Perhaps today's milestone birthday has put Brigg Blog in nostalgic mood - for we can't help thinking about sporting Sundays during an era when there was no Sky TV, Twitter, Facebook, video games and other excuses to stay indoors rather than participating on the pitch in a bit of healthy team sport.
Saturday may be regarded by many as the main sporting day of the week, but there was always plenty going on down at Brigg Rec on Sundays.
Brigg Men's Hockey Club ran a Sunday friendly team, playing home games on the grass pitch nearest Wrawby Road. Afterwards, a bite to eat and a few beers were enjoyed at nearby Brigg Town FC.
Sunday football thrived, with great competition for the two available Rec pitches. Games took place morning and afternoon. Our lot, Ancholme Valley Royales (later known as Black Bull) usually kicked off at 10.30am. There were eagerly-anticipated Barton Regional Sunday League derby matches against Falcon Cycles and King Billy (Scawby Brook).
We also had a few games for Brigg Royals - another morning side, but playing a touch higher up the pyramid, in the Scunthorpe League.
Brigg Servicemen, with Geordie Fox always encouraging from the touchline, favoured afternoons, while the Dying Gladiator also had a Scunthorpe Sunday League team.
Brigg Town played Sunday cricket in the North Lindsey League for many years and even won some trophies. But before the NLL switched from being a mainly Saturday league to Sundays only, Brigg had to find Sunday friendlies, the vast majority of which were away from home. We journeyed into Yorkshire many times in Andrew "Tom" Willey's old Morris van, stopping more often to top up with oil than petrol!
It's Brigg Blog's sincere hope that when the revamp of our Recreation Ground is completed by North Lincolnshire Council later this year, the great days of old can be recaptured. Today's young generation must grasp the opportunities offered by these super new facilities. And that must include a range of fixtures on Sundays as well as Saturdays.
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