Club History
Langton Green Football Club has played at ‘The Rec’ since 1972. Now into its 6th decade the club has been the starting point for literally thousands of boys and girls to take their first steps into the world of football.
There are some who played at the club as children and have gone on to see their own children work their way through the ranks. Some now even have their grandchildren playing!
Whilst it is impossible to list everyone who has served the club mightily down the years there are some who the club would have been unimaginable without. Mike and Shirley Tottle, Carol Braidwood, and Mike Bender are four who spring to mind who between them provide a link all the way back to the earliest days. Sadly Mike Tottle passed away not so long ago, but Carol Braidwood still serves the club as a Trustee of the newly formed Langton Green Community Sports Association.
In February 2015 we received a letter from Valerie Goodwin, who remembers the origins of the club from 1972.
In December 2018, Mike Bender also sadly passed away. To say he will be hugely missed by everyone involved at the club and beyond is an understatement. He was the embodiment of everything the club stands for and ahead of his time in terms of youth coaching in so many ways. The numbers in attendance at his funeral were testament to how many lives were touched by Mike's patience, kindness and enthusiasm. His encouragement to those of us now coaching at the club will never be forgotten and what he stood for will continue to inspire those of us involved at the club.
Amongst the other Trustees are folk who watched their own children come up through the ranks and have now grown up and moved on. Guy Lambert, Steve Alldis, Allan Culverhouse and Dave Williams have all literally seen it all before. They each ran sides for many years, and their experience is vital as the club attempts to move forward – Dave still coaches, giving our youngest members the best possible start to their footballing lives.
Those same folk are also mainstays in what has become an institution, the Langton Green Fiesta. In 2019 we saw the 32nd annual version of an event that brings together almost 200 teams from all over the region, with upwards of 700 games of football played over the weekend. Many will say it is the ‘biggest and the best’; few will argue it was the first and stands as an example to all that try to emulate it. Despite sadly not being in a position to wun the tournament in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, we are very much hoping we are back with business as usual in 2021, with a new recreation ground hosting the 33rd edition of our fiesta.
Like all clubs there has been ebb and flow in fortunes and numbers. At present we are on an upswing, with numbers growing every year, and ambitions to revitalise the facilities. The club offers organised football from under 5’s through to our coaches / vets team, playing in leagues of all standards: the Crowborough Junior District Football League, the Mid Sussex League, the Kent Girls and Ladies League and the prestigious Kent Youth League.
The future is bright, but we are very proud of our past, and the ongoing experience and contribution of those who lived through it.