FROM BALLS TO BALCON

A brief illustrated History of the Old Dixonians Rugby Football Club which celebrates its centenary this season

1913 - 2013

ORIGINS IN BEARWOOD

• The Old Dixonians Rugby Football Club was founded in December 1913 by two employees of Chance Brothers Glass of Smethwick Rideout and Haigh

George Dixon MP

• The Old Dixonians RFC formed in 1913 by former pupils of The George Dixon Grammar School for Boys in City Road, Edgbaston.

• The school was named after George Dixon a Birmingham MP and former Lord Mayor of the City,

• Dixon was a contemporary of Colonial Secretary and Birmingham Liberal MP Joe Chamberlain, creator of the modern Birmingham.

Sir Michael Balcon

• The school’s most famous former pupil Sir Michael Balcon attended GD from 1906 until 1913

• He may have played in the very first Old Dixonians XV in our first game against the GD School 1st XV on a field at the back of Warley Woods in Bearwood.

• The game was lost 16-11 on a snowy Saturday afternoon in December 1913.

PC George Dixon

• Balcon was Head of the Ealing Studios and founder of BAFTA and the British Film Institute

• He invented the character of PC George Dixon named after his old school.

• PC Dixon first appeared in the 1949 Ealing Film: ‘The Blue Lamp’.

Old Dixonians Grounds-Warley Woods to Rowheath Pavilion,

Bournville• The first official games were played by the Old Dixonians Rugby Football

Club in Ridgacre Rd, Quinton in Birmingham in the 1920’s.• At some time in the 1930's the club moved to a new ground in Illey Lane,

Romsley where they played until 1958.• In that year the club moved to a bespoke rugby ground with a new

clubhouse in Wassall Grove Lane in Hagley, next to old rivals Old Halesonians, another successful 'Old Boys' club linked to Halesowen Grammar School.

• The new ground at Wassall Grove opened at the start of the 1958/59 season on 10th September 1958. Chairman of the club at that time was Philip 'Pip' Jones the husband of 1969 Wimbledon Women’s singles tennis champion Ann Jones, who lived in Westfield Road, Edgbaston, the Birmingham suburb from where the Old Dixonians drew most of its players and where the George Dixon Grammar School was based in City Road.

• The official opening of the Wassall Grove ground was performed by G M Seldon, the President of the Rugby Football Union. Peter Robbins the England back row forward played as a guest for the Old Dixonians in a 3-3 draw against a strong North Midlands side which included Brian Whiteman another England international

Dix Sevens Success• The move to Wassall Grove heralded an unprecedented period of success for the

club in the 15-a-side game, although the club had enjoyed some success in 7's, winning several North Midlands 7's titles in 1953, 56, 58, and 1959. The club also won the Staines 7's in 1955, 56, and 1958.

• Famously Old Dixonians appeared in the world-renowned Middlesex 7's at• Twickenham in the 1957 season playing against senior clubs like London Welsh and

Harlequins.• The vintage 1957 Old Dixonians 7's team reached the final 12 teams from• preliminary rounds which originally involved 186 teams in front of a crowd of over

40,000 at Twickenham.• In the quarter-finals Old Dixonians led in the second half against favourites London

Welsh fielding 4 internationals including Carwyn James who was later to go on to manage the legendary 1971 British Lions who defeated the All Blacks in a series in New Zealand for the first time.

• Two late tries by British Lion Carwyn James snatched victory from Old Dixonians as they tired.

• Carwyn James took over a red number 10 shirt from famed BBC TV rugby commentator Cliff Morgan as fly-half for Wales as part of Max Boyce's Welsh 'fly-half factory'. Sadly we have just lost Cliff Morgan, the most famous of rugby commentators who covered the greatest try, from the greatest player, Gareth Edward

Success at 15-a-side• At this time the club captain was Rex Harrison who in many ways was

ahead of his time in junior rugby circles, instigating regular training and coaching at the club, which made the club so successful on the field.

• His legacy was carried forward by Jim Kendrick in the 1970's and 1980's.• Jim proved to be an able administrator and Chairman of the club. • The Dixonians RFC club being well-run off the field attracted good players

which led to success on the field.• Dixonians RFC has always been a ‘Players’ Club’ run by Players for their

benefit with very few ‘Alickadoos’ which meant that unlike local Wassall Grove rivals Old Halesonians, who were well run by an excellent Club Committee, the Dixonians were run by players.

