep it still at penalties, corners, and goal kicks. Worse still, the pitch is renowned for its sideways slope and, to give you an idea, the bottom of the corner flag is level with the crossbar. The match should never have been played and I don’t say that due to the bizarre result. Playing with the wind, we were 6-0 up at half-time. By now you have probably guessed it and, yes, we lost 7-6!
In 1967 I suffered what was in effect a career-threatening football injury at Palatine Park, Durrington. It was a particularly dry Easter period, and I remember the pitch was very hard. My brother Alf came to watch and early in the game, without even being challenged, I twisted and heard my left knee ‘go.’ It felt like my knee was on fire and immediately it swelled up like the proverbial balloon, with very badly strained knee ligaments. I ended up having two operations and ultimately the knee was replaced some years later as I was in constant pain.
Another time I ended up in hospital as a result of my love of sport was when playing for Beeding—halfway through a match I slid along the grass to successfully keep the ball out of our goal but managed to slice my arm open on one of the metal pegs which held the net down. I was never cautioned throughout my playing career but on this occasion, the referee told me he couldn’t allow me to carry on playing as the blood was pouring out of my arm and dripping off my fingers, so he “sent” me off to get patched up with bandages. Of course, I came back on to finish the match but had to visit Shoreham hospital afterwards for stitches which left me with a six-inch scar.
After what seemed an age in recovery from injury, I made a comeback playing football for St. Cuthman’s on Sundays, which I enjoyed, but I had to face the fact my football career was over. So on 7 September 1969, I took charge of my first match: Atlanta Royals v The Prince George. I took up refereeing as a way of keeping an interest in the game and in my first year as a Class 3 referee I officiated mainly in the Worthing and East Sussex Leagues. I remember one hopelessly one-sided Sussex Cup match when I was the only person in the entire ground who knew the score—which wasn’t surprising as, armed with a notebook and a very busy pencil, I recorded the highest score in my refereeing career in a Sunday League game at Buckingham Park: Schooners 25 Wovco 0!
After my second season, I was promoted to a Class 2 referee and did lots of lines at County level, some FA Cup ties, and was chosen for six Cup Finals. All told, I did about twelve years refereeing before the pain in my left knee was too great and I couldn’t turn properly. I did it for the love of the game and thoroughly enjoyed the responsibility, the banter, and I suppose I learned a good deal about man-management. I certainly didn’t do it for the money as I was paid just £1.00 a game up to the 1975-6 season!"
We thank Mike for reaching out and sharing his stories and we look forward to welcoming him to the 'Centenary Legends Game' on May 10th 2025.
If you would like to share your memories get in touch on social media or email us at upperbeedingfc@outlook.com