A.F.C. Aldermaston is a football club based in

Aldermaston Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingsto ...

, Berkshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association, the club are currently members of the and play at Waterside Park in Thatcham. The club motto, ''Facta Non Verba'', comes from a Latin phrase meaning "deeds, not words".

History

The club was founded as AWRE Football Club in 1952 by Charles Green, Ted Hall, Gordon Carter, and Don Sharp, and were nicknamed "the Atom Men" after the newly founded Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. As the AWRE complex was still under construction when the club was established, the players used empty contractors' huts as changing rooms – carrying the tin bath into whichever building was designated for that day's football. The players were also responsible for the pitch, and would mow and mark out the pitch before the match started. The club received support from

William Penney William George Penney, Baron Penney, (24 June 19093 March 1991) was an English mathematician and professor of mathematical physics at the Imperial College London and later the rector of Imperial College London. He had a leading role in the d ...

during his work at AWRE on the

Operation Hurricane Operation Hurricane was the first test of a British atomic device. A plutonium implosion device was detonated on 3 October 1952 in Main Bay, Trimouille Island, in the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. With the success of Operation H ...

project. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, the club was asked to change its name, and became AFC Aldermaston. In 1979 they were promoted from the Reading & District League into Division One of the Hellenic League, where they spent the next seven seasons. From 1986 until 1991 the club played in local football leagues, including the North Hampshire League, before joining Division Three of the

Hampshire League The Hampshire League was a football league in Hampshire, England. During its heyday its constitution consisted of four divisions with over 60 clubs taking part - this included a vast number of semi-professional teams and Reserve/’A’ sides of ...

in 1991. They finished fifth in their first season, earning promotion to Division Two. However, they were relegated back to Division Three the following season, where they remained until 1999. Upon reorganisation of the Hampshire League prior to the 1999–2000 season, Aldermaston were placed in the Premier Division. When the Hampshire and

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The part ...

s merged in 2004, Aldermaston became members of Division Two of the Wessex League. They were relegated to Division Three at the end of the 2004–05 season. The division was renamed Division Two in 2006, and was disbanded at the end of the 2006–07 season, with Aldermaston moved up to Division One. During the 2009–10 season, the club lost 40 consecutive games, breaking the previous record of 39 straight losses held jointly by Stockport United and Poole Town. The 40th defeat came on 8 April 2010, a 2–0 loss to Downton. This led to news reports proclaiming them the "worst English football team in history" as well as gaining international attention.It's a weird world

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, 15 April 2010 Chairman Damion Bone stated that he believed that the poor performance over the season was due to players' commitments; the club had also lost ten players to Tadley Calleva before the start of the season. The losing streak ended on 10 April 2010, when the club drew 1–1 against Warminster Town, with the following match against Petersfield Town resulting in a 2–1 win for Aldermaston. The run of defeats saw the club finish bottom of Division One with just one win in 40 matches, resulting in relegation to the

Hampshire Premier League The L4 Teamwear Hampshire Premier League is a football competition based in Hampshire, England. The league was formed in 2007 and currently consists of a 'Senior Division' of 17 teams - including some previous members of the disbanded Division ...

, At the end of the 2013–14 season, they switched to the Premier Division of the

Thames Valley Premier Football League The Thames Valley Premier Football League is a football competition based in England. It has a total of five divisions – the Premier Division, then Divisions One to Four. It was founded in 1989 as the Reading Senior League, as a merger of the ...

. After finishing seventh in the Premier Division in 2015–16, the club were promoted to Division One East of the Hellenic League. At the end of the 2020–21 season they were transferred to Division One of the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

Season-by-season record

Ground

The club's base is at the Recreational Society (commonly abbreviated to "Rec Soc") at the

Atomic Weapons Establishment The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research ...

in Aldermaston, having been founded shortly after the complex's establishment. The ground has three full-sized football pitches. Until 1990, the society's Head

Groundsman Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The U.S. Department of Labor e ...

was Eddie Seaward. After leaving Aldermaston, Seaward became Head Groundsman at Wimbledon's

All England Lawn Tennis Club The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, also known as the All England Club, based at Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members' club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam t ...

, and received an MBE in 2007 for services to sport. Prior to the 2021–22 season the club's first team moved their home games to Thatcham Town's Waterside Park as the Rec Soc ground no longer met the ground grading requirements for their level.AFC aldermaston announce groundshare with west Berkshire neighbours
Football in Berkshire, 19 May 2021

Records

*Highest league position: 7th in Hellenic League Division One, 1979–80

References

External links

Official websiteFootball In Berkshire - AFC Aldermaston
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldermaston Football clubs in England Football clubs in Berkshire Association football clubs established in 1952 1952 establishments in England Works association football teams in England Hellenic Football League North Hants League Hampshire League Wessex Football League Hampshire Premier League Thames Valley Premier Football League Combined Counties Football League