Feltham

Feltham FC is a non-league club based in the London Borough of Hounslow in Southwest London who had been originally formed as Tudor Park FC in 1946. The club played local football before becoming members of the Surrey Senior League in 1964 from where they progressed to the Spartan League for the 1968-69 campaign.

The club played at Rectory Meadow in Hanworth, Remo Depot in Feltham, Glebelands Playing Fields before moving into Feltham Sports Arena in 1963. 

In 1973-74 the club moved to the newly expanded Athenian League before joining Division Two of the Isthmian League in 1977-78, winning the title and promotion to the topflight in 1980-81. 

Feltham Arena

The Arena had an artificial pitch for a few seasons from 1982-83, seeing the club being the first outside the Football League to play on such a surface. A bottom placed finish in 1983-84 saw Feltham relegated to Division Two South where they remained until the end of the 1990-91 campaign when the club merged with Hounslow FC.

The newly named Feltham & Hounslow was placed in Division Three of the Isthmian League, where they struggled before resigning their position in the league at the end of the 1994-95 season to join the Combined Counties League returning to become Feltham FC.

The clubs Feltham Arenas home was continued to be blighted by vandalism. The roof was removed from the stand in 2000 over fears of asbestos while the team returned mixed results on the pitch. In 2004 the club departed to share at Egham Town FC, Hampton and Richmond Borough and then at Bedfont Town FC.

The club's name remembered during its second merger

The club applied to build the two-storey pavilion to complement the new pitches being laid at Feltham Arena. The application was be considered by Hounslow Council which if successful would have the club playing back there from the 2012-13 season.

However, nothing positive was forthcoming and after several seasons of lower mid table finishes the club merged with Bedfont Football & Social Club to form Bedfont & Feltham FC, playing at The Orchard in May 2012. As Feltham had already entered the FA Vase, the new name would not come into being until the start of the 2013-14 season.

At the time of the merger with Bedfont, the Feltham chairman was Andy Lonsdale. He became a president of the new club. Any hope of the Feltham Arena being revived was diminished when Lonsdale used the site for his own company to deposit 73,000m3 of soil and building rubble at the site.

Lonsdale became involved in the takeover at Hereford United which saw that club go bankrupt in the hands of his colleague Tommy Agombar. 

In early 2021, former Feltham players and staff were keen to resurrect the name of their old club. Youth sides were formed to start the 2021-22 campaign, with Bedfont & Feltham changing their name to Bedfont FC following Feltham’s rise.

Spelthorne Sports Club. Feltham's home from the start of the 2023-24 season

An adult’s team gained admission to the Premier Division of the Middlesex County League for the commencement of the 2023-24 campaign. The team agreed to play on the second pitch of Spelthorne Sports Club, the home of Spelthorne Sports FC.

Feltham FC will play in the Middlesex County League Premier Division in the 2022-23 season.

My visit

Sunday January 15th 1984

I was finding new locations and taking photos on my old camera on a day's groundhopping when I ventured to the Feltham Arena. There was a game going on which could well of being a FA Sunday Cup match given the fair-sized crowd in attendance. 

The stadium was basic, save for an impressive Main Stand which was a substantial size and contained bench seating as well as all the facilities. The pitch was surrounded by a track where Mo Farah began his athletics career, and slightly banked grass beyond that, all surrounded by a high wire fence, which obviously didn't secure the site as intended.