Thanks to Pete Read and Peter Heath I can now show photographs of the first Bergen match in 1955. This was before this
became an annual event to include the themed parades through Bergen. We don't get to see the fancy-dress until later years.
We begin with a picture of the 1955 Balmoral Team at the football ground in Bergen. Further down we have views of the
1957 parade displaying all the innovation that's surrounds putting on a spectacle.
I have placed photographs here as large as is feasible to enable people to possibly be recognised and identified. I've
placed the photo reference below each picture, do please quote this if you're able to feedback any information.
Back Row Left to right…
Team manager Les Attwood far left, then Tommy Jennings, Charlie O'Neil, Don Smith, Mike Boyd, Dave Gregory
and Peter Heath is seen far right Front row…
Unknown, John Harkness, Bobby Butt, Ray Walker, Unknown
The 1955 Sandringham Supporters
Key to Photo Ref: PRD03 [Below:]
Left to right:
Dave Wilkin, Freddy Wilkerson, Pete Read,
Sid Yearsley, Unknown, Gordon Ramsey
Photo Ref: PRD03
Sandringham Restaurant supporters in full voice at Bergen in 1955
[Photo: Courtesy of Pete Read]NavBar
The 1955 Sandringham Team
Next we have a picture of the Sandringham Dynamos team of 1955 - the match victors by 5 goals to 1!
Back Row Left to right…
Far left, Frank Hobson, 3rd from right is Ron Murphy Front Row…
2nd from left Ronald Bryant, 3rd from left with football is Harold Forrest, 4th from left is Dennis Witt
Can you add more information or identify anyone depicted here? If so, do please get in touch!
Up to 1955 the football matches between the two restaurants had been played in various cities around the World,
sometimes with more than a single match annually. From this year, all future contests would be played at Bergen.
Photo Ref: AQ009
The tournament developed into quite an event, eventually being preceded by a fancy dress procession from the ship
through the streets of Bergen to the football ground. Each year there was a different theme, which meant frantic
preparations involving everyone in each restaurant, player or not!
[Left:] Photo Ref: AQ009
The 1957 Bergen parade #1
[Photo: Courtesy of Ave Quin]
Whilst this was a crew football match, it was by no means a crew-only affair! Caronia's passengers also soon developed
“cup fever”, and they found all sorts of ways to support their own restaurant team.
Quite what the people of Bergen made of this event on the first occasion I don't know. However, once it
became established, the annual parade through the streets from the Docks to the football ground was
something that the locals really looked forward to and very enthusiastically supported.
When I was involved with it in 1964, the streets
were thronged with people. Our massive Sphinx, supporting the Sandringham Restaurant,
clearly out-shone the efforts of the Balmoral parade even though I believe we were beaten on the football pitch.
Photo Ref: AQ011 [Right:]
The 1957 Bergen parade #2
[Photo: Courtesy of Ave Quin]
The parade seen above shows the Balmoral Rangers ahead of the Sandringham Dynamos. Leading the parade would be shared
year on year, with the Balmoral team leading on odd years and the Sandringham on even ones. Once established, the
regular North Cape Cruise passengers would also join in, often forsaking their organised sightseeing trips to do so.
Photo Ref: AQ012
The 1957 Bergen parade #3LGBT
[Photo: Courtesy of Ave Quin]Photo Ref: AQ013
The 1957 Balmoral parade leaving Bergen Docks (1)
[Photo: Courtesy of Ave Quin]
Another Ritual Develops
The winning team, on return to the ship, would hold a mock “Burial Service” and wake for their opponents
in the ship's crew bar, the “Pig & Whistle.” A coffin bearing the name of the losing team was the
centrepiece of this new ritual, being processed down the working alleyway and tossed overboard from the aft crew deck
hours after the “Green Goddess” had set sail.
Photo Ref: AQ014
The 1957 Balmoral parade leaving Bergen Docks (2)
[Photo: Courtesy of Ave Quin]
