Gosport badminton club based at St Vincent College celebrates 40 years of sport

The 0900 badminton club has celebrated its 40th anniversary after being set up in October 1982 BY Maggie Nobes, Steve Black, Cath Corbett and the late Mervin Beckingham.

A group of four Fareham youngsters, who attended the West End Badminton Club, discussed the possibility of playing their much loved game over the weekends and Maggie, who was also a member at St Vincent College badminton group, suggested to play on Saturday. The group booked the court for October 9 1982, and they played again the week after and the week after, and the rest is history as the group has expanded with a large number of people on their books and approximately 15 regular players that attend weekly.

Steve said: ‘I was 19 years old when I found the club in October 1982, we just wanted to play badminton at the weekend and we just plucked 9 o’clock out of the air as that was the only time that was available for all of us to play and we went back the following week and then over some tme we had 12 people in the club, and we had tripled what we started with.’

Steve Black, 59, is one of the famous four that created the 0900 badminton club, which got its name from the 24 hour clock of the Royal Navy as the college was once a naval training establishment HMS St. Vincent, being decommissioned in 1969.

Since being formed, 160 members have played for the non league mixed doubles club which meets regularly on a Saturday morning, and during the pandemic the group set up a Whatsapp to make sure that members were staying safe during the lockdowns, whilst maintaining a social level.

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The group charges £2.50 for people to play each week and there is no ongoing fees allowing people to pay when they play and Steve said that he thinks that is why the group has lasted so long because people are not tied down to a subscription commitment.

To celebrate the anniversary, Steve arranged a shindig at the Gosport and Stokes Bay golf club on October 9, where the players welcomed the Pompey Pluckers who performed their ukulele music.

They also had a birthday cake, which was designed to be the shape of the clock tower at St Vincent College, which is their logo for the team, and they had an evening of music and food as they celebrated their anniversary of four decades.

The cake was baked and designed by former club member Lee Davis and a former member, Doreen Phillips, now 92, was one of those present at the event, and assisted Steve in the cake cutting ceremony.

Steve added: ‘I wanted to hold the party on the exact date but although it was a Sunday, we still had just over 40 members come and our oldest member, who is 92, came and it was quite a special moment.

‘It was lovely, it was a fantastic evening really and I our biggest selling point is that we are a non league mixed doubles, and we just play to enjoy ourselves and I think that is what will keep us going.’