Hengrove Athletic v Cadbury Heath 26th August

“THE GROVE”

Official matchday programme of Hengrove Athletic F.C

Toolstation Western League’s

“Best Programme - Division One” 2022/23

Toolstation Western League Division 1

Hengrove Athletic v Cadbury Heath

Saturday 26th August 2023 3.00pm

Issue: 5

Hengrove Athletic Football Club

Founded 1948 - celebrating our 75th anniversary this season

Main club sponsor for season 2023-24 - AVB Commercial Vehicle Repairs

Club Officials Club Honours

Chairman Mike Greatbanks Alf Bosley Cup winners

Treasurer Mike Greatbanks 1958/59, 1963/64

Secretary/Media Martin McConachie Somerset Junior Cup winners

Groundsman Dave Fear 1964/65

First Team Manager Jamie Hillman

Somerset League Cup winners

Asst. Manager Jon Berry 1979/80

Coach Ian Jones Somerset Senior Cup winners

Coach Mike Stone 1979/80

Physiotherapist Matt Taylor Promoted to Som. County Prem.

Kit Manager Pete Stenner 1995/96

Somerset Senior Cup runners-up

Reserve Manager Sean Day 2003/04, 2004/05

Asst. Manager Nilton Crane Som. County Premier winners

U18’s Manager Alex Sully 2005/06

Western League Div 1 runners-up

Club Committee Jon Berry 2012/13, 2016/17

Alan Burton Nilton Crane Les Phillips Cup winners

Sean Day Dave Fear 2015/16

Mike Greatbanks Jamie Hillman

Ian Jones

Giorgio Mancini

Martin McConachie Pete Stenner

Bristol u18 Comb Div 1 winners

2021/22

Bristol u18 Comb. Plate winners

Mike Stone Alex Sully 2021/22

The AVB Stadium, Norton Lane, Whitchurch, Bristol BS14 0BT

Good afternoon everyone,

Today, we offer a warm welcome to the players, officials & supporters of our opposition Cadbury Heath as well as our match officials too. We hope that they all enjoy their brief stay in the village and have a safe journey home too.

Today’s visitors arrive in BS14 having recorded a victory in midweek, 1-0 over local rivals Keynsham Town. They, like us, have had a mixed start to the season and in fact sit just one point behind us in the table having played a game less, having dropped down from the Premier Division this summer.

And speaking of Cadbury Heath, can we draw your attention to a very special game they are hosting on Bank Holiday Monday? A team of Heath legends managed by Andy Black will be taking on a combined Bristol City/Bristol Rovers Legends XI whose manager will be Ian Holloway. The match is being staged in memory of Heath’s “El Presidente” Terry Mitchell who sadly passed last year. Terry was himself a legend at the club and Ian is his son-in-law so it will be a fantastic afternoon out for all the family. Fun starts at 1pm, the game starts at 2pm.

Our under-18’s kicked off their season with a fabulous win last week in the FA Youth Cup. Sonny Parker struck four times in an 11-3 win at Cheddar then promptly scored twice more, including the winner, for the first team against Radstock in the League on Saturday. I’m sure he’s had worse weeks...

After this week, the fixtures settle down a bit with a couple of weeks with no midweek games. The pace for everyone at the club has been relentless, especially at home where we have completed more than 25% of our games here already and it’s still August. Thank goodness for a slight break then.

Finally, good luck to Sean and Nilton who kick off their Bristol & Suburban League season with a Cup match at Winscombe next Saturday, 2nd September.

Best wishes and enjoy the game.

