Foxton - Foxton Recration Ground

Foxton FC

Foxton Recreation Ground

Hardman Road

Foxton

Cambridgeshire 

CB22 6RY

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1468
Tuesday 26th August 2025
Foxton 1-3 Great Shelford
Cambridgeshire County Premier

FOXTON FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1907 and soon after, joined the Cambridgeshire County League. They also played in the Foxton & District League in the 1920s before rejoining the county league. They have seen numerous successes here, including five Division 1 titles, five Premier Division A titles and the Premier Division B in 1993. They have been continuous members of the top-tier Premier Division since 2009, when they were promoted after finishing as runners-up to West Wratting in Senior Division A. Recent highlights have included 3rd place finishes in 2014 and 2022. League cup wins include the Premier League Cup in 2003, three William Cockell Cups, the Creake Shield in 1977 and the John Ablett Cup in 1995. County Cup wins include three Cliff Bullen Challenge Cups, three Lower Junior Challenge Cups, the Junior Challenge Cup in 1977 and the Cambridgeshire Watney Cup in 1986.

They have played at the village recreation ground since the 1950s, having previously played on various farmers' fields. It is a well-renowned surface with the groundsman winning awards in 2003 & 2020. Foxton is a small village in South Cambridgeshire. It has several well-preserved fifteenth- and sixteenth-century houses, and a thirteenth-century church dedicated to St Laurence. It has a population of around 1,200. The parish itself was formed over the medieval period and is bounded on the north by the River Cam and on the north-east and southwest by the Hoffer and Shepreth brooks. Its south-east boundary follows an ancient road that runs north-east from Fowlmere, known as the Mareway from the 14th century (now the B1368), and further west by an earthwork known as Grim's ditch or Thriplow bank. There is not a huge amount in the village aside from a village shop and a pub, but it does have a railway station on the main line from Cambridge to London.

MY VISIT

This game was only decided upon on Sunday by virtue of it being the closest game to home. It also excited Colin as he had been there to see their cricket team in the National Village Cricket Cup. This is a nationwide cricket competition that is played on Sunday and is restricted to one village per area. It's the sort of thing that I'd consider doing if I didn't have to work on that day to ensure that I get Saturdays off. I am not a huge cricket fan, but I do like visiting random places, which obviously ties in very well with Groundhopping. We would be joined by fellow hopper Daniel, born in Chelmsford but now living in Braintree, as it was also his closest game.

From our final game of the West Lancashire Hop, we headed home. It was a journey where the M6 was the M6 with around 30 minutes of delay around the Stoke area, but not terrible overall. Colin slept the whole of it, aside from two brief awakenings. Firstly, to open a can of Tango to drink and then again 20 minutes later when it fell out of his hand and soaked his lap. He had been a mixture of good company and a bit of a pain, and as usual, all the driving and hard work was down to me. He did at least pay half of the costs, but it would be nice to be ferried around on a hop for once by another driver. There was a brief snag as I was hoping to fill up with petrol at my local garage, but they had run out of unleaded.

I was back at 8.30, rather sunburnt and with a lot to catch up on. I had a few pints to end my time off work and was looking forward to four days of abstinence after having plenty in the last few days. I also got my blogs up, although I thought I would leave it until the following day to research Foxton's history for this blog. Tuesday came, and I woke at 7.30. After a freshen up and breakfast, I did my usual walk to Wycombe and back. I spent the afternoon at home, researching today's blog and catching up with things. I left at 3.40. My local garage still had no petrol, despite often being a late-night saviour, so I went to Tesco instead. Colin was ready and waiting but slept the entire journey. It was a trip beset by traffic; thankfully, we didn't need the M1, which had a two-hour delay. We were there at 5.45 and I walked to the corner shop with Colin. I then went back and met the Essex contingent and ate my chicken and sausages that I brought with me.

 

Just one game had been played in the league, with Foxton beating Comberton United 2-0 and Great Shelford winning 3-1 at Hardwick. It was an even opening but Great Shelford took the lead after ten minutes, heading home a cross. The visitors dominated from here on, and they doubled their lead on 15 minutes, capitalising on poor marking to fire home. Foxton had a brief good spell, but Great Shelford made it 3-0 on 32 minutes with a rocket from outside the area. On 43 minutes, Foxton pulled one back, heading home a right-sided cross from around six yards. The second half saw Foxton have lots of possession but not really threaten. There was a healthy attendance of 96 at the game and the scorers were named as Mason Newman (2) and Jay Downham-Flood for Great Shelford and Thomas Blake for Foxton.

 

THE GROUND

FOXTON RECREATION GROUND is a basic but pleasant setup. A fairly standard village green, which also has space for cricket and bowls, there is also a village hall that sells tea, coffee and snacks and has various memorabilia on the walls. There is a small car park and plenty of street parking. A few minutes' walk away are a pub that sells food and a Premier convenience store in what is a pleasant village.