Bedfont

Bedfont FC is a non-league club located in the western suburbs of London, near to Heathrow Airport, which was formed in May 2012 following the merger of Bedfont FC and Feltham FC, whose lowdown can be read about here.

Bedfont Football & Social Club had been formed in 1900 and played in local football for many decades before becoming members of the Surrey Premier League for the 1983-84 season before progressing to the Combined Counties League for 1987-88.

 

The club soon found their footing and put in several top six finishes to play in the inaugural Premier Division in 2003-04. For the following four seasons the club finished towards the lower end of the table before withdrawing at the end of the 2009-10 campaign to return to Sunday football as a social side.

The merger saw the club placed in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League had a heavy turnover as managers despite two fifth place finishes and then a runners-up spot in 2015-16 which saw spells under Louis Carder-Walcott and John Cook.

 

The 2016-17 season was considered a disaster after such a promising campaign as Cook was replaced by Joe Monks who lasted just a month before former Hendon striker Aaron Morgan came in as player-manager.

His reign ended in April 2017 when the former Hayes & Yeading United boss Gary Haylock arrived at The Orchard. However, it proved too late to salvage the season as ‘The Yellows’ were relegated to Division One.

 

The 2017-18 campaign saw the team narrowly avert another relegation following the departure of Haylock prior to the appointment of Adam Bessent whose side’s fifth-place restored order in 2018-19.

The following two seasons were abandoned owing to the Covid-19 pandemic before Tony Bersey arrived as manager for the start of the 2022-23 season, which saw the club revert to their previous title of Bedfont FC, after the re-emergence of Feltham FC.

 

In August 2022, a grass fire severely damaged the pitches at the Orchard which was saved by fire fighters. The team ended the season in eighth place, with Bersey moving to the role of director of football to be replaced by the duo of David McHugh and Gareth Price.

Bedfont FC will play in the Combined Counties League Division One in the 2023-24 season

My visit

Bedfont & Feltham 3 CB Hounslow United 1(Tuesday 27^th December 2016) Combined Counties League Premier Division (Att: Approx 120)

My visit to the edge of Heathrow for this 11.30 kick off was the perfect way to start a day after the heavy excesses of Christmas & Boxing Day. It was a stunningly bright but chilly morning as I arrived at The Orchard via bus and Piccadilly line from Alperton for the 11.30am kick off.

Once I’d received a friendly welcome after paying my £7 admission fee, which included the programme, I purchased a decent bacon roll and a tea for £3 and settled down in one of the two stands to take in the surroundings.

The Orchard had previously staged Southern League football for the home games of Bedfont Town and it was easy to see how. Either side of the pitch had a decent little seated stand which offered reasonable views if tight leg room. 

There was a a couple of small, covered shelters behind the far goal, while the rest of the ground was a mixture of open flat concrete and grass standing areas with a small scaffold cover at the entrance end.

I was looking forward to this local derby between landlords and tenants. CB Hounslow were awaiting the final changes to their new Green Lane home and were residing at The Orchard in the meantime. 

The hum of a continual stream of planes coming into land at Heathrow, ready to be greeted by the cold weather, was accompanied by a far more annoying din.

The Orchard was separated by a few yards and a fence from the Bedfont Sports Recreation Ground; home of neighbours, Bedfont Sports who were playing in the same division.

Somehow the league fixture secretary had decided to give both teams home fixtures on the same day. This was no issue traffic wise, but it did lead to a ridiculous situation, especially when clubs need every penny of revenue from those attending.

Our game had an 11.30 kick off, while Sports decided they’d start at midday. Again, no real issue, although both clubs may have used a bit of savvy and arranged kick offs so that neither game overlapped to attract a few groundhoppers; of which there were several, to attend both games and give both clubs a share of extra revenue.

What made it annoying was that the gentleman in charge of the PA system over the fence cranked up the music and then had the mic on high volume while making his announcements. To add to it, he thought he was some kind of comedian, which was an opinion that was severely misplaced. 

A poor man's Graeme Swann would be a decent synopsis. I gathered that there was no love lost between the two neighbours, and this was another one of several petulant acts which was benefitting neither party.

By the time he'd belted up, CB were deservedly 1-0 up as Rashid Obaddi finished neatly after being put in. B&F gradually gathered confidence as new player boss Aaron Morgan rallied his troops. They levelled things up on thirty-five minutes when Shakeel Morris rammed the ball home after a teammate was foiled in a two-man breakaway.

I’d done my usual lap of the ground and got talking to some very pleasant fellow ‘hoppers who were attending a variety of 3pm kick offs after our early entertainment. Out on the pitch the referee was extremely sporadic in his decision making.

There was one awful challenge that received a mere ticking of, whereas a little later someone kicked the ball away and was given a yellow card. He was assisted by an oriental looking gent on the line, which I think was a first for me at an English non-league game?

At the break I relaxed back in the seats. I’d even used my common sense and set out with a plan, so the oxtail soup in my flask and the various Christmas cake and goodies were most welcome even not particularly good for the waistline.

CB must have wondered how an earth they were not ahead at the break as they gathered in the dressing room, but worse was to follow.

Despite having plenty of the play, they became frustrated as Morgan began to control things. He put in Morris who slotted home, before the big man was adjudged to have been brought down. 

The ref decided that the defender had to go, and although the free kick came to nothing, Morgan went on to seal all three points a couple of minutes later using his years of experience throughout the game.

The CB Hounslow keeper made a couple of marvellous saves to keep his side with any chance of salvaging anything, while his bench was pleasantly phlegmatic about the earlier red card and the game in general. It made a pleasant change from some of the profanities on offer at some matches.

It’d been an excellent end to end encounter which both sides played their full part in and a credit to the division. Nobody disagreed as several of us headed in different directions.

I departed and took the Piccadilly line once more to Alperton before jumping on the 83 bus, which took me to my afternoon’s entertainment where I was to witness a thrilling 3-3 draw between Edgware Town and Wembley taking my tally of goals in four matches over Christmas to 27!