Saturday 10th March 1956 and Banbury Spencer went to the top of the Birmingham League after a 2-0 win at Oakfield against Rugby Town. Spencer went ahead after just four minutes when Johnny Hicks laid the ball to Tommy McGarrity who then crossed for Colin Whetton to knock the ball home. Fifteen minutes after the interval, Jack Evans converted a penalty kick, after Jack Llewellyn had handled, to make it 2-0. Two minutes later, Rugby were themselves awarded a penalty for handball but Alf Jeffries in the Spencer goal saved Wright’s spot-kick.

Banbury Spencer at Rugby: Alf Jeffries, Cedric Bennett, Archie Crilly, Bill Harris, Frank Shaw, Dicky Howe, Johnny Hicks, Tommy McGarrity, Colin Whetton, Jack Evans, Ken Chapman.

After the win, Spencer were level on points with Nuneaton Borough at the top of the table but above them on goal average.

However, just one win in the next five games put a serious dent in Spencer’s Championship hopes. A 2-1 win at the Spencer Stadium over Championship rivals Nuneaton on Saturday 21st April, Jack Harrison scoring both goals in front of a remarkable attendance of 4,541, initially raised fresh hopes but they were soon extinguished with Spencer failing to win any of their next three games and they eventually finished in third place, four points behind champions Nuneaton.

That season Archie Crilly was ever-present in league games, making 38 appearances, Jack Evans and Bill Harris both made 36. Evans was leading league goalscorer for Spencer with 21 goals,

Here is a newly discovered squad photo for that season, including some legendary Spencer players, taken in December 1955:

Back Row (Left to Right): Frank Shaw, Bill Harris, Jack Evans, Alf Jefferies, Dicky Howe, Barry Thomas.

Front Row (Left to Right): Joey Wilson, Tommy McGarrity, Archie Crilly (captain), Cedric Bennett, Geoff Richardson.

Colin Whetton who scored in the 2-0 win over Rugby Town, 70 years ago today, is not in the team photo, at the time of the photo he was having to be satisfied with a place in the reserves though he made 117 first team appearances between seasons 1952/53 and 1955/56 and scored 54 goals for the club.

A photo of Colin Whetton appears below:

Here is some information on some of the players shown in the team photo:

Joey Wilson

Joey Wilson, not to be confused with Johnnie “Jock” Wilson who had played for Banbury Spencer prior to World War 2, made his debut for Banbury Spencer in season 1946/47. He lived in Oxford and played in season 1945/46 for Headington United, at that time still an amateur side. He began season 1946/47 with them and was part of their side that beat Spencer 3-2 in the FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday 21st September 1946. However, the right winger so impressed the relevant personnel at Banbury Spencer that he was promptly signed on professional terms by the club, making his debut just two weeks later. Joe, known as Joey, stayed with Spencer until leaving in the summer of 1954 to return to Headington United but after just one season at the Manor Ground he was back at the Spencer Stadium and still playing for the club in season 1960/61, albeit his later years at the club saw him drop back from his original wing position to the half back line. In his career at Banbury Spencer, Joey made 455 first team appearances, scoring 73 goals and his appearances total is the most by any player in the 34-year history of Banbury Spencer Football Club, that is from the formation of the club in 1931 to the name change to Banbury United in 1965. That total of 455 for Spencer puts him in ninth place in the club’s all-time appearances list, that is Banbury Spencer and Banbury United combined.

Jack Evans

Forward Jack Evans joined Spencer in early February of 1954 from Bedworth Town with Ted Roberts going the other way in an exchange deal. Co-incidentally Jack had been the understudy for a number of years to Roberts at Coventry City after joining them as a professional in May 1947. Jack progressed to make eight Football League appearances for Coventry between seasons 1948/49 and 1950/51 inclusive and scored one goal for them, that goal coming on his debut for the club in a 1-0 win at Highfield Road over Fulham in a Division 2 game in early April 1949. After leaving Coventry City in 1952, Jack had played for Nuneaton Borough and Rugby Town as well as Bedworth Town prior to joining Spencer. From joining Spencer in February 1954 to the end of that season, Jack played at centre forward making 18 appearances and scoring 9 goals. The following three seasons saw Jack show his versatility by playing in all the forward positions, including on the two wings, except inside right. He was Spencer’s leading league goalscorer in both seasons 1955/56 and 1956/57. After making a total of 134 appearances for Banbury Spencer between February 1954 and November 1957, scoring 65 goals, he left the club, playing then for Lockheed Leamington for several seasons.

Alf Jefferies

Spencer goalkeeper who was born in Oxford and was on the books of Arsenal as an amateur and then played for Oxford City, making over 150 appearances for them, before joining then Second Division Brentford in September 1947. He progressed with the Bees to make 116 Football League appearances between seasons 1949/50 and 1953/54 inclusive. He moved to Third Division South side Torquay United in the summer of 1954 and made 45 league appearances for them in season 1954/55. Alf then signed for Banbury Spencer in the summer of 1955 and though a ruptured tendon in his finger kept him out of the side for a six-week spell early in the season he went on to make 32 appearances (30 league and 2 cup) for the club in season 1955/56. He was not however retained at the end of that season. He later managed Didcot Town.

Tommy McGarrity

Tommy had started his playing career with Greenock Morton in Scotland before moving South of the Border to join Southampton, though he only made five league appearances (in season 1952/53) for the Saints, He then had a spell with Headington United (later to become Oxford United) making 13 Southern League appearances for them, all in season 1953/54, prior to joining Banbury Spencer for season 1954/55, the first of seven seasons in which he was a regular in the Spencer first team. In his first five seasons at Spencer, he played predominantly at inside right but in the final two years in which he was a regular he often played at wing half. He was still at Banbury, turning out for the reserve team, at the time of his appointment to the first team manager’s job at Spencer in February 1964. Tommy was retained as the club’s manager for the newly named and newly owned Banbury United at the start of season 1965/66. However, after just six league games of the season, with United having gained just one win and two draws from those games, Tommy resigned, stating that having promised the new owners that he could get them to the top of the table, in view of results, he thus felt he had no other option!

Dicky Howe

Half back Dicky Howe made 179 appearances for Spencer between seasons 1951/52 and 1956/57. He was the brother of legendary Arsenal coach Don Howe.

Finally here is an article that appeared in the Birmingham Sports Argus on Saturday 3rd March 1956