• Dixonians Players were too busy playing and winning things than to build a fantastic new clubhouse or have excellent pitches or a sparkling new stand in the image of their committee men, the ’57 Old ‘F*rts’ as Will Carling once famously dubbed these ‘Alickadoos’.

North Mids Cup Wins• For many years Old Dixonians played Five Ways Old Edwardians in the

'Arthur Coulthard Memorial Match' on Boxing Day mornings to commemorate its then greatest player.

• The two schools George Dixon and King Edward’s Five Ways had once shared the same site at Five Ways in Edgbaston.

• The two rugby clubs also had strong links, both being stalwarts of the Greater Birmingham Rugby Football Union and the 'Combined Old Boys' (or 'COBS' as their representative side were known) and the North Midlands RFU.

• The fixture ceased to be played in the early 1990's as league rugby came in and friendly games ceased to be as important as they once had been.

• The club became 'open' to non-Old Boys of the school in the early• 1960's. Many clubs became open to non-Old Boys, as there was a decline

in the number of former pupils who played rugby. The name of the club changed to Dixonians RFC to reflect the club's new found 'open' status.

• This move coincided with the club's 'Golden Years' which led to their first North Midlands Cup win in 1975, Dixonians defeating a strong Luctonians side 21-3 at The Reddings.

Our most successful player and coach-Collin Osborne

• At this time the club were coached by former Moseley winger Keith Hatter, who also played for the club after leaving senior rugby. There were a number of players who had turned out for Moseley in Hatter, Mike Evans, Malcolm Hall, probably one of the finest players to play for Dixonians, and Collin Osborne.

• Collin Osborne, went on to play for Moseley as a quick, hard-tackling centre and has had a long career coaching and playing in senior rugby.

• Collin coached Zimbabwe in the 1995 World Cup in South Africa

• He is now Skills Coach to former AVIVA Premiership Champions Harlequins having been instrumental in developing that fine side as the former Harlequins Academy Director• England captain Chris Robshaw, England prop Joe Marler, Scrum-half Danny Care and exciting England full-back Mike Brown were all young players whose development Collin helped• Collin retains his links with Lordswood Dixonians RFC.• We are hopeful that he will be ‘Guest of Honour’ at the Dixonians RFC ‘Grand Centenary Dinner’ at The Botanical Gardens on Saturday 14th September 2013, as the Dixonians club’s most decorated player

North Midlands Cup Wins1974-6

• Current Lordswood Dixonians RFC ‘Webmaster’ and new Committee Member Dave Hall up in support like all good flankers

• This game was at The Reddings, Moseley, in the 21-9 win over Stourbridge RFC in the North Midlands Cup Final of 1974 shadowed in the background by Collin Osborne the former RWC1995 Zimbabwe National Team Coach and current Harlequins Skills Coach

• Former Quins Academy Director Collin is our most decorated Dixonian and has played a pivotal role in the development of England Rugby Captain Chris Robshaw at Harlequins.RFC

Success Continues in the 1980’s

• In the period 1974-76 Dixonians were the pre-eminent junior club in the North Midlands union and often defeated strong Moseley United and Worcester sides coached as they were at the time by former Moseley winger Keith Hatter, who was the coaching catalyst for the club’s success on the field throughout the 1970’s and 80’s and into the nineties.

• Throughout the 1970's and into the 1980's the Dixonians club enjoyed great success on the field winning several Midland Merit Table titles which were the precursor to League Rugby.

• This culminated in Dixonian’s third North Midlands Cup success in 1986, the club defeating Droitwich 26-0 in the North Midlands Cup Final again at The Reddings in Birmingham, now sadly gone, with Birmingham’s senior rugby club Moseley RFC now playing at Billesley Common, a park in South Birmingham, rented from Birmingham City Council. How the mighty Moseley are fallen! The club hosted ‘The British Lions’ with JPR, JJ, Phil & Gareth in 1977 to honour the departed Moseley and England full back Sam Doble

• At this time Graham Viney, one of the finest scrum-halves produced by the club was one of the players who captained Dixonians to its successes with the Fenney brothers, Ian and Guy also being major contributors to the club’s success.

