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(This article was originally published in the WFC Programme in the 2002-03 season. It has not been changed, and may no longer be fully up-to date)
Hopefully, many of you will have noticed the growing collection of flags behind whatever goal Worthing are shooting towards. The most recent additions have drawn a mixture of compliments and puzzled glances, so following on from the Chertsey Town programme cover a few weeks ago, let me try and explain the significance of these banners.
We need to go back to Autumn 2000 for the first of these flags – the smaller (6 foot x 4 foot) red and white “Austria” flag. Helen Bowater (WFCSA Secretary) and myself had been speaking about getting a flag sorted for a while, so during a summer visit to Helen’s parents in the West Country, some material was bought (heavy drill cotton, if you must know) and over the course of a couple of weekends, and at a cost of under £30, a flag was born using Helen’s mum’s sewing machine. The flag is a simple banner of red/white/red (exactly like the Austrian flag), with “Worthing” in red across the central white panel, and ties sewn into the corners. It made it’s debut away at Staines in a difficult Tuesday night encounter, and after a hard-fought 1-0 win it drew special praise from Chairman Beau Reynolds and then-manager Sammy Donnelly.
Pretty soon, we decided that one was not enough, and inspired by Maidenhead’s massive parachute-fabric banner, the decision was taken to upsize to a larger flag. Due to the need to spread the cost (around £120), ten “shareholders” were sought (one per letter of “Worthing FC”), and Helen and I were entrusted with the design. We settled for the large red and white (and now possibly slightly pink) striped flag, with the team’s name in contrasting letters across 11 stripes, and “The Rebels” in black on the lower half. This flag also features two special, and rarely seen, innovations – firstly, the ties are not sewn on to the flag itself, but are passed through loops (meaning that we can cut the flag free if necessary without damaging it), and secondly, the flag was designed to fold in half (and Velcro shut) for grounds where hanging it over the front railings is the only option (so that only the Worthing FC part would be visible). All in all, the flag started off life clocking in at an impressive 16 foot by 6 foot (or 3 foot when velcroed shut), but it is widely suspected that shrinkage has been experienced through constant exposure to the elements (and some emergency tumble-drying). For the record, the flag first appeared against Harlow Town in August 2001, where it witnessed a 6-1 win, and the shareholders are: W – Andy, O – Elly, R – Rhys, T - Peter, H – Helen, I – Ian, N - Bez, G – George, F- Paul, and C – Claire.
Plans to further expand the flag selection over the summer were shelved as a Bristol visit never materialised (a saltire with “Worthing Scottish” was the front-runner this time around, as this could accompany me on Tartan Army trips), although a solitary St Georges Cross has made some intermittent appearances this season (thanks to Nick C). However, when the chance came to expand our range with the national flags of some of our more prominent players came along, we enthusiastically seized this, and set off to gather the components of the latest two flags.
The seeds were sown at the Met Police game, where Florian Mateos’ encouraging and hard-fought home debut won him many admirers amongst the regulars behind the goal. We resolved to track down a French tricolour in time for the Horsham game, along with a Spanish flag in honour of Wes, as a kind of welcome to the Club. Despite a frantic trawl around some of Brighton’s more colourful boutiques, nothing turned up, until Ian got hold of party shop in Shoreham that was able to order in both flags, along with a Lion Rampant (for me!) and a European Union ready flag for lunchtime the next day. Helen got an early finish from her work and made a mad dash across town, only to have to confront her demons in the shape of a yappy terrier in the shop.
The French and Spanish flags made their inaugural appearance at Queen Street, secured with trusty masking tape, and after the Windsor trip they were packed off to Helen’s understanding mother (and her trusty sewing machine) to be made into the montage you can see today.
Of course, that’s not where it stops – the new flag brought several admirers, and with it, a suggestion that a Nigerian flag (green/white/green bars) should be incorporated. A swift fans meeting in the Tavern after the Molesey game resulted in a quick whip-round and agreement that a St Georges cross (I was outvoted) and a Saltire (or St Andrews cross – my concession!) were incorporated. A debate ensued over what the final flag in this new foursome should be – the confederate “rebel” flag was ruled out due to it’s possible negative connotations (I won’t go any further, but if anyone does want to discuss further, please ask!), and the decision on the final flag was left to me as an executive decision when I ordered the flags. In any case, the history of the St Andrews cross is a “rebel” flag all of it’s own: the royal crest of Scotland is the red lion on a yellow background, and the Jacobite revolution of the 18th Century championed the white diagonal on blue as an alternative flag. The missing piece of the jigsaw turned out to be the flag of the Rainbow Alliance. Many people are aware of some of the significance of this flag, personally I think the colours look pretty!
So, now you know something of the story that has helped Worthing fans to become some of the most colourful in the Ryman League. Maybe you now feel inspired to add to the flag collection behind the goal? If so, please do! In any case, a wee bit of help in putting them up and taking them down every now and again is always appreciated!
7th Feb 2004