Binfield FC first played in 1892, during the reign of Queen Victoria, making us one of the oldest Association Football clubs in the world!
The team comprised young men from the local brickworks and those who worked on the land around Binfield. The club’s early years were spent in the Ascot and District League, where we enjoyed many successful seasons winning the Fielden Cup for the first time in 1924 and on eleven further occasions since.
During the 2nd World War, we joined the Great Western Combination League, winning the championship in 1947. During that period we also won the Berks and Bucks Junior Cup and the Maidenhead Norfolkian Cup and it was not unusual to see crowds in excess of 1,000 at our Forest Road ground.
In 1950 we joined the Reading and District League, where we remained for the next forty years. In 1972 Binfield won promotion to the Premier Division for the first time and although relegated two years later we returned in 1976 as 1st Division Champions. A huge crowd, reminiscent of the 1940’s, packed Forest Road to witness our promotion. In 1980, the club made an important decision to move from Forest Road, where facilities were shared with the cricket club, to our current site in Hill Farm Lane.
Turning that field into the football ground we see today was a massive task. Thanks to an enormous amount of physical work by the members of the club the area was levelled and drained within three years. The members then set about building the club house.
This progress off the field was matched on it when in 1987 and 1988 we won Division 2 and then Division 1 of the Reading and District League. In 1989, we joined the high-profile Charrington Chiltonian League, winning the Division 1 title at the first attempt – a feat we repeated in 1996 – and reaching the final of the League Cup. The following year we finished runners-up to Peppard, despite remaining unbeaten from November until the end of the campaign.
In 2001 we merged with Binfield’s junior club, Binfield Forest FC, and in doing so significantly increased the membership, with over 20 teams playing every weekend – this season we will field 36 teams each week. The junior part of the club is very important to Binfield with FA Charter status having been achieved in 2007 and in 2013 we were awarded the Berks & Bucks FA and South East Regional FA Charter Status Community Club of the Year awards, culminating in the club being invited to the FA Community Shield at Wembley in August 2013. We’re also in our third season of a partnership scheme with Reading FC where some of our younger players have the opportunity to train with Reading.
Our annual junior tournament every May is a major event in the club’s calendar. And our entry into football for 3-6 year old’s via our sunday morning “Soccer School” is something the club is proud of.
In 2003 we added an Allied Counties Youth team which is now providing a steady stream of talented young players ready for Senior football for the Reserves and 1st Team.
Our reserves side are a vital and successful part of our club, providing progression from our youth team into senior football and regularly providing players for the 1st team squad, whilst also being successful in winning Uhlsport Hellenic Division 2 East in 2012 and again in 2014 – this season sees our reserves join the Suburban League for a new challenge. Several players last season progressed from our Youth team into our Reserves with four players last season appearing for all three senior sides in the same season – this season three of those “home-grown” players are in the starting 1st team squad.
Since 2005, progress at the club has been swift, with the addition of floodlights and later a seated stand. We’ve continued to improve our facilities with the car park, changes to the club house and a new stand for this season. We constantly strive to improve all elements of the facilities from changing rooms to a playing surface we are extremely proud of, to benefit everyone from our Under 6s up to our 1st Team and Veterans.
We won the FTL Hellenic League Division 1 East title in 2008-09 and gained promotion to the next level of English football, where we finished runners up in the 2010/11 Uhlsport Hellenic Premier Division, 3rd in 2012/13 and 5th last season.
August 15th 2009 will long be remembered as Binfield’s first game in the legendary FA Cup – and we have enjoyed some good runs reaching the 1st Qualifying round in each of the last two seasons with 400 supporters enjoying the visit of Margate in 2010 and a trip to Slough Town and narrow defeat in 2011. In 2013 the side reached the 2nd Qualifying round, losing to a 96th minute free kick as Leatherhead came from behind.
Binfield entered the FA Vase for the first time in season 2008-09 and enjoyed three rounds, before reaching the 4th round (last 32) in 2011/12 in an incredible season of cup success. The 2011/12 team is the most successful in our history, winning both the Berks & Bucks FA Senior Trophy and the AM Print & Copy Floodlit Cup in five glorious April 2012 days. We also reached the final of the Hellenic Challenge Cup.
Ultimately the step up to the next tier of English non league football is the aim for the 1st team.
Overall the club aims to provide football for all in a safe, friendly environment.
