tffc'skitlending

Over the years, the Club has lent various playing kits to other teams in need for a variety of reasons, always free of charge but on the proviso that each set of borrowed kit is washed and returned intact! This article covers some of the Club's kit lending exploits and the stories behind them.
SEASON 1984/85
When TFFC's Chairman Nigel Kyte worked at Avon Cosmetics in Rayners Lane, he organised two five-a-side competitions held at a sports centre in Ruislip. Nigel's department was Typography (which looked after the production of the Avon brochures in eight languages) and his department was represented in the tournament. So when the time came for Typography to take part in the group stages, Nigel (pictured below kneeling in front of the goalkeeper) borrowed Temple Fortune's 1976 green and white shirts. In the first competition which he organised, Typography qualified for the knock-out section and reached the Final where they lost to a strong Finance team. Nigel was the leading goalscorer with 16 goals in seven games, including two hat-tricks and one five goal haul (against Marketing UK ladies in a group qualifier!) "We didn't have a great team by any accounts so to reach the Final was quite an achievement." he recalls. "Playing a ladies team in the group was good fun. They were given a 5–0 start in both games but Typography won 10–5 and 8–5 as far as I can remember. As for the Final, we did as well as we could but Finance were full of excellent players so it was a case of damage limitation!" In the other tournament Nigel borrowed Temple Fortune's 1980 red shirts and green shorts.

SEASON 2002/03
On Sunday 9th March 2003, Nigel Kyte was appointed to referee a Peter Morrison Trophy third round tie at Copthall Playing Fields between Golders Green and North West Neasden 'A'. The match was going to be an interesting affair with the possibility of a cup upset on the cards. Golders Green were high-flying in the MSFL Division Two whilst the visitors were reigning Premier Division champions. As both teams made their way to the muddy pitch closest to Copthall Stadium, it was obvious that there was a major problem. Both teams turned up wearing exactly the same colours! Issue 40 of 'e-tffc!' (as the emailed newsletter was then called), reported the story in full: "The Club had a big say in North West Neasden's 2-1 Peter Morrison Trophy victory against Division 2 side Golders Green at Copthall today. Both teams turned up in white shirts and blue shorts but luckily for them, the referee was Nigel Kyte. A quick phone call home brought the Club's General Secretary, Lynne, zooming to Copthall with a spare set of Temple Fortune shirts which certainly saved the day. With the match kicking off half an hour late, Neasden, the reigning MSFL Premier Division champions, just about managed to win thanks to a Golden Goal winner in extra time. One could say that with the MSFL Champions wearing a set of red and yellow striped Temple Fortune shirts, perhaps this is the nearest we have ever got to the Premier Division title! Incidently, those of you who log on to the Totally Jewish website – they sent a photographer to cover the match – will now know why you can see Temple Fortune shirts being worn in the Golders Green v North West Neasden tie!"
SEASON 2005/06
On 21st May 2006, the Reebok Stadium, home of Bolton Wanderers, staged the Maccabi Masters friendly match between 'veteran' teams from the North and the South. The North team featured players from Manchester, Leeds and Scotland, whilst the South side comprised of players from the London-based Maccabi Masters Football League. Steve Feiger, who played for Temple Fortune at the time, borrowed the Club's all-yellow Bekhors kit for the South team to use. Gary Bekhor and Ronnie Poole, who were also playing for the Club at the time, joined Steve on the coach trip up north for the match, which was played on a very wet and muddy pitch, refereed by MSFL official Laurence Thorne. The North won 5-3 after leading 2-0 at half-time. Steve Feiger (2) and EDRS Stonegrove's Tony Platman scored for the South. In the photo below, the Temple Fortune threesome can be seen leaving the pitch immediately after the final whistle. From left to right, mud-splattered Steve, Ronnie and Gary seem to have enjoyed the experience despite the result!
SEASON 2009/10
The next time TFFC kit had to be borrowed – although this time as a pre-arrangement – was on Wednesday 17th November 2007. Again Nigel was due to referee a match which this time was one of his University fixtures to be played at the University College London (UCL) sports ground in Shenley. With both UCL 1st XI and UCL 2nd XI wearing light blue, Nigel suggested bringing a set of shirts to use rather than bibs (which is never ideal for a competitive fxiture). UCL agreed and he brought along the yellow and navy Bekhor shirts which the 1st XI wore. The match itself was a fiesty affair, in keeping with UCL inter-club games at the highest level, and the teams evenly fought out a 2-2 draw. UCL 1st XI had the shirts washed in time for Nigel to collect on his next visit to the Shenley venue the following week.
SEASON 2011/12
Another opportunity arose where UCL needed a clash kit for a fixture between their 1st and 2nd teams on Wednesday 28th January. Played at the UCL ground, the 2nd XI wore one of TFFC's set of green and white vertical striped shirts again provided by Nigel. In another closely contested ULU Premier League match, UCL 1sts won by a single goal to nil scored in the first half. The seconds wore their usual white shorts and maroon socks with their borrowed clash shirts whilst the firsts adorned the traditional UCL sky blue and white. Below is a picture which Nigel took at half-time during the match.
SEASON 2014/15
When Nigel was appointed to referee Royal Vets College 1st XI v St George's Hospital 2nd XI at the RVC sports ground in North Mimms, he anticipated a colour clash because he knew that both teams wore green shirts. RVC only had a set of bibs to use so Nigel lent the home team the yellow Bekhors shirts. So on Wednesday 5th November 2014, he refereed what turned out to be an ill-tempered match, with seven cautions and two late sending offs, one per side. The difficult encounter finished as a 1–1 draw.
SEASON 2019/20
When the Hendon FC secretary contacted the TFFC chairman asking if he had a spare kit, Nigel was quick to help out the club he had supported since his teen years. The match was a hastily-arranged friendly held at Silver Jubilee Park on a cold Tuesday evening in February 2020 against ex-manager Gary McCann's Hampton & Richmond Borough. Nigel fished out the Bekhors kit – appropriately in green and white (Hendon's colours) and dropped the bag off at SJP. Below is Dave Diedhiou, the long-serving Hendon midfielder, wearing the TFFC kit prior to kick-off. The result was a 1–1 draw.
SEASON 2021/22
Over a number of years, Temple Fortune midfielder Michael Goldberg arranged numerous end-of-season matches at Premier League or Football League grounds. They included Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Southampton and Watford. For season 2021/22, he managed to hire Charlton Athletic's ground at The Valley between a team raised by himself against another side drawn from friends and football colleagues. In need of a kit, Michael borrowed the yellow Bekhors shirts, worn with yellow shorts and red and yellow/navy socks.
SEASON 2021/22
The MGBSFL agreed to play a representative match for Tuesday 24th May against the KOPA League (Cypriot Football League UK). It was the MGBSFL's first inter-league rep match for many years, after they 'won' the final of the London FA Inter-league Cup but were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. The League disbanded the rep team after suffering the shame of having the result reversed, which was dreadfully embarrasing for London FC Vice-Chairman David Wolff at the time. It was he who asked Nigel to borrow a TFFC kit and they received a set of the 2020/21 yellow and red striped shirts, worn with navy shorts and navy and yellow socks from the Second Team's 2021/22 kit. Played at Haringey Borough FC's 3G pitch under floodlights, the KOPA League beat the MGBSFL by 3-2. Shown below is the MGBSFL rep side prior to the match looking very dapper in TFFC playing kit!