OLD ST MARYS FOOTBALL CLUB

'Old St Marys Football Club' (also know as 'The Dancing Braves') is an amateur football club based in Bexley. St Marys was founded in September 1986 by a group of Old Boys from St Mary & St Joseph Grammar School (now St Lukes Sixth Form College).
The club have 3 teams stretching across the Amateur Football Combination with there top team playing in Division One South. All three teams play most of there games on the playing fields at Hall Place although during the beginning and the end of the football season usually have to play on the playing fields at Danson Park. During the 2005/2006 the teams played a number of games at STC in New Eltham.

Contents

History

New Developments

Colours & Crest

Club Officials

Player Honours

Players With Over 300 Apperances

Players With Over 100 Goals

Club Honours

Teams

External Links

History

In September 1989 Old St Marys FC played its first ever game, a friendly which resulted in a 10-0 away defeat. The group of friends that came together for that initial fixture decided to arrange a series of friendlies for the remainder of the season
The club has been renowned for its history of growth and success and this is something the club does not want to forget, especially since the 2005/2006 season. The first team was relegated after mustering just one win all season and a number of players decided to leave the club for a variety of reasons. This prompted in the reduction from 4 teams to just 3 but the club believes that this restructuring will benefit in dude course.

New Developments

Recently St Marys has undergone a number of new developments. In 2006 St Marys moved from training at Beths Grammar School to train at Trinity School's new floodlit AstroTurf pitch and there are indications that this has giving training a much needed boost. St Marys have also acquired a number of younger players and in the 2006/2007 Matthew Linnett became St Mary's youngest ever player at the age of 16. The club's website (osmfc.co.uk) has also undergone major restoration and now claims to be the best website in Amateur Football.

Colours & Crest

Old St Marys have always played in tangerine shirts, emerald shorts & tangerine shorts. There was no logic behind the choosing of these colours but there is a story. A few days before there first match the club members had a quick whip round and Glen Bunyan was sent out with £100 to find a full kit. Glen went into a sports shop in Blackheath looking for a strip and the shop owner explained to them that all he had in stock was a set of emerald shorts and a set of tangerine shirts. St Marys had no choice and have since played in tangerine and emerald.
The crest design is a picture of a black horse. The design was done by Judie Moulange and was taken from the clubs nickname, the Dancing Braves. Dancing Brave was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1983, it was only recently in 1999 when Dancing Brave died of a heart attack in Japan, coincidentally Old St Mary's top three teams haven't won promotion since Dancing Brave's death.

Club Officials

The Old St Marys committee consists of the club officers and the captains. Each year at the clubs Annual General Meeting club members will elect there officers, if the votes are tied then the chairman or acting chairman has the deciding vote. The Committee members are:

Title	Name
Chairman	Tony Linett
Secretaty	Peter Smith
Treasurer	Paul Burton
Match Secretary	Tony Linett
Social Secretary	Simon Jones
Press & Media Secretary	Anthony Burton
1st Team Captain	Luke House
2nd Team Captain	Paul Tuohy
3rd Team Captain	Run By Committee

Player Honours

Players With Over 300 Apperances

Name	App	Gls
Paul Burton	378	23
Tony Linnett	372	78
Joe Cunningham	362	68
Paul Tuohy	358	54
John Lawlor	317	162

Players With Over 100 Goals

Name	App	Gls
Allan "Tap-In" Taylor	146	178
John Lawlor	317	162
Tony Brown	167	120
Paddy Pounde	172	117

Club Honours

Season	Team	Position	Competition
1987/88	1st Team	Champions	Division 6 South
1988/89	1st Team	Champions	Division 5 South
1989/90	2nd Team	Runner-Up	Division 6 South
1989/90	1st Team	Champions	Division 4 South
1990/91	3rd Team	Runner-Up	Division 8 South
1991/92	2nd Team	Runners-Up	Division 5 South
1991/92	1st Team	Runners-Up	Division 3 South
1992/93	1st Team	Runners-Up	Division 2 South
1993/94	2nd Team	Champions	Division 5 South
1994/95	1st Team	Champions	Division 1 South
1995/96	2nd Team	Champions	Division 4 South
1995/96	3rd Team	Runners-Up	Division 6 South
1996/97	2nd Team	Runners-Up	Intermediate South
2000/01	4th Team	Runners-Up	Division 8 South
2002/03	3rd Team	Champions	LOB Olympian Cup (3rd XI)

Teams

St Marys has 3 teams playing across the Amateur Football Combination. The 1st Team play in Division 1 South, the 2nd Team play in Division 5 South East and the 3rd Team play in Division 7 South East. Each team has a separate captain, the first team captain is Luke House, the second team captain is Paul Tuohy and the third team is run by the club committee. Throughout the season players within the St Marys squad can move up and down teams.
Last season the first team under Paul Tuohy came 5th winning 7 games, drawing 7 and losing 6 finishing on 28 points in Division 1 South. The second team under James Bacon came 9th in Division 5 South winning 3, drawing 4 and losing 11 finishing on 10 points being deducted 3 points for failing to cancel their lowest team. The third team under Paul Burton came 9th in Division 10 South winning 1 and losing 15, finishing on 0 points after being deducted 3 points for failing to cancel their lowest team.

External Links

★ Official Club Website

★ Amateur Football Combination