Bracknell Town

Bracknell Town FC is a non-league football club from the town of the same, located thirty-four miles west of London, that was formed in 1896 as Old Bracknell Wanderers, playing on a field near the Downshire Arms.

The club started out life playing in the Ascot & District League; moving to Station Field and winning the league title in 1911-12 and 1932-33. A move to Larges Lane came following the second success. The club changed their title to Bracknell FC in 1949, while moving to the Reading & District League.

A further move to the Great Western Combination followed in 1958, before adopting their current name four years later. In 1963 ‘The Robins’ joined the Surrey Senior League where they won the league and league cup double in the 1969-70 season.

The triumph led to a move to the Spartan League, which merged with the Metropolitan-London League to become the London Spartan League in the summer of 1975; with Bracknell being placed in Division One.

Division One was retitled the Premier Division, from where Town were relegated to the Senior Division in 1978-79 before winning that league title in 1980-81 to return to the top flight. Brackley went on to win the league and cup double in 1982-83.

The clubs’ application to join the Athenian League was rejected, so Town became members of Division Two South of the Isthmian League for the 1984-85 campaign. A runners-up berth in 1985-86 guaranteed promotion to Division One.

The 1988-89 season ended in relegation to Division Two South, before league reorganisation in the close season of 1991 saw the club placed in Division Three for the following season. Promotion to Division Two followed in 1993-94.

Bracknell were demoted back to Division Three at the conclusion of the 1998-99 season. Brothers Mark and Clive Tallentire were the joint-managers of the team in the 2000-01 season as Town went on a fantastic FA Cup run.

Victories against Hillingdon Borough, Ashford Town (Kent), Merstham, Banstead Athletic and Aylesbury United led to a first round game away to Lincoln City. Bracknell were defeated 4-0 as 500 visiting fans cheered the team on among a crowd of 2,387 at Sincil Bank.

Town were placed in Isthmian League Division One South after further restructuring in the summer of 2002, before being moved for geographical reasons to Division One West of the Southern League in 2004; which became Division One South and West in 2006.

The club looked at the possibility of moving from Larges Lane around the time that they finished bottom of the table in 2009-10 and were relegated to the Hellenic League Premier Division after being reprieved from the drop the previous year.

Worse was to come in 2010-11 as the team finished last and were relegated to Division One East. The club was promoted just twelve months later, despite only finishing in fifth position. The summer of 2016 saw extensive work being carried out at Larges Lane, including the installation of a 3G pitch, under new chairman Kayne Steinborn-Busse.

Mark Tallentire led the side to a runners-up position in 2016-17, as the whole club received a facelift. Three cups were won as some form of compensation. Tallentire was replaced by joint managers Jeff Lamb and Paul McGrotty in September 2017.

The duo were surprisingly dismissed in February 2018 after Twon went out of the FA Vase at the quarter final stage at home to Marske United, with Carl Davies taking over as player-manager. The team went on to finish as league runners-up once again.

However, a major reorganisation of league football in the summer of 2018 meant that Bracknell were promoted to the Isthmian League South Central Division, as Tallentire returned to the club as Head of Football. They went on to reach the playoffs, defeating Westfield but going down to Cheshunt in the final.

Bobby Wilkinson was appointed as Robins’ boss in December 2019, with the club deciding to sell their Larges Lane home and use the resources to develop Bottom Meadow, the home of neighbours Sandhurst Town, who were considered by many observers to become a feeder club to Bracknell.

The Isthmian League Division One South Central championship was secured in 2021-22 before Wilkinson jumped ship to be replaced by the duo of Jamie McClurg and Carl Withers. The 2022-23 season was memorable as an FA Cup home tie with Ipswich Town was played as well and a good FA Trophy run was embarked on.

The club had been placed in the Premier Division South of the Southern League, with the team reaching the playoffs at the first attempt. Chesham United were defeated before Truro City proved too strong in the final before the joint managers departed in December 2023.

Jordan Ive was given the job, taking the side to the playoffs a few months later, where they were defeated by AFC Totton. In September 2024 Jon Underwood became the new Bracknell Town manager.

Bracknell Town FC will play in the Southern League Premier Division South in the 2024-25 season.

