Writtle Minors FC
Established 1969
Home of inspirational football coaching in a fun, friendly environment
Writtle Minors is a proud and inclusive community club which does things right.
Just three miles out of Chelmsford, we welcome players of all ages and abilities - boys and girls - who want to play football, and we prize effort, attitude, commitment, respect and fair play above natural footballing talent.
That’s not to say we’re not successful. We regularly have teams across all age groups making cup finals and pushing for league titles, of which we win more than our fair share.
Our three-point footballing philosophy is very simple:
-
We want to make football fun, so kids enjoy every session, develop a love of the game and stick at it for years to come.
-
We want to help every child become the best footballer they can be, wherever that takes them.
-
And we want to do this in a positive, encouraging and safe environment, led by a committed and qualified coaching team, working in fantastic facilities.
Of course, there’s more to life than football, and so in a broader sense, we like to think that we can play some small part in helping our players grow to become confident, committed, level-headed adults, through learning lessons of creativity, self-confidence, discipline, teamwork and more.
We’re recognised by England Football as a three star Accredited Club – the highest level of accreditation they award in grass roots youth football – and so we’re rightly confident that we’re getting things right on and off the pitch.
As a community club, we’re lucky enough to have our own exceptional facilities in a beautiful village setting, with some of the best grass pitches in the area, a 3G training pitch and a recently refurbished Sports & Social club with live football, regular clubs and events throughout the year.
We train (mostly) on Saturdays and play on Sundays in leagues in and around Chelmsford, Essex.
A Proud History
Established 1969
Writtle Minors Football Club is one of the oldest youth football clubs in the area. Here’s our story…
Writtle Village Football Club, who played at what was Rollestons (now Long Brandocks and surrounding roads), swapped their land with a developer who wanted it to complete his new housing development, for land at Paradise Road in 1962.
At this time, the Cricket Club still played on the village green, but under increasing pressure from residents around the green keen to protect their windows, they joined forces with the Football Club and moved to Paradise Road too.
Just a few years later, in 1968, a local man named Bob Cooper saw there was a need for a youth team and started training a team of Under 13s from the local Boys Brigade. Writtle Minors Football Club was born the following year, when they entered the Chelmsford & District Football Mini-League in the 1969/1970 season, largely taking the colours of Celtic, with green and white hooped shirts, white shorts, green socks, which we still play in today.
The Club crest, still unchanged, is a shield containing a miner's helmet and pic above, with a football below, reflecting Bob ‘s sense of humour and the good spirit in which the game should be played. Values we still uphold today.
Sadly, Bob is no longer with us, but we know that he was immensely proud to see how the Club has grown to become a highly prestigious Club, with an excellent reputation and arguably the best facilities in the area.
In recognition of Bob’s role in establishing Writtle Minors and to keep his memory alive, each year our Under 13s teams compete against other local teams in an invitation only Challenge Cup match known as the Cooper Cup, with Bob’s wife, Pearl, or other family members on hand to present the trophy.
Over the years, the club has produced several players who have gone on to play professionally, including England international and European Cup winner Nigel Spink, Warren Barton of Newcastle and Mick Stockwell of Ipswich.
The playing fields at Paradise Road have now developed into a comprehensive sporting and social venue, with outdoor facilities for Senior and Junior Football (including floodlit 4G surface), Cricket and Tennis, plus a large hall used for everything from Table Tennis and Carpet Bowls to Arts and Crafts, with the adjoining Sports and Social club on hand for welcome refreshments.
In 2001, the Club started a girls’ section with a single squad of 7-year-olds. Our intake of girls has increased year on year since, and we now operate girls’ teams at all age groups, as well as proudly being selected to be part of the FA’s Wildcats initiative to get even more girls into football.
On September 22nd, 2007, after 5 years of hard work by the Club, the Sports and Social Club and the Parish Council, our dedicated 17-acre field, containing several pitches and training spaces, was officially opened by the Mayor Of Chelmsford, Councillor David Lee, and former professional footballer, Tony Butcher.
Added to some of the best grass pitches in the area, the club now boasts a floodlit 4G surface, aptly named the Beckett Arena in recognition of the Club’s long-serving Chairman, David Beckett, who was the driving force behind the project, from start to finish over several years. David stepped down as Chairman at the end of the 2017/18 season, after 12 ½ years in the role and close to 20 years at the club, leaving some very big shoes to fill.
Taking on that challenge of preserving the Club’s proud history, upholding its values and leading the Club forward is current Chairman Matt Hitchcock, aided by an incredibly supportive committee made up of both old hands and new heads.
Whilst it’s incredible that a club born out of such humble beginnings has developed such as to enjoy facilities to rival any youth football club in the area, arguably it’s the Club’s values and the people involved, at all levels, which truly set us apart... and long may that continue.