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ROYAL RESTORATION T HE R OYAL O AK IS BACK IN SENIOR FOOTBALL . P AUL C LAYDON REPORTS The Royal Oak in 2018 Photo: Paul Claydon The year of 2018 has marked several milestones for Harwich & Parkeston: 120 years since moving to the Royal Oak; 70 years since the opening of the main stand; 65 years since play- ing in front of 100,000 at Wembley; and 50 years since the floodlights were first switched on. The most significant development of 2018 however was the return of the club to sen- ior football following a period during which it seemed likely that both the club and ground may disappear forever. Founded in 1875 as Harwich (not 1877 as originally thought), the club first played on Bar- rack Field before merging with, and moving in with, Parkeston in 1889. In 1894 they moved to Phoenix Park, a location so close to the coast that balls often had to be retrieved from the sea during games. To enable the taking of a gate, in 1898 the club secured a lease on what was then known as Moran’s Meadow, a rough field that had a cartway running across it to nearby farm buildings. Being adjacent to the nearby Royal Oak pub- lic house, the ground soon became known by the same name. Right: A team group dated 1895, possibly taken at the Phoenix Park ground www.groundtastic.co.uk | Facebook/Groundtastic | Twitter@groundtastic 3