Burghfield F.C.
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| Full name | Burghfield Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Fielders | ||
| Founded | 1989 | ||
| Chairman | Luke Bishop | ||
| Manager | Steve Melledew Jnr | ||
| League | Thames Valley Premier Football League | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
|
| |||
Burghfield Football Club is a football club based in Burghfield, West Berkshire, England. The club's Men's First Team are currently members of the Thames Valley Premier League Premier Division (the eleventh level of the English football league system) and play at Burghfield Recreation Ground.
History[edit]
Formation and early years (1989–1999)[edit]
Originally named Burghfield Boys Football Club, the club was founded in 1989 by a group of local parents, keen to start a football team for their sons within the village.
The early years saw teams entered into the South Chiltern Minor League, with home fixtures taking place at The Civil Service Club in Burghfield and The Willink School. The club adopted royal blue and white as the colour of their kit, to match Reading F.C, who many of the original club founders supported.
Change of name and growth of the club (1999–2017)[edit]
The F.A. announced plans to transform football for children in September 1999, with the introduction of mini soccer to bridge the gap between youth development and full football rules. This change allowed the club to grow further, with the introduction of age groups as young as Under 5's encouraged to develop their skills and get involved in football during weekly training sessions.
In July 2000 the club was renamed "Burghfield Football Club" to better reflect the activities of the club and to acknowledge the increasing popularity of girls' football at the time.
This was shortly followed by the introduction of senior open-aged teams, with both Saturday and Sunday men's teams formed as the club continued to grow.
With the increased growth of age groups across the club, this bought more sponsorship opportunities, with the likes of Bovis Homes[1] and Porsche[2] helping to support the club over the years.
Thames Valley Premier League football and beyond (2017–present)[edit]
As the men's Saturday First Team developed, they were soon promoted to the Thames Valley Premier League top division, finishing as runners up in Division One in the 2017/18 season,[3] after claiming the Division Two title the previous season with 16 wins from their 20 league fixtures.[4] This promotion meant the club were now operating at Step 7 in the football pyramid, a position that remains to the present day, although this has now been re-designated as a "Regional Feeder League" of the English Football League system.
During the 2019/20 season, the clubs Men's Sunday First Team progressed to the final of the Tilehurst Charity Cup, with the match against Emmer Green originally scheduled to be played at Reading F.C's Madejski Stadium in May 2020. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the match was eventually rescheduled and played at Reading City F.C's Rivermoor Stadium in September 2020, with the club lifting the trophy following a 3-1 victory.[5]
This victory paved the way for the club to compete in the F.A Sunday Cup, the country's biggest national Sunday League knockout tournament, the following year,[6] with the team progressing to the last 16[7][8][9] before suffering defeat away to Highgate Albion.[10][11]
The 2021/22 season saw the introduction of the club's first women's team[12] - a long-held ambition of the Burghfield Football Club committee - with Burghfield Ladies competing in the Thames Valley Counties Women's Football League Development Division.
In January 2022 the club announced plans to enter a third men's Saturday team into Thames Valley Premier League from the beginning of the 2022/23 season.
Ground[edit]
The Men's First Team play at Burghfield Recreation Ground in Burghfield Common.
The club also have a number of other venues that host other senior sides, as well the large number of youth teams that are part of the club. These include Burghfield Community Sports Association, Willink School and Mortimer West End Cricket Club.
The club maintain a long-held ambition to establish a dedicated home location that could host all of the clubs teams as well as providing a space that can be also be used by schools and the local community.
Crest[edit]
The original club crest featured a football with a crown on top of it, and four stars around the outside. The club named also appeared in Comic Sans font on the crest.
In 2019 a 30th anniversary version of the crest appeared, that featured a banner underneath it that read '1989-2019 30 Years of Burghfield FC'.
At the start of 2022, the club revealed a new crest,[13] with a significant nod to the history of the local area, featuring the original Mrs Blands School Bell - a large Japanese temple bell dating back to 1746[14] - previously owned by Horatio Bland, who lived in Burghfield Common in the late 19th century.
Honours[edit]
Senior Honours[edit]
- Thames Valley Premier League Division 2 Champions
- Saturday Firsts 2016/17
- Reading Invitational Challenge Cup Winners
- Saturday Firsts 2015/16
- Reading & District Sunday League Division 4 Champions
- Sunday Reserves 2018/19
- Division 2 Champions
- Mens 2011/12, Mens Reserves 2014/15
- Treasurer's Cup
- Sunday Mens 2010/11
- Tilehurst Charity Cup
- Sunday Firsts 2019/20
- Thames Valley Premier League Division 4 Champions
- Saturday Reserves 2020/21
Youth Honours[edit]
- East Berkshire Football Alliance Division Champions
- U14's 2011/12, U15's 2016/17, U17's 2016/17
- Berkshire Youth Development League Division Champions
- U16's 2011/12
- South Chiltern Minor League Division Champions
- U13's 2013/14
- South Chiltern Minor League Cup Winners
- U18's 2011/12
- North East Hampshire Youth League Division 1 Champions
- U17's 2015/16
- Reading Chronicle Cup Winners
- U13's 2013/14
- Ash Trophy Winners
- U17's 2015/16
- Windsor Shield Winners
- U15's 2018/19
- Cup Winners
- U18's 2017/18, U12's 2017/18
- Division 2 Champions
- U14's 2014/15
Other Notable Honours[edit]
- FA Charter Standard Club of the Year 2013/14
References[edit]
- ↑ Burghfield FC Under 9's Have New Kits Thanks to Bovis Homes Reading Chronicle
- ↑ Porsche Centre Reading Sponsor Burghfield U11's Football Team Porsche Reading
- ↑ Thames Valley Premier League 2017/18 season fchd.info
- ↑ Thames Valley Premier League 2016/17 season fchd.info
- ↑ Sunday Firsts win Tilehurst Charity Cup Burghfield FC
- ↑ Burghfield Aim to Emulate Legendary Theale Side in FA Sunday Cup Football in Berkshire
- ↑ Burghfield Progress in F.A Sunday Cup After Late Winner Newbury Today
- ↑ Burghfield Hand Singh Sabha Last Minute Heartbreak in F.A Sunday Cup Maidenhead Advertiser
- ↑ Burghfield Cruise into F.A Sunday Cup Last 16 Newbury Today
- ↑ F.A Sunday National Cup Round 3 - Highgate Albion v Burghfield YouTube
- ↑ Albion Steam into Next Round of the F.A Sunday Cup Camden New Journal
- ↑ Burghfield Ladies to Debut in the TVCWFL for the 2021/22 Season Football in Berkshire
- ↑ Burghfield FC Start 2022 With a Fresh New Look Football in Berkshire
- ↑ Temple Bell Ashmolean Museum online collections. Retrieved 2021-03-05
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 51°23′45″N 1°03′51″W / 51.395905°N 1.064274°W
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