Page 16 - Keynsham Town FC v Longwell Green Sports 190823
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Founded in June 1966 following the great upsurge of interest in football following
       England’s  World  Cup  success  of  Bobby Moore and  the  England  Team,  Longwell
       Green Sports was originally formed from the workforce of the areas main employer,
       Longwell Green Coachworks, the team was run for many years by Harold Harding,
       a well-known character in and around Longwell Green.
       The first pitch was laid out on the same site as today’s pitch and was, in 1966, open
       farmland.  In  its  early  years  Longwell  Green  played  in  what  was  the  Saturday
       Regional League and by the early seventies progressed to the District League.
       By 1980 our current Chairman, John Gibbs, joined the club along with several other
       players from Kingswood including our Reserves Team Manager, Jeff Fishlock. In
       1982 the club became District League Division 4 Champions losing only 3 games all
       season.
       In 1983 the club gained promotion to District Division 2, the following season the
       Reserve Team was formed. The first team won promotion 5 times in 9 seasons
       including Division 1 runners up and Senior District and Bristol Combination Premier
       Division 1 runners up in successive seasons, reaching Bristol Premier Division in
       1997.  The  following  season  the  club  finished  third,  2  points  behind  Bitton  &
       Frampton and lifted the Premier Cup beating Highridge 3-2.
       Our Reserves, by 1993, had reached District Division 2 following several promotions
       with many goals being scored by our current 3  Team Manager, Andy Britton.
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       In 2002 the first team reached the GFA Senior Amateur Cup final played at County
       HQ, losing on penalties to Nicholas Wanderers.
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       At  the  end  of  season  2003/2004  the  1   Team  gained  promotion  to  the
       Gloucestershire County League and following finishing as runners up to Highridge
       the  following  season,  were,  together  with  Portishead  and  Bradford-on-Avon
       promoted  to  the  Western  “Toolstation”  League.  We  believe  we  may  well  have
       created a little county history by being the only club on record that has achieved
       promotion after only one season in the County League.
       The club have always had an ambition to play at the highest level and this was
       rewarded when Matt Hale rejoined the club he first played for as a 15-year-old
       before becoming a professional footballer with Bristol City, he has also played for
       Yeovil and Weymouth.
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       Matt returned in late 2003, to assist John Gibbs as 1  team player/coach, the team
       finished runners up to Sea Mills and were promoted to the County League. During
       the summer Matt Hale was appointed Club Coach and 1  Team Manager.
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       Over the years the club has produced many young players who have gone on to
       play for National League and Western League clubs or have remained with the club,
       a number are now in our First Team squad.
       In addition to the 1  Team we run a Reserves, 3  & 4  Team, also an U18’s who
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       will play in the Gloucestershire County Youth League.
       At the beginning of 2003 the club changed its name from Longwell Green Sports
       FC to Longwell Green Sports, joining forces with the Longwell Green Juniors and
       forming a Senior & Junior Netball team to form a broader community sports club.
       Longwell Green has always had a commitment to developing young players and
       benefit from a tremendous spirit amongst its teams and club members.
       At Present we are in Toolstation Division 1. Our Manager is Chris Alway, assisted by
       Mark Summers, Geraint  Bater and Tony Hill.  Coach Alex  Grimshaw. Physio Tom
       Reynolds.
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