Cadbury Athletic F.C. Explained

Clubname:Cadbury Athletic
Upright:0.9
Fullname:Cadbury Athletic Football Club
Nickname:The Chocolate Men
Founded:1994
Ground:Cadbury Recreation Ground, Bournville
Chairman:Bryan Elliott
Manager:Daniel Moses
Pattern B1:_whitequarters14
Pattern Sh1:_whitesides
Leftarm1:663399
Body1:663399
Rightarm1:FFFFFF
Shorts1:663399
Socks1:FFFFFF
Pattern B2:_thinsidesonwhite
Pattern Sh2:_blanksides2
Leftarm2:ffffff
Body2:663399
Rightarm2:ffffff
Shorts2:663399
Socks2:663399

Cadbury Athletic Football Club is an amateur football club based in Birmingham, England. Affiliated with the Cadbury confectionery company and playing in the company colours of purple and white, they are currently members of the and play at the Cadbury Recreation Ground in Bournville.

History

The club was established in 1994,[1] and were admitted to Division Three of the Midland Combination. Despite finishing ninth in their first season, they were promoted to Division Two. In 2000–01 a fourth-place finish was enough to secure promotion to Division One, with the club also winning the league's Challenge Vase.[2] They were Division One runners-up in 2004–05, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

Despite finishing twelfth in the Premier Division in 2011–12, Cadbury Athletic resigned from the division and dropped into Division One. They were Division One champions in 2013–14, the last season before the league merged with the Midland Alliance to form the Midland League, with Cadbury Athletic placed in Division One. The club resigned from Division One at the end of the 2020–21 season and dropped into Division Two. The following season saw them win the Division Two title and the Birmingham Saturday Vase with a 4–0 victory over Tipton Town in the final.[3]

Ground

The club originally played at the Cadbury Recreation Ground at the Cadbury factory in Bournville. Due to the lack of floodlights, the first team moved to Pilkington XXX's Triplex Sports Ground in Kings Norton,[4] and then Alvechurch's Lye Meadow ground,[5] before returning to the Triplex Ground.

The Triplex Ground was originally developed by Richmond Swifts. Levelling work between 1956 and 1958 led to banking being created on three sides of the pitch, with the fourth side left open for use as a cricket oval. A stand was built on the railway side of the pitch the mid-1990s, but Richmond left the ground after being unable to obtain planning permission to install floodlights.[4] The ground was later taken over by Pilkington XXX, who were able to install floodlights.

After dropping into Division Two of the Midland League in 2021, the club returned to the Cadbury Recreation Ground.

Players

Several former youth players at Cadbury Athletic have gone on to play professional football, including Rico Henry, Ryan Burge, Demarai Gray, Corey O'Keeffe and Daniel Sturridge.[6]

Honours

Records

External links

52.4275°N -1.934°W

Notes and References

  1. Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) Non-League Club Directory 2017, Tony Williams Publications, p437
  2. https://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/cadburyfc/153211/History?id=8529 Club Honours
  3. https://www.birminghamfa.com/cups-and-competitions/cups/2019-2020/saturday-vase-competition/results Results
  4. http://pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/pilkington_xxx.html Pilkington XXX
  5. http://hinckleyafc.org.uk/2014/08/15/match-preview-cadbury-athletic/ Match Preview: Cadbury Athletic (a)
  6. http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-who-corey-okeeffe-12301612 Birmingham City: Who is Corey O’Keeffe? Lowdown on Blues teenager who could feature against Newcastle United