A brief history of Kingswood AFC
25 May 2011

1894- The first recorded mention of Kingswood Football Club appeared in the Wotton Gazette, it reported a game involving Kingswood Crown vs. Sinwell Star in 1894.  Also at the time there was a club named Wotton & Kingswood Utd who were very successful in the Mid Glos League, playing Cheltenham Town, Gloucester City, Stroud, Forest Green and Sharpness among others. With the Crown tag gone Kingswood enjoyed varying fortunes up to the First World War. 1906/07- Kingswood Champions of Dursley League Division ll. 1914/18- The First World War. 1919- Just after the First World War, the team finished joint top of the Dursley League Division ll along with Dursley Discharged Soldiers. A play off at Thornbury saw the Soldiers win 3-0 against all predictions in front of a crowd of 1000 people. 1922/23- Kingswood becomes a founded member of the newly formed Gloucestershire Northern Senior League along with Cheltenham Town, Forest Green, Stonehouse, Sharpness, Dursley, Wotton and others. 1923/24- Kingswood reserve team enters the newly formed Thornbury League. 1939/1945- The Second World War. 1947- Kingswood Football Club reforms following a break for the war, a little later than many others. Club enters Division 2 of the Dursley & Wotton League once again. 1966/67- Kingswood promoted from Stroud League Division 3 and the following year finished champions of Division 2, but dropped out of Division 1 soon after. 1973/74- Kingswood win the Stroud Charity Intermediate Cup, ad the newly reformed Kingswood reserve team win the Stroud League, Division 6. 1994- On 6^th October a match against an ex Bristol Rovers team, under the newly erected floodlights took place. 1996/97- New changing rooms had been built onto the village hall during the previous two years and were used for the first time in February. The driving force behind the project was Vice-Chairman Rob Bateman. 1997/98- Champions of Stroud League after a 70 year gap, and the Stroud Charity Cup B Section trophy as well. 1998/99- Was even better when by September the team had won the Northern Senior League Cup. Kingswood ended up as Champions of Division 2, and at the end of the season won Section A of the Stroud Charity Cup. 2000/01- This season saw the introduction of a youth team into the Stroud Youth League at under 13 year’s level. A team had been formed the previous season at the under 12 age level with manager Adrian Beale and his assistant Mark Crossfield doing a good job of getting it off the ground playing friendly matches. 2002/03- Daren Ford and Martin Bleaken take over the first team. The introduction of Martin Bleaken proves to be a renaissance within the club. 2004/05- With Dave Birt stepping down as Chairman after 20 years in the post and being made president, Rob Bateman stepped up fro Vice-Chairman and Dean Saunders took the Vice-Chairman post. On the field was a great season for the team when they gained promotion from Division 2 of the Senior League with a win in the last game to secure third place. The emergence of Ian Evans as reserve team manager would also prove to be good for the future of the club. At the end of May a group of players and officials went on tour to Balbriggan just north of Dublin. The first game was lost to Globe North and by the time the second was played against Balbriggan; most players were suffering due to excess Guinness and lack of sleep! 2005/06- First team claim all time highest finish for the club finishing 8^th in Senior League 1. Second team also wins Stroud League 5. 2006/07- First team finish 6^th and the Second team win Stroud League 4 but lose in the final of County Cup. 2007/08- First team win Reg Davis Cup 5-0 beating Longlevens in the final. This was followed up by the team finishing 5^th in Senior 1. The Second team wins Stroud 3 by goal difference after having to win last game by 7 clear goals. Three weeks earlier they had won the County Cup Intermediate at Slimbridge against Whaddon Utd Reserves 4-3 AET. This was the first time in the club’s 114 years that any section of a Gloucestershire County Cup competition had been won. 2008/09- First team gain County League football for first time in the club’s history after finishing 3^rd in Gloucestershire Northern Senior One. The Second team finish 4^th in Stroud League two. After a promising start, a blip in form in the New Year resulted in missing out on a 4^th successive promotion. 2009/10- First team record highest ever finish in senior football, with a 10^th place finish in their first season in Gloucestershire County League. Reserve team finishes in 6^th place after disappointing results throughout March. 2010/11 – After a promising start to the season the First team never really got going after this. Injuries suspensions and a series of poor performances leave the team a very disappointing second bottom of the County League. The Reserves were guided to a 6^th place finish in Stroud League Two by the new management team of the Shaw brothers Chris and Mike after a steady season.