Sport Ventures
The Stamford House Cricket Club was formed shortly after the Great War. Fred Salisbury, who retired as a director of the company, was the first Secretary and matches were played on hired pitches at Dulwich. Rumour has it in those days Sainsbury's cricketers were as famed for their sharpness out on the crease as they were for the sharpness in their impeccable cricketing whites.
Sainsbury’s established their own Sports club in 1922 for its staff. The Griffin Athletic Club grew from just football and cricket to cover tennis, bowls, hockey, netball, swimming and darts. One of the Griffin Club members in 1920s was Alfred Earl, he took part in many sporting activities such as football, cricket, darts and his achievements & awards are described in the staff magazine - Alfred comes up stumps!
There were different activities offered for branch staff such as darts competitions and swimming galas, and The Griffin Athletic Club saw more and better use being made of the facilities. At the outbreak of World War Two, the ground at Dulwich was closed and it was on a care & maintenance basis for almost six years. The end of the war set the club new targets as the company acquired the lease of the neighbouring tennis courts, and this area had to be incorporated into the club grounds.
Football was always getting lots of support. In some seasons towards the end of the 1930s as many as 40 football teams took part in league competitions within the firm.
Teams also took part in London Business Houses and Southern League competitions. The Sainsbury Cup was competed for by all sections and the final, played on Good Friday, was a popular event. The archive has amazing footage that captures a Cup Final game on 21st March 1964 between Griffin Q Section (Sainsbury’s staff) and London Transport team, Chiswick – Football Fever.
The Sainsbury's Staff Association was established in 1947 with the Griffin club became an important part of this larger organisation. One of the notable achievements of the Griffin was to produce a weekly paper. The paper carried news of Griffin sections, of sports, dramatics, socials and published articles of general interest. It had correspondents throughout the company and an enthusiastic staff of volunteer journalists who put it to bed every Wednesday.
Griffing club papers can be seen here.
Sports Days were the high spots of the years’ events at Dulwich. They were cheerful, well attended gatherings of Sainsbury's staff, their friends and family. The first JS Gala Day was held at the Dulwich sports ground on Whit Monday, 1923. It featured side shows and a cricket match.
There’s a fabulous array of wonderful pictures and events asscociated with the Griffin Athletic Club in the staff magazine JS Journal – Sporting Times.
In 1953, the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, there was a special Coronation Fête at Sainsbury’s sports ground in Dulwich. Over 1280 people came and took part in sporting events and the fun of the fair.
Family fetes were held at the Dulwich grounds until 1963, it continued to host smaller scale family and sporting events beyond that.
June 18th 1978 saw the first national Sainsbury’s Family Day. It was organised by the Sainsbury's Staff Association and social and sports events took place at both the Dulwich ground and the adjacent Herne Hill stadium. 12,000 people turned up on the day. There were many events including a waterchute marathon, wheelbarrow races and of course egg & spoon races for the children.
In 1979, over 13,000 staff and their families attended another sports packed weekend. There were 150 football teams for the five-a-side contest, and about 40 teams for the netball competition. By, 1981, the Staff Association Family Day was attracting nearly 20,000 visitors, and the footaball competition hosted over 200 teams.
The last Family Day was held at Dulwich in 1988, as it became harder to host a company-wide event in London. By 1990, the decisions was made to close the Dulwich sports ground.
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