Barnwell-born but bound for glory: the forces that made Abbey United

Unfortunately this talk has had to be cancelled. We hope to be able to run it at a later date.

Barnwell in the late 19th and early 20th centuries – poor, hungry, overcrowded and long vilified by the Victorian middle classes as the haunt of wastrels, ne’er-do-wells and the plain wicked – became the focus of well-meaning efforts to improve its lot.

Nothing raises a community’s spirits quite so much as a successful football team, and out of Barnwell rose a club that, in the form of Cambridge United, would eventually knock on the door of the all-powerful Premier League.

Abbey United was born in unpromising circumstances but, drawing on the strength of its people – people who had been shaped by their surroundings and were perhaps influenced by the interventions of philanthropic agencies – grew and went on growing.

This talk by Pat Morgan, of 100 Years of Coconuts, examines the social and economic background behind the birth of a remarkable club.

It will be held using Zoom. To take part in the Zoom session and be able to ask questions of Pat then please sign up to our mailing list. The meeting link will be sent by email in a newsletter a few days before the talk.

The meeting will also be live streamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/millroadhistory/ and can be watched there instead.

The event is free to watch but if you enjoy it please consider making a donation to our PayPal account, see the button on the home page of this website.