Long before Parrot Park looked the way it does now, Bridgenorth ran on effort and people willing to make footy happen anyway. Darryl Carey, Wayne Cuthbertson, and Dennis Broomby remember a club built with whatever was on hand, and a community that never waited for ideal conditions.
They laugh about the old setup: one tiny rectangle change room that doubled as the bar, and a “goat shelter” that passed as the scoreboard. It was basic, but it worked because the club had strong committees that kept pushing facilities and standards forward year after year. Bridgenorth didn’t grow by chance, it grew because people kept building.
Back then, attracting players meant going and getting them. The club was out of town, so buses would pick blokes up for games. Teams were often “friends of friends,” brought in through trust and connection. And once people joined, they rarely left, the culture was too good to walk away from. Wayne’s story sums it up: as the first Under 18s coach, he’d pick kids up every Saturday morning just to make sure they could play.
They remember the rivalries, especially Exeter, and the pride that came with those games. They also talk about Bridgenorth always being the underdog, the “place with one street light.” That’s why wins here feel different. Any win matters. And when success comes, the club celebrates hard because it knows what it cost.
Their message is simple: when you finish playing, stay involved. Keep the club running for the next generation. The friendships you build here last, and the club lasts because people keep choosing it.
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