British Airways

British Airways FC is a non-league football club that was formed in April 1974 as a works team when British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA) merged playing at the Concorde Centre in Cranford, near to Heathrow Airport.

The club fielded many sides from the onset with the first XI playing Saturday football in the West Middlesex League, going on to lift the Division One title on several occasions as well as a couple of county cup competitions.

BA went on to become members of Division Three (Hounslow & District) of the Middlesex County League as BAA Heathrow for the 1997-98 season. After a bottom finish in their debut campaign, the club changed titles to AFC Heathrow.

A reorganisation of the competition saw the club placed in Division Two for 2011-12. BA had also entered a side in the London Commercial League, which had become the strongest team at the club. The league had ten divisions of ten sides, all with their own sports grounds!

This side transferred across to the Premier Division of the Middlesex County League for 2012-13, with AFC becoming British Airways Thirds. BA won the league title at the first attempt. Another championship was collected in 2017-18.

The second success was rewarded with promotion to Division One of the Combined Counties League. The club moved their matches to The Orchard, homme of Bedfont & Feltham FC to comply with ground regulations.

A tenth place in 2018-19 was backed up under manager Jason Owens with seventeenth when the 2019-20 and following campaign were halted owing to the outbreak of COVID-19. BA finished midtable in 2021-22, but then improved to seventh place twelve months later.

A runners-up place in 2023-24 led to a playoff spot, while it looked like the club would be moving to become tenants with Spelthorne Sports after ending their groundshare agreement with Bedfont. The playoffs saw victories against Rising Bailers Kensington and then Berks County on penalties to seal promotion.

British Airways FC will play in the Combined Counties League Division One in the 2023-24 season.

My visit

British Airways 0 Jersey Bulls 2 (Friday 11^th September 2020) Combined Counties League Division One (Att: c120)

I was on night shift but really fancied this opportunity to see Jersey and complete what us groundhoppers call a bracketed tick as I'd already seen landlords Bedfont & Feltham in action at The Orchard.

Tony Foster was also up for it, so I made my way to North Harrow for a lift. Traffic was as light as usual during the pandemic, especially in the area around Heathrow which in normal circumstances could be quite congested.

Admission was £5. I'd already downloaded the match programme online before setting out. More and more clubs seemed to be adopting that method. the fella on the cash desk with a dog end hanging out of the corner of his mouth telling us to fill out our details for track and trace. It made me smile.

We grabbed a cuppa for a quid before deciding on a position across on the far side. The near side stand was cordoned off for the use of officials, media and substitutes. Both teams took the knee before kick off in support of Black Lives Matters, which was a first for us at non-league.

The impressive Channel Islanders were good value for their win playing some fine passing and movement as well as a bit of dribbling towards full time. BA gave them a battle but class told in the end.

It was 0-0 at the break, with the hosts doing well to get into the game after a decent start from the Bulls with keeper Ben Clargo, who surely had one letter too many in his name, looking a safe pair of hands.

Jersey continued to probe and eventually went ahead when Fraser Barlow slotted home after Clargo had blocked an effort with his knees following a smart move. Busy number 9 Arthur Illingworth finished off when Clargo spilled an effort to double the advantage.

The game got a bit niggly at times but the no nonsense official was having none of it. Some home fans gave him abuse about his weight to which he replied "thank you" with a laugh while continuing with his role. The game could do with a few more such characters. I enjoyed the work of Steve Hart.

A gaggle of home fans were a bit spiky. I was commenting to Tony that the scoreline was about right when one gave me some right abuse as he walked by. Maybe I was mistaken for one of the several Jersey supporting fans in attendance. Either way, I think I was right. I had no real emotion as to who won.

We returned to the full car park from where my pal deposited me at Rayners Lane so I could head off for my shift in good form, and pleased that we'd made the effort to attend.

For further images of The Orchard from a previous visit, please click here.