Biggleswade United Football Club is a
football club based in
Biggleswade
Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. Affiliated to the
Bedfordshire County Football Association
The Bedfordshire Football Association, also simply known as ''Bedfordshire FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Bedfordshire, England. Founded in 1894, the Bedfordshire FA run a number of cups at different levels for teams a ...
, they are currently members of the and play at Second Meadow.
History
The modern club was established on 16 July 1959, although there was an earlier club by the same name in the 1920s.
[Club History]
Biggleswade United F.C. They joined Division Three of the North Hertfordshire League, and played in the league until joining Division One of the
South Midlands League
The South Midlands League was a football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties in England. It was founded in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League and merged with the Spartan League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midla ...
in 1969.
The club struggled in the league, finishing bottom of Division One in 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84, after which they dropped into Division Two of the Hertfordshire Senior County League; during their fifteen seasons in the South Midlands League, they finishing in the bottom half of the table in every season.[
In 1986 the club switched to the Bedford & District League. After winning the Aubrey Tingey Memorial Cup in 1988–89, they went on to win Division Two in 1990–91 (a season in which they also won the Diamond Jubilee Cup)][Club Honours]
Biggleswade United F.C. and were Division One champions the following season.[2007-2008 Season Handbook]
Bedfordshire Football League The first of three consecutive Britannia Cups was won in 1993–94, and the club won back-to-back Premier Division titles in 1994–95 and 1995–96,[ after which they were promoted back to Division One of the South Midlands League.][
After winning Division One and the Division One Cup in their first season in the league,][ the club were placed in the Senior Division of the new Spartan South Midlands League, the result of a merger with the ]Spartan League
The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League.
History
The Spartan League was establi ...
; this was renamed Division One in 2001. In 2001–02 the club won the Bedfordshire Senior Cup, and in 2003–04 they won the Bedfordshire Senior Trophy.[ After finishing third in 2004–05 (a season in which they also won the Division One Cup), they were promoted to the Premier Division.][ The following season they won the Senior Cup for a second time.][
In late October 2014 Spanish football journalist ]Guillem Balagué
Guillem Balagué (born 2 November 1968) is a Spanish football journalist, author, and pundit. He was a regular pundit on Sky Sports' show ''Revista de la Liga'' and has also written for some of Britain's newspapers as well as several Spanish ne ...
responded to an email request from club chairman Chris Lewis, through which Balagué accepted the role as Director of Football; Balagué's influence led to the signing of former Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league s ...
and Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...
midfielder Enrique de Lucas. At the end of the 2020–21 season the club were transferred to the Premier Division South of the United Counties League
The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckingham ...
.
Ground
The club have played at Second Meadow on Fairfield Road since reforming in 1959, with the ground having been used by the previous incarnation of the club.[Our Stadium]
Biggleswade United F.C. Bigglewade Town's Fairfield Road ground was located next door until they moved in 2006.[Biggleswade United]
Pyramid Passion
A stand with a mixture of bench seating and standing was opened in 1998,[ and floodlights installed in 1999.][ In 2009 the 260-seat Steve Matthews stand was opened.][ In 2020 the North Stand was named after longtime club president and former player Peter Dean. The ground currently has a capacity of 2,000.][
]
Honours
*Spartan South Midlands League
**Division One Cup winners 2004–05
*South Midlands League
**Division One champions 1996–97
**Division One Cup winners 1996–97
*Bedford & District League
**Premier Division champions 1994–95, 1995–96
**Division One champions 1991–92
**Division Two champions 1990–91
**Britannia Cup winners 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96
**Aubrey Tingey Memorial Cup winners 1988–89
**Diamond Jubilee Cup winners 1990–91
*Bedfordshire Senior Cup
**Winners 2001–02, 2005–06
*Bedfordshire Senior Trophy
**Winners 2003–04
*Bedfordshire Intermediate Cup
**Winners 1995–96, 1996–67Intermediate Challenge Cup finals 1938–2015
Bedfordshire FA
Records
*Best FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...
performance: First qualifying round, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17[
*Best ]FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...
performance: Second round, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2015–16, 2016–17[
*Record attendance: 303 vs AFC Dunstable, Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, 2 January 2016
]
See also
*Biggleswade United F.C. players
Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, and i ...
References
External links
Official website
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Football clubs in England
Football clubs in Bedfordshire
Association football clubs established in 1959
1959 establishments in England
Biggleswade
North Hertfordshire League
South Midlands League
Hertfordshire Senior County League
Bedfordshire County Football League
Spartan South Midlands Football League
United Counties League