Martin McConachie (Secretary)

Saturday 2nd September 2023

FA Vase First Round Qualifying

AEK Boco v Tuffley Rovers

Axminster v Street

Bishop Sutton v Wadebridge Town

Bitton v Nailsea & Tickenham United

Cheddar v Torridgeside

Dobwalls v St Blazey

Falmouth Town v Honiton

Gillingham Town v Fareham Town

Keynsham Town v Longlevens

Oldland Abbotonians v Brislington

Portishead Town v Berks County

Saltash United v Radstock Town

Shirehampton v Wantage

Stonehouse Town v Odd Down (Bath)

Wellington v Okehampton Argyle

Welton Rovers v Wells City

Toolstation Western League

Premier Division Division One

Barnstaple Town v Bridgwater United Bristol Telephones v Wincanton

Buckland Athletic v Clevedon Town Hallen v Longwell Green Sports

Helston Athletic v Millbrook

Shepton Mallet v Brixham

Torpoint Athletic v Ilfracombe Town

Hengrove Athletic v Cadbury H

Warminster Town v Middlezoy R

HENGROVE ATHLETIC STATS 2023/24

(max 8 games, up to & inc 22nd Aug 2023)

PLAYER SPONSORS 2023/24 SEASON

Jack Cousins

Lewis Bond-Kendall

Regan Sollars

Rohan Hartrey

Dylan Powell

Louie Davies

PLAYER SPONSORS 2023/24 SEASON

If you would like to sponsor a first team player, please email secretary@hengroveathletic.com with your logo and which player you’d like to sponsor.

The cost is £50 for the season and your name will appear alongside the player’s name in the online matchday programme.

Thank you for your generosity.

Aidan Jones

Ben Britton

Jacob Wylde

THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD SPONSORS

If you would like to join our board sponsors, please call Martin McConachie on 07432 614494 or email secretary@hengroveathletic.com for further details.

The cost is £250 for the first year (including a one-off manufacture cost of £100) then £100 per year thereafter. This includes adverts on our website and in the programme.

Top To Toe Physiotherapy

Abacus Waste Management

D C Windows

Covertek Ben’s Reclamation & Demolition

E R & B Print

Belvedere Building & Plumbing AVB Commercial Vehicle Repairs

Avon Hydraulics (UK) Ltd AVPI Apollo Cleaning Solutions

Under-18’s - the new season begins...

WESTERN COUNTIES FLOODLIGHT YOUTH LEAGUE

Almondsbury

Bishop Sutton

Brislington

Bristol Telephones

Hengrove Athletic

Longwell Green

Oldland Abbots

Reserves - the new season begins...

BRISTOL & SUBURBAN LEAGUE SENIOR DIVISION

Hengrove Athletic FC

Green shirts, Green shorts & White socks

Ben BRITTON

Jackson BROWN

Regan BURTON

Jack COUSINS

Taylor DOYLE

Louie FARROW

Jacob GRINNELL

Ethan HARDY

Rohan HARTREY

Harvey IMPEY

Aidan JONES

Jack JONES

Connor KINGDON

Giorgio MANCINI

Jude McCARTHY

Mickey PARSONS

Dylan POWELL

Pete SHEPPARD

Regan SOLLARS

Oscar SULLIVAN

Manager Jamie HILLMAN

Asst. Manager

Coaches

Physio

Jon BERRY

Ian JONES

Mike STONE

Matt TAYLOR

Referee

John REED

SQUADS

Cadbury Heath FC

Red shirts, Red shorts & Red socks

Mason HAWKINS

Finley GRIFFITHS

Ali BOYER

Will BOYER

Joe CHANDLER

Zac CHEETHAM

Theo COX

Billy FLETCHER

Harry GOLDSPINK

Josh HAYNES

Lewis HEDGES

Louis HOLDEN

Matt HUXLEY

Matthew ISAACS

Miles SCOTT

Joe SMITH

Ethan SPENCER

Callum WHOOLEY

Dan WINSTONE

Tom WITHERS

Manager George BOON

Asst. Manager Aaron DAY

Coaches Matt HUXLEY

Grant EVANS

A D B U R Y H E A T H

Physio

Richard THOMPSON

Assistants

Andrew DAVEY

Damon McELLIN

The Club was first established in 1894 by Cadbury Heath Adult School (later to be known as Cadbury Heath Primary School) when Cadbury Heath was just a little narrow, one-street village, way outside the boundaries of Bristol.

