Temple Fortune Football Club

To commemorate TFFC's 55th anniversary, former Club historian Cecil Fettle fires some questions at Nigel Kyte, Club Chairman, about his memories of the Club's formation back in 1968

In 2006 you did an interview for the website about what 30 years of league football meant to you. Now the Club has reached 55 years of existence. How do you feel about this latest milestone?
My sentiments in that interview remain the same. It's a wonderful achievement and I am still immensely proud that we have come this far.

Taking you back 55 years, what do you remember of the Club's formation in 1968?
Let's think. Well, the 28th day of December 1968 was a cold day as one might expect. I think winters were much colder then since generally nowadays they seem to be fairly mild. I remember that we finished playing a small-sided game of football in Princes Park which was situated adjacent to my parents' home in Oakfields Road, NW11. The park closed at around 4.30pm at that time of the year so the park keeper would have rung his bell as the light began to fade. Although I do not know how many players took part in the game, my brother Peter and I, plus friends Michael Rook and Robert Silverstone left the park and trudged the 100 yards or so up Oakfields Road until we reached the first house, which was my parents' home. We sat on the low brick wall bordering the front garden and started talking about forming a football team.

Didn't you have a debate about the actual name?
I suppose we must have. I distinctly recall that we couldn't use the obvious name of 'Princes Park' because another bunch of lads had beaten us to it by forming a separate team a short time previously. A few of these guys had played with us in kick-abouts and decided to split away. The name 'Golders Green' was rejected because it covered too big a broader area, as was 'Oakfields' because of the obvious Kyte family ties. So 'Temple Fortune' was suggested and for some reason we added 'Town' onto the end, it just had a nice sound about it!

But is it true that the Club was never actually called 'Temple Fortune Town'?
I cannot say 'never' for certain but we always seemed to refer to the team as TFT. It just rolled off the tongue naturally and we always called the team TFT for a long time after. The full name was a bit of a mouthful and I can only remember using the initials version when talking about the team as Temple Fortune Town.

So given a choice, the Club could well have been called Princes Park?
Yes. Without doubt Princes Park would have been a natural and obvious choice.

Did you consider joining the other group of players rather than 'go alone' with TFT?
I can't remember if we did but it makes sense for the topic to have been raised. Several of the guys running Princes Park were older so I guess we felt we wanted our own team to run rather than just be players under the management of others.

Was anything else agreed at that gathering on the low brick wall, such as colours?
Well, not colours I wouldn't have thought. I cannot recall the exact timing but the yellow/red theme came later. Initially we used white t-shirts taken from our PE kits! We must have agreed to go to Lyttleton Playing Fields at the time because we met up five days later for the documented first game of any kind under the Club's new name.

What do you remember of that game?
We walked to Lyttleton Playing Fields in early January 1969 which is located in Hampstead Garden Suburb, about a 20 minute walk. We found a group of guys to play, laid down our jumpers/coats as goal posts and played a four-a-side game in the mud. We just called the opposition Lyttleton for the sake of a name! We won 24-8 and I scored nine goals!

Very good! According to the records you were top scorer in the formative years. Do you remember any of your goals?
Yes, my left peg managed to score 20 goals or so for Temple Fortune during the pre-league days! I can recall several. I remember the goal I scored against Mill Hill in a 3-3 draw at Hampstead Heath in 1973 I think – a first timer from 20 yards or so, low into the corner. Another came against the same opposition at Wormwood Scrubs when we played the first of 5 important friendlies in 1976. Brian Melzack put me through and I had the late Harvey Hoffman to beat. I drew him out and slipped the ball into the corner. And a painful goal versus Marylebone Dynamo in a 3-3 draw at The Marshes also in '76. The Dynamo keeper, Gerry Evans, came rushing out when I was through and tried to take the ball and me out with a lunging tackle. As his boot whammed into my thigh, he knocked the ball into my chest and it bounced beyond him. I just about managed to tap it home before collapsing in pain! That's about it – the memory of most of the others have long since faded!

Once the inaugural 11-a-side game was held in October 1970, did you carry on playing at Princes Park?
Yes, games continued there. We have an 'Unofficial Matches' page on the TFFC website which records three games played at Princes Park. The last of these was dated 7th April 1974 against Sneath Avenue, which I remember was played at the top of the Park, with cricket stumps as goal-posts! By that time, the Club had played 14 friendlies according to the Club records, so it proves we were still having kick-abouts and games at Princes Park.

You have staged a few reunion get togethers at Princes Park over the years.
Indeed! In what I called as 'pilgrimages' back to the Park, we first held a 4-a-side game as part of our Silver Anniversary celebrations in 1993. Then we played tournaments there to mark our 40th anniversary in 2008, the 45th anniversary in 2013 and, of course, TFFC's Golden Anniversary in 2018. I enjoyed returning there each time as did Peter and the Melzack brothers who were involved in the earliest days of having kick-abouts. Brian and Stephen lived opposite the Kyte family home in Oakfields Road. But another reason for staging a tournament at the Park was to give others an opportunity to share in a sense of history.

So as far as you were concerned the pilgrimages back to Princes Park were a success?
Yes, very much so. I think everyone enjoyed playing on the very same pitch where the Club virtually evolved from. The matches were played in a great spirit overall and everyone had fun, I'm sure. I'm glad it was dry and sunny each time and the turn-outs were enough to make them successful. In 2013, we were honoured to have David Wolff attending the tournaments there and he presented the Jack Kyte Challenge Cup.

Having held successful events at Princes Park which notably were five years apart, why was there not a pilgrimmage in 2023 for the Club's 55th birthday?
Good question which I will answer honestly. The first half of the 2023/24 season for the Club had been very problematic for numerous reasons – which, before the season started, included the hiring and firing of a new Second Team manager and the folding of the Second Team – and the First Team endured one of the poorest starts to a season on record. The Club was enduring so many problems that I had no inclination to make plans for visiting Princes Park again. Of course, it had been considered but the appetite had dissipated because I was dealing with too much on my plate. Naturally a huge shame and one reason why I agreed to this interview so that at least something could go on the website to mark our 55th birthday!

Perhaps in five years time when the Club celebrates 60 years you'll be back at Princes Park!
All things being well on the health side and, of course, the Club still existing, then why not? Never say never in this life!

Nigel, this has been a fascinatinginsight into TFFC's earliest days from someone who was actually a part of the formation, so thank you for your time.
My pleasure and thank you for the questions.

December 2023