Kingswood FC History

• 1894 – Founded as ‘Kingswood Crown AFC’, with their headquarters at The Crown Inn. There also existed a ‘Kingswood & Wotton United’, which later disbanded in 1899, the same time as the Mid-Gloucestershire League disbanded.
• 1987 – Dropped the ‘Crown’ to become ‘Kingswood AFC’.
• 1989 – Affiliated to the GFA and joined the Dursley & District League, where they frequently played matches against Forest Green Rovers.
• 1904 – Nicknamed ‘The Millers’ due to the majority of the team being employed by Tubbs Lewis at Abbey Mills.
• 1908 – Reserve Team started (known as A’s).
• 1914-1919 – No football due to the war.
• 1922 – Founding member of the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League (GNSL). Kingswood competed with teams of pedigree such as Cheltenham Town.
• 1927 – Withdrew from GNSL and joined the Dursley & District and Wotton & District leagues.
• 1931 – Brief stint in the Bristol Suburban League, only for two years. Generally, players used to travel into Bristol on the train, stay for a social afterwards and get the last train home!
• 1933 – Returned to an amalgamated Dursley & Wotton District League.
• 1939-1945 – No football due to the war.
• 1945 – Stroud & District League formed
• 1949 - Joined the Stroud & District League
• 1952-1956 – No competitive football. Suspected this may have been associated with the Chestnut Park housing development.
• 1957 – Restarted in the Stroud & District League. Kingswood were nicknamed ‘The Lilywhites’ due to their all-white kit. They spent the next 40 years in the Stroud & District Leagues.
• 1964-1966 – No competitive football played due to Dave Birt (Secretary) and Bob Dix (Treasurer) stepping down from their roles, and no-one being able to fill in.
• 1998 – Kingswood Firsts were promoted to GNSL Division 2. Kingswood Reserves were in Stroud & District League Division 5.
• 1999 – The First Team were promoted to GNSL Division 1 immediately the following season, but the next 10 years saw them move back to Division 2 before gaining promotion back into Division 1 again. At this time The Reserves began in Stroud & District League division 5 but moved up through the leagues during this period.
• 2010 – The First Team were finally promoted into Glos County League, an incredible achievement in the club’s history. The Reserves maintained a very strong position in Stroud & District League Division 2.
• 2016/17 - The Reserve Team achieved promotion to Stroud & District League Division 1 by winning Stroud & District League Division 2. The First Team also secured the best finish in the Glos County League finishing 5th with 57 points.
• 2018/19 – The decision was made by the committee to withdraw The First team from the Glos County League, The Reserve Team would become The First Team competing in The Stroud & District League Division 1.
• 2019/20 – The first season with just one team was finished by PPG due to Covid-19.
• 2020/21 – We started a Reserve Team again, they would start by competing in The Stroud & District League Division 7. The Season was stopped due to Covid-19 still causing problems.
• 2021/22 – The first full season since Covid-19 was completed. The First Team finished runners up in The Stroud & District League ‘Plate A’ Final losing 4-0 to Gala Wilton. The Reserve Team finished midtable in The Stroud & District League Division 7. The club also started their first Women’s Team into the Glos County Women’s League Division 3.
• 2022/23 – The Club held a charity game for the British Heart Foundation in memory of Mike Rodman who passed away 10 years prior while playing.

Ground History

• 1894 – 1922 – Played at a ground known as ‘The Laager’, excluding 1914-1919 due to the war where no football was played. Unknown exactly where this ground was.
• 1922 – 1952 – Played at ‘Smith’s Croft’, situated where the current Chestnut Park estate is. This excluded 1939-1945 during World War 2 when football for the majority of leagues was stopped. In 1946, a collection was started by the villagers in order to purchase Kingswood Playing Field (current ground today). This was in light of the planned housing development on Chestnut Park estate, due to begin in 1952.
• 1952-1956 – No competitive football played by Kingswood. It is suspected this associated with the Chestnut Park Development taking over the ‘Smith’s Croft’ pitch.
• 1956 – Goalposts were bought and erected on Kingswood Playing Field. In the early days, sheep and cattle grazed on the ground to keep the grass short!
• 1991 – the AFC Stand was completed, ready for spectators!
• 1995 – Professional drainage works costing £4000 were conducted on the pitch. Piping was installed to run excess water into the ditches at the bottom of the field.
• 2007-2008 – Barriers enclosing the pitch were installed, in anticipation of a potential rise to the Gloucester County League (which was successful in 2010).
• 2021 – AFC Stand fitted with electronic shutters to protect the stand from vandalism. Doors installed by Avon Industrial Doors Ltd.
• 2022 – The club renamed the AFC Stand to the Martin Bezar Memorial Stand.

Changing Rooms/HQ History

• 1894 – 1913 – Headquarters at The Crown Inn. It was presumed this pub also acted as the changing rooms
• 1922 - 1950 – Changing Rooms and Headquarters were generally spread between two different pubs during these years. One was the Plume Of Feathers Inn, through the Abbey Gateway. The other was The Star Inn (which is now the Dinneywicks) on The Chipping, opposite ‘Smith’s Croft’ ground. During this time for away games, the team was transported by Charabanc - two Ford Model T’s were welded together to create a multi-seater car!
• 1951 - HQ and changing rooms moved to The New Inn, on Wotton Road.
• 1952-1956 – No football during this period.
• 1956 – 1958 – Returned to the Plume Of Feathers Inn as both HQ and changing rooms. This is when the ground moved to Kingswood Playing Field.
• 1958 – 1960 – HQ remained at the Plume OF Feathers Inn, but changing rooms were situated back adjacent to the Star Inn, in the Old Sunday School Rooms.
• 1960-1964 – HQ and changing rooms back at The New Inn.
• 1964-1966 – No football.
• 1966-1977 – Returned to The Star Inn as the HQ, with the changing rooms in the Sunday School Rooms adjacent to it. Tin baths were very much the order of the day for the after-match wash. There was a snooker table in the back schoolroom which players sometimes used. In 1973, an extension to the Sunday School Rooms was made, which proves as the side-entrance as you see it today. Showers were installed for the first time for players to use after games.
• 1976 – Kingswood Village Hall was built, containing a small bar area and skittle alley.
• 1978 – Changing moved to Kingswood Village Hall, but not as you see them today. They changed in the main hall, as the segregated rooms were not built until 1995.
• 1989-1990 – The Star Inn now became the Dinneywicks as seen today and was the new HQ for the team.
• 1993 - 1995 - £8000 grant allowed the new changing rooms extended onto the back of the village hall as they are today. This was completed by volunteers of the club on weekends over that period. This has remained the site of the changing rooms up until now. The facilities now were, and remain to be, some of the best in the area!
• 1995 – 2010 – HQ was generally the Dinneywicks Pub, where food and drinks would be available for the players.
• 2010 – 2018 – Bar was opened up at Kingswood Village Hall due to conditions of being in the Gloucestershire County League, providing both food and drink to both sides. The bar area had to be within a specified distance of the pitch.
• 2018 onwards – HQ returned to the Dinneywicks, due to dropping out of the Gloucestershire County League.