Kenilworth Sporting - Kenilworth Sporting Ground

Kenilworth Sporting FC

Kenilworth Sporting Ground

Gypsy Lane

Kenilworth

Warwickshire

CV8 1FA

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Ground Number: 1515

Saturday 31st January 2026

Kenilworth Sporting 3-1 AFC Birmingham
Midland D3

KENILWORTH SPORTING FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club can trace its lineage back to 2017, when it was formed as Coventry Plumbing, or Coventry Plumbing and Heating FC, to give them their full name. They won the Coventry Alliance Division 3 in their first season before they moved to Kenilworth. A 3rd place finish behind Stockton and RS Sports in Division 2 saw a second consecutive promotion, but they were at the bottom of Division 1 when the pandemic stopped play in early 2020. A rebrand over the summer saw the club renamed Kenilworth Sporting, and they moved to the Midland League Division 3. They were top of the league when the game was once again halted, but this was good enough for promotion to Division 2. They spent two seasons here, finishing 5th and 6th before dropping down to the Stratford-Upon-Avon Alliance, winning Division 1 in 2024. Since then, they've been back in the Midland Division 3, where they finished 4th last season.

There has been non-league football played in the town as far back as 1936, when Kenilworth Town started out playing in the Coventry and District League at the nearby St John's Playing Fields. With no permanent home, they were unable to progress due to not having a home of their own. Despite this, the club was able to continue after the Second World War, and between 1946 and 1962, Kenilworth Town moved home five times. This included stints at The Oval, St John's Junior School, Scott Road, and Thickthorn Manor. During this period, the club also changed its name, becoming Kenilworth Rangers.

A stable residence was finally found in 1962 when they moved to Gypsy Lane. They initially leased the land before purchasing the freehold in the early 1990's. During this time, they changed their name to Kenilworth Rangers, and it was under this name that they joined the Midland Combination Division 2 in 1989. They changed their name back in 1992, shortly after they won promotion to Division 1 following a 3rd place finish. In 1996, they were runners-up to Richmond Swifts, winning promotion to the Premier Division. They spent four seasons here before relegation at the turn of the millennium. Some seasons of struggle followed before the club changed its name to Kenilworth Town KH. The KH in Kenilworth Town KH stood for Kings Heath.

The name change occurred in 2005 following a merger between Kenilworth Town and Kings Heath FC. At the time, Kings Heath was a Birmingham-based club that had lost its home ground, so the two entities joined forces to compete in the Midland Football Combination. In the autumn of 2006, the club resigned from the league after six games and the reserves - effectively the old Kings Heath FC took over, playing in Division 3. A 4th place finish in 2009 and then a runners-up spot behind Hampton in Division 2 saw two promotions in a row. They spent a season in Division 1 before resigning from the league in 2011. They played in the Stratford-Upon-Avon Alliance for a single season before rejoining the Midland Combination at the Division 2 level in 2012, winning the title in 2014. They had a single season in the newly-formed Midland Division 2 but resigned after a single season following relegation.

Kenilworth is a market town in Warwickshire, 5.5 miles southwest of Coventry and 4.5 miles north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of the county, the town lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the River Avon 2 miles north-east of the town. It has a population of around 22,500. The town is home to the ruins of Kenilworth Castle and Kenilworth Abbey. Kenilworth derives from the Old English cynehildworð, meaning 'Cynehild's enclosure'. A settlement existed at Kenilworth by the time of the 1086 Domesday Book, which records it as Chinewrde. During the Blitz in World War II on the night of 21 November 1940, a German aircraft dropped two parachute mines on Kenilworth; the large explosions in the Abbey End area demolished a number of buildings, killing 25 people and injuring 70 more. The bomb damaged area of the town was redeveloped in the 1960s. Kenilworth was struck by an F0/T1 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide outbreak on that day. Kenilworth Wardens FC is based at Kenilworth Wardens, a Community Amateur Sports Club in Glasshouse Lane to the east of the town. They play in the Coventry Alliance Premier Division. Footballers Tim Flowers and Kelvin Langmead hail from the area.

MY VISIT 

Originally, on this day, it was going to be a couple of days in Yorkshire. A few months ago, I noticed that Campion had a Friday-night game in late January. With accommodation in Bradford being well-priced, it would be a great opportunity to visit the excellent Jacobs Well pub. I booked the Travelodge on flexible terms just in case something happened, and made plans for a couple of games at Ripon City and Knaresborough Town on the Saturday. Sadly, that flexibility was needed; every single one of the NCEL midweek games was off, and with snow and rain forecast for Friday, I cancelled a couple of days before. With the Football Traveller not arriving until after 10 pm on Wednesday, I had to make my decision on Thursday. London saw games all in tricky areas to reach, away from the clump of Spoons that I needed to visit. Wimbledon Casuals was the best option, but it was a bad journey by public transport, and outside the TFL zone. Eventually, I found a reasonable double - a revisit to Bedworth United for a Midland U21 game and a decent new ground at Kenilworth Sporting in the afternoon. It wasn't ideal with sporadic social media and poor value train fare, but it did at least have some good pubs. As usual, fellow hopper Daniel kept trying to change my mind to do East Thurrock Community or Corinthians, but they were also poor value on the train, plus in a less interesting part of the country for a day out. In any case, they could be done in midweek towards the end of the season.