Our first pitch was situated at Mill Lane, changing in the Social Club and heating up water for tin baths. With a break for the War years, and the transferring to what is now Coronation Park, we progressed from the Bristol & District League to Division Two of the Bristol Premier Combination, and then to Division One in 1961, after winning the GFA Junior Cup in 1950. In the 60’s the team (only a first team then) built their own baths at the Social Club.

This period of success coincided with the renting of our present ground – Springfield – for £10 per annum from a local farmer and President Jim Warner. This was then an open pasture land with cows, a rope had to be put around the playing area. It had no Electricity Water or Drainage. The tea bar was a garden shed. The offer to purchase for £250 was short-sighted declined, as the field was later sold as part of major development land and only intense lobbying led by the then Chairman, Mike Packer persuaded the Council to allocate Springfield as part of Public Open Space leased to the Football Club for dual use. This has meant that we have not been entirely masters of our own destiny.

Even so, Gloucestershire County League Championship in 1971-72, 1972-73, 73 74 and runners up 74/75 at the same time winning the GFA Senior Amateur Cup in 1972/73 73/74 and 1974-75, under Ralph Miller’s Management. The success pushed the club into joining the Midland Combination after being turned down by the Western League due to the dressing rooms being situated too far from the pitch (what is now the Social Club bottle store). A stand was built for the requirement of the Midland Combination (with tea bar).

After finishing fifth and reaching the quarter finals of the FA Vase with a crowd of 2,000 at Springfield, and more listening live on local Radio Bristol for the tie against Billericay Town from Essex, the Manager left after a disagreement with the committee, and took most of the players, to Cinderford Town. This shook the club to the core, we were relegated and had to drop two divisions to the Avon Premier Combination (we were founder members) there was no `Pyramid System’ in force.

A slow recovery took place, half time rooms being built, then a terrapin to provide on-pitch dressing rooms, taking advantage of newly laid drains for the new houses, a water supply, and electricity for training floodlights.

Elected back into the Gloucestershire County League in 1984 a reserve team was started in 1988 ran by John Clarke formed from CHYMCA the first team finished as runners-up in the County League in 1990. The managers in this period were Bob Williams, Dave Pitman, Les Allan, John Harris, Andy Stone, Keith Cottrell, Brian Knighton, Mike Ratcliffe, and Chris Stone. We celebrated our Centenary by winning the League Championship for the fifth time in 1994, under the consistent management of Brian Knighton, and we continued to dominate the league again.

Continued improvement on and off the field saw new dressing rooms built on the ground in 1997, a youth academy started under Malcolm Knowlson and a new terrapin replaced the one for the youth section formed from an amalgamation with local youth football club, Grimsbury Rangers. After winning the Gloucestershire County League for a record sixth time, under the management of Andy Black, an application to join the Western League was again turned down due to the lack of a fence. Andy then left the club to join Bitton & Steve Plenty was appointed Manager along with Lee Knighton.

After a public open meeting and a long battle with the Council, the fence was finally erected at a cost of £15,000 funded by Cadbury Heath Football Club. Steve and Lee’s first season in charge got runners up spot, of which consequently secured our election to the Toolstation Western League at long last!

After two seasons in charge, Steve Plenty stood down due to family commitments and Lee Knighton took over the hot seat for a season and then the reigns were handed over to his assistant, Glenn Smart, who consolidated our position for four seasons. Lee Knighton took over as First Team Manager for his second spell and appointed Andy Weeks as his assistant in season 2005/6, also that year Steve Plenty became Chairman when Dave Smart stood down.

After five years of planning tribulations Floodlights were successfully installed at the end of season 2008/2009 this being Phase one of Heaths redevelopment plan, being largely due to the efforts of Chairman Steve Plenty. The Heath and The Social Club went their separate ways in season 2011/12. Andy Black joined the club for his third spell in season 2010/11 appointing Glenn Smart as his assistant culminating in the first division championship and promotion to the Premier Div. in season 2011/12. Then followed two good seasons in the premier division with the last two seasons being a period of trying to rebuild the side after most of the original players either retiring or moving on to higher level football.

