Cottonmill Football Club

The Cottonmill estate used to have a football club. There were two teams: Cottonmill United and Cottonmill Reserves. Below are a couple of photos from Andy Curran featuring his father-in-law Pete Denholm (now in his eighties) from when he played in the Under 16s and Under 18s in the late 1940s. The players listed in 1947-8 under 16s were: Back Row: Not Known, Ron Hobbs, Not Known, Not Known, Fred Titmus, Not Known, Ken Chisholm; Front Row: Tony Pratchet, Not Known, Pete Denholm, Brian Semple, Not Known, Arthur Newton. In 1949 the under 18s team players were: Mr Alexander, Not Known, Not Known, Scales, Not Known, Not Known, George Ross, Not Known, Les Green; Front Row:
Not Known, Scales, Reg Smith, Brian Semple, Pete Denholm, Ron Hobbs.

The teams also played in the St Albans Sunday league which they joined in 1964-5 to be in Division Two. They were in Division One by 1965-6 as B. Robinson was designated a ‘top marksman’. The Reserves were in Division Two in 1965-6 where N. Mitchell, B. Crowney and L. Tilney were in the list of ‘top marksmen’. They played in what the locals called the ‘top playing field’. There was ‘the bottom one’ down one end of Cottonmill Lane which backed on to the St Albans to Hatfield line, now the Alban Way; and the ‘top playing field’ was at the other end of Cottonmill Lane opposite Nuns Lane. This is where the Cottonmill Club was built. When the club first started, the team used the bottom playing field, but when the Cottonmill Club was built they moved up to the top one as it was a better football pitch up there. The Cottonmill Club was a thriving social club at one time. The community centre was situated approximately where the car park of the Marlborough Pavilion is today, in Old Oak, Cottonmill Lane. The club closed by the early 1980s.

Comments

  1. Stuart Alexander

    Re 1949 Football Club picture, the man on the left is my Father Marcus Alexander and I am the little boy kneeling on the right, aged 7. If you are interested I have a lot of information about those times in Cottonmill.

    Reply
  2. clive scales

    I will always treasure my days playing for cottonmilll under 18 team, I will be 90 years old on 9 April 1923 and would like to hear from you.

    Reply

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