Fundraiser to celebrate history of Henley Forest of Arden's senior side which has folded after 130 years
THE demise of an historic town team has been described as “devastating” by two former players who have organised a charity fundraiser to give it a big send off.
Henley Forest of Arden’s senior side, which has been providing opportunities to play football in the community since 1892, was part of the Birmingham & District League Division Two constitution for the 2022-23 season.
However, a lack of volunteers willing to put in the hours needed to run the team has resulted in the full-time whistle being blown on it.
And when former players Ian Bell and Ben Adshead heard the news, they told the Herald they wanted to organise an event to bring players, managers and officials from over the years together for a final farewell.
The celebration of Henley Forest of Arden will take place at their ground in Stratford Road on Saturday and kick-off at 1pm, with all money raised going towards the Pelican Cancer Foundation and Sherbourne Fields School in Coventry.
“Between myself and a few other lads we had kept the club running for a long while but eventually there were not enough people able to give up their personal time to run the club,” Bell told the Herald.
“I had been playing for the team for just under 20 years and I only had to stop through injury. It was devastating to hear the news the senior side had folded.
“Both myself and Ben felt we had to do something so we have asked as many chairmen, managers and players over the past 20 years to come together this Saturday to celebrate the history of the club and raise funds for two good causes.”
Bell and Adshead also paid tribute to the club officials who made the trip to Stratford every Monday night for meetings over the years, as well as the players who had travelled across the county and beyond to play games.
“The senior side folding is a huge loss to the community,” said Bell.
“The teams we played and the friendships we made over the years made everything worthwhile.”
He added: “The one thing managers have tried to do in the past is apply for National Lottery funding to improve the facilities at the ground.
“The land is owned by the parish council but they let us play on it for free and I know people who put hundreds of hours into applying for funding to get a 3G pitch or training facilities installed only to fall at the last hurdle.
“There were a lot of good guys who spent so much time keeping the club going and trying to make improvements.
“There was a fantastic network of people in the village. A lot of pubs in the town looked after us and our opponents after games, and it’s sad that will not be happening ever again.”
The only surviving remnants of the club are the U13s and the U15s.
Anyone interested in volunteering should email new chairman Tom Haley at hffcchairman@gmail.com.
