Tring Tornadoes Junior Sports Club was founded in 1970 with the charter being to:
Help and educate boys and girls through their leisure-time activities, so to develop their physical, mental and spiritual capacities that they grow to maturity as individuals and members of society and that their conditions of life may be improved.
In 1970 stimulated by a request from his then 9 year old Son Kevin, John Sansbury (and Ron Bunn) had the idea of gathering a group of boys together to play Sunday schoolboy football. A couple of weeks later Dave Livingstone joined them and with this nucleus of people, Tring Tornadoes was born.
An advertisement was placed in the local paper asking any boys who were interested to come along to Dundale School on the following Sunday. ON that first session 14 boys turned up. The following week there were 40 and the rest is now our collective history.
At the outset, Tring Tornadoes were fortunate that Kevins Mum, Sylvia, was the Secretary at Dundale School and she was able to secure permission from the Headteacher, Mr Belchamber, that the playing field could be used as the clubs base.
The first league that Tring Tornadoes took part in was almost all Tring teams, such as West End, Kingsley Rovers and North Tring. The only proper away fixture was against Chinnor and later, Cheddington, when they joined the League.
In the early years two girls netball teams were formed, with the Netball Section being headed up by Maureen Livingstone.
In those early years there was discussion about forming a cricket team and even an athletics club, but they never materialised.
In 1975 due to an advertisement in the paper finding its way to an English Army base at Bergen, West Germany, Tring Tornadoes were invited to to visit and play Bergen Canaries. In July 1976 three teams from Tring made the trip, with the Bergen families providing hospitality and accommodation for the Tring players. As a result of Soldier re-postings and the link with Bergen, subsequent trips to Surrey and Yorkshire followed.
Beyond the football and netball itself, fundraising was very important in the early years and another very special contribution to the club success was made by Richard Halling, whose zeal and drive generated so much sponsorship from local businesses that Tring was able to host six-a-side competitions at Pound Meadow and the now legendary Donkey Derbies.
Amongst the celebrity guests were the likes of Heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper, the then Miss World [name] and many of the emerging TV celebrities from shows like Eastenders. Most famous of all though was the time when Red Rum came and was subsequently, briefly kidnapped causing a frantic horsehunt and resulting in a night in the cells for the cheeky perpetrator !!!
There is so much more to share, including Tornadoes hosted swimming galas, the tournaments on the plastic pitch at Luton Town and Playboy bunnies .....