Pirbright Youth FC

Formation: The Beginnings

Formed in 2008 by a group of parents looking to provide a new club for their children, Pirbright Premier FC began life as one team competing in the Surrey Primary League at Under 9s level. It was initially suggested that the team be called ‘Pirbright Monsters’ but – perhaps wisely – the club settled on the epithet ‘Premier’ and PPFC was born. Playing in colours of green, white and black the club crest (left) depicts the village’s traditional emblem of the old oak tree. Progress, improvement and fun remains at the heart of the club’s ethos.

The club became Pirbright Youth FC in the Summer of 2020 as we moved to reflect closer alignment with the village’s senior club Pirbright FC and ensure longevity and and sustainability of football within the Parish.

Early Years

PPFC established swift links with the village school, securing the use of its playing fields – set amidst the picturesque Surrey countryside – for their home matches. The team and club grew briskly in both playing strength and membership numbers over the following three seasons, with a third place finish secured in their final campaign of seven-a-side football.

The mandatory switch to eleven-a-side at U12s level necessitated a move ‘over the road’ to the pitch on Pirbright Village Green, with a top-four placing achieved in the North East Hants Youth League in 2010/2011. Switching to the East Berks Youth League (EBYL) in 2011/2012 PPFC finished runners-up. Under the guidance of Mike Berry – who coached the team since the club’s foundation, Pirbright again finished second in the EBYL in 2012/13, enjoying their most successful campaign yet; scoring a record number of goals and securing promotion. After five agonising tournament final defeats in previous years the team finally scooped PPFC’s first silverware in May 2013, winning the Mayford Athletic competition. The team followed this is 2013/14 with a fourth placed finish in the league, entering  the least week of the season still with a realistic chance of the championship.

Playing at Under 16s age group in 2014/15 Pirbright finally landed that elusive championship, winning the East Berks Youth League Division Four as early as February. With heavy hearts the team made the decision to disband in 2015 in the face of increasing commitments for the players. The lads nevertheless signed off with another trophy – winning the Mayford Athletic Tournament in June in their final ever game in Pirbright colours.

The Next Generation

In September 2010 an Under 7s side began training on the village green and represented the club for the first time at the Mayford Athletic tournament in May 2011. The team played a season of friendly football in the Surrey Primary League in 2011/12. In their first competitive campaign the side reached the semi-finals of the SPL Plate and rounded off a memorable 2012/13 by winning the Fleet Spurs Tournament. The following season – at Under 10s age group – the team again reached the semi-finals of the cup; and retained their Fleet tournament title in fine fashion in May 2014.

Promotion & Cup Double

2014/15 proved the lads’ most successful campaign to date. Finishing third in the league to secure promotion to the SPL Championship, Pirbright embarked on a terrific Cup run which saw them reach the Final in May where they triumphed 5-2 on a memorable afternoon. A month later the boys rounded off a great year by winning the Goldsworth Park Tournament after a penalty shoot-out win in the Final.

2015/16 saw the team competing in the SPL Championship, ending the season strongly to finish in fourth place. In addition, the boys were recognised ‘off the pitch’, winning the SPL Fair Play Award as one of only three teams out of nearly five hundred that achieved a ‘perfect’ five-out-of-five mark at each and every one of their league matches. The squad were presented with their trophy at the SPL Awards morning at Kempton Park Racecourse in July 2016.

The team competed in the SPL Premier in 2016/17, then spent two seasons at Division One level. In May 2019 (as Under 15s) they won a third trophy at the Fleet Spurs Tournament. Sadly the lads’ last two years representing the club were both interrupted by the pandemic. They topped the league in 19/20 going into March before the season was expunged with just four games remaining. Nevertheless promoted to the Championship, 20/21 was cut short by lockdown yet again, this time just seven matches in. It was a disappointing end to a decade of football, but there remained many positives. A number of the original squad played over two hundred games for Pirbright, wonderful memories were made and lasting friendships forged.

The team’s legacy continues, with several players graduating to senior football with Pirbright FC – a pathway we aim to continue to develop.

Junior Age Groups & The Growth of the Club

February 2013 saw the launch of training sessions for U6s (School Year One) as part of the club’s continued progression as we expanded to three age group teams. Saturday morning training sessions proved hugely successful. The introduction of the Under 6 squad saw further links with families from Pirbright Camp (home of the Welsh Guards). As PPFC Under 8s the team played their first friendly and tournament fixtures at the end of 2013/14 and competed in the South Surrey Youth League in 2014/15. 

