South Yorkshire Times March 27th 1965
The ‘Saints’ Have Collected Maximum Points
from Their League Games
Denaby team has notched over a century of goals
Denaby St. Alban’s Football Club started the 1964-65 season determined to win the Mexborough Montagu Cup. They failed. But St. Alban’s, the team with a big heart and a small ground have more than made up for their disappointment with a great performance which has brought them MAXIMUM POINTS (at the time of writing) in the Rawmarsh and District League, Second Division.
The Denaby team has won every match so far this season, has scored 108 goals, and three weeks ago notched up a fantastic 22-1 victory over Wards Sports, emphasising that its rightful place is in the league’s First Division.
Their showing this season should win St. Alban’s that premier division place.
“I can’t see how we can fail to go up, with our league programme all but complete, and maximum points so far,” club secretary Alan Whittaker told me.
We started the season with our hearts set on the Montagu Cup,” he added, ”and although we were knocked out, at least we went out to one of the finalists, Dearne Miners’ Welfare. We lost 4-2.”
True place
Alan, in his mid-twenties the oldest member of the team, believes St. Alban’s true place is in the first division. The side dropped down to the second division this season simply because it could not complete its fixtures, having “taken on too may cup matches”, president Mr. John Hill told me.
This season St. Alban’s have just one current cup commitment – a Challenge Cup semi-final against Swinton Athletic.
Fine players
St. Alban’s is a club with a reputation for turning out many fine players. Three former St. Alban’s players currently making a mark on the football scene are Jimmy Davey, the Whittaker brothers David and Trevor, and young Jimmy Kelly.
Jimmy Davey plays with Southern Leaguers Kettering, the two Whittakers, of course, team up on Denaby United’s left flank, and Jimmy Kelly regularly leads the United attack at centre-forward.
But the club secretary believes even more local talent would be forthcoming if St. Alban’s had improved ground facilities.
“At the moment our ground is at the rear of Tickhill Square. It is rather small, but where can we find another ground?” Alan commented.
“I would love to run a second team, and I think we could get a lot more local lads interested with an improved ground – there is bags of talent knocking about. Of course we already have very good changing facilities at St. Alban’s Club.”
Here are the St. Alban’s players who are behind the success: David Hodgson, Les Evans, David Price, Peter Hodgson (capt.), Albert Wright, David Southwell, Martin Steer, Ian Whittaker (at 16 the team’s youngest member), James O’Rourke, Tommy Gray, George Anderton, Alan Wood, Colin Rhodes, Peter Carmody, and of course, secretary Alan Whittaker.