Sporting Nottscops

Do you remember the yellow pages of Weekly Orders? Long before W.O.s were published electronically they came out in printed format and up to the middle 1980s came in three separately coloured parts stapled together. Part One was printed on white paper and comprised all the boring new procedures and ways of doing things. Part Two was the bit that everyone read first as it had all the moves, promotions, deaths, discipline hearings and everything else that we all had a morbid interest in. But right at the back was the yellow Part Three section – Sporting Fixtures. In those days police officers and police staff could take paid time off to indulge in competitive sport usually with other police forces or worthy opponents. So, “subject to exergencies of duty”, whatever that meant!….the Force Angling Team could enjoy a lazy afternoon on some peaceful riverbank while their colleagues back at the station were working.

I often wondered if I was missing out somewhere here. Maye I should have taken up bowls. The only condition of “creams must be worn” seemed only a small price to pay for a sunny afternoon’s sporting pursuit. The problem was, I was always useless at sport. At school I’d do anything to get out of that kind of thing, often resorting to writing a note from my mum to get me out of running around in shorts and rubgy shirt in minus zero temperatures. With that track record, I could hardly expect to represent the force at sport.

As time went on, the force found it impossible to justify and sustain time off for sport, especially during the times of the Miners’ Strike. Sport on duty disappeared forever, as did Part Three Weekly Orders.

However, Nottscops have always worked hard – and played hard- either in duty time or off, as these photographs show.

Hyson Green Football Club circa 1985	City Judo Team 1960s	Newark Borough Football Team 1931
Newark Borough Lifesaving Team 1935	TD(N) Sunday League Team	Force Support Football Team 1986/ 1987
Notts Police Thursday Side	Traffic It's a Knockout Team	Cop Drive