Westwood Wanderers - Denefield School

Westwood Wanderers FC

Denefield School

Long Lane

Tilehurst

Reading 

Berkshire

RG31 6XY

Official Website

Facebook

Twitter

Ground Number: 1448
Tuesday 15th July 2025
Westwood Wanderers 0-4 Reading City
Friendly

WESTWOOD WANDERERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1972 and was originally known as Westwood United. The club has a strong focus on youth development, offering coaching and games for children in the area. They are an FA Charter Standard Club and operate various teams from U7s to U17s as well as the various senior sides. They played in local leagues up until 1989 when they were founder members of the Reading League. They played in Division 2 Kennet for five seasons until they were promoted as runners-up to Sonning Common in 1994. This kick-started a period of success for the club and they were Division 1 Kennet champions in 1996 and Premier Division champions in 1997. This saw them reach the Senior Division, the highest level of the competition and a current step 7 league. Westwood were runners-up to the then-serial winners Forest Old Boys in 2000 before being crowned champions in 2008. Five years later they were demoted due to their ground no longer meeting requirements for the top tier. They decamped to Theale and spent four seasons at the lower level. During this time, the division was rebranded as the Thames Valley Division 1 and Westwood United would win the title three times. Their ground in Tilehurst did not meet the requirements for the higher level so in 2017, the decision was made to move across Reading to a ground in Theale. This allowed them promotion to the Premier Division. They finished 3rd in their first season and then in 2019 changed their name to Westwood Wanderers. In 2022, a pitch and facilities became available at Denefield School to allow them to move back to their spiritual home. They celebrated their return by winning the league title in 2024 and retaining it last year.

In March, Westwood Wanderers won the Berks & Bucks County FA Charles Twelftree Trophy, beating Great Missenden on penalties in a game played at Slough Town. The club is based in the village of Tilehurst which has a population of around 9,000. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading; it extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The name of Tilehurst comes from the Old English 'tigel' meaning "tile" and 'hurst' meaning "wooded hill". The architecture of Tilehurst ranges from 19th-century thatched cottages to late 20th-century housing estates. Victorian and Edwardian terraces (built using bricks from the Tilehurst kilns) are common in the area; streets such as Blundells Road and Norcot Road display this type of architecture. Musicians Mike Oldfield and Bryan Adams grew up in Tilehurst, whilst F1 driver Ayrton Senna lived on the Pottery Road estate in the 1980s.

MY VISIT

This was one of two grounds that I needed to complete the Thames Valley Premier League's top division, along with Burghfield's normal home venue. I had originally intended to visit against Maidenhead Town on Monday, 13th April, though at the last minute, the venue was changed to the outside pitch at Reading City. Probably a better venue with it not being a school, but I'd already done that one, and it was only a temporary switch owing to pitch availability. Colin still went with Hertfordshire Hopper to catch up with me, but I'd spent a good amount of time researching the club before the game was moved. Frustrating, but for once, FA Full Time did its job and I avoided a wasted journey. I still had all my work saved, and I was glad to see the ground come up again when searching fixtures on Futbology around a month ago. On Saturday, I double-checked with the clubs that the game was on, and although they didn't reply directly, they confirmed the details on Sunday afternoon. For the second week in a row, my game was pushed back to a later time, presumably due to players' work commitments. Thankfully, it was only a fairly local one, although with an annoying diversion via Amersham on the way back to help out Colin.

From my game at Spartans Youth, it was a 25-minute walk to Gunnersbury station. Trains were running regularly towards Richmond, but much delayed the way I wanted to go. Soon enough, I was on my way, getting to Monument at 5.15. It then 15 minutes walk to The Miller, via a piss in a secluded construction site, owing to the lack of toilets. It's an excellent pub any time of the year, but during their cider festival, it's heaven for cider lovers. Four new ciders and a hot dog were sampled, although I could have stayed all night. However, I wanted to get back before the buses went hourly, so as to get home at a reasonable hour. I left for London Bridge station in plenty of time, but a long wait for a tube left things in the balance. I legged it to the platform, making the half-hour Amersham train with 30 seconds to spare. For once, there was a bog on the platform at Amersham, which was a great relief. It was disappointing to have a 25-minute wait for a bus, so I went to Tesco across the road and tried a new cider. I was home by 9ish, bumping into some old neighbours I'd not seen in over two decades on the way. I was wide awake still and even after a nightcap, stayed up watching the re-run of Live Aid, some incredible acts on show.

It must have been 11:30 by the time I got to sleep after a boozy weekend, not good with a 3:50 a.m. wake-up. Having to hold back due to driving duties helped. I was groggy at first. Fine through most of the morning, and then I had a nap when I came home in the afternoon. This did me a great deal of good, and I was feeling a lot better for it. It had knock-on effects as I found it tricky to get to sleep on Sunday. Monday was a breeze, and I got a reasonable night's sleep. Tuesday was my day off, and my usual ten-mile walk. I was glad to see further confirmation of the game around lunchtime. Other news came with the Somerset County League hop in April, a decent event despite two revisits. The afternoon was spent looking towards my trip to Everton in a few weeks' time. I left at 6 and was surprised when Colin turned up in a taxi due to oversleeping. With the detour after, it wouldn't have been a bad thing if he missed it. We had a slow trip over to Tilehurst, thanks to an M4 closure and arrived at 7.15.

I parked across the road and walked. It was a decent setup for a school with a large viewing area. I'm not a fan generally of schools, lacking things like club signs and bars, but this was good. It was a short wait to kick off with Westwood Wanderers in green and Reading City in yellow. Westwood Wanderers started well, hitting the base of the left-hand post on ten minutes. Westwood also clipped the bar with a header soon after. Reading City had a chance on 35 minutes, the striker rounding the keeper only to be denied by a great goalline clearance. There was a fair old crowd at the game, probably around 70 in total. Half time was quick, the second half kicking off at 8.28. It was getting cooler by now and there was also a bit of drizzle. The game died down a bit in the second half after a lively and competitive first period but Reading City were now well on top. On 71 minutes, the visitors finally took the lead, a good through ball found #6 who slotted calmly past the keeper from just inside the area. It was 2-0 with a hooked shot over the keeper and 3-0 with a close range finish in quick succession soon after. A long ball over the top and a volley into the net made it 4-0 on 85 minutes. 

THE GROUND

DENEFIELD SCHOOL is decent for what it is. The cage has a large viewing area along one side which has benches at the back. It also has dugouts. Aside from that, there is no food, drink or toilet facilities, plus nothing nearby. It does have plenty of parking, both in the school and on the street.