PROFILE – BILL HORNER, FOUNDER & SECRETARY OF ROYSTON DYNAMOS J.F.C.
BORN WILLIAM LESLIE HORNER 11TH JULY 1946 MIDLAND ROAD ROYSTON.
I WENT TO CHURCH of ENGLAND SCHOOL CHURCH STREET ROYSTON, AT THE AGE OF 2 I MOVED INTO THE NEWLY BUILT “TIN” HOUSES IN EAST PINFOLD AND I AM STILL THERE IN THE SAME HOUSE. I ALWAYS HAD A LOVE OF FOOTBALL BUT THERE WAS LITTLE OPPORTUNITY AT THE CHURCH SCHOOL BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE GAMES AGAINST OTHER SCHOOLS.
I PASSED MY 11-PLUS IN 1957 TO GO TO NORMANTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL-MUCH AGAINST THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE HEADMASTER AT THE CHURCH SCHOOL- WHO DID NOT THINK I WAS CAPABLE OF PASSING THE EXAMS.

THINGS WERE NOT SO STRAIGHT FORWARD BEACUSE I HAD BEEN ATTENDING THE ROYAL INFIRMARY AT SHEFFIELD WITH EYE PROBLEMS FOR 2 YEARS – I HAD A SQUINT WHICH MADE ME LOOK LIKE BEN TURPIN I NEEDED AN OPERATION BUT MY PARENTS DID NOT WANT IT TO HAPPEN JUST AFTER I STARTED GRAMMER SCHOOL AS THIS WOULD DISRUPT MY EDUCATION, SO THEY CONTACTED THE HEADMASTER AT NORMANTON, WHO CONTACTED THE ROYAL INFIRMARY AND I HAD THE OPERATION IN MID-SUMMER THUS BEING FREE TO START SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER 1957.
IT WAS WHILE AT NORMANTON THAT MY LOVE OF FOOTBALL DEVELOPED. ON SATURDAY MORNINGS WE HAD GAMES AGAINST OTHER SCHOOLS. I COULD NOT WAIT FOR SATURDAY TO COME. THE BUS LEFT ROYSTON FROM THE WALLACE ARNOLD GARAGE ON HIGH STREET, SO THE ROYSTON BOYS WERE THE FIRST ON. WE WOULD PLAY HOME AND AWAY AGAINST SCHOOLS IN LEEDS, PONTEFRACT, BATLEY, DONCASTER, OSSETT AND BRADFORD. WHEN I GOT HOME ABOUT 1pm, IT WOULD BE FISH & CHIPS THEN TO OAKWELL. IF BARNSLEY WERE AWAY IT WOULD BE THE ACE PICTURES (now the Bethel church) FOR THE MATINEE – ROY ROGERS, HOPALONG CASSIDY, CISCO KID, FLASH GORDON ETC. AFTER THE MATINEE WE WOULD GO INTO THE PARK TO WATCH THE SECOND HALF OF THE BUSH PLAYING FOOTBALL.
YES SATURDAY AFTERNOONS WERE THE BAST DAYS OF THE YEAR.
I STAYED AT NORMANTON UNTIL 1964, HAVING A 3rd YEAR IN THE 6th FORM AND STILL ENJOYING FOOTBALL.
I LEFT IN 1964 AND WORKED AT THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF WEST RIDING CC IN WAKEFIELD FOR 12 MONTHS. I APPLIED FOR NOTTINGHAM REGIONAL COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY IN 1965 FOR A B.Sc (Econ) EXTERNAL DEGREE COURSE OF LONDON UNIVERSITY.
I STARTED AT NOTTINGHAM IN SEPTEMBER 1965 BUT HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST SO THAT I COULD GET HOME AT THE WEEKENDS AS I HAD STARTED PLAYING WITH ROYSTON CHURCH YOUTH IN THE BARNSLEY NELSON LEAGUE. THE TEAM WAS BASED AT THE PACK HORSE TO START WITH BUT MOVED UP TO THE CROSS INN AFTER A COUPLE OF YEARS.
I CONTINUED TO DRIVE HOME FROM NOTTINGHAM AT THE WEEKENDS UNTIL I LEFT COLLEGE IN 1969 WITH MY DEGREE, I THEN JOINED BRITISH GAS IN SHEFFIELD.
