Orpington relishing return of an old boxing club with great history

A boxing club with a proud history dating back more than a century, has been revived, having seemingly been consigned to oblivion through lack of funds 11 years ago.

The Orpington & District Amateur Boxing Club has been set up again at Chatsworth Parade in Pettswood, and chairman Oliver Watson aims to restore it to its former glory.

Originally established in 1912 as the Orpington Lads Club by the St Mary Cray Scout Troop, the club aimed to support underprivileged young men in the Orpington area.

In 1936, Jack Doyle built a boxing centre in Orpington in Lagoon Road which played a pivotal part of the development of Orpington ABC.

That year, the British Olympic Boxing team, team GB trained at the centre ahead of the Berlin games and amateur boxers from Orpington & District ABC helped assist in the training.

Orpington Lads Club changed its name to Orpington Boys Club in 1949. The club was based then at 93 High Street Orpington and was under the guidance of former professional boxer Harry Taylor, who introduced the Taylor’s Cup.

During World War II, the club temporarily closed its doors, as many institutions did during that time. After the war there were four clubs in Orpington: Cray Valley Boxing Club, Orpington Boys Club, Chelsfield Valley Junior Boxing Club and Orpington & District Boxing Club.

Taylor was the coach at Cray Valley, Orpington & District ABC and Orpington boys club. Come 1950, all clubs would come under the name Orpington & District ABC.

The club has produced notable amateur champions like Jimmy Cable, Albert Hillman and Mark Baker. Additionally, it has garnered the highest number of Kent, Southern Counties, and London Champions titles, further solidifying its reputation as a successful and influential club.

From 1962 to 1980,Orpington & District ABC won a record number of schoolboy titles in Kent. The club also hosted the Kent and Southern Counties schoolboy championships.

The club continued to operate throughout the 80s and 90s, albeit at different locations, and merged with the Sir Winston Churchill Boxing Club and the Spitfire Boxing Club in Bigginhill.

But the club continued to produce national champions, such as Robert Stacey and Mark Baker, as well as regional boxers like Neville Smith, Dean Philp, Justin Worrel, Ian Tebbit, and Mark Dalton.

The club faced challenges in the 1990s when the Royal Standard pub in Westerham closed, resulting in the closure of all three clubs: Spitfire, Sir Winston Churchill, and Orpington ABC. But it revived again before cash concerns caused it to fold, seemingly irrevocably, in 2013.

That was until April of this year, when Orpington & District ABC reopened its doors in Pettswood, with a 15-year lease to operate at its new location and is now run by ex-boxers and family members of the original club.

The club’s motto is ‘progredior’ (to make progress, advance, develop, proceed, go on) and that aim endures under the guidance of Mr Oliver, vice president Chris Gale, Tim Langridge and Simon Daniels, and coaches Mick Houseagoo and Cameron O’Callaghan.

Pictured top: Past pugilists at the Orpington club: Alf Reilly reformed Orpington & District ABC at the sea cadet hall 1962, with Rob, Pete, Pat and Jim Reilly his sons in the photo  (All images: Orpington & District ABC)