A family fun day held as part of celebration of 100 years of sport at a Watford club could become an annual charity event.
Around 300 people visited West Herts Sports Club on Sunday for an afternoon of live music, ethnic food and children’s entertainment which raised between £1,000 and £1,500 for The Peace Hospice.
Sports club president and chairman Dennis Lock told the Watford Observer discussions are now under way about staging the fun day every year, in addition to rearranging a charity football match at the Park Avenue club.
Lloyd Doyley, Tommy Mooney and Tommy Smith were among the star names set to play for a Hornets Legends side against the West Herts team as the centre piece of the fun day, but the game was postponed in line with the FA’s suspension of football as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen.
The club decided to continue with a scaled back programme of events to mark their centenary, starting with a quiz on Friday evening while Saturday was an opportunity for all sections of the club to take part in various sporting events along with a presentation to the junior cricketers.
The culmination of Saturday’s activities saw Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor formally open a new clubhouse, marking the culmination of more than three years of work after the club sold a plot of land for development next to Cassio Road.
The money from that sale has provided an all-weather football pitch, a new car park, an irrigation system for the cricket square and tennis courts and the new clubhouse, with new squash courts and a fitness centre due to open next year.
Formerly part of the estate of the Earls of Essex, the Park Avenue location was transformed into a sports ground in 1890, becoming West Herts Sports Club on August 28, 1922 under a deed of trust.
Prior to then, the site was the home of Watford FC, who have been marking the centenary of their move to Vicarage Road after leaving Cassio Road in the same year.
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