The History of AFC Cornard Dynamos

This year AFC Cornard Dynamo's FC celebrate their 34th anniversary. During this time other youth football clubs such as Cornard Spartons, Celtic, Corinthians, Pegasus and Athenians have all bitten the dust. But Dynamos are still growing with almost 200 boys and girls  still turning out for them every weekend.

Thousands of children and their parents have been involved with the club since its humble beginnings in 1972, when two fathers got talking at the recreation ground at Great Cornard.

Peter Thurlow who was living in Oak Road, enjoyed kicking the football about with his seven year old son Tony on Saturday mornings, as did Eddie Merton and his son Alan. Over the weeks, more boys joined them for a kick about. Peter, now 58 and living in Nelson Road, Sudbury said "we had so many lads we thought why not start up a team ?

"I think all these teams got going around at that time because of the influence of people from London who moved down during the 1960s. We all played football rather than Tennis, cricket or rugby.

"The first thing we had to do as Dynamos was raise some money. We did a sponsored walk to Clacton . I remember parents were getting knots in their muscles, while the boys were running about." Along with other fund raising events, including a sponsored bike ride to Bury St Edmunds and back,
the club collected enough to buy their first kit.

Unlike the red and black strips that Dynamos would become famous for, their first kit was blue and white just like Birmingham City . Later the shirts became dark and light blue when the colours ran in the wash. As well as sorting out the players kit, the founder members also had to come up with a name for the club.

Eddie Merton said "We had Cornard, because that’s where we lived, but we couldn't think of another name. Then Joe Tracey, who was caretaker at Great Cornard Upper School and whose son played for the team said " Well, the lads are full of life, so why don’t we call them Dynamos?" and the name stuck.

The next problem for Dynamos founder members was where were the team going to play. Peter recalled how they were offered a patch of grass on Sheepshead Hill in Great Cornard, on a site where houses have now been built. "The problem with the pitch was it had more humps than a camel. We rolled it, but as soon as one of the boys tried to run with the ball, it would hit a bump and lose it." So the first Dynamos team kicked off on the pitches at Great Cornard Middle and Upper Schools  before moving to the Recreation Ground and eventually to their current home at Blackhouse Lane. Peter remembers the very early days as being very democratic, allowing the lads not only to choose which kit they wanted, but also who the clubs president should be. 

"At the time Manchester City star Rodney Marsh was king, so the boys said they wanted him to be their president. We wrote to him and got a very nice letter back, saying he would like to be president, plus a signed football. "When his team Manchester City played at Ipswich we all went along. We all waited for him to get off the coach when we found out he was injured and couldn't travel. But Ipswich manager Bobby Robson saved the day.

"Bobby and the players like Paul Mariner and Eric Gates took us round the changing rooms and trophy room before the game. It was a great day. "We never did meet Rodney and after a year the lads voted in someone else as president." Among that first ever team were two players who would go down in the Dynamos history books, these were Dawn Lawrence and Tony Jupp.

Dawn was the first girl to play for Dynamos and Peter recalls "Dawn was a great player, she played outside left who scored many goals. We would play against some teams who did not want to play against her because she was a girl and tried to get her banned, for which this story reach the local Anglia Television news. Eventually when she got older, she was no longer allowed to play boys football.

The other player, being Tony Jupp, whose grandmother came to every game through rain, snow and winds, supported the club through various fund raising activities, and was a true Dynamos Follower. When she passed on, Cornard Dynamos honoured here life by creating a Nanny Jupp Day. Nanny Jupp is still played each year to this day at the start of each season. All age groups within the club come together, and teams are mixed up and play each other in a five a side competition with trophies for winners and runners up.

Although there have been many fine players to play for Dynamos, ex Colchester United player Andy Lovelace and ex Arsenal player Perry Groves are the only two to make it into the professional game. Over the years the club has expanded, consistently turning out teams from under 8s to under 16s, the reason this Great Club has lasted the test of time is due to all the hard work people have put in over the years behind the scenes, with many ex players returning as managers, fund raisers or as supporters encouraging their children to be part of Cornard Dynamos future.

Some Past Cornard Dynamos players who have influenced football locally :

Brian Deveraux (AFC Sudbury - Long Melford)
Lee Owen (AFC Sudbury)
Matt Proctor (Stowmarket - AFC Sudbury)
Robbie Deveuraux (Limirick - AFC Sudbury)
Warren Brown (Cornard United)
Nick Guyon (Halstead Town)
Micky Stratton (AFC Sudbury - Long Melford)
Richard Simms (AFC Sudbury)
Mathew Barber (Sudbury Wanderers)
Perry Groves (Arsenal - Southampton)
Andy Lovelace (Colchester United)
Jason (sid) Haygreen (TiptreeUnited)
Glen Birch (AFC Sudbury)
Andy McLaughlin (Cornard United)
Greg Gardiner (Sudbury Athletic - Long Melford)
Andy (Haggis) Haygreen (Sudbury Athletic -Long Melford)
Wes Stalker (Sudbury Athletic - Long Melford)
Dave Bowes (Sudbury Athletic)
Tony Ashby (Cornard United - Long Melford)
Colin They (Cornard United)
Neil He kith (Cornard United)

Past managers/coaches, 1972-1980:

Eddie Merton
Harry Stratton
Mick Brown
Authur Ashby
Joe Curran
John Salter
Alan Guyon
Jack Owen
Jim Mclaughlin
Vince Stokes
Jim Bates
Bob McCarthy
Alan Gillibrand