My visit

Larges Lane

United Koreans of Japan 0 Kabylia 0 (Saturday 2^nd June 2018) CONIFA World Football Cup Group D (att: c290)

It was day two in the CONIFA tournament, and I wasn’t going to miss out on a Saturday afternoon game; especially while on night shift at work. The opening day’s game between Padania and Matabeleland had whetted my appetite.

CONIFA is an independent international governing body whose members represent countries, minorities, linguistic minorities or remote territories that were not members of FIFA. Yorkshire had recently joined, but not in time for the 2018 tournament.

My journey was taken by tube down to Waterloo and then a train, which soon got busy full of hipsters in full fancy dress heading to Twickenham for the Rugby 7’s. How many had a clue about rugby was a matter of conjecture, but it was the latest “go to” event.

Once they cleared I noted a young chap wearing a CONIFA polo shirt. Leo was from Utah and assisting at the tournament as an official while his parents were over lecturing at universities. He was a very polite young chap and we had a nice chat.

I’d done my homework on Google Maps and we were at the ground within fifteen minutes after using paths and small lanes to reach the narrow Larges Lane. The ground was being engulfed by new housing on a couple of sides, with the new entrance looking spick and span.

I gave the busy bar area the swerve, especially as no real ale was available. It was soon apparent that the North African Kabylia side had a decent sized support. Indeed, we’d bumped into a couple back at Bracknell station.

Larges Lane was a tidy venue with a 3G pitch. All the areas around the pitch were newly tarmacked with little space to the perimeter fence. The main side had all the facilities, including a seated stand and a standing cover in mid construction.

The Koreans looked pretty good to me while warming up. Their shooting certainly looked potent, while their opponents concentrated on short passing. I met the legendary groundhopper Leo Hoenig for the first time just before kick off.

UKJ started out the brighter, with an effort on the volley from outside the area being fumbled by Kabylian keeper Murad Koulougli. Lyles Mihoubi tested Hyo Geum Lim at the other end. In the tenth minute play was delayed after a horrific collision.

A player from either side went to head a bouncing ball out wide with full commitment. The Kabylia player came off far worse as there was up to a ten-minute delay, with players and officials showing great concern.

The player was laid at the side of the pitch while play continued, before eventually being stretchered to a building on the far side, while Kabylia fans and officials along with those of Bracknell Town looked to offer assistance.

The Kabylia support were in full voice getting behind their side who were increasingly under the cosh. The Korean number two, Yong Ki Shin saw a header palmed away from a corner by the slightly suspect Koulougli.

The pressure was being ramped up, but the North Africans were defending in numbers behind the ball. The Koreans were guilty of a lack of pace to their moves, despite some excellent technical football, marshalled by former World Cup player Yong Hak An.

They were also guilty of being offside when in promising positions. It was difficult to tell whether that was through their own negligence or smart defending on behalf of their opponents? Tong Jun Lee went close with a fierce shot from just outside the box.

A deflected cross reached Yeong Jang Byun at the back post, but he snatched at the opportunity and put it wide. Kabylia were restricted to breakaways and shots from a distance that didn’t really trouble the goalkeeper.

I found a nice place in the shade during the interval on what was a very warm afternoon. It was a perfect way to relax between shifts and the tournament was really growing on me with nearly all in attendance smiling and entering into the spirit of the occasion.

The African support introduced musical accompaniment after the break, with the locals also lending their support. UKJ were still in control but a 0-0 was looking more and more likely as they began to run out of ideas and became frustrated.

Leo Snr joined me on the far side for a good yarn. There was a good mixture of supporters around the ground, and everyone seemed to be enjoying it. The ambulance eventually arrived to tend to the stricken player and over an hour after the incident.

On a rare foray to the Korean end, Yanis Kemache saw a low shot saved from distance. UKJ introduced their third sub with twelve minutes remaining, and he seemed to add some urgency to their attacking play.

Koulougli shocked the crowd as he pulled off a decent stop from Byun. The Koreans continued to be caught offside but should have taken the win when a fierce shot from Yun Guk Hong was put over the bar at point-blank range by Shin.

There was much joy among the Kabylia contingent when German referee Leon Dastych blew for full-time. Both teams received a good ovation from the appreciative crowd. I thoroughly enjoyed it and headed home via Richmond and Kilburn for a nap before work.

I’d certainly taken the better option than the England v Nigeria game that was taking place at Wembley as I headed home.

All images on this page are of Larges Lane, the former home of Bracknell Town.