EIGHT members of the original team and the joint founder Noel Watkin were back together for Pegasus Juniors Football Club's 50th anniversary celebration dinner at the Three Counties Hotel, Hereford.

It was a night for reminiscing for a club formed in 1955 to keep together a successful county schoolboys side who went on to provide the backbone for continued progress.

They took the name Pegasus from the famous Oxbridge amateur cup winners of the time and added Juniors to their title, together with adopting the winged horse as their badge.

And one of the originals, Jack Perks, who took over the leadership when schoolteacher Noel Watkin moved from the county, was presented with a glass figurine of the horse by the first captain, Colin Herbert, to mark his unstinting commitment to the club.

Billy Biston, on a visit from Australia, was also there to renew acquaintance with his old team-mates of 50 years ago, with John Price, Micky Fenn, John Boat, Brian Morgan and Bob Pasley making up the rest of the old guard.

Tributes to the club were paid in entertaining fashion from club president Paul Keetch, former FIFA referee Jim Finney, and past president Peter Hill, while figurehead Noel Watkin, now in his eighties, was able to recall the comradeship and sportsmanship which had developed from humble beginnings.

He had received messages of congratulations from two famous vice-presidents, Sir Norman Wisdom and Sir Bobby Robson, who said that the occasion was a tribute to all the people who had supported the club over the years.

"Living the game beyond the prize," would be an apt motto for Pegasus, added Sir Bobby.

Peter Hill concurred. "Team spirit is the foundation of your super club," he said.

l Pegasus Juniors, who were launched as a team of 15-year-olds into the Herefordshire Minor League in 1955, can now boast 12 teams through the age and skills groups.

Their senior side will start their 50th season in August as a well established fixture in the Hellenic League Premier Division.