Bristol Manor Farm Football Club is an
English football club
In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...
based in
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. They are currently members of the and play at The Creek. The club is affiliated to the
Gloucestershire County FA.
History
Bristol Manor Farm Football Club was formed for the 1960–61 season. After just one season, the club was disbanded but was reformed and began playing again in the 1962–63 season. Their current home The NL Services Stadium used to be the site of the Port of Bristol Authority Sports & Social Club but when they moved to new premises 1965, Manor Farm took it over. The pitch at The NL Services Stadium was once notorious for its sloping surface but work has been undertaken in recent years to eliminate the slope. With seating and floodlights added since 1980, the club now boasts excellent facilities alongside a spacious clubhouse.
Having a permanent base enabled the club to apply successfully to join the Somerset Senior League where they were to progress rapidly through the divisions before deciding to advance further to the Western League in 1977.
The club joined the First Division for the 1977–78 season and remained there until the 1982–83 season when they won the First Division championship and gained promotion to the Premier Division. They remained there until relegation under Pete McCall's management team in 2001–02 but regained their Premier status just two seasons later in 2003/04 under Shaun Bond and Nicky Johns. In 1983–84 they reached the final of the G.F.A. Challenge Trophy where they lost to then Hellenic League side
Shortwood United. The trophy did make its way to the Creek in 1987–88 and has been won on a further three occasions by the club.
Main stand at The Creek
The 2011–12 season saw the club win its first double when they took both the GFA Challenge Trophy and the Toolstation League Les Phillips League Cup back to Sea Mills.
Lee Lashenko become the new manager at the start of the 2013–14 season and quickly made an impact in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
, overcoming
Oldland Abbotonians,
Lymington Town and
Corsham Town to reach the second qualifying round, equaling their best ever performance in the competition. Unfortunately, they were unable to go one better and lost to
Bridgwater Town 1–2 in a replay at Fairfax Park. The club continued to fight for top spot in the league and applied for promotion. The club finished second but were unsuccessful in their promotion bid when
Larkhall Athletic were accepted into the Southern League. The second-placed finish was the best in the club's history. It also saw the team break the club records for the most goals scored in a season and the fewest goals conceded.
The 2015–16 season left the club with mixed feelings as on one hand they managed to get to the Quarter-Final of the
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...
narrowly going out away to eventual winners
Morpeth Town. On the other hand, while they finished third in the Western League, again they just missed out on promotion to the Southern League by one place. They did, however, win the GFA County Challenge Trophy for the second time in succession and the fourth time overall with a record 9–2 win over
Lydney Town.
In the 2016–17 season, Bristol Manor Farm were finally successful in gaining promotion to the Southern League, winning the Western League by quite a distance. They also had another successful run in the FA Vase where they went out in the fifth round proper to Semi-Finalists
Bromsgrove Sporting.
The Farm finished their first season in the eighth tier in ninth place, falling away towards the end after troubling the top six places all season.
In recent years, the ‘University of Bristol Manor Farm Supporters Club’ has been formed, an official supporters group affiliated with both the football club and the
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
.
Staff
*First Team Manager: Lee Lashenko
*Assistant Manager: Grantley Dicks
*Physio: Ashley Platten
*Coach(s): Mike Bryant
*Media Manager: William Ledbury
*Photographer: Alex Barnham
*Scarecrow: Tony Parsons
Club rivals
Bristol Manor Farm's main rivals are considered to be
Yate Town,
Mangotsfield United and
Cribbs, all from the northern outskirts of Bristol. With all four clubs playing in the Southern Football Leagues, fixtures among the four have been seen by some fans as a contest to claim the title of Bristol's third club and tend to attract higher than usual attendances.
Honours
*
Western Football League
The Western Football League is a association football, football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Jewson, so it ...
Premier Division
**Champions:
2016–17
**Runners-up:
2013–14
*
Western Football League
The Western Football League is a association football, football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Jewson, so it ...
Division One
**Champions:
1982–83
Cup honours
*Gloucestershire Football Association Challenge Trophy
** Winners: 1987–88, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015-16
*
Western Football League
The Western Football League is a association football, football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Jewson, so it ...
Cup:
** Winners: 2011–12
*Gloucestershire Football Association Senior Challenge Cup:
** Winners: 2024-25
Seasons
* Season abandoned due to COVID-19 Pandemic*
Records
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
**Third qualifying round 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
*
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...
**First round proper 2022–23, 2024–25
*
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...
**Quarter Finals 2015–16
*Biggest victory
**10–0 versus
Devizes Town in the Les Phillips Cup. Saturday 19 November 2016.
*Biggest Defeat
**0-11 versus
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
in the annual Community Match at The Creek on Sunday 9 July 2017.
*Record Attendance
**1417 versus Bristol City in a pre-season friendly. Sunday 9 July 2017
Notable past players
*
Alan Crawford
*
Danny Maye
*
David Mehew
*Marek Piszczek (brother of
Łukasz Piszczek
Łukasz Piotr Piszczek (; born 3 June 1985) is a Polish professional Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player for III liga club LKS Goczałkowice-Zdrój, Goczałkowice-Zdrój. Primarily a right-back, he is also ...
)
References
External links
Official WebsiteOfficial Twitter
{{coord, 51, 28, 53.52, N, 2, 39, 02.48, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title
Football clubs in Bristol
Western Football League
Association football clubs established in 1960
1960 establishments in England
Football clubs in England
Southern Football League clubs
Bristol and Suburban Association Football League
Somerset County League