Wednesday 17 August 2011

The Archenfield Amateur Athletics Association

Athletic support for the Anglican League!

After finishing my Blackshorts I had a few (mainly short-wearing) figures left over in the lead pile, so I thought I'd do a sporting-based unit for the Anglican League.


And, true to form, I wrote a short history for the GWP...

You may remember, before the war, how a plucky band of provincial sportsmen hit the headlines.

Who could forget the stirring story of the dashing Indian Army officer who returned to Blighty to inherit a fortune, or how this fellow – a deeply religious man who believed that a healthy body equalled a healthy soul – settled near Ross-on-Wye and formed a cadre of fit young men from the ranks of the listless unemployed in the area?

Surely you haven’t forgotten the stirring tale of how the Archenfield Amateur Athletic Association took on all-comers and beat them into a cocked hat? How about that infamous time when the AAAA reached the finals of the All-England Athletics Championship and tied with the nation’s top clubs at the top of the medals table?

And what of that dreadful moment when, in the 100 metres dash – the final edge-of-your-seat event in the competition – AAAA sprinter ‘Flash’ Harry Davis sprawled off the track after being allegedly elbowed aside by that bounder from the Borehamwood Blackshirts, costing the underdogs the trophy? And how about when the King himself, officiating as honorary umpire, refused to listen to their complaints and labelled them as ‘sore losers who should go back to their sheep or whatever’?

Well now they’re back in the limelight. Track and field has been replaced by callisthenics and rifle practice as the Archenfield Amateur Athletics Association once more take to the arena in a far deadlier competition.

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