It was a long, old journey home from Morpeth, and the journey really dragged. I was glad when Mick dropped us off in Huntington at 8.40. I drove home via Colin's and got in at 10.10. A nightcap of a pint of cider took the edge off an unwanted bedtime before work tomorrow. I only got a few hours of sleep, waking early, but I felt fine. It was a standard Sunday, the public coming out en masse and making it unpleasantly busy, albeit without malice. Monday was calmer, although still busy, and at least I booked my flight out to Dublin for March in the afternoon. I was hoping for a good night's sleep, but didn't get one, waking up at my normal work time on Tuesday. I could hear the rain coming down, and I would have to make a decision about my trip this weekend soon. It was drizzly with heavier rain forecast later, and I couldn't be bothered with my usual walk to town and back. Instead, I stayed in and won the Humber Premier League Division 1 with Hull United on FM17, an old game revived after many years.

Around 4, I headed out with a can in my bag, which was imbibed on the walk to town. Then, a £1.99 pint of Stowford Press at Wetherspoons whilst I started reading Neville Southall's autobiography. £5.60 for a pint of Old Rosie supported my favourite local pub before a new takeaway. Domiza Pizza was excellent for a ten-inch chilli blaze for £6.99, my new favourite pizza place in Wycombe. Finally. A can of Crumpton Oaks ended my excessive pre-match libation, but I was in a good mood. It turned out to be my 1375th first-team Wycombe game, and I made it to my seat bang on kickoff. Within two minutes, Wycombe led Wigan 1-0. A sloppy challenge saw Cameron Boyd Munce convert a penalty. It was pretty turgid for a long time, with Wigan dominating but not threatening. But then Wycombe bundled home through Cauley Woodrow to complete a routine 2-0 win. It was a short day at work the next morning, and I was back home by 11.30 to walk into town and back, getting 15 miles of exercise in. It was during this walk that I decided to pull out of my weekend in Yorkshire, owing to rain and snow on Friday. It gave Colin the chance to sort out alternative transport to Hartlepool on Saturday and saved a wasted journey. As it turned out, I finished work earlier than usual on Friday, and Campion tweeted that it was game on, and it did indeed go ahead. I spent the evening firming up plans and researching club history, which was enjoyable but time-consuming.

It was a sober and early Friday night with me in bed at 9. It took me another half hour to drop off, so it was my normal work time when I awoke naturally. I still had another 90 minutes to go and so went back to sleep, getting up at 05.35. Not the finest night of shut-eye that I've ever had, and it took me a while to get ready, leaving ten minutes late. I noted Campion had won 2-1 in my absence last night, but it'll get done one day. I had to jog some of the four miles to the station and arrived 10 minutes early. The train was semi-busy, surprisingly so for so early in the day. The 07:28 to Birmingham got me to Leamington Spa at 08:28, where I changed onto the 08:40 to Leamington, which was a lot nicer and cleaner than the previous one after a couple of Banbury passengers had left it in a right mess. I was off at Bedworth at 09:09 for my revisit to see their U21 team. Whereas the South West had been wiped out by the rain, the helpful match secretary confirmed game on at Kenilworth during half-time of the Bedworth game. It has been a good day so far and though the 12.45 train was busy, it was on time. I was in Kenilworth just after 1 and walked ten minutes to the Dictum of Kenilworth. Another Wetherspoons, wings, chips and a pint of Stowford Press were £7.47. The visit was as quick as I could make it. It was then 20 minutes walk to the ground, drizzle started just as I arrived. With the game kicking off upon arrival, the bar would have to wait.

 

Kenilworth Sporting sat 8th in the table, having won eight and lost four. They'd won two of their last three, including a 2-1 win at Gornal last week. AFC Birmingham were 12th, having won four, drawn two and lost eleven. They'd not won in ten and had lost 4-1 at Leamington Hibernian last week. The hosts were all in blue, whilst the visitors were in pink and black. With the rain stopping briefly but starting again heavier, it was a wet game. Kenilworth took the lead on 28 minutes, the visiting defence all at sea. A simple loose ball from the left was put home from within the six-yard box. Even heavier rain greeted Kenilworth's second on 43 minutes, the ball lashed into the roof of the net from six yards, this time from a right-sided cross. I went inside at halftime, easily the bar of the season with a fantastic selection. I had a pint of Napton Chisel in a plastic club glass, I think for £4.40. I then queued up to pay for my entry and excellent programme for £4 as I'd arrived late. Kenilworth came close with a great lob on 55, which came from forty yards, but was well saved. A few minutes later, AFC pulled one back with a penalty, but on 70 minutes, it was 3-1, another penalty. That was how it ended. Following this, I had a 25-minute walk back to the station.

THE GROUND

KENILWORTH SPORTING GROUND is a venue fit for step 4 of non-league football. It is fully railed, and there are two covered metal stands, holding 100 each, one seated, the other standing. The latter is used as the dugouts, but could be easily changed. Food is available in breakfast form, and merchandise includes pin badges, cups and programmes. The highlight, though, is the bar, which has five ciders including Rattler, Old Rosie, Napton, Aspalls and Carling Dark Fruits. There's also a great choice for beer drinkers. Parking is plentiful, and the ground is 25 minutes away from both the town and the station on foot.