Gloucester Thursday Team

From The Citizen, 13 Apr 1893:

“THE GLOUCESTER THURSDAY TEAM

The Gloucester Thursday football team during the past season have played 19 matches, of which 10 were won, 5 lost and 4 drawn. The victories were over Lydney Thursday, Cheltenham, Stonehouse, Stroud, Cinderford “A” (twice), Tyndale (twice), St Luke’s, and YMRIS*. The reverses were sustained from Sandhurst  (twice), Gordon Wanderers, Gordon League, and Lydney Thursday; and the games drawn were with Stroud, Berkeley and Sharpness, Gordon Wanderers, and the Post Office. The team scored a total of 16 goals, 19 tries (116 points) to 10 goals, 20 tries (92 points). With regard to the latter total, the largeness of the score is easily explained. The Gordon League alone piled up a total of 6 goals and 4 tries against the Thursday, on a day when the last named only played eleven men, and two of those substitutes, throughout. Amongst the try-getters we notice that J Hanman and A Wellings have each scored 4, J Minahan 3, and E Mullany, A H Click, H George, E W Palmer, and A Jones 2 each. A Cromwell and C Wakefield each dropped a goal. The success which the team obtained was due in a great measure to the exertions of J Hanman, who captained the team very successfully for the greater part of the season.”

Matches were organised on a Thursday afternoon because this was half-day closing in Gloucester. The team was run separately from the Gloucester Football Club, and played at Kingsholm on a separate pitch thought to have been on the south side of the ground, now used as a car park. Some Gloucester players turned out for the Thursday side – John Hanman became captain of the Gloucester 1st XV for the following two seasons, although he only played one game in 1892-93. However, A Wellings played 22 matches, H George 6, and A Cromwell 2, for the Gloucester first team in 1892-93.

* YMRIS – thought to be Young Men’s Religious Society.