CLUB HISTORY

UNCERTAIN BEGINNINGS

The wise elders all consent that it was on some doubtless sunny day back in 1980 that the then budding Software institution called Logica diversified into the more attractive and successful field of Association Football.

Of course some players had careers before Logica FC was invented; here Read elegantly passes an opponent at pace in an amateur match in the 1930's.
One can imagine a bespectacled and bushy-bearded genius with an IQ approaching four figures hand-crafting some elegant assembler code in the depths of Henrietta House, aided only by a pencil and a printed logarithmic table. As the tape-drives whirred on the front of a wardrobe-sized mainframe, this pioneer would suddenly and dramatically have laid down his chisel, as a dream of emulating Willie Young consumed his thoughts. A tone of stereotype-challenging defiance is almost audible as this unknown visionary stood, banged his fist on the desk, and expostulated, "Why not?!"

It can surely only have been a matter of weeks before such design had been compiled into reality, and the first hendectet of budding footballers entered the arena under the collective moniker of "Logica" (although if subsequent history is anything to go by, they perhaps numbered ten, nine or even eight). The identity of both the founding father and the arena for this inaugural kick-about has not been handed down to posterity. However, if a blue plaque is to be placed anywhere, the mythological Regents Park would be the bookies favourite. With its proximity to those early yellow-cubed offices along Newman Street and the Great Streets of Portland and Marlborough, it was a regular home for the Logica club as late as 1988.

Those early Logica pioneers boasted great technique. Here Grassie, under pressure, traps the ball with aplomb.
Although the man suffering the first selection headaches has baffled historians, the identities of the first two Supremos in the modern sense are well known. Richard Price is recorded as the first man to don the Logical Sheepskin, whilst footballing legend Pete Maddigan briefly took over the reins following the inaugural board-room vote of confidence.

Other than this, all that is certain is the uncertainty that pervaded Logica Football Club's early childhood. In 1988, many sepia-tinged statistical parchments recording the club's nascent footballing successes were lost in a suspicious fire at the luxury penthouse flat of club mandarin Graham Read (either that or they were mislaid in an office move). As a result, the nature of the competition and the personnel involved in the first few years remains unclear.

The picture from 1984 onwards is far less hazy, as the central characters wisely opted to chronicle their exploits before senility and the accompanying memory-loss set in. This is how they would have us believe the club reached early maturity (younger readers may care to note that in the 1980's, creativity amongst IT professionals was a valued commodity):

"A long time ago on a playing field far, far away two young graduates teamed up for the first time, unwittingly creating the foundation on which a dynasty would be built."

Logica's very own Stanley Matthews had touch and vision.
"The score that day was 3-1 with two goals from Kevin Spence and one from Malcolm Dick. This was the start of a free-scoring partnership that would soon bring Logica its first ever trophy. One could, indeed, identify it as the Matthews/Mortensen of Logica: the partnership against which all others will come to be judged."

"The club captain that day, the first that we have memory of, was Richard Price who very soon passed the flame to Pete 'Mad Dog' Maddigan, who juggled with it briefly before sliding it onto the desk of one of those young graduates along with a file of paper and briefly whispered best wishes."

"The file probably contained a list of the willing and details of the Summer Computer League the annual competition for computer and computing related sides sponsored at the time by Apex the recruitment consultants. For here on memories become confused and events as well as characters may very well become conflated (a word which here means confused and very probably made up)."

The Logica Way was on its way.