Let me tell you a story, but this one is a fact, and no fiction. It is a story , maybe even a legend, of two football clubs, with a distance of approximately 130 miles between the, so they do not get to play each other very often – once a year in fact.
It started a long time ago, 1936 to be exact, when the treasurer of one club from Fulham, Fred Heath, entertained the football secretary of Hunstanton Football Club, Harry Belding in London. They had met during the 1914 – 1918 war. Being two keen football supporters, they went to watch the Fulham team play a game. Things progressed from there, and as 1937 was to be the fiftieth year of Hunstanton Football Club, an invitation from Hunstanton to the team from London was given, and arrangements were made for a game to be played in Hunstanton – a friendly game between the two clubs.
This took place, but regretfully the result of the game has not been recorded. Of course the important part of this saga was what the two clubs should play for. Somewhere along the line they came up with a novel idea, they should play for a “Billy Can” the type the roadside workers used to brew tea in. It was, from the on, known affectionately as “The Old Tin Can” and is currently to be seen in East Fulham’s Trophy Cabinet at the Conquest Club, Isleworth, where the two East Fulham teams play on Saturdays.
Of course in those pre-war days, the tempo life was different, much slower, and probably to some degree even more enjoyable. Although there are no records available, we can presume that the team from Fulham travelled to Hunstanton to play the first game on Hunstanton’s football pitch, the local recreation ground. Other games were played prior to the 1939 – 1945 war, and the names of East Fulham Labour F.C: as the team was known in those days, having been established in 1922, as well as Hunstanton F.C. as well as Deptford Labour F.C. feature on the Old Tin Can.
The war intervened, but the Treasurer of East Fulham, Fred Heath, got in touch with Hunstanton again, after the war, and made arrangements for a game to be played in Hunstanton on the 16th April, 1949. A coach was arranged to take the team, and supporters, to Norfolk, and left Fulham in the early hours of the Saturday morning. It was a beautiful day, the pitch was hard, and dry, and the Fulham players look at the Hunstanton players with fear, and trembling. As one East Fulham player said at the time, ‘we are on a hiding to nothing’. The result of that game was one that those players, all eleven of them, will never forget, a win for East Fulham Labours by 5 goals to 2 with Percy Hillman scoring a Hat trick. Fred Heath was over the moon and lost his trilby hat when the coach drove around town, before having a meal, laid on by Hunstanton F.C.. A few drinks in the evening, and then a very happy party travelled back to Fulham to arrive in the early hours of Sunday morning, with The Old Tin Can.
The story does not end there, for thing s went from strength to strength. Over the years more games were arranged on a regular basis, and it went from one game to two games, and even to fours games. One of the Hunstanton town officials for a team of American servicemen to play for an East Fulham team, and in those days Hunstanton travelled down to London to play for the Old Tin Can. In fact the arrangements were to play one year in Hunstanton and the following year in London. The big problem that East Fulham had was to obtain suitable grounds to play the games, and over the years some very good grounds were used. The best of these was probably at Hurlingham, but the CO-OP ground at Osterly was used as well as Richardson Evans P.F. at Roehampton where Wimbledon F.C. now trains.
With the increase interest over the years, it was usually said that the most important game of the season was when we played Hunstanton F.C.
We had also the problem of finding a place for the evening meal to be held, because one of the important parts of the day was the get-together of teams, the meal and the speeches and trophies presentations’. At one time there were four trophies played for:
· The Old Tin Can
· The Frank Sawbridge Cup
· The Fred Heath Cup
· The Wash Cup
There was so much interest in the games when East Fulham travelled to Hunstanton that Hotel accommodation had to be arranged and there were many hotels and Bed and Breakfast places in town that were used. On one notable occasion a total of 105 members, friends and players travelled up to Hunstanton and the Kit Kat Club a total of 247 people from all three clubs sat down to dinner. At that time there was an addition to the games that were played, as Old Hunstanton F.C. has joined in the fixtures by supplying two teams.
One of the best reason for East Fulham to travelling to Hunstanton was and still is to play football on their superb ground at the local recreation ground and it has always been said that ‘if can’t play football there you can’t play football anywhere…’
In the last few years Old Hunstanton dropped out of the games played which has then left only one game to be played which are:
· East Fulham 1st XI V Hunstanton town 1st XI
Played for The Old Tin Can
It would be very wrong to state who has won The Old Tin Can most but it can be seen from a look at the Trophy the East Fulham’s name appear on it more than Hunstanton F.C. According to the records the two teams have met a total of 52 times with only four years being missed.
