Frampton Youth was set up in 1990 by Ian Palmer. Ian coached his son Karl in Frampton on Severn’s Scout Hall, later attracting Karl’s many friends. Parents of these children helped form the first Frampton Youth FC committee and in 1993 Frampton Youth Football Club was born. This group of children designed the club badge and football kit. Children aged five and six independently drew up their ideas and the winning badge drawn by a local lad Peter Ralph can still be seen today. The kit design was made from a combination of player’s ideas which was patented and custom made by a local company. Honouring the way the kit’s design came about, within the club’s constitution, it was agreed the badge would never change. The club continued to grow with a new team being formed each year, coming up through its nursery group of under sevens.
This very important foundation continues today, with children now starting as young as four years of age. The club played matches wherever it could get a pitch for all of its teams, Lakefield School, Saul playing fields and The Bell field where the adult teams played. One day the club received a call from Mr Rolo Clifford of Frampton Court Estates asking to meet with the committee. He led us to a field in Whitminster Lane and asked if it would do for Frampton Youth The land was an overwhelmingly generous ten acres. The committee immediately set about obtaining planning permission and after a lot of hard work and dogged tenacity in 2004 we were granted planning permission. Our dream club house was to become a reality, no small challenge in itself with six changing rooms, a kitchen, meeting room and change of land use to football pitches. The Club house was built with the support of local businesses either supplying materials or labour to build each phase of the project. The community really came together with numerous contributors such as Mr and Mrs Meredith donating £30,000 towards costs and an interest free loan of £43,000 from a committee member. Fundraising by parents and children ensured completion in 2012, which was marked with Mr and Mrs Meredith unveiling a plaque dedicated to all those that had made it possible.
2012 became a very special year, we were contacted by Frampton on Severn twinned village Bourgbarre in France. They wanted to know if they could bring their children to play football against ours. In 2013 they arrived and a very special relationship developed which is still in place today. In 2016 the club hosted a full weekend of football and fun for our French visitors and in 2017 Bourgbarre will be reciprocating the invite.
In 2013 identifying a crucial gap in the country’s youth development, the club set about obtaining planning permission for an on-site indoor training facility. Locally and nationally indoor facilities are hard to come by, in high demand and with limited availability across the ages. Poor weather conditions frequently hindered player and team progression and with numerous matches and training sessions cancelled for adverse conditions, something needed to be done.
In 2015 The Football Association awarded Frampton Youth the Chartered Standard Club award. The Club is actively working towards the next level of Charter standard and will achieve this through continuous development of its members. In 2016 Planning permission was granted for the much needed indoor facilities, which brings us to where we are today. We are looking to raise funds for a state of the art building, which will provide a training facility for the club and also a hub for the community and its neighbours.