Kidlington

Kidlington FC is a non-league football club from the large village of the same name located five miles north of Oxford. The club was formed in 1909, playing local league football up until World War Two.

When peace was restored ‘The Greens’ moved into the Oxford City Junior League prior to progressing to the Oxfordshire Senior League in 1951 of which the side became champions in 1951-52.

Kidlington advanced to the Hellenic League for the 1954-55 campaign, joining the Premier Division when the competition was expanded for the 1956-57 season. The team was relegated to Division One in 1961-62 before regaining their place after a runners-up place in 1963-64.

A further relegation occurred at the end of the 1965-66 season. League reorganisation saw Kidlington placed in Division One B in 1971-72 before finishing as Division One runners-up in 1978-79 to return to the Premier Division.

Their spell lasted until the end of 1981-82 before Division One of the Hellenic League was split into regional divisions in 1990, with Kidlington being placed in Division One West before being promoted after finishing third in 2004-05 under manager Kevin Walton.

Paul Lee took over at the Yarnton Road club before the appointment of Gordon Geary in the summer of 2009 remaining in charge until December 2011 until players Danny Leggett and Christian Perkins were handed the managerial reigns.

Former Oxford United striker Paul Berry was named as new team boss before the 2012-13 season, lasting just three games before Geary and his management team returned to ensure that Kidlington retained their status.

Martin Wilkinson was appointed as manager in the summer of 2014, leading the club to the Hellenic League title in 2015-16 to win promotion to Division One Central of the Southern League. Coach Julian McCalmon took over as manager a few months later.

Owing to league restructuring Kidlington moved to Division One West in 2017-18 where the side ended in twelfth place for a second successive season before returning to the Central section. The Greens narrowly escaped relegation in 2018-19.

McCalmon resigned in January 2020 with the team clear of the relegation places. Ben Sadler was appointed in his place. After a couple of seasons that were truncated by the pandemic, the Greens were reprieved from relegation following inter-step playoffs in 2021-22. A couple of midtable finishes ensued prior to Craig McKay being appointed as manager in May 2024.

Kidlington FC will play in the Southern League Division One Central in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Kidlington 1 Halesowen Town 1 (Wednesday 30th September 2020) Southern League Division One Central (Att: 108)

Wednesday nights were once the foremost midweek evening for football, but no longer. Choices had become on the ground, particularly via public transport and work shifts. However, these were unprecedented days and a new option of travel had arisen.

My mate Tony Foster had caught the groundhopping bug. Options were scares with Step 3 of non-league football being the highest level anyone was allowed to attend owing to the restrictions in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tony had even delved into Steps 4 and 5, so a new ground at Step 4 wasn’t going to deter him. He suggested the drive to Oxfordshire, and I wasn’t going to say no, despite the poor weather forecast.

After work, a sleep and some food I headed to North Harrow and we were soon cutting through the same route I’d travelled on towards Walton Casuals the previous evening before joining the A40 which soon became the M40.

Yet again traffic was light meaning that we arrived on the Oxford ring road and then finding the ground in the pleasant looking village by 7pm. We parked up across the way from the ground just off Yarnton Road on Broad Close.

Admission was £8, with a programme a further £1.50. It was nice to be able to buy a paper issue at a time when many clubs had gone to online editions or simply not bothered to try to cut down on costs and the risks of infection.

The rain was teaming down as we put on our face masks and entered the clubhouse where I enjoyed a fine pint of Dark Star Pale Ale for £3.20. We were in time to watch the back end of the Newport v Newcastle League Cup tie as the underdogs went out on penalties.

We sat on the same table as an older couple. The gent asked if we were away fans, but it turned out he was also a groundhopper from Woking who mainly supported Hayes & Yeading. His good lady didn’t look terribly convincing that Kidlington in the rain on a Wednesday night was her idea of fun but they’d had the day in Oxford to placate.

I had to chuckle leaving the bar when an elder gent in a thick West Midlands accent asked, “is it still pissing down?”. It was indeed which meant that social distancing was difficult to upkeep. I went for a lap of the ground to take photos while Tony headed for shelter.

The ground had obviously been developed along with the team, with new structures in the form of a seated stand and small covered terracing near the entrance behind the near goal. Another flat standing cover was further along the touchline with two sides consisting of open flat grass and hard standing.

We were congregated in the flat area trying to observe protocol and show a little bit of courtesy. Not so a trio of large fellas who arrived last and stood in front of many others obscuring views in the process. Never mind.

Halesowen had a decent following in the crowd, with their Yeltz keeper Brendon Bunn pulling off a great save in the first half just after his side had struck the foot of the Kiddy post. It was high octane end to end stuff with challenges going in on the lush turf in heavy rain.

The Greens put some decent moves together while holding a very disciplined offside line in defence and took the lead with the last action of the first half. A cross was missed by the defence. It skidded on to Jacob Davidge who headed home on the half volley.

After the break Halesowen had the better of things. Their endeavours paid off in on the hour mark when Jamie Molyneux got clear just outside the box and steered his shot through the legs of keeper Christian Lawrence into the net.

It was the visitors who continued in the ascendency without creating too many real chances as Kiddy battled hard and had the occasional break of their own. The game had reached stoppage time when controversy broke out.

Both benches were giving the ref, who I thought had a steady enough game, heaps of stick throughout. I was following the ball after Yeltz custodian Bunn had kicked it out of his hands only to hear roars and see a home player flat out on the edge of the box.

The ref was also obviously following the ball and went to his linesman to confer. They came to the decision that the home player had committed a foul on the keeper who retaliated in some way.

Bunn was shown a red card and was pretty upset which makes me wonder just what had happened? Centre back and skipper Paul McCone took over between the sticks for the final couple of minutes.

We knew it could be congested at full time so positioned ourselves near the clubhouse door to make our way out through the bar. Common sense some self responsibility being the order of the day.

The roads were even quieter on the way back. It was like travelling in the early hours in normal times, going past deserted hostelries. I was dropped off and back home in NW9 at 11.15. A handy new tick and worthwhile evening out.