Bingley Juniors Football Club

The club was founded in 1968 by a group of people including Tommy Hallett who was the then captain of Bradford City FC. They initially played in Myrtle Park then moved to a farmer's field off Heights Lane in Eldwick. A final move found them playing on a small pitch alongside the cricket square on Gilstead Rec. By 1972 the cricket square fell into disuse and a larger football pitch was put in its place. The changing facilities were the old cricket pavillion. We were founder members of the Bradford Youth League along with Sedburgh Boys Club, Queensbury Celtic and Stansfield Rovers. The club built up a reputation for sportsmanship, good organisation and strong teams playing good football. Much of the style of play was instigated in the 1970's by Harry Haddington who had been a professional with Walsall FC. Other ex-pros Bill Atkins and Eric McManus joined the coaching staff and took up Harry's approach and methods. The clubs view as stated in the Annual Report of 1989 was to provide a balance between football development and winning trophies. Bingley has managed to maintain this balance over the years. In the 1970's the current changing rooms were built by members of the club. Further facilities were added in the late 1980's. From the AGM minutes of 1982 it can be seen that we were running 6 teams, U12 to U17. Subscriptions were £2.50. The annual expenditure was just under £1,000. Celebrity football matches were held to raise funds with one Frank Worthington being the star attraction on one occasion. In the mid 1970's an open age team made up mainly by boys who had first started playing for the club in the 60's was formed. They worked their way to the Premier Division of the Craven League. Quite a few of the players left the open age team to play football at a higher standard. By the late 1980's it was obvious that the pitch at Gilstead couldn't sustain open age football as well as junior football and so the decision was taken to revert back to a Junior Club only. Our longest serving official, Trevor Crossley joined in 1988 followed 2 years later by Martin Procter. In 1985 our longstanding relationship with kit suppliers, Norman Bairstow Ltd started. Nowadays the business is known as Dobson & Robinson of Ilkley. They have always ensured the teams are turned out well in its black and red colours. One of the clubs fun activities was the annual trip to see the League Cup Final at Wembley. This is now known as the Coca-Cola Cup. Free tickets were provided by Bradford City FC. In the late 1980's teams started at Under 11 and went through to Under 16/17 but the club resisted the move that many clubs made to start younger and younger as the 11-a-side game seemed wrong for these young children. However, the introduction by the FA of Mini-Soccer fitted in with the clubs ethos and Barry Haller set up the first 6 week long summer Mini-Soccer centre from which the club developed a Mini-Soccer section. By the turn of the century the club had expanded to the point where additional facilities were required. Martin Procter and Mark Brodigan a governor at Crossflatts Primary School with the aid of Awards for All funding turned the redundant fields at the school into what is now our Mini-Soccer Centre, which is the envy of many clubs. In 2003 girls football was introduced through the FA Kick Start Programme For Girls and the hard work of Peter White and his wife, Anne-Louise. With the added facilities we are now running 18 teams, a far cry from our roots back in 1968. With its longevity there are now an increasing number of children whose dad's also played for the club. Coaches Gary Wilson and Nick Fawell are just 2 examples. Picking up and reading the Telegraph & Argus sports section reads like a who's who of ex Bingley Juniors boys playing at all levels in the Bradford Metropolitan area. The club is not without more famous members. Back in the early days Neil Davids went on to play for Leeds United. Peter Jackson now manager at Lincoln City is an old boy. Lee Margerison, Lee Duxbury and Danny Forrest all played for Bradford City before making their names elsewhere. Paul Crichton who father was Secretary for many years had a long career as a goalkeeper starting at Nottingham Forest. Graham Mitchell played for both Bradford City and Huddersfield Town and is now the Youth Team Manager at the latter. Tony Gill and Graeme Tomlinson made their way to Manchester United before having to retire with injuries. Steve McManus son of Eric won an Irish Under 18 cap before injury struck. Andy Couzens and Danny Cadamarteri both gained England Under 21 caps. Andy even won an FA Youth Cup winners medal whilst with Leeds United. Danny Cadamarteri burst onto the scene as a young striker scoring the winning goal for Everton in the Merseyside Derby. This was on his debut and TV as well. James Riley played and scored for the English Schools FA an honour shared by Michael Owen. Many, many other players started in the professional ranks after being ' scouted ' at Bingley Juniors and made youth and reserve appearances before learning the disappointment of the hard side of the professional game. We also have international and professional players in other sports. Dan Scarborough plays Rugby Union for Saracens and England, Richard Illingworth has represented England at cricket. Billy Foster has caddied for both Seve Ballesteros and Darren Clarke. The clubs more recent history must include the Valley Parade Memorial Tournament and our exchange visit with Hammer Spielvereinigung of Germany. The Under 14's won the competition in its inaugural year and we have enjoyed the occasional success over the years. The exchange with Hammer Spvg is a valued annual activity using football to give the boys further football experience on an international stage and to create friendships through sport, one of the clubs overriding aims. Whilst over in Germany we have played teams from Holland, Slovenia, Poland, Switzerland to name but a few. We once received an invitation to a tournament in Russia, in February. Needless to say we declined. We continue to try and do things the ' Bingley Way ', good sportsmanship, good organisation and good football. We are very proud of our history because it is that which makes the club something special. Long may we continue.