The world might be calming down after a summer of football, but Ashtead Football Club is ready for another winning season.
Proud winners - Ashtead under 8's and dedicated coaches
Ashtead football club was formed in 1900, nearly a century later it is thriving. Tuesday night at the recreation ground you will find the teams training in preparation for their first match on 5 September.
There are fifteen youth teams and two adult teams. "The youth start at seven years old and go through to eighteen," says club secretary Ralph Gange. "In addition there is a nursery school at West Ashtead school on Sunday mornings where they start as young as six - some mornings they have had up to 100 children there, it's quite a sight."
The club asks for a high level of commitment from anyone in the team, which as far as the youth teams are concerned means that the parents need to be committed as well.
"Girls can play in the junior teams up to the age of ten, but the Football Association bans girls playing after that," explains Ralph.
The adult teams play in the Surrey - Southeast Combination, which reaches as far as Croydon and Guildford. Both teams finished fourth in their competitions last season.
The club is waiting to hear if their application for Lottery funding of new changing rooms and all-weather pitch has been granted. The project will cost a total of £150,000 and will hopefully be in place by the 1999-2000 season. "While we are a big organisation we have poor changing facilities in comparison to other clubs," says Ralph.
If you are interested in joining the club, under 18s should contact Ralph on 276901 and adult players can simply turn up at the recreation ground at 8.00pm Tuesday evenings and start from there.
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See also Ashtead Activity for more details on Ashtead Football Club and other groups
See also Ashtead Football Club's own site
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