St John Ambulance Man of the Match was one of the biggest trophies going
BACK in our March 31, 2021 edition, regular contributor Terry Church made mention of Woodside Wanderers FC, who were winners of the Dudley St John Ambulance Cup in 1956/57.
Having seen that article some time later, reader Barry Jukes of Tividale got in touch to tell us a bit more about that competion. He told us:
“Regarding the Dudley St John Ambulance Cup, I can tell you that they also used to give out a Man of the Match award. It was a large trophy, and I’ve still got it in my loft, so I’m pretty sure it’s never been played for since.”
Barry even brought it down to take a photograph of it, which we reproduce on the left. It is indeed a pretty impressive trophy.
Barry played his football a decade or so later than the Woodside Wanderers team we featured, and was in the line up for West Bromwich amateur side Swan Village United FC, who are pictured above in 1967, when they met Stone Cross FC in the semi-final of the Aston Villa Cup. They lined up as follows, from left in the back row: Martin Philpott, Malcolm Johnson, George Lee, Paul Brownhill, Dougie Bartlett, Graham Mole, Barry Jukes, Colin James, Brian Osell, Ron Woodhall.
Front row: ___ Woodhall, Peter Osell, Dean Osell, David Philpott, Trevor Wilding, Brian Hickman, Harold Devey, Paul Osell, Jim Everett.
Barry was selected to play for a West Bromwich & District Football League XI against an equivalent Walsall side at Fellows Park, as outlined in the letter on the right, and he also went on to play for Tipton Sports and Social FC in the 1970s.