THE TEAM AT THE CROSS GRADUALLY IMPROVED AND MOVED UP THROUGH THE LEAGUES UNTIL IT WAS CHALLENGING FOR THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE CUP COMPETITIONS. ITS BEST SEASON WAS WHEN IT WON THE LEAGUE, HOSPITAL CUP AND ROYSTON CHARITY CUP. ALSO I MANAGED TO PLAY AT OAKWELL, ALTHOUGH WE LOST 1-0 TO WARD GREEN.
IN 1978 I WAS HIT IN THE EYE BY A BALL IN TRAINING WHICH CAUSED A DETACHED RETINA. THIS MORE OR LESS SIGNALLED THE END OF MY PLAYING DAYS, BUT I STAYED ON THE CROSS FOOTBALL COMMITTEE AS TREASURER. I STARTED AN U. 18 TEAM AT THE CROSS IN ORDER TO BRING PLAYERS THROUGH AS THE CROSS NOW HAD 2 TEAMS, BUT THIS ONLY LASTED 1 SEASON.
I TOOK THE REFEREES COURSE IN 1979 AND QUALIFIED AS A REFEREE. I REFEREED IN THE BARNSLEY LEAGUES, SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS FOR 3 YRS BUT IT CORRESPONDED WITH THE GOOD TIMES AT OAKWELL. BARNSLEY HAD A GOOD TEAM THEN- GLAVIN, AYLOTT, McCARTHY, BANKS, EVANS etc. AND I WAS MISSING WATCHING THE REDS SO I PACKED IN REFEREEING ON SATURDAYS.
I WAS STILL REFEREEING ON SUNDAYS BUT ONE WEEKEND IN MAY 1983, I WAS SOCIALISING IN THE CROSS INN WHEN THE SUBJECT OF JUNIOR FOOTBALL CAME UP. SOME PEOPLE THERE HAD CHILDREN, COUSINS, NEPHEWS etc. AGED 11 AND 12 YRS OF AGE AND FROM THAT CONVERSATION ROYSTON DYNAMOS J.F.C. WAS BORN.
ROYSTON DYNAMOS U 13s STARTED IN THE BARNSLEY JUNIOR LEAGUE IN SEPTEMBER 1983 AND PLAYED AT THE MONCKTON SPORTS GROUND. IAN BARLOW HAD JOINED AS SECRETARY BECAUSE HE KNEW MANY OF THE PLAYERS.
THE FOLLOWING YEAR THE UNDER 11s STARTED ON SATURDAY MORNINGS PLAYING AT MIDLAND Rd SCHOOL, WHILST THE U 13s BECAME U 14s PLAYING SUNDAY AFTERNOONS ON MONCKTON.
IN 1985 A NEW U 11s STARTED & BOB MAIN STARTED WITH HIS SON ANDREW.
I WAS MANAGING 3 TEAMS, U11s SATURDAY, U12s SUNDAY MORNING AND U15s SUNDAY AFTERNOON. I WAS ALSO REFEREEING MANY OF THE MATCHES; ALSO THE U15s HAD JOINED THE HEAVY WOOLEN LEAGUE SO THE TIMES WERE HECTIC.
NEW TEAMS WERE FORMED EACH YEAR AT U11 AS THE OTHER AGE GROUPS MOVED UP A YEAR.
KEV COPLEY JOINED IN 1988 WHEN THE FIRST OF HIS 3 SONS STARTED PLAYING.
THINGS PROGRESSED, TEAMS WERE WINNING TROPHIES AND STANDARDS WERE IMPROVING. WE WERE PRODUCING PLAYERS GOOD ENOUGH TO PLAY FOR BARNSLEY SCHOOLS F.A. – DAVE WATSON, PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM, WARREN SAXTON, KEVIN SMITH TO NAME BUT A FEW.
AT THE END OF THE 1980s MIDLAND Rd SCHOOL CLOSED.
WE MOVED ONTO THE GREEN, CHANGING AT PARKSIDE PRIMARY, BUT WE WERE STILL USING THE MONCKTON FOR THE OLDER AGE GROUPS.
BY THIS TIME, MINI SOCCER HAD STARTED IN BARNSLEY SO IN THE EARLY 1990s WE STARTED A TEAM AT U10 LEVEL AND WE MOVED UP TO OAKWOOD PLAYING FIELDS. NEW MANAGERS WERE JOINING THE DYNAMOS – GARY CARR, STEVE FOX etc AND THINGS WERE GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH. MANAGERS WERE GETTING COACHING QUALIFICATIONS AND WE HAD TEAMS FROM U8s UP TO U16s.
