ABOUT

Welcome to Calverley United Junior Football Club

Established in 1989 with just two teams, our club has steadily grown over the years, providing grassroots football for the Calverley community and surrounding areas. Today, we are proud to be an FA Charter Standard Community Football Club, boasting over 35 boys and girls teams and supported by a dedicated team of over 100 volunteers who handle coaching and club management.

Our mission is simple: to offer boys and girls aged 4 to 18 a safe, enjoyable, and supportive environment to play football. For those who wish to continue their football journey beyond 18, we have a seamless pathway to our two senior teams. Each of our teams are led by qualified and trained volunteers who hold certifications in Football, First Aid, and Safeguarding, with necessary DBS checks, ensuring the utmost safety and professionalism for our players.
How it all began...
In 1989, two visionaries, Dave Hastings and Dave Alred, identified the need for a junior football club in Calverley since no such club existed nearby. They wanted to provide the local youngsters with an opportunity to represent their village in football. After several meetings, Calverley United Junior Football Club was born in September 1989, with teams competing in the Garforth League (U11 age-group) and Bradford Junior League (U14 age-group). The founding committee and coaches included dedicated individuals such as Dave Hastings (Chairman), Dave Alred (Secretary), Marilyn Alred, Linda Burrow, Tony Burrow, Bill Collins, Neil Dawson, Donald Gawthorp, David Coop, Pauline Coop, Bill Gall, Ken Paley, Sue Paley and Denis Crawley.

Before our club's establishment, Calverley St Wilfrid's Cricket Club was the primary sporting option for juniors in the village. Our football club changed that by offering a year-round opportunity for young people to participate in both cricket (summer) and football (winter), which remains a common thing that most of our players do today.

Early Support and Sponsorship
Throughout the years, the club has been incredibly fortunate to receive generous sponsorship from local businesses, enabling us to provide kits for our players. Early sponsors included Biscor UK Ltd., Airedale Air Conditioning Ltd, and Irwins Ltd. Even as our club expanded, the support from sponsors remained steadfast, with more than 30 sponsors now contributing to outfit our young players in their Calverley kits with pride and passion.

Celebrating Achievements
Since our inception, we held an annual presentation day to celebrate the achievements of our players. The tradition began in the Calverley Mechanics Institute and has continued almost every year, with only a few exceptions when other venues were used. Notably, figures like Brian Tinnion of Bradford City FC and Paul Jewell, who guided Bradford City FC to the Premier League, have graced our presentations, handing out awards to our deserving players. Due to the large expansion of the club post 2018 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the club moved to individual age-group presentations which have taken place since. 

In 1999, the club introduced the Junior and Senior Clubman Award, followed by the St Wilfird's Fair Play Award in 2009, Volunteer Award (later renamed the Coopers Cup) in 2013, and the Clubwoman Award in 2019. The list of esteemed recipients of these prestigious club awards can be found on our website's honours page. 
Pitch Palaver
For many years, our older teams have shared the football grounds with the seniors at Calverley Victoria Park. On the other hand, our younger teams have experienced the unique challenge of playing on the sloping terrain of Calverley C of E School. And who could forget the memorable yet challenging playing conditions of the boggy and undulating Brookfield Recreation Ground? While our more recent youth teams, now based at Woodhall and Horsforth Vale, may not be familiar with these past venues, they are fortunate to have better facilities.

Around 2010, David Cooper, one of the club's former chairpersons, had approached the council about purchasing the Woodhall Playing Fields for development. Unfortunately, it took almost ten years, and David's passing before the council acquired the fields, which were then leased to our club and neighboring clubs. This was timely as our club had doubled in size around 2018 with the expansion of boys' teams and the addition of a girls' section, growing from 7 girls to over 150 between 2018 and 2022. Fulneck School also came to our aid temporarily, providing additional pitches as we outgrew the capacity of Woodhall.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Football Foundation, DCMS, West Riding FA, and Leeds City Council announced the 'Parklife' scheme, which selected Woodhall as a funded site. The scheme aimed to develop three 4G pitches, a car park, a changing room/cafe facility, and other amenities. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, progress was delayed, and we are eagerly awaiting the start of construction while juggling our current teams' demands for pitches.

Meanwhile, Calverley Victoria Park, our beloved home of football, has seen further improvements thanks to the dedicated efforts and funding secured by the senior team's groundsman, Will Hardaker. In 2021, grants were approved to enhance the playing surface, acquire portable goals, and set up seasonal barriers.
We are proud of our club's history and excited about the future developments that will provide even better facilities for our players, coaches, and supporters.
Coming soon...

  • the club's history on its provision of girls football (including trials of girls' football team during the humble beginnings of 1989, a girls' team in 2011 and a girls section sparked into being in 2018).
  • how the club operated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • the club's grassroots awards success in 2021
Credits: Luke Cooper & Dave Hastings