California FC
04 Sep 2010

The Early Years 1975

The Club is presently one of the largest in the area, competing in the East Berks Youth Football League and the North East Hants Youth League and has in the region of 400 members between the ages of 5 and 17 years old.

This is a far cry from the early days! California Football Club took its name from the locality of California Crossroads and the proximity to California Country Park. It all started with boys kicking a ball about on the unkempt woodland adjacent to Gorse Ride Junior School in 1975. Gordon McGrath, Ron Harvey and Mike Haggar were the first to organize the boys into a team and borrowed kit from Shinfield FC, which allowed them to play in the Bracknell Boys League in the Under 11s age group.

At that time, a laid-out soccer pitch was out of the question, so all their matches were played away from home by special permission of the League.

In 1977, a second boy's team was added and by 1980 three teams were playing soccer under the name of California Boys Football Club.

Some California FC players have gone on to play football at the highest level. Ian Paltiel for Portsmouth, Lloyd Haggar for Southampton and Daren Wilkinson played for Bournemouth. A number of others have played for Wokingham Town and Bracknell Town. A number of our current players have enjoyed successful spells at the football academies run by Clubs such as Reading, Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham, Portsmouth, Swindon Town, Oxford United and Southampton.

The 90's................
In 1992, along with the seven teams playing 11 a-side football, 7 a-side soccer was introduced for boys and girls aged 5-10 years old. The Club soon added other venues to cope with the popularity including Gorse Ride School playing field in 1994, followed by Waverley Way in 1998 and Nine Mile Ride School field in 1999.

2000.....CALIFORNIA FOOTBALL CLUB FIRST TO RECEIVE F.A. CHARTER STANDARD IN BERKS & BUCKS.

California Football Club became the first youth soccer club in the whole of the Berks & Bucks County Football Association area to be awarded the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION 'CHARTER STANDARD in 2001. Subsequently in 2002, we have been awarded the FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION STANDARD DEVELOPMENT STATUS, this time one of the first clubs to do so in the south of England. In addition to this achievement, California Football Club was selected as the Charter Standard Development Club Regional Winners for the South Region 2002.

The then Club Chairman Simon Bellis said, "This prestigious award recognises the on going improvement and ambitious plans of the club to provide a higher quality of football development to the youth of the area. We owe a lot of thanks to a number of people who have brought the club to where we are today. Allan Buckland who pushed the club forward from its early beginnings, bringing in the late Bob Schofield, recent past-Chairman and Secretary, to add extra impetus. Between them they managed the expansion of the club. A lot of praise is due to Terry Wiseman, another former Club Secretary, who co-ordinated the applications for these standards, and to all the managers and coaches whose commitment to the required programmes, qualifications and ethics are the cornerstone to this success.

The future remains in the hands of the many committed volunteers who will continue to improve and develop the standard of the service we offer to the many young people of the area. The only limitation to our growth is the willingness of parents to get involved, and the availability for pitches on which we can train and play. This latter issue will remain a priority of the club for the foreseeable future.

The Charter Standard is the first stage of The Football Association's commitment to raising the standards within the provision of youth football throughout the country, encouraging County Football Associations to develop strategic plans to support grass roots football clubs. In the continuously changing environment in which football is developed, it is essential, according to the FA, to support and equip youth football clubs with the necessary structures to improve standards and maintain them.

The Standard identifies the way forward for youth clubs and assists the needs of clubs in recruiting new players, coaches and helpers; club administration; refereeing standards; opportunities to identify and source new methods of funding; dealing with parents and spectators; and child protection.

California Football Club was one of the first clubs in the East Berks Junior Association to open membership to boys and girls playing in the same team. The club would like to see the girls section grow and would be delighted to hear from any mother or father who would like to help us do this. If you are interested, please call or email club Chairman, David Bland.

2009........
After many years of trials and tribulations, blood sweat and tears, California FC at last moved to their new home with state of the art facilities and pitches at Eversley. In partnership with Eversley FC and Eversley CC, the ESA was formed back in 2002 and allowed for new grounds for all three clubs and with a sizeable grant from the Football Foundation and other generous benefactors, the dream of having our own pitches became a reality. We are now able to offer our players and visiting teams superb facilities. The club owes much to the dedication of our current chairman David Bland.

If you would like to find out more about the club, please contact Club Secretary Martin McMahon via email on mljmcmahon@hotmail.com