Old Meadonians- The Eric Young Trophy

Inauguration of annual pre-season event

The casual visitor to Riverside Lands, home of Old Meadonians, last Saturday would have been treated to a sight for sore eyes as, in a colourful flickering kaleidoscope, eight teams + veterans of neighbouring Chiswick pay to play giants Civil Service from the vaunted Southern Amateur League clashed with eight+ vets from Meads in a quest to become the proud holders of the Eric Young Trophy in the inauguration of what is to be an annual preseason event.

This idea was the brilliant brain child of Meads’ 8th team skipper Dave Terry as a means of spicing up the normal round of preseason friendlies and was taken up by Meads’ first team coach Rory Vermeulen who suggested that the two clubs should play for a trophy named to commemorate Meads’ stalwart, Eric Young, who was an active member of the club for sixty years until his death in 2011.

However, for those touring the whole site and starting with the first teams, the ‘Lands’ began to resemble ‘The Little Bighorn’ as the first four Service sides handsomely beat their hosts. The tide was on the turn as the fifth teams drew 2-2, leaving Meads’ four lower sides including the veterans to emulate the U.S. Cavalry, rescuing their so-called betters by winning all their contests in a timely reversal of fortune.

Service still justly took the overall honours with a ‘goals for’ total of 26 against 22 and, during a lively session in the riverside bar of Old Meadonians’ stronghold, The Boathouse, Meads’ President, Bob Atkin, presented the trophy for Service to carry triumphantly back to their lair the other side of the railway, leaving their hosts plotting dire retaliation but having to wait a year to realise their dreams.

September 4, 2013