A change of scenery-Hagley to Birmingham once again

• Tim Butler and Pete Richardson, two of the hardest-nosed forwards ever to play for Dixonians both played a significant role in the club’s success, captaining the club to several Midlands Merit Table titles.

• The club's success was built around its abrasive pack, marshalled by the expert probing of Viney behind. Graham Viney went on to play for Moseley and was one of the finest scrum-halves playing the game at that time, being voted Moseley Supporter’s Club player of the year during one of the two seasons he played for the club in the mid 1980's.

• The club had several North Midlands representatives at this time, including brothers Clive and Richard Meanwell who both played for Moseley. Richard Meanwell became an England Colt full-back while representing Moseley.

• Graham Viney, Collin Osborne, Neil Sullivan and Malcolm Hall, who memorably scored a try for North Midlands when they played the touring Argentinians at The Reddings in October 1978, all played County Championship rugby for North Midlands during this halcyon period for the Dixonians club.

• In the early 1990's the club moved from Wassall Grove, back to the George Dixon School in City Road, Edgbaston.

The 1990’s relative success-the pinnacle

• Dixonians RFC had always drawn its players from Bearwood, Harborne and Edgbaston in Birmingham, and Wassall Grove in Hagley was proving to be too distant from its player base in the west of Birmingham and the club moved back to George Dixon International School so-named by Irish Headmaster Sir Robert Dowling because of the multitudinous nationalities that now attend the school, from Somalia, to Sudan, from Barbados to Bulgaria, from Turkey to Trinidad……!!!!!

• The club continued to be successful into the 1990's and early 2000's rising to Midlands West 2 under the captaincy of Lee Irwin, one of the most athletic forwards ever to play for the club.

• Lee also represented North Midlands in the County Championship. This was the highest that the Dixonians club has risen to in the rugby pyramid, to the fifth tier of English rugby.

• Around the turn of The Millennium the club played for a few seasons at the former St Philips Grammar School sports ground in Knightlow Road, Harborne, renting it from The Oratory Fathers. Following disagreement with The Oratory Fathers as to how the ground should be developed the club left Knightlow Road and entered into an arrangement with Lordswood School on Hagley Road in Bearwood, with the club changing its name to 'Lordswood Dixonians RFC' at the behest of the school and with its support, with schoolboys from Lordswood School playing for the LDRFC Mini and Junior Section.

The present day-hard times and the ‘Phoenix Rises from the Ashes’

• In 2005 Lordswood Dixonians reached the final of the North Midlands Shield which replaced the North Midlands Cup, played at Stourbridge RFC. In an entertaining high-scoring encounter, which was a great advert for junior rugby, Lordswood Dixonians were only defeated by a spirited Solihull side late in the game

• The new Lordswood Dixonians RFC now has its base at Rowheath Pavilion in Bournville near to Birmingham University where allied club Birmingham University Medics are based. The two clubs hope for a prosperous union going forward!

• The club currently plays in the Midlands West (North) Merit Table and had been playing its 1st XV home games at the former Birmingham RFC ground at Portway before moving to Rowheath Pavilion in Bournville (B30 1HH) this season.

• Lordswood Dixonians RFC, as the club is now known, is hosting a Grand Centenary Dinner at The Botanical Gardens in Westbourne Road, Edgbaston on Saturday September 14th 2013 to celebrate ‘100 Years of Dixonians Rugby’.

• We now have a new more permanent home at Rowheath Pavilion after years as ‘nomads’ playing at the School, Knightlow Rd & BCU.& will be hosting our Centenary Game there on Saturday 28th September 2013 against old rivals Bromsgrove RFC

• Lordswood Dixonians hopes to enjoy a thumping victory over ‘The Boars’ and invites those associated with the club and their partners and friends to celebrate ‘100 years of Dixonians Rugby’ in Birmingham and beyond and hopes to attract over 200 guests to a traditional rugby dinner in Edgbaston with good food, good company and entertaining guest speakers. Here’s to ‘100 More Years of Dixonians Rugby’!