BRIGG FOOTBALL TEAMS 1970-2000: CAN YOU REMEMBER THEM ALL - STARTING WITH THE BLACK BULL?

Brigg Blog has done its best to remember ALL the local football teams that played in the town between 1970 and 2000. That's a tall order, so apologies for perhaps forgetting one or two along the way; we've given it our best shot! Please advise if you recall any others.
The recent very well-read post about the Black Bull pub fielding a football team once again in the Scunthorpe Sunday League for 2021/22 reminded us of a former Bull team of the mid-1980s, pictured above at a club presentation evening held at Brigg Town FC.
Bob Taylor, the long-serving Zebras' official, kindly presented the trophies and doubled as master of ceremonies.
Coun Tony Sykes, a future Town Mayor, had arrived in the town as landlord of the Black Bull and helped sponsor the team, just as today's landlord Andy Noon is doing decades later.
Formed as Ancholme Valley Royals in 1983, the club won its opening friendly against North Kelsey at Brigg Rec that September.
As most players frequented the Black Bull (among others!) it was no real surprise the team name was later amended. The strip was green, AVR having started with orange kit.
Between 1970 and 2000, Brigg had many amateur football teams in local leagues - mostly allied to licensed premises - hiring the Rec Ground for games or using school facilities.
SATURDAYS: Brigg Amateurs, White Horse, Briggensians.
SUNDAYS: Brigg Servicemen's Club, White Hart, Woolpack, Dying Gladiator, Britannia, Woolpack, Black Bull, Falcon Cycles, Brigg Snooker Club, Ancholme Inn, Brigg Royales.
There were then two grass pitches at the Rec used for morning and afternoon fixtures - four matches on Sundays being commonplace.
However, we should stress that not all the clubs mentioned here existed at the same time. Far from it.
Just over the border there was Brigg Sugar Factory (playing on the Scawby Road factory sportsground), King Billy (Gordon Denton's King William IV pub, Scawby Brook) and Wrawby (village team/Jolly Miller). Arties Mill, Castlethorpe, also had a side.
Wrawby Athletic used the Rec in the 1960s for Saturday games - perhaps as late as 1970. There were also some games played by Brigg Young Farmers, the Youth Club and Bowness & Gray (electrical contractors from Glebe Road). Were their colours claret and blue?
The Black Bull had Scunthorpe Sunday League and Barton Regional League teams at different times in the final decades of the 20th century.
The obvious benefit to licensees sponsoring teams was the players calling in after weekend matches and also meeting up to set off for away games. "Is there time for a swift half, lads?"
But pubs and clubs also gained trade on midweek evenings when selection meetings were held involving captains, vice-captains, team managers, secretaries and coaches (depending on what method was adopted). Larger clubs had regular committee meetings.
With the football season running from early September through to late April, a few pints during all those meetings totted up to make quite a total.
Some football teams posted their weekend selections on noticeboards within the licensed premises they used, which encouraged players to drop in to check if they'd been picked. We think Ronald 'Geordie' Fox used this method of communication for Brigg Servicemen's FC.
Brigg Town FC, of course, had its own venue, The Hawthorns, where it moved circa 1960 after using a ground off Bridge Street behind the Brocklesby Ox pub.
Any winter or autumn Saturday in the 1980s would find the Brigg Town concert room packed with local hockey players (and visiting teams) as well as footballers from various local amateur clubs (plus ESCO Hibaldstow and Scawby).
These sessions generated a great deal of revenue for Brigg Town FC, including the provision of post-match teas for the hockey contingent (usually pie & peas).
Sadly, Brigg Amateurs went from having three Saturday teams to folding in the space of a few seasons.
Hockey also changed with the Brigg men's club steadily moving home games from grass at the Rec to all-weather floodlit pitches in Scunthorpe and Lincoln (Brigg Rec's is a fairly recent addition).
By 2000 only the lowest Brigg men's line-ups were playing occasionally on grass at the town's ground, and only when artificial venues were fully booked.
A few seasons later it was decided to discontinue the 5th XI - the last to play at the Rec in the Yorkshire League. And that was the end of an era stretching right back to 1920 when the Brigg club was founded.
For decades either side of the war there had been 3 o'clock starts on grass - brought forward to 2.15pm during the darkest months of the year.
Finally, returning to our Black Bull awards night picture, everyone has a trophy apiece except for Mark Hedison and Herbie Pottage (both front, left) who have two.
Mark put some steel into the defence or midfield, while Herbie was a very speedy attacker and goalscorer..
Half of those featured are still local residents, as are other ex-Black Bull football veterans of the Barton League who didn't make it onto the stage for this picture.
Perhaps it's time for a reunion, also offering an opportunity for the 'old' Black Bull players to meet the current squad.