Broadmayne Sports FC

Broadmayne Sports Youth Football Club was formed in February 1996, the result of a conversation between two young lads, Reece Boyt and Steve Gilbert. “My dad is going to start a football team,” said one, “So is mine,” said the other and so their dads, Richard Boyt and Terry Gilbert, decided to get together and to start training with a handful of boys and only two footballs.

Most of the boys were from Broadmayne, but gradually word got round, and boys from Crossways and Puddletown would swell the number to around 30 on a Friday night. A committee was soon formed and as funds began to accumulate more footballs were bought (a relief to the few dads who had chased all over the pitch and hedgerows retrieving lost balls). Fund raising events were organised, such as a jumble sale and a dance and, with hard work club, funds began to look healthy. The football kit we were given was second-hand and funds, although good, would not stretch to the hundreds of pounds needed for a new kit. So the search was on for a sponsor. This was not an easy task and after being turned down many times the solution was close at hand because John Old, whose son Robert played for the team, agreed to sponsor the team and so for the first two seasons Broadmayne Sports were smartly turned out in black and white and proudly sponsored by ‘Olds Welding Co’. The old kit was sent to needy children in Albania.

Other local businesses also helped with minor sponsorship; Broadmayne Garage donated money and E G Belt (builders, of Dorchester) donated footballs. At various times maintenance work has been done on the changing rooms; this has meant gangs of dads and mums cleaning and painting internally and externally. One of the major tasks undertaken was the installation of two floodlights and this meant that training could continue through the winter evenings. The large number of boys attending was a problem and, with no-one coming forward to run a second team, regrettably, the decision was taken to trim the squad to sixteen players. Of course with growing children a new kit was needed for the 98/99 season and Bardon Aggregates of Warmwell kindly agreed to fund this. The end of the league season (1998/1999) saw ‘Sports’ challenging for Division One. The squad this season was:- William Rumsey, Goalkeeper, Dan Belt, Joe Massey, Steve Darby, Steve Gilbert, Paul Scaplehorn, Glen Matthews, Andrew Wilson, Reece Boyt, Ashley White, Charlie Blundell, Justin Gould, Wesley Cole, Steve Clifford, John Pattison and Anthony Whitty.

Terry Gilbert