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Sixteen years
on the same
patch of grass
We started with a borrowed net and eleven kids who had nowhere else to go on a Tuesday. The ground has not moved since. Most of the rest has.
The story
How it
actually went
Nobody founded this club with a mission statement. It started because a school pitch sat empty four nights a week and somebody had a key.
In 2009 that somebody was Imran Qureshi, who put a net up on the council square and told eleven kids from his street to turn up at five. Eight of them did. The following year there were forty, and the year after that a parent asked whether we could do something for the ones who did not like cricket.
That question is the whole reason there are three sports here. Football came in 2012 because thirty kids wanted it. Taekwondo came in 2014 because Master Park walked onto the ground looking for a hall on Fridays and never left. We have never added a sport because it was strategic. We added them because somebody asked.
What has stayed constant is the money. Subs cover kit, pitch hire, insurance and match fees — nothing else. Two paid positions, both part-time. No shareholders, no franchise fee, and a set of accounts published every March that anyone can read.
Milestones
Sixteen seasons
-
2009
One net, eleven kids
Cricket only, Tuesdays, on a council square off Stadium Road. No affiliation, no insurance, no kit beyond what people brought from home.
-
2011
Affiliated & insured
Registered with the district cricket board and entered our first league. Forty players on the books and the first proper subs collection.
-
2012
Football starts
A parent asked, thirty kids signed up, and Danish Raza took the first session on a pitch we were not strictly allowed to use.
-
2014
The hall opens
Master Ji-Ho Park arrived looking for Friday space. Taekwondo has run every week since, including through both lockdowns, on a car park and then on Zoom.
-
2017
Charity registration
Formally constituted with a committee, a safeguarding policy and published accounts. Also the year we bought our own bowling machine.
-
2021
Girls' programme
Nine players in the first session. Fifty-one now. Sana Mahmood built it from a WhatsApp group and a lot of stubbornness.
-
2023
Indoor nets & sprung floor
A community grant paid for four indoor nets and a proper sprung floor in the hall. First winter we did not have to stop.
-
2025
380 players, 42 coaches
Eleven squads across three sports. Nineteen of the coaches were once players here, which is the number we are most pleased about.
We are not here to find the one. We are here for the other thirty
How we operate
Four rules we
do not bend
Everyone plays
No player travels to a fixture to sit and watch it. Squads rotate, minutes get shared, and a coach who benches a child all season has a conversation with the committee.
Nobody is priced out
Subs are set to cover costs, not to filter. There is a hardship fund, it is not advertised on the noticeboard, and it is used every single term.
Safety before results
Two first-aiders on site every session, a named welfare officer, and a safeguarding policy that parents can read on request rather than on demand.
Open books
Accounts published every March. Any member can ask what a line item was for and get an answer, including the ones we are not proud of.
The ground
What is
on site
- Two full-size grass football pitches, one floodlit
- Floodlit 5-a-side cage, open to members until 21:00
- Cricket square with two turf strips, rolled weekly in season
- Four artificial nets, two of them under cover
- Indoor hall with sprung floor and sixteen taekwondo mats
- Changing rooms, accessible toilets and a baby-change room
- Tea hut run by parents on match days — proceeds go to the hardship fund
- Free parking for forty cars, plus a covered bike rack
Honours
On the
board
- 2025District U16 Cricket League — Winners
- 2024Regional Taekwondo Poomsae — 3 golds, 5 silvers
- 2024County Youth Football Cup — Runners-up
- 2023Community Club of the Year, district award
- 2023District U14 Cricket League — Winners
- 2022Girls' Football Participation Award
- 2021Senior XI — Division 2 promotion
- 2019National Taekwondo Championships — 1 gold
A full record from 2009 onward is in the season handbook, including the years we finished bottom.
Governance
Who
runs it
A committee of seven, elected at the AGM each September: chair, treasurer, secretary, welfare officer and the three section heads. Two of the seven seats are reserved for parents, and one for a player aged sixteen to nineteen.
Everything material — subs, grants, appointments, disciplinary matters — goes through that committee. Minutes are circulated to members within two weeks.
Come and
have a look
Turn up on any training night. Nobody will ask you to sign anything on a first visit.