Club Report
04 May 2008

Kid’s football is thriving in Great Bardfield. Saturday mornings have been a time looked forward to by our local children for many years, in fact about for about 10 years. Originally set up by a local Dad who wanted the opportunity for his own son to be able to have a fun kick around at the weekend, a series of parents have dedicated many of their Saturday mornings since through the years, ensuring boys and girls of all abilities get covered in mud and pick up the fundamentals of our traditional English game. In past years, all of the matches arranged with other local sides were friendlies, but with the growth in popularity of mini-league soccer, Saturday morning football in Great Bardfield has evolved into a club providing football for under 6 to under 11 year olds, and league football from under 8's upwards.

Great Bardfield Junior FC, or 'The Mud Dogs', as they are known as throughout Essex and Cambridgeshire, is now a rapidly growing club. Affiliated to the Essex FA, and with 3 league squads playing in the Cambridgeshire Mini-League.

The local press features match reports from the league matches, squad photos and even special back page spreads on the success of the Mud Dogs in their first full season of league football. With the new teams for next year, coverage and hence the profile of the village and its football club is set to expand.

On a busy Saturday morning at The Kennel Ground, as members have named Bardfield Playing Fields, there can be found a couple of hundred people supporting our local sides or the opposition, many of whom take advantage of a cup of coffee or increasingly an over indulgent breakfast at The Mud Dogs Cafe, again run by dedicated parent supporters, providing a significant boost to club funds. Even regular dog walkers are known to stop and enjoy the excitement of league football on their doorstep.

It is not just children from Great Bardfield that don the popular Total 90 Nike yellow and black Mud Dogs kit. Children from Finchingfield, Wethersfield, Great Saling and surrounding villages are all benefiting from and contributing to the club’s success.

The growth of the club continues. With each new school year, a new set of Under 6’s turn up on a chilly September Saturday morning, ready for the first training session of the season. Some of them are more interested in the worms, others count the daisies, but even at that early stage of those potential national team players development, the odd moment of brilliance occurs, admittedly dominated by miss-kicks, running in the wrong direction, or simply wondering whether to pick the football up, kick it or go and talk to their mate.

As the club has grown in numbers and consequently volume of visitors, the need for improved facilities has become important. The Parish council, recognising the requirement to replace the 'leaking shed' that currently looks out over The Kennel Ground, has been busy in recent years developing a plan for a new clubhouse, changing rooms, showers, kitchen and social area, for the local community groups such as Great Bardfield Youth Club, the football club and others to use. An improvement in these facilities will attract new members and underpin the efforts for those dedicated to making these organisations a success for the kids and maximize their enjoyment and development. The Parish Council and Mud Dogs are spearheading the significant task of now raising the necessary funds to pay for the new development. As a developing and popular youth football club heading for Chartered Standard Status, negotiations have begun with The Football Foundation and Essex FA, who with the correct criteria for developments, will fund up to half the project cost. Significant other funding will still be required from other sources too and anyone who believes they can assist in this regard is welcomed to contact the Parish Council or Great Bardfield FC.

The new season (08/09) is well under way now - lets have even more fun than we did the year before - a challenge in itself.