It was also the Silver Jubilee of the Colts formation and a commemorative match organised by Barry Gilkes, a special buffet and iced cake marked the occasion with commemorative ties being presented to Sam Miller, Harry Colegrave and Gerald Webb for getting the youngsters started.

It was the old timers who had their day the following year with the first reunion of old players.

The "Banbury Guardian' had printed a photograph taken in the 1947-48 season which sparked off an appeal for former players to contact captain John Rathbone who was issuing an invitation for them to attend a special dinner before the first match against Northampton Wanderers.

The appeal worked and among those who replied was Tubby Gage who had emigrated to Canada. He was one of sixty ex-members who attended and he brought with him a commemorative pennant which all at the reunion signed. Several ex-presidents were among the guests, in addition to ex-secretary Brian Burge who travelled from Weston-Super-Mare.

Some more of the club's "old stagers' also featured in further celebrations when the Veterans XV, the Old Nicks, played Brackley's Vets XV to mark the opening of Brackley's new clubhouse, and still proved their legs and lungs worked with a 19-10 victory!

But it was the kids who were stealing the show with interest in mini rugby really on a high.

The under eights, coached by Mick Lewis, with son Gareth in the team; the under-10s, coached by Charlie Viggers, who had his son Stuart in the team, and the under 12s, coached by Tim Varney, with son Paul in the line up, were winning games at mini rugby festivals all around the country.

This sort of success was only matched by the First XV in the Oxford Floodlit Cup where they beat Oxford 19-9 to bring back the trophy.

The potential among the youngsters was illustrated by the under-8s record in winning the Banbury Mini Rugby Festival and with it the Clifford Dairies Trophy where they scored 100 points in beating Bicester, Buckingham, Harbury and Stratford, and conceded only four!

Could this be a sign of what the future held for the club?

If it was, it didn't manifest itself the following 1984/85 season when the Heart of England Merit Table was introduced to supposedly give a more competitive edge to some matches.

At one stage in the season Banbury were certainly nearer the top than bottom after a January win against Northamptonians where Adrian Court made a welcome return after being sidelined with a broken leg. But a 12-7 loss away to Towcester polished off any hopes the club might have had in that direction. There was still the Floodlit Cup though, and a 15-4 win against Swindon and further progress through the semi final gave them a clash with Oxford in the final. But this result went the same way as many others against the bogey side and Banbury finished the wrong end of a 9-3 scoreline.

The club seemed to relish getting away from the Saturday slog, however, and the Easter Tour was another resounding success with a 20-16 win against Naas and a 10-8 advantage against Kilkenny. This only served to gloss over a disappointing year when 16 games out of 36 were lost with top try scorer being Gareth Lewis with 13.

Although the club still fielded five sides most Saturdays, the first worrying signs of fewer people playing rugby emerged with the Benskins only managing two matches.

The Colts continued to provide a bit of a bright spot, reaching the final of the County Cup, but they suffered a blow with news of second row and goal kicker Colin Hall leaving to join the Military Police, eventually making a name for himself with Northampton, Coventry and London Irish.

The third team Bulls also did their best to keep the flag flying with a side made up of some ex-first teamers enjoying an "Indian Summer' to their careers, a sprinkling of current first teamers recovering from injury, and some up-and-coming colts. They won 21 of the 29 matches they played, scoring 660 points in the process. There were 42 different try scorers and ten goal kickers with Webb being top contributor with 99 points.

In what was the Diamond Jubilee year of the club the following season, not a lot sparkled either!

The 31st year of the traditional Bank Holiday fund-raising fete was memorable for the performance of the Carlieno-Highwire act, but back to earth with a bump, the writing was on the wall from the first Saturday with all four senior teams losing.

Another appearance in the final of the Floodlit Cup could have rescued things but Banbury made a semi final exit in a penalty shoot-out from the 25 yard line after finishing all square at 12-12 with Bicester at full time proper.

The Merit Table scheme did not appear to be working either, with the club playing only six of the eight matches scheduled, and this, in turn, hastened the call for competitive league rugby proper.

Thank goodness for the colts who carried on their winning ways in the Eighties under the coaching of Roger Long. Not only did they enjoy plenty of playing success, but provided a much-needed conveyor-belt of players to the senior side over many seasons. Several went on to become captains of the club, such as four times skipper Martin Court, Richard Fox, Jamie Briggs and John Baker. Other colts from the Long era to play for the first team were Jamie Mitchelmore, Julian Briggs, Stuart Viggers, Julian Price, Richard Wotherspoon, Colin Hall, Ian Blackmore, Simon Purnell, Perriss Wilkins, Nick and Paul Jackson.

Another ex-colt playing first team rugby is George Williams at Bicester and others from this era still playing include Mark Ingham, Neil Smith, Graham Source, Jem Needle, Andy Wyeth, and those who have subsequently called it a day through injury or business commitments, Matt Fell, Steve Taylor, James Hayter and Sebastian Stapleton among them.