WE WERE ABLE TO GET GRANTS FROM VARIOUS ORGANISATIONS FOR KIT & EQUIPMENT AND THINGS WERE RUNNING SMOOTHLY. MONCKTON SPORTS GROUND CLOSED DOWN SO WE WERE RESTRICTED TO PITCHES ON OAKWOOD & THE GREEN.
OBVIOUSLY THE LACK OF CHANGING FACILITIES & TOILETS WERE A HANDICAP SO WE APPLIED TO B.M.B.C. FOR PLANNING PERMISSION FOR A CONTAINER, FROM ONE OF THE PARENTS, TO BE PUT ON OAKWOOD, BUT WE WERE REFUSED.
AS WE APPROACHED THE MILLENIUM WE WERE STILL THRIVING, BUT FUNDRAISING BECAME MORE IMPORTANT AS COSTS WERE RISING. A FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE HAD BEEN FORMED TO COME UP WITH IDEAS FOR GETTING EXTRA MONEY IN. ALSO THE WAY THE GAME WAS ADMINISTERED WAS CHANGING WITH CHILD PROTECTION ISSUES & RACISM IN FOOTBALL BECOMING IMPORTANT.
STEVE CROFT WAS BECAME CHILD PROTECTION OFFICER.
IN 2002 I WAS APPROACHED BY COUNCILLOR GRAHAM KTYE TO CONSIDER MOVING THE DYNAMOS TEAMS INTO ROYSTON PARK. HIS WISH WAS FOR THE PARK TO BE BROUGHT BACK INTO USE AND TO BE USED BY MORE PEOPLE AS PARKS USED TO BE ABOUT 30Yrs PREVIOUSLY.
B.M.B.C. WANTED TO MAKE BIG ALTERATIONS, BUT DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY (shock horror).
THEY SAW THE FOOTBALL FOUNDATION AS A SOURCE OF FUNDING BUT NEEDED THE DYNAMOS TO AGREE TO MOVE TO THE PARK, SO THEY PUT IN AN APPLICATION. OTHER AREAS IN BARNSLAY WERE ALSO MAKING APPLICATIONS, BUT WE WERE THE FAVOURITES FOR FULL BACKING FROM B.M.B.C. BECAUSE OF THE STATUS OF THE CLUB.
WE HAD BEEN IN EXISTENCE NEARLY 20Yrs, HAD ALL AGE GROUPS FROM U 8s TO U 16s AND CATERED FOR ABOUT 140 CHILDREN. WE WERE NOT A ONE MINUTE WONDER, ONE OF THESE CLUBS WHO WERE THERE ONE MINUTE AND GONE THE NEXT.
THE APPLICATION WENT IN AND AFTER A FEW HICCUPS OUR APPLICATION TO THE FOOTBALL FOUNDATION WAS ACCEPTED, AND WE GOT £280,000 FOR B.M.B.C.
NOW WE HAVE A NEW PAVILION & NEW PITCHES BUT WE STILL HAVE TO USE THE GREEN & OLIVER TWIST PITCHES FOR ALL THE TEAMS.
SO FOR THE PRESENT DAY WE HAVE A NUMBER OF WELL QUALIFIED MANAGERS, COACHES etc. THE CLUB IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST IN THE BARNSLEY AREA. HOWEVER, IT WOULD NOT HAVE GROWN AS IT HAS WITHOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF MANY PEOPLE WHO’S UNSELFISH WORK HAS ALLOWED THS CLUB TO DEVELOP.
OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO WILL VOLUNTEER AND PUT MANY HOURS OF THEIR OWN TIME INTO THE CAUSE. UNFORTUNATELY THERE ARE OTHERS WHO NEVER LIFT A FINGER. THAT IS HUMAN NATURE.
OUR 25th Yr ANNIVERSARY NEXT YEAR IS TESTIMONY TO THE WORK THAT ALL THOSE VOLUNTEERS HAVE PUT IN OVER THE YEARS. I COULD NOT HAVE ACHIEVED IT ON MY OWN.
SO WHEN PEOPLE SAY THERE IS NOTHING FOR THE KIDS TO DO IN ROYSTON, I CAN SAY “WHAT DO YOU THINK THE DYNAMOS HAVE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST 25Yrs”.


THE ABOVE IS A GENUINE ACCOUNT, DIRECTLY FROM OUR FOUNDER
BILLY HORNER
SEPTEMBER 2007.