Singing The Blues? No, Tommy Steele played football with the Blues!

Here’s a team photo to challenge celebrity-spotters.
The Showbiz XI at Dunstable Town FCThe Showbiz XI at Dunstable Town FC
The Showbiz XI at Dunstable Town FC

It seems to have been taken at Dunstable Town FC’s ground at Kingsway in, we guess, early 1964 or late 1963...long before the club moved to Creasey Park and reached the Premier Division of the Southern League.

But it’s not a picture of the Blues – it shows the Showbiz XI, a charity football team formed in 1957 by famous faces of the time.

It toured the country, playing local teams and attracting large crowds.

So who do you recognise in this photo?

We’ve come up with a few names, but we admit defeat over some of the others.

The team captain, in the foreground, is Harry Fowler, a chirpy actor who appeared in hundreds of films, ranging from Lucky Jim to Lawrence Of Arabia.

Singer Tommy Steele, who had a chart hit with Singing The Blues, is readily spotted, second from the left, and we also think we recognise actor Andrew Ray (Ted’s son), singer Kenny Lynch and Ronnie Carroll (of Eurovision Song Contest fame).

Further input from readers would be welcome, especially to ensure that we have identified the right ground! Dunstable Town FC now has a smart new clubhouse and facilities at Creasey Park and has just welcomed a new chairman, John McLoughlin, who has taken over from Roger Dance.

> Yesteryear is compiled by John Buckledee, chairman of Dunstable and District Local History Society.