Extracts from a letter from Stan Ball, an early Club President:

The person who originally had the idea to set up the club (which as you probably know was a section of the St.John's (Billericay) Sports Association Ltd) was Michael Price, uncle of the one and only Frank Price. I am fairly sure that it all started in 1959 and as you will see from the enclosed papers our first game was against a Brentwood team on 27th February 1960 followed by a game against Billericay School pupils and staff on 19th March 1960.

The team on the enclosed sheet dated 27th February 1960 (although the year is not shown) includes, I think only one name that will be familiar to you and that is yours truly. I have also found what I think was our first fixture list for the 1960-61 season. We could only afford a typed list in those days. Unfortunately I have been unable to find printed fixture lists prior to 1974-5 which are enclosed. If I come across any others I will let you have them.

I think most of what Joe Noquet had written was correct. Bill Greenwood who was our earliest president I think had played rugby in Yorkshire to a pretty good standard, but as Joe said he sadly died soon after becoming involved. He was succeeded by Peter Saunders, who was involved for a few years before it was the turn of ex players to take on the task.

The weekend in Jersey that Joe refers to was indeed a memorable one. I am quite surprised that he remembered it as I think he and certainly Pat Tobyn god bless him - who only came along for the beer of course - ended up in hospital with alcohol poisoning! The medical staff were quite surprised to find that Pat was a lawyer. Fortunately, I think Warty was with him so all was OK.

One piece of useless information that might be of interest is that Billericay RFC did actually have a Barbarian playing occasionally for us. John Cousins who played for us fairly regularly in the early years and had been at Trinity College Cambridge had a friend who was a Cambridge blue by the name of Robin Jolliffe. He had been picked for the Barbarians on the wing whilst at Cambridge, and was persuaded by John to play for us on a couple of occasions.

I thought it interesting that subs for the over 18's were only £1.25 and match fees only 2/6p (12.5p) which included tea in 1961 but it was still a problem collecting it! But beer was only about 5 or 6p a pint then.
I hope that I have helped you a little with a bit more history of the club. I know I have more fixture lists etc hidden away but as yet have been unable to find them.
Please give my best wishes to those ageing members of the club who might know me, and I extend an invitation to any of you who might be in Jersey to come and enjoy a drink or two with me.
I wish the club continued success in the future, and hope that it won't be too long before they play at Twickenham yet again.

Very best wishes for 2008, Kind regards,

Stan Ball

SHORT HISTORY OF BILLERICAY R.F.C. by A. J. Noquet.

I moved to Billericay in the autumn of 1960. I was then 40 years old and promised my wife not to play any more rugby having played for Upper Clapton and Old Tottonians for some 14 years. My promise was soon broken as I met Bill Thorne in the Crown one evening and he told me the club had just been formed and that my experience of small clubs was badly needed. Flattery gets you anywhere!

So far as I can recollect, St. John's Cricket Club had sold their ground in Newlands Road area to a developer and with the proceeds had bought the seven acres at Willowbrook. Two guys, Richard Shipton and Stan Ball had both played rugby at school and realised that in addition to the cricket square, there was room for one or possibly two rugby pitches. With the help of a keen local businessman named Greenwood who I think lived in Hillside Road, they formed the club and got it up and running. The captain was a Scot from Melrose who also skippered the City of London Police XV. Unfortunately Greenwood died from a heart attack that Christmas but the club struggled on. I was co-opted as fixture secretary a job I did for six years. We gradually managed to form a pretty regular fixture and, as you can imagine, a good social side!

In 1970, I think it was, we were asked by Maldon R.F.C. if we could raise a team to help fill a charter plane to Hanover where Maldon would get us a couple of fixtures. This turned out to be Richlingen' 08, the oldest club in Germany. After a hard fought game they just beat us but they were very hospitable. I was by then Chairman of the club and as 'Herr Direktor' was certainly treated as such! We played Richlingen home and away for successive years after which Ray Taylor arranged a match against United Banks in Jersey where we had a fabulous week-end.

The Club gathered way in the sixties and we managed to run two sides though the A team wasn't always at full strength. Ian Wilson emigrated to New Zealand and Bill Thorne to Canada but we had some good newcomers particularly Jack Angell who had moved to Billericay from Corstorphine, Edinburgh.

I played until I was 45 and then refereed the A team games until I was 50.