Sports & Recreation Clubs


Battersea Ironsides Sports Club


Tanks, but no tanks!


If ever you were looking for a name for a sports club that might inhibit opponents, there’s one in the heart of south London that does just that. Neville Johnson went there to find out more


O


ne stop on from Clapham Junction and a short walk along the south side of Wandsworth Common is Battersea Ironsides Sports Club. It’s a 4+ acre green


site tucked into the London Borough of Wandsworth, known as much as anything for its HM Prison, though nowadays, in places, there’s a chic feel creeping in, with the upgrading of terraced housing and coffee bars and restaurants springing up. As I get closer to the club’s ground it is a more down- to-earth Wandsworth. I’m here to meet Eric Ferebee, a club stalwart to end all club stalwarts, and Simon Mills, club member turned groundsman. Simon is busy giving the cricket club’s


62 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2016


square an autumn/winter feed of Vitax Endure 5:5:20, so Eric tells me about the origins and history of Ironsides over a cup of coffee in the club pavilion. It’s a story that shows how hard it is for amateur sport to exist, let alone prosper, in inner city surroundings. First off, why Ironsides, I ask Eric? “In 1943, a Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment (Cadets), based at Clapham Junction, started up a rugby club and they initially called themselves The Ironsides, soon changing it to Battersea Ironsides,” he says. “They were a ‘wandering’ rugby club with no home pitch. Their headquarters was the Regiments drill hall in Battersea. Ironsides was the nickname for tanks, so it was an


Eric Ferebee BEM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156