Phase two, is in the planning stage which is for a new dressing room facility incorporating a new clubhouse & new 100 seat stand with a covered area for a further 100. During season 2015-2016 Roger Coke joined the club as coach. Season 2016-2017 started with a new first team coach Phillip Bater Ex Bristol Rovers and the introduction of a U18 side who will be playing in the Bristol & Glos U18 league. Mid season Rob Mallett joined the coaching staff to assist Andy Black. First team won the GFA Challenge Trophy beating Fairfield Town 4-3 0n penalties.

At the end of the season Andy Black resigned as manager and became director of football. Season 2017-2018, Rob Mallett was appointed first team manager; he was then succeeded by Andy Black returning. For the 2019/20 season, Andy was assisted by his brother John but during the season, Mitchell Hodge took over but the season was declared null and void after COVID-19 arrived on the shores. Season 2020-21 also ended early due to a second & third wave of the virus and regular lockdowns forced the season to be curtailed again. For the 2021-22 season, a three strong managerial team of David Doe, Matt Huxley and George Boon secured a Premier Division berth once again but the side dropped into the First Division at the end of the 2022/23 season.

184 Wells Road, Knowle, Bristol, BS4 2DL

Shaftesbury Park, Frenchay Park Road, Winterbourne, BS16 1LG

Prior Park College Sports Complex, Ralph Allen Drive, Bath BA2 5AH

Hengrove Athletic Football Club is renowned within the local leagues and amongst match officials for offering a warm, friendly welcome and top notch hospitality. The ground itself, the AVB Stadium, is pleasant and offers superb views of Bristol as well as the peace and quiet of the country. It’s a lovely place to watch a game of football! Here at the club, the last few seasons have been very successful and as a result, we are looking for people to join the team. Not the one ON the pitch that has won two promotions and a Les Phillips Cup in the last ten years but the one OFF IT; the team behind the team if you like.

We are looking for anyone that feels they can make a contribution to the club. On matchdays, it could be serving refreshments and food, selling raffle tickets, working on the front gate or helping to tidy up after the game. You’ll get to watch the football free of charge of course but better still, you’ll be joining a small team of dedicated hard working volunteers that make this club very special.

On non-matchdays, there are other jobs that need doing such as strimming, painting, cleaning, weeding and brushing. You name it, we need to do it! However with only a small band of willing helpers, we can always do with a little more help, no matter how many hours you can give up. If you feel this is you, please email the chairman Mike Greatbanks at michael.greatbanks@btconnect.com or call him on 07884 492217. And thank you!

Supporting the club...

There are several more ways of getting your company name out there that we can help you with. Perimeter banners, perimeter boards, programme advertising, website advertising.. they are all available within the club.

Perimeter Boards are one option that many companies have chosen recently. Match action pictures often appear online either on websites or social media so your company board could be seen regularly as well as those who attend the match.

Perimeter boards cost £250 for the first year (including a one-off manufacturing charge of £100) then cost £100 a year thereafter.

Perimeter Banners are a similar option but made from a hard wearing fabric. The same size as a board (2.4m x 915mm or 8’ x 3’), they cost £200 (including a one off manufacturing charge of £75) then cost £100 a year thereafter.

Programme Advertising has also proven popular in recent seasons. After having “gone online” in recent seasons, the club have decided to go back to printing a copy for its supporters, a popular move with many non-league fans too.

Advertising costs just £100 for a full page (A5) or £50 for a half page; this is for a full season of matchday programmes so this season, at least 21 programmes. You can change the actual composition of the programme each week to keep it topical and/or time sensitive!

Website Advertising is the cheapest form of advertising and is just £25. For this, your link/logo will sit on a carousel on the front page and when visitors click the link, it will take them to your website. Our club website is one of the most popular ones in the league with more than 2,000 unique visits each week during the season.

