All dressed up for World Cup exit in '˜73

We may talk a big game during the build-up but, secretly, we expect to lose – usually to a country with a population lower than that of Horsham.

In 1973, those pessimistic fears were realised when the team was knocked out of the 1974 World Cup qualifying rounds following a dismal 1-1 draw against Poland.

Shed no tears for Sir Alf Ramsey’s old boys, though. Shed them instead for a group of friends who put all their efforts into the most amazing Union Jack outfits ever to grace the terraces of Wembley. Well, their wives did.

They were David Clark, John Southorn and Les Morley, of Warninglid, Bill Hurst, of Mannings Heath, David Geoghegan, of Upper Beeding, and Albert Reed, of Bolney – and they looked awesome.

They were part of a 39-strong group leaving from Sussex, along with Albert’s eight-year-old son Charlie, and David’s son Carl.

The little fellow at the front was five-year-old Mark Holman, whose dad, Jack, organised the whole trip from his shop in Haywards Heath.

Are any of them still in the area? If so, what became of those fantastic outfits?

Sticking with football, Storrington Carnival Queen, Sue Hale, was given the job of kicking off a charity match in front of 2,000 people.

Her boots may have been totally inappropriate for the football pitch but she certainly gave the ball some welly, watched by some of the players.

The match was between members of Storrington Round Table and a group of showbusiness celebrities – though the report in the County Times didn’t mention who they were.

Probably not A-listers, then...

The match was held at Storrington Recreation Ground and the clever money was betting on a resounding thumping for the boys of the Round Table.

With the help of a few ringers from Storrington Football Club, they kept the celebrities in check and the game finished 3-3.

While the country was bemoaning its lot at the first in what would become a very long run of World Cup failures, some people had other things on their minds.

A Population Day demonstration was held and 50 people marched through Horsham calling on mums and dads to limit the number of children they had to two. They were given a police escort, so the suggestion was probably not a popular one.

The march finished at the town hall where a ‘Call for Action’ petition was handed to the MP Peter Hordern and Evelyn Mauchel, chairman of Horsham Urban Council. Organised by the Horsham branch of Friends of the Earth, the protest warned about the rate of population growth and predicted “30 extra towns the size of Plymouth” would be needed to house everyone by 2013. They weren’t far wrong.

It’s probably a good job England didn’t make it through to the World Cup finals. You know what tends to happen to the birth-rate when they do well...

Our final picture shows the girls of the 2nd Roffey Guides celebrating the group’s first birthday.

The cake was made by their leader Hazel Atterbury and was cut by 12-year-old Susan Barnes.

The party was held at Leechpool Lane School and the group’s friends at the 1st Roffey gave them some camping cooking utensils as a present.

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