Stade De Ranch
Britwell Community Centre
Long Furlongs Drive
Britwell
SL2 2PH
Ground Number: 1225
Tuesday 9th April 2024
Britwell 1-2 Aston Clinton Sports
Hellenic D2 East
BRITWELL FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was originally established in 1965 as Britwell Old Boys but the present day c;lub was established in 1974 following an amalgamation with other teams on the estate. Chairman Sean Wright was instrumental to the club's formation and plays a big part in the club to this day. The club features teams, from Under 8's to the open-age Saturday team. They were long-time members of the East Berkshire League, their best success coming in 2009 & 2011 when they won Division 2 and Division 1 respectively. For whatever reason, Britwell dropped down to Division 3, winning the Division in 2012 & 2014. After finishing 4th in Division 3 in 2016, the club left the league for a season. When they returned, they finished as runners-up to Richings Park Reserves in Division 1 in 2018. This earned them promotion to the Premier Division where despite a couple of scrapes with relegation, they finished as runners-up to Singh Sabha Slough in 2021. They made up for this by winning the title in 2022 & 2023. This season, they moved to the Hellenic League Division 2 East.
Local cup honours include several Slough Town Junior & Senior Cups, many by their younger sides. They've also won the East Berkshire League Presidents Cup, the East Berkshire League in 2022 and two Maidenhead Norfolkian Senior Cups. Britwell is a residential housing estate and civil parish in the northwest of Slough and has a population of just under 6,000. The name Britwell derives from the old English 'beorhtan wiellan' meaning 'bright, clear well'. It was created as a large overspill housing estate for bombed-out Londoners at the end of the Second World War. The first tenants arrived in August 1956 and were delighted with the "roomy and modern" houses, complete with large swivel windows – "a boon to housewives". There was a dearth of amenities at first, but after the founding of the community association in 1959, the estate finally got a bus service into Slough and a community centre in 1966. Britwell has two Local nature reserves, the first is on the southwestern border of the village called Haymill Valley, and the other is on the northern border called Cocksherd Wood.
MY VISIT
I decided on this game on Sunday morning when I saw that a load of extra fixtures had been added to Futbology. Originally, I'd intended to go AFC Walcountians in the Surrey League but this was far closer. The early kickoff meant that I could catch most of a second game but would play it by ear. I had already seen Britwell earlier this year when they played at Burnham and they looked a decent side. That game was held up for half an hour by a flash of heads, hopefully, both players recovered as well as they could. It was one of a number of 'showcase matches' Britwell have played at Burnham and this one was especially useful given the weather in recent times. I fancied going back to see them at their own home. This Tuesday presented the ideal opportunity. As always, I wanted to research the history of the club although there was a lot of conflicting and incomplete information out there.
Saturday had been the standard unhealthy and boozy day. Usually, Sundays are a bit of a mare but this one was a bit more gentle, perhaps fewer people with Wycombe at Wembley. It wasn't something that interested me, Wembley always offers a poor experience for smaller crowds, plus I had boycotted the Football League Trophy for nearly a decade and was in no mood to stop. At least I was able to listen to the commentary on my phone for the last part of my shift, Wycombe ended up losing 2-1 to Peterborough, all three goals coming during my ten-minute drive home. Monday was fairly uneventful day but I was glad to see that the weather was a lot drier than it had been in recent times. The day of the game saw slight drizzle and wet, so my main concern was one of the teams not being able to fulfil. It's a big ask for players to get from work for a 6 PM kickoff, so I was glad when Aston Clinton tweeted about the game. The weather was still wiping out a vast amount of games in the north, yet the dunces at the FA are still refuse to extend the season for a lot of clubs. I left at 4.35 and met Colin at my local shop. It was an easy journey and we were there at 5.20. It was a decent setup with a smart bar.
Britwell were in 2nd place with a slim chance of catching leaders Prestwood who were four points ahead. Recent results had seen some setbacks. They'd lost their last three - 2-1 at FC Beaconsfield, 3-1 at leaders Prestwood and 2-1 at today's visitors. Aston Clinton Sports were in 3rd and they had a good chance of the title with their three games in hand. They were unbeaten in three, having beaten Chalfont Wasps 3-1 on Thursday. It was an end-to-end game and the Aston Clinton keeper had to be at his best to deny Britwell. On 12 minutes, the visitors took the lead, Lamar Mason shooting into the roof of the net from around the penalty spot. Both sides continued to have chances. On 55 minutes, Britwell got the equaliser, a good through ball found the striker who finished with a low shot from 10 yards. Five minutes later, Aston Clinton retook the lead, a cross from the right and a header by Freddie Payne from point-blank range. The attendance was later given online as 50 which seemed optimistic but I was happy to accept their figure.
That was it as far as scoring was concerned, though it had been a decent game. It had started to chill off as we left at 7.45. It was an easy 20-minute drive to Amersham Town with us parking on the road outside. It was a bumper crowd due to the local game against Penn & Tylers Green and the fact that they'd won the league on Saturday. The 7.30 kickoff was usually a bonus for getting home but on this occasion, it annoyed as we arrived ten minutes before halftime with Penn leading 2-1. As it was only a revisit, I wasn't bothered, though it was bitter out for the time of year. Amersham started the second half strongly and headed in from a right-sided corner after 70 minutes. In the last minute, a low drilled shot from just inside the area saw them lead 3-2. It was hard on Penn who had been good value for the draw. I was home at 9.50 after dropping Colin off, finding out that local side Holmer Green had lost 4-1 at London Samurai Rovers.
THE GROUND
THE STADE DE RANCH is a decent setup with a smart bar attached to it. This has a reasonable range of drinks and also does food. The car park is large and buses call nearby. Around the corner are further options including a Cafe, a chippy, a kebab shop, a Co-Op and an off licence. The pitch itself is as basic as it gets but it was a pleasant place to watch a game.
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