Another fine campaign in 2015/16 followed at Under 9s age group level with the team reaching the final of the GPR Tournament in May 2016 and awarded a Sportsmanship Award in recognition of their fair play and good conduct.

2016/17 saw the expansion of this age group to include two teams playing at Under 10 age group in the SSYL: the Pumas and the Dragons. Both teams performed well, with a combined squad of Pumas and Dragons winning the GPR Tournament Plate Competition in June 2017 after enjoying fine league seasons. Moving to 9-a-side format in the North East Hants Youth League the U11s age group excelled. They enjoyed particular success in Summer Tournaments, lifting the Plate competition at Mytchett Athletic and reaching the Final of the Cup competition at GPR where their fine conduct was again rewarded with another ‘Respect Award’.

2018/19 was a very successful season for the team. As Under 12s, Pirbright secured only a second ever league championship, winning the NEHYL Division Three title with thirteen wins from sixteen games, scoring fifty five goals and conceding only fourteen in the process. The squad collected their trophy at the NEHYL Presentation Evening at the Princes Hall in Aldershot.

Promoted to Division Two, the 2019/20 campaign was similarly successful, though ultimately cut short by the pandemic. The team finished runners-up after the NEHYL settled the final outcome on Points per Game. They had also reached the semi-final of the NEHYL Bowl when the season was aborted.

2020/21 marked the team’s eighth year together, competing in Division One of the NEHYL. In September 2020 they landed the League Bowl (the competition that ran-on from the aborted 2019/20 campaign) before enjoying another successful season of progression in the league, promoted for the first time to the Premier Division and reaching the semi-final stage of the Wellesley Trophy.

In our first year at Premier Division level the side surpassed expectations, winning the championship with a game to spare and reaching the final of the Wellesley Trophy. Overall, the boys have enjoyed two promotions and two league titles in four years.

Dragons Roar, Falcons Soar

Our youngest ever age group team played their first match in February 2015 as Under 7s and with a series of friendlies and tournaments in preparation for their first full campaign in the North East Hants Youth League for 2015/16.

The Under 8s Dragons – guided by our brilliant youth coach Ash Cunningham – showed outstanding development in the North East Hants Youth League, with two of their team earning a place in the prestigious Aldershot Town FC Academy.

In the Autumn of 2016 our MiniDragons were born, another team of Under 8s boys and girls starting out life playing 5-a-side development games in the North East Hants Youth League. Our newest squad of players were guided expertly by Level 2 coach Matthew and played their first season of 7-a-side football in 2017/18, this time as PPFC ‘Falcons’. As Under 9s this group of boys won Summer Tournaments at both Badshot Lea and Mytchett to round-off a hugely impressive season of development.

In their final year of seven-a-side the Falcons reached the final of the Rushmoor Community FC Tournament. They also became the first PPFC team to play outside the confines of Surrey, Hants and Berks when they represented the club at the Merthyr FC Football Festival.

2022/22 saw the team compete in the Surrey Primary League in their first campaign of eleven-a-side football under stewardship of Dan Smith. 

Eleven Years of Charter Standard Status

PYFC achieved FA Standard Charter Award status in 2011 and deploy FA Qualified coaches at all training sessions and matches. The club has maintained this status for over a decade and continues to place great emphasis on the conduct and sportsmanship of players, coaches and parents alike.

PPFC celebrated their tenth anniversary as a club in Summer 2018, marking the occasion with a special night of celebrations at our annual Presentation Evening on the Village Green; an event enjoyed by players and parents past and present.

In Summer of 2019 PPFC received an award from the Surrey FA for their commitment to the FA Respect Programme at their annual Grassroots Awards Ceremony.

The club is actively involved in the project to build a new pavilion building on the village green to provide a sporting and community facility for the parish. In September 2019 – after a year of renovation driven by the Parish Council and Pirbright FC – we returned to a newly-laid full-size pitch at the heart of the village on the Green. 

We continue to build strong relations with the village’s senior club, who have been outstanding partners since their reformation in 2016. Their share our goal of developing a pathway from Year One right the way through to adult football, ensuring the proud continuation of football within the Village.