MAGNIFICENT SEVEN: TEAMS MAKING THE MOST OF BRIGG RECREATION GROUND

While Brigg has seen a steady decline in the number of adult football and cricket teams playing in Saturday leagues over the past four decades, hockey is still thriving in the town with SEVEN sides operating during the 2019/20 season.
Brigg Hockey Club has now started the new campaign and is running four men's and three ladies' teams.
Home games are played at Brigg Recreation Ground on the impressive 'Blue Astro' floodlit all-weather pitch provided for hire by North Lincolnshire Council. This allows several games to be played successively on Saturdays with varying start times.
After-match teas are taken at a local hostelry or in the community room at The Rec.
The Brigg club can trace its roots back to 1920, so its centenary is approaching.
For the benefit of those interested in going down to spectate or perhaps introducing themselves to the club as prospective members, there are three home games coming up this Saturday (September 28).
Brigg Ladies 2nds will be starting their game at 12.30pm, Brigg Men's 2nds at 2pm and Brigg Men's 4ths at 3.30pm.
It's great to see the hockey club making such good use of these relatively new facilities, introduced in January 2017.
This summer Brigg Town Cricket Club  had one team using The Rec, while Briggensians are the only Brigg-based football team operating in the Scunthorpe Saturday League for 2019/20.
During the 1980s the cricket club had two adult teams playing on Saturdays while Brigg Amateurs Football Club alone had three Saturday sides in the Scunthorpe League.
The cricket club also operated a Sunday team, and there were so many Sunday football teams that both grass pitches were in use in the morning and afternoon most weeks.
Brigg Men's Hockey Club ran a regular 5th X1 in the Yorkshire League until about 15 years ago. For a week or two in the 1990s they even managed to field a 6th X1.
As the club then used the Queen's Arms as its social base/HQ - it was Brigg's smallest hostelry in terms of square feet -  there was quite a squeeze on match days. 
Kitbags were thrown into the corner as successive teams arrived in the bar and the heap kept getting bigger and bigger!
PICTURED: Brigg men's and ladies' hockey on the artificial pitch at the Recreation Ground. Brigg play in green shirts.