We’ve had a letter! Well an email. From Canada no less and it is one looking for information on the Eastern Park Rangers side of the 1970s.
The email is from Alex Sehota and contains the picture above which we presume was taken at Palmer Park although it’d be difficult to ascertain that.
Alex writes: “I’m emailing you from Canada. I just came across this photo in old archives belonging to my uncle. I believe the team played near Cumberland Road, Reading and probably near an old Sikh temple (near Amity Rd); not sure if it even exists. But I’m not really sure.
“Any info you have about the Eastern Park Rangers would be terrific. Please share with any local historians that might remember them.”
There is certainly still a Sikh temple on Cumberland Road, the other side of the A329(M) from Palmer Park. The Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Reading is based at 30A – which is why we’ve made the assumption the photo is from Palmer Park itself.
We’re also curious as to which competition the team would have competed in.
Update from Steve Gabb:
Our own Steve Gabb has been delving into the online newspaper archives and picked up amongst other things a list of names for the picture at the top of the story.
Eastern Park Rangers played in the Reading Combination League Division Four, a precursor to the current Thames Valley Premier League, between 1973 and 1975. The lineup in the picture is back-row left to right: Kaser, Ali, G Sehota, Jaswant, Denser, Graham, Arif, H Sehota.
Front row left to right: Ahmed, Razzaqm Gursant, Khalil, Ajmer, Robinson.
According to the Reading Evening Post, the team dropped out of the league in 1975 due to a number of players moving out of the area and being unable to find replacements. The club secretary at the time Mohanjit Dogra said: “It’s very disappointing. We tried hard to find new players but without success.”
If you have any memories of the team, know anyone in it or have your own nostalgic queries, drop us a message in the comments below or send us an email.
