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HISTORY OF THE BRISTOL CASUALS FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
A (not so) brief history of the Bristol Casuals Football Association...
IN THE BEGINNING...
Henleaze Corinthians, one of the league's founder members (a group of parents of children at Henleaze School) put out an appeal to play a fund raising game for Red Nose Day in 1993. The Golden Bottle at Lockleaze came forward. The game turned out to be an eventful game (for all the wrong reasons!!) and the Lockleaze Bottle Boys proved to be too 'hard' for the gents from Henleaze. Other more friendly friendlies followed against combined teachers/parents teams and against Chris Carter's Red Star Bedminster - another founder member.
The boredom of two games in a row against the same opposition, and a few lunchtime pints,
set Harry Mottram (Henleaze) and Chris Carter (Red Star) thinking about finding a few
other teams to form a mini - league. A small advertisement placed in The Venue led to a
few more teams making contact and in May 1995 the first official tournament took place at
Henleaze School. This tournament was won by Woodland Road Wanderers. They never went on to
join the Casuals league as they realised they were too good and should have been playing
in a proper league all along!! The tournament had been a great success and confirmed the
demand was there to form a Casual League.
THE FIRST SEASON
Amidst a mass of publicity at a packed Highbury Vaults Tavern on 29 August 1995 the press packs got the announcement they were waiting for. The league was to go ahead and fixtures would commence in September. Founder members in order of final league position were Poetic Champions, Red Star Bedminster, Henleaze Corinthians, The Farmers, Sun Life Veterans, Easton Monday, The Crew and Polar Bears.
The Cup final that year was between Poetic Champions, who had a 100% league record, and fourth placed Farmers (now Hewlett Packard Farmers). The final took place at the same time as a mini tournament at the Imperial Ground. Woodland Road Wanderers came back to grab some more glory and won the mini-tournament. Poetic Champions were odds on favourites to win the cup and the double - but as we all know - anything can happen in the cup. Ross Burnham's Farmers reversed their earlier league defeat and ran out 3-1 winners in a fiercely competitive battle.
1996/1997 ...
FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
News of the league's popularity had now spread far and wide. Representatives from
teams all around the globe, various parts of Bristol, and one team from somewhere in
Somerset packed into a doubly crowded Highbury Vaults Tavern on 18 July 1996. The meeting
was to be hosted by Harry Mottram, Chris Carter and Chris Badley (Easton Monday). All
sorts of teams who considered themselves to be too old, too fat, too unfit and too crap to
play in proper leagues were clambering to get a piece of the action. The popularity of the
league was such that a split into two groups was inevitable - hence the birth of the
'Brunel' and 'Cabot' leagues. Maths teacher and self styled Stato, Chris Carter sorted the
teams into two groups supposedly of similar ability (or did he just pick the names out of
one of many empty beer mugs??).
New league members included Wellesley Park Friday, Redland Ramblers, Westbury Wobblers
(who soon got serious and re-named themselves Westbury Wanderers), Loveable Rogues,
Hill Farm Casuals, Borussia Munchen Glenside, Dynamo Tourismo, Brislington Very Old Boys
and Left Field Soccer Deviants. The season was not uneventful. Two teams were to go into extinction.
The shock of the season was the disbanding of Julian Mines' Poetic Champions. They were
unable to raise a full team so bowed gracefully out rather than mess opponents about.
The other CASUALties (get it??) were the not so Loveable Rogues. They could only raise
two players (their captain and a young lad on a bike who happened to be passing) for their opening
game against Redland Ramblers. Many people still ask if Loveable Rogues' existence was merely a cover for
laundering drugs money!! The Rogues were finally expelled for consistently not being able
to raise a team. Poetic Champions were replaced at short notice by PSST. People often ask
where the name PSST comes from. Was it in any way connected with their ongoing intake of
vast quantities of alcoholic beverages? Or was it merely an expression they used to
quietly attract the attention of young boys in adjoining closets in public toilets?
Neither is true (so they say!!). It actually stands for Primary & Secondary School
Teachers.
The Brunel league was won convincingly by Redland Ramblers with a straight Played Seven - Won Seven. The Cabot League was a much tighter affair. Left Field Soccer Deviants and Red Star Bedminster both finished on 10 pts. Red Star Bedminster had actually played one game less, so might claim a degree of moral victory. But the real victory was achieved by Left Field who topped the league with a better goal difference. The Cup Final was contested by PSST and Wellesley. In a gripping final both teams were still goal-less after extra time. Wellesley eventually beat PSST in a sudden death penalty shoot out.
1997/1998 RESIGNATION SHOCK
1997 saw the shock resignation of Harry Mottram. Having swapped the suburban delights of Henleaze for the rural tranquillity of Axbridge Harry said: 'After much thought and considerable family pressure I have decided to stand down as the Football Association Secretary'.