Page 30 - Raynes Park Vale v Badshot Lea

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Early history suggests that the village and Sporting
football club was formed in 1904, af- Bengal (Kent
ter a meeting at the local village hall. League). In our
They initially played friendly match- first season we
es before deciding that they affiliate took time to adjust
to the Surrey County Football Asso- to Senior Football eventually finishing 4th
ciation in 1907. from bottom under the guidance of man-
They began life in the junior leagues be- ager Maurice Gregory.
fore gradually progressing through the In 1997 the first Youth Team joined the
leagues. The most recent history shows Club and this saw the beginning of the
the Lea playing in the Aldershot leagues very successful Youth and Colts section
and progressing through the various divi- of the Club. We increased from one team
sions, eventually obtaining promotion to to over 20 and were given extra facility to
the Surrey Intermediate League Western accommodate this success.
in 1978. For season 2017/18 we started a ground-
Progress through the three divisions saw share arrangement at Camberley Town
the Lea eventually promoted to the Surrey whilst our new ground is under construc-
Premier League in 1986. This was for one tion. In October 2017, Michael Charles
year only as we obtained the dubious dis- resigned and we turned to ex-manager
tinction of being relegated with the high- Mark Thomas who successfully led us to
est points total ever achieved by a side be- immediate promotion back to the Premier
ing relegated. Division at the end of the 2017/18 season.
Season 1988 saw us again in the Surrey In- Sadly, Mark had to resign his duties and
termediate League Western. The ensuing after an extensive search and interview
years saw the ups and downs that one ex- process, we appointed the successful Keith
periences until season 2002/03 which saw Hills, from fellow Premier Division team,
eventual promotion to Senior Football via Knaphill to lead us back into the Premier
The Hellenic League. This was not with- Division for season 2018/19.
out its problems as The FA at Soho Square In December 2018 we appointed a man-
tried to block the move. It was only the de- agement team of Gav Smith/Dave Ford as
termination of the committee and the full Joint Manager’s along with Paul Harkness
backing of The Hellenic League that even- as coach and Dan Bailey as assistant. They
tually saw us given the green light along galvanised the squad and finished in an
with London APSA (Essex Senior League) excellent 9th place.