About Us

Abbeymead Rovers FC are based in Gloucester and have a vast array of teams a wide range of age groups from pre-school up to 80+ years.
We are affiliated to the Gloucestershire Football Association and are proud that we are an England Football 3 Star Accredited Club. We strive to provide a fun, safe and inclusive environment for all our grassroots teams. Our Club is run entirely by volunteers including Executive and Management Committee Members, Coaching Teams and helpers.

We have come a long way since our humble beginnings back in 1997, evolving from 3 teams to over 50 teams now operating across the Club!

1997-2001
1997. This is where it all began! Formed by a group of local parents that began
training sessions for U7’s – U9’s on the local fields by Lobley’s Drive. Interest soon
gathered and ‘Abbeymead Rovers’ was born with 80 members.
The 1st Club Presentation Event was held that year, celebrating their early success, and has been held annually ever since.
This period saw ‘Abbeymead Rovers’ grow from strength to strength, and we
became imbedded as an integral and valued part of the local community.
2000 saw our 1st Annual Tournament which was a great success and has continued to grow in popularity.

2002-2006
In 2004 we established our first Men’s team after a merger with a local squad called the ‘Patriots’.
This year also saw the formation of our first girls’ team. This section has grown steadily over the years and is now our fastest growing.
We were so proud to be awarded ‘FA Charter Standard Status’ in 2004 and are even prouder to say that we have maintained this status (or equivalent) ever since.

This award is only given to Clubs that demonstrate a high level of quality not only in the
football tuition they deliver, but also in the administration of the Club.

2007-2011
2007 saw us form an alliance with Abbeydale Community Association (ACA) with
whom we successfully bid for funding which enabled us to construct the 3G training
pitch and changing rooms you see today at the now re named Abbeydale Sports &
Community Centre. The majority of our teams train here during the week with our
youngest age groups training on Saturday mornings.
Our Ladies team was established in 2008 and we are so proud to say that they are still going strong.
Our Community Section was also founded this year allowing children and adults with
disabilities to play football safely. We cannot thank Dale Rawlins enough for
establishing this section, a most important part of the Club, and for providing them with constant support throughout this period.
We added to our ‘FA Charter Standard Status’ in 2011 by being awarded an ‘FA Charter Community Club’ award.

This is the highest possible classification a grassroots Club can have. We couldn’t have been prouder. This again has been
maintained ever since. The same year our Men’s 1sts won the Stroud & District Football League Division 1
and secured promotion to the Glos Northern Senior League.

During this period, we added a 3rds men’s team to the adult set up to accommodate
the number of players wanting to play for us. Starting in the Stroud & District League
Division 8 they are still going strong today, with only one year out due to lack of numbers.

2012-2016
2014 saw us win Gloucestershire FA Community Club of the Year for the second
time. An honour we are immensely proud of.
In 2015 our Chairman at the time Stuart Langworthy, created our first Walking
Football team, one of the first in the country. They quickly became affiliated to the
Walking Football Association and proved extremely popular, growing to several
teams very quickly.
Also, in 2015 we set up a Sunday League team, but unfortunately it did not prove as
popular as we had hoped and was disbanded in 2018.
Our ‘Super Vets’ formed in 2016 giving our more ‘experienced’ members a chance to
play competitive football., sadly this struggled to re-establish after Covid and folded in 2022.

2017-2021
In 2017 the Walking Football section was recognised nationally by presented an ‘FA Mars ‘Just Play’ Walking Football Centre of the Year award.
We turned 20 years old in 2017, a milestone celebrated throughout the Club. During those years we have grown from very humble beginnings to being one of the biggest
and successful Grassroots Clubs in the Country. We have been consistently recognised and are very proud of our reputation.
2018 saw us awarded ‘Gloucestershire FA Charter Standard Club of the Year’ and
became one of the very few Clubs to have been awarded this sought after accolade twice. We also received the ‘Community Club of the Year 2018’ award at the
Gloucestershire Live 2018 Sports Award ceremony with several members of the Club attending to happily take possession of the trophy.
2019 saw the retirement of our longstanding Chairman Stuart Langworthy.

Anyone who knows Stuart know that he lives for football and he, together with his wife Judith, built the Club to be what it is today.

We will be forever in debt to this dedicated pair without whose wisdom and experience we would not be in the healthy position we are today.

We cannot thank them enough but hope to do them proud as we move forward.

We are honoured to have them as our President and Vice President so they will still be involved with the Abbeymead Rovers family for life.
Unable