When Roger Long moved from the area to Cheltenham, it was certainly Banbury RFC's loss and Cheltenham Rugby Club's gain.

It was a tribute to his talents that the following season Banbury provided seven players for the Oxfordshire Colts side which met Buckinghamshire.

The seniors brought home the Oxford Floodlit Cup this season with a 26-6 win in the final against Chinnor, but it was to be the last year of club rugby as it had been since the club was founded.

The Southern Counties League was on the horizon and Banbury were slotted into this along with Aylesbury, Bletchley, Bracknell, Marlow, Oxford Marathon, Oxford Old Boys, Redingensians, Swindon, Wimbourne and Windsor.

And while they contemplated what the next season might hold, the club marked the end of its 61st year with an annual dinner at the Town Hall which will live in the memory!

Roy Evans, who appeared to know every celebrity in the rugby world, had somehow acquired the services of the legendary Cliff Morgan as after dinner speaker.

Tickets sold like hot cakes, but this was the closest many of the diners were going to get to hot food that evening!

The outside caterers found the logistics of serving 150 guests with four courses impossible when the kitchen was a floor below the dining room, linked only by a narrow spiral staircase which defied two-way traffic.

So chaos reigned and while some were belatedly tackling their apple pie and cream, others were still waiting and hoping for their cock-a-leekie soup!

Amid all this Cliff Morgan tried manfully to make himself heard above the rattle of cutlery amplified by the echoing Town Hall acoustics, to deliver what many were told afterwards was the best after-dinner speech anyone could wish to hear!

As the clamour for food had died down, more were able to hear club captain Martin Court when he rose to speak, but Martin was obviously not aware of the Webb Ellis theory of "what takes 15 minutes in front of the bathroom mirror rehearsing a speech, should have an expansion factor of a multiplicity of ten for the time taken for the real thing'.

And so he ploughed on, ignoring calls for mercy from the "I'm dying of thirst brigade' and frantic signals from some of the senior members, worrying how they would explain their late arrival home as dawn was breaking.

This was Martin's first year of four as captain; the lesson was learnt and his captain's speeches from then on were role models for future incumbents!

He had more than speeches on his mind the following season, 1987-88, when league rugby arrived at Banbury.

With the Merit Table continuing, plus the Morland Oxfordshire County Cup, well over 60 per cent of the club's fixtures were now in one competition or another.

It was not going to be first time lucky for Banbury in the League, however, and the County Cup provided the only hope of silverware, but jinx team Oxford stood in their way again in an Iffley Road final.

With one of the Banbury Club's ex-presidents, John Smith, now president of the County, it would have been appropriate for the club to win the trophy for the first time. But it was not to be, with the sending off in the first ten minutes of hooker Julian Price effectively killing off any hope Banbury might have had. The City side ran out 15-6 winners, and it was only the Alan Wise Cup which graced the trophy cabinet that year after a 15-4 win at Henley.

It was another disappointing season, but not so bad for Mark Boland who finished as leading try scorer with 13, and kicked 99 points.

The trend of the "disappearing' rugby players had continued too with the total demise of the Benskins and the reduction of games played by the Ramblers. The Old Nicks were still turning out regularly though, celebrating their 20th anniversary.

What a difference a season makes! And the next year all the previous disappointments were forgotten as for most of the 1988-89 season Banbury were in contention for three trophies.

The pattern was set right from the second match, a home win over Aylesbury 17-13 in the Courage Clubs' Championship, Southern Counties League. It was to be more decisive than anyone could have imagined come the end of the championship in late April.

Defeat in the Floodlit Cup semi-final ended any "Triple Crown' aspirations. Then a 29-16 defeat in the County Final against who other but Oxford, made it two down one to go.

Wins in the two remaining league matches would ensure promotion, but they were games which were to shorten fingernails by a few inches.

In the penultimate league game they held their nerve to record a 39-9 win against Wimbourne, but then it was off to Windsor.

Aylesbury had finished their programme and were one point ahead of Banbury, but in an amazing finale - which involved four missed penalties in the last quarter by Windsor - Banbury secured promotion by a 4-3 margin. Mark Boland had scored what was probably his most important try for the club in a season in which he went over 30 times.

Success continued the next year and in their fifth appearance in the Oxfordshire County Cup, Banbury came away with the trophy, beating Bicester 16-9. The win also presented them with another first, qualification into the following season's Pilkington Cup.

The team was: Evans, Mitchelmore, Kirwin, Hebden, Boland, Rafferty, Shaw, Fox, Price, Isham, Turner, Reid, Court, Campbell, Allan, (Fair 70). Missing out, however, was full back Michael Thomas who had injured his arm a week before the final.

It's worth recording too, that the semi final had given the club almost as much pleasure - a 13-3 win over arch rivals Oxford at the third attempt in successive seasons.

The club lost out to Chinnor in the Floodlit Cup, however, and in the League, despite the flying start of a 15-14 win at Newbury, they finished mid table.