Post by Dave on May 17, 2013 17:36:21 GMT
Holsworthy Ground Upcott Field
At one of the customers I call at in Holsworthy, I so often find myself talking about football, well local football in the Bay to me more accurate. That might seem a bit strange as the man I talk to called Brett, has always lived in North Devon and that is where he played his football when he was younger.
Brett talks about his cousins who just happen to be Bestows and while I do not think Brett has met any of them, he knows all about them thanks to his mum. So it goes without saying that Upton Athletic always seems to get mentioned and as I covered one of their games last season, I was able to show in some pictures of both Ian and Darren Bastow in action.
I never asked Brett if he has ever played on the Holsworthy pitch, but did want to go and take a look at the ground and take a few pictures of it. The ones I have put up I did take a few years ago now, but I popped in again this week and nothing seems to have changed at all.
History of the club from their club website
Holsworthy Football Club was formed on the 5th October 1891 when a group of local businessmen met at the Rectory to decide upon funding a football team and also to decide whether that team should play soccer or rugby. Soccer won the day and the fledgling club was born.
After the Second World War, Holsworthy had to play their football in Stanhope Park until 1949 when they moved to their present home at Upcott Field.
The Magpies have a record to be proud of for a small town and they hold the unique record of having won County Cups at three different levels, the Devon Junior Cup in 1938/39, the Devon Senior Cup in 1953/54 and the Devon Premier Cup in 1971/72 and again in 1978/79.
In 1952/53 Holsworthy left the North Devon League and entered the Plymouth and District League, winning the Championship in 1968/69 and again in 1969/70, and the Plymouth and District League Victory Cup in 1972/73.
In 1971 Holsworthy were elected to the South Western League, and remained in that league until the start of the 2003/04 season. Although they never won the South Western League Championship or the County League Cup the have won the Sporting Trophy on no less than five occasions.
At the start of the 2003/04 season they joined the Devon County League and won the championship in their first season.
In 1997 floodlights were erected at the Upcott Field, and they were switched on by the then Plymouth Argyle manager, Mick Jones, who brought an Argyle team to Holsworthy to play a match to inaugurate the start of the football under the Holsworthy floodlights, which were said at the time to be of the highest non-league standard and to be one of the best sets in the South Western League. For the 2006-07 season, Holsworthy remained in the Devon County League under new manager Mickey Clark They joined the South West Peninsula League Premier Division in 2007 with Keith Rickard taking the joint managerial role with Mickey Clarke for the 2008/09 season. Towards the end of the 2008/09 season they won the Torridge Cup.
In addition to the first team Holsworthy also have a second team “The Reserves” which, until the end of the 2005/06 season, played in the Bideford Tool North Devon Premier League. They have performed well over the last few seasons and actually won the league title in 1975/76.The Reserves joined the East Cornwall League Division 1 for the 2006/07 season.
After a break of a couple of seasons, Holsworthy’s Third team was revived and compete in the Hodgson Insurance Kingsley League and in 2005/06 season gained runners up position and were winners of the Subsidiary Cup . They had previously competed in this league with some success before being elected to the North Devon Intermediate 2 Division, where they won the Bideford Tool Cup and the Subsidiary Cup in their first season 1999/2000.
The 2005/06 season saw the Holsworthy Ladies team begin their league debut in the Devon Women’s League Division 1 where they deservedly finished in 2nd position and gaining promotion to the Premier Division. However the team had to be disbanded for the 2008/09 season due to a lack of players.
Holsworthy AFC also supports several youth sides and the club look to them in order to secure the future of new players into the club teams.
