Borehamwood 2000’s Pursley Field home ground has a long and storied history and Wood legend – Neil Stilwell, pictured here – now almost 90 years old and still an outstanding golfer has turned back the clock to remember how it all began.
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In 1948, just a few years after the 2nd World War ended, five Wood stalwarts – Percy Stilwell, Bill Cook, George Hancock, Ernie Coldham & George Reed – got together and started Cowley Juniors FC. The club hosted two teams at U15 and U18 playing in the St. Albans & District League but, struggled initially having no home pitch, the local Meadow Park being used by the senior Boreham Wood FC side.
A local farmer was approached around 1950 and he kindly agreed to provide a field in Shenley rent free for the team to use, with this becoming Pursley Field. Neil’s father - Percy – was a prop man at the local MGM and ABPC Film Studios in Elstree and he and his colleagues got the very bumpy field smoothed over for football as well as sourcing scrap wood from the film sets to fashion the goalposts and corner flags.
Back in those times, football kits couldn’t be purchased off the shelf like today, so the team bought white shirts and a helpful mum - Mrs Luck – would dye them green. This was good to a degree but, the trouble was when it rained the dye ran and turned the players green as well!
In those days, the most popular female actress anywhere was Dame Anna Neagle, the Madonna of her era and star of the renowned film Odette; Percy Stilwell worked on all her sets and happened to know she was a keen football fan. Cowley Juniors had a little hut based near the present day YMCA in Green Street and during one Christmas party, there was a knock on the hut door and a great surprise followed as the players were stunned to see Anna Neagle getting out of her Daimler limousine with two sets of brand new kits and footballs for them! What’s more, she agreed to become president of the club thereafter, even catching a game every so often amongst the globe-trotting she completed as a world famous movie star.
The club continued successfully for some years after and at least 12 of the original Cowley Juniors went on to play for Boreham Wood FC, including Neil himself, player/manager Vinny Cook, Micky Hunter (father of Danny, present BWFC chairman), Dave Coldham, Bill Lloyd, the Luck Brothers, Denis Pithers, Colin Wood and Dave Hickman.