If you are interested in any of these deals, please email the club secretary, Martin McConachie, on secretary@hengroveathletic.com or ring 07432 614494.

Hengrove Athletic Club History

Hengrove Athletic F.C was formed in 1948 from players demobbed from National Service. As a footnote, there is also wartime history to the club colours of green and white. With rationing and many shortages, football shirts were virtually unobtainable, so all of the members of Hengrove Athletic F.C donated an ordinary white shirt and a mother of one of the players kindly dyed them green in the bath at her Knowle home. The colour green had no symbolic meaning. It was the only colour available at the time! The founding fathers of Hengrove Athletic F.C then agreed to retain these colours for the new club.

A successful application was made to join the Bristol and Suburban League and they were placed in Division 3 for the start of 1948/49 season. A Reserve XI was established in 1950 and in the same year Hengrove Hall was rented for club meetings and social gatherings. The club continued to expand and the ‘A’ XI started in 1953, followed by the 30-plus XI in 1959. These four football teams made Hengrove Athletic F.C the largest club in the Bristol and Suburban League at the time – after just eleven years. A ‘B’ XI replaced the 30 plus in 1962. The long search for a ground came to fruition on Sunday 7 June 1964 when Norton Lane was officially opened and Hengrove Athletic F.C took up residence.

The first XI was accepted by the Somerset Senior League for the 1974/75 season, where they remained until 2005/06 when they were runaway, unbeaten, Premier Division Champions and joined the Western League for the start of the 2006/07 season. Our Floodlights and Stand were installed at the ground in 2007/08 to achieve the necessary ground grading of the Western League. The EWW Stand was installed at the ground in 2012/13 to achieve the necessary ground grading of entry into the FA Cup and future possible promotions.

The first XI finished runners-up in Western League Division One in 2012/13, achieving a promotion to the Premier Division. They also lifted the Les Phillips League Cup (Western League) in 2015/16 before winning promotion to the Premier Division again the following season. In 2017/18 under new manager John Durbin, the club finished ninth in the Premier Division, their highest ever position and were also the highest placed Bristol side in the division. However, this was followed by relegation back to Division One in 2018/19.

Jamie Hillman returned for a third spell as manager in the summer of 2019 but the next two seasons failed to play to a finish due to the COVID pandemic. Last season, 2021/22, did get completed and for the fourth year running, the Grove ended in mid table. This year sees the club celebrate its 75th anniversary.

A guide to away games this season in Toolstation Western League Division 1 (mileages shown via www.theaa.com)

Fixtures

& Results 2023/24

Sat 26 Cadbury Heath

September

Fri 1 Shirehampton A

Sat 9 Longwell Green A

Tue 12 Middlezoy Rov. A

Sat 16 Brislington H

Sat 23 Roman Glass H (FA Vase)

Tue 26 Bishop Sutton H (Les Phillips Cup)

Sat 30 Bradford Town A

October

Sat 7 Bitton H

Tue 10 Cheddar H

Sat 14 Cadbury Heath A

Tue 17 Hallen H

Sat 21 AEK Boco A

Sat 28 Warminster T A

November

Sat 4 Longwell Green H

Sat 11 Gillingham T A

Sat 18 Middlezoy R H

Sat 25 Wincanton T H

December

Fixtures & Results 2023/24

Date Opponents Ven.

December

Sat 2 Wells City H

Sat 9 Bradford Town H

Sat 16 Portishead T A

Tue 26 Bristol Tel. H

Sat 30 Bishop Sutton A

January 2024

Sat 6 Cribbs Res. H

Sat 20 Odd Down A

February

Sat 3 Gillingham T. H

Sat 10 Hallen A

Sat 24 Radstock Town A

March

Sat 2 Portishead T H

Sat 9 Wincanton T A

Sat 16 Keynsham T H

Sat 23 Odd Down A

Fri 29 Bristol Tel. A (Good Friday)

April

Mon 1 Bishop Sutton H (Easter Monday)

Sat 6 Cheddar A

Sat 20 Shirehampton H