Wivenhoe Town FC

The Dragons (@wivenhoetown_fc), established by a group of Colchester Grammar School students in 1925, have long entertained the locals. Over the years, the team has also welcomed the occasional group of University of Essex students who may have found themselves asleep on the terraces after attempting to stumble back to campus following a night out in one of Wivenhoe's many, many pubs.

I used to live right behind their home ground at Broad Lane when I was a student. We had Wivenhoe scarves and attended the odd game. I vaguely remember a hut selling back issues of football programmes for almost any club you could imagine.

So, let’s check them out and #GetTheBadgeIn.

Firstly, the obvious- the badge is a dragon. And it has a solid reason to be:

The name Wivenhoe comes from Saxon, meaning "Wifa's Hoe," referring to the ridge of land by the River Colne. Over time, it gained a mythical twist, sounding like "Wyvern" (a dragon). Maybe it should rebrand to Dragon Port—who wouldn’t want to live there?

Wivenhoe’s early history, noted in the 1086 Domesday Book, describes a small community of farmers, fishers, and millers. In the Middle Ages, it passed between noble families, including the 15th Earl of Oxford, a supporter of Henry VII, whose Manor House once stood at King George V Playing Field.

But beyond its name and noble connections, Wivenhoe stands out for one major thing, shipbuilding:

Records from 1575 show Richard Quykeskey operating a shipyard upstream of The Quay. In 1650, Robert Page built the ketch Nonsuch, which sailed to Canada and helped establish the Hudson’s Bay Company. He also constructed the Fagons, later renamed HMS Milford, a 22-gun frigate commissioned after the Civil War. Unfortunately, the Milford met a tragic end in 1673 when it was accidentally burnt. The next four ships to bear that name (none built in Wivenhoe) were captured by the French. Not a happy name.

In the 19th century, Philip John Sainty launched the racing cutter Pearl in 1819 for Henry Paget, the Marquess of Anglesey. Paget later donated a bespoke "£100 Cup" for a race between British and American yachts: the Americans won, and came back the next year, and the year after, and the year after - it is still going on - the America’s Cup.

Wivenhoe’s craftsmen also built luxury yachts like the Dagmar (1865), boasting wine lockers, marble fireplaces, and bookcases. Shipbuilding later adapted to new technologies, with Forrestt’s producing innovative vessels like the paddle steamer Tern (1891), still sailing on Lake Windermere, and the mysterious 3-man submarine Volta (1905), which vanished under shadowy circumstances (best bet, she was bought by the Japanese against a British export blocking order...)

Wivenhoe’s men had good experience with racing ships... as it was also a prominent port for smuggling. Ships would sail out to larger ones off-shore, collect tobacco and alcohol, and race back in to avoid customs duties. Waiting for them would be the customs coastguard cutter - Repulse. There were 5 ships in total, all bearing that name. On one occasion the Repulse so enthusiastically pursued a smuggling ship she chased it back to France and ran aground. The customs crew spent 13 months in a Calais jail.

During World War II the town answered the call in style - the town’s shipyards contributed over two dozen minesweepers, motor torpedo boats, and parts of the Mulberry Harbour used in the D-Day landings.

So that's Wivenhoe. The dragons have a long history of innovation, skullduggery and speed. Not a bad legacy for a football team to build on.

@wtfc_res,