Banstead Athletic F.C.

Banstead Athletic
Full name	Banstead Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s)	The A's, The Yellows
Founded	1944
Ground	Merland Rise, Tadworth
Capacity	1,500
Chairman	Gary Grabban
Manager	Keith Ward
League	Southern Combination Division One
2023–24	Southern Combination Division One, 13th of 18
Home colours	Away colours

Banstead Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Tadworth, near Epsom in Surrey, England. The club are currently members of the Southern Combination Division One and play at Merland Rise. They are affiliated to the Surrey County Football Association.

History

The club was established in 1944 as Banstead Juniors, before adopting their current name during the 1946–47 season.^[2] After winning the Surrey Intermediate Cup that season, the club won back-to-back league titles before moving up to the Surrey Senior League in 1949.^[2] They finished as runners-up in their first season, and went on to win four consecutive league titles between 1950–51 and 1953–54, with Harry Clark scoring 81 goals in 26 games in 1950–51.^[2] The next two seasons saw them finish as runners-up to Dorking, before they won their fifth title in 1956–57.^[3] Although they finished as runners-up again for the next two seasons, the club went into decline at the start of the 1960s, and finished second-from-bottom in 1961–62.^[3]

The 1964–65 season saw Banstead win their sixth Surrey Senior League title, claiming the championship on goal average from Chobham, and they moved up to the Spartan League.^[3]^[4] When the league merged with the Metropolitan–London League in 1975, forming the London Spartan League, Banstead were placed in Division One.^[4]

In 1979 the club switched to the Athenian League, where they remained until it disbanded in 1984, winning the League Cup in 1980–81. When the league folded most clubs (including Banstead) joining the Isthmian League, with Banstead placed in Division Two South.^[4] The league was reorganised in 1991, with the club placed in Division Two.^[4] They remained in the division until 2002 when further league reorganisation saw them moved to Division One South. Two years later another reorganisation saw them placed in Division One.^[4]

At the end of the 2005–06 season Banstead resigned from the Isthmian League and dropped into the Combined Counties League Premier Division. After finishing bottom of the division in 2011–12 they were relegated to Division One.^[4] They were Division One champions in 2016–17, earning promotion back to the Premier Division. Following league reorganisation in 2021 the club were placed in the Premier Division South. However, after finishing second-from-bottom of the division in 2022–23 they were relegated to Division One of the Southern Combination.

Honours

Spartan League
- League Cup winners 1965–66
Athenian League
- League Cup winners 1980–81
Combined Counties League
- Division One champions 2016–17
Surrey Senior League
- Champions 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1964–65
Surrey Intermediate Cup
- Winners 1946–47

Records

Highest league position: 4th in Isthmian League Division Two, 1995–96
Best FA Cup performance: Third qualifying round, 1981–82, 2000–01^[4]
Best FA Trophy performance: First round, 2003–04, 2004–05^[4]
Best FA Vase performance: Semi-finals, 1996–97^[4]
Record attendance: 1,400 vs Leytonstone, FA Amateur Cup, 1953^[1]
Most appearances: Dennis Wall^[5]
Most goals: Harry Clark^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Banstead Athletic Non-League Club Directory
^ ^a ^b ^c A Brief History of Banstead Football Club Archived 10 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Banstead Athletic F.C.
^ ^a ^b ^c Surrey Senior League 1922-1978 Non-League Matters
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Banstead Athletic at the Football Club History Database
^ ^a ^b Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p631 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0

External links

Official website

51°18′13″N 0°13′58″W / 51.3035°N 0.2329°W / 51.3035; -0.2329

[NLCD-1] Banstead Athletic Non-League Club Directory

[H-2] A Brief History of Banstead Football Club Archived 10 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine Banstead Athletic F.C.

[NLM-3] Surrey Senior League 1922-1978 Non-League Matters

[FCHD-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Banstead Athletic at the Football Club History Database

[NLCD2-5] Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p631 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0

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v t e Southern Combination League
2024–25 Premier Division	AFC Varndeanians Bexhill United Crawley Down Gatwick Crowborough Athletic Eastbourne United Association Hassocks Haywards Heath Town Horsham YMCA Lingfield Little Common Loxwood Midhurst & Easebourne Newhaven Pagham Peacehaven & Telscombe Petersfield Town Roffey Saltdean United Shoreham Wick
2024–25 Division One	AFC Uckfield Town Alfold Arundel Banstead Athletic Billingshurst Chessington & Hook United Copthorne Dorking Wanderers Reserves East Preston Forest Row Godalming Town Infinity Mile Oak Montpelier Villa Oakwood Reigate Priory Seaford Town Selsey Storrington Community Worthing United
2024–25 Division Two	Bosham Brighton Electricity Capel Chichester City B Ferring Hailsham Town Jarvis Brook Rustington Southwater St Francis Rangers TD Shipley Upper Beeding Worthing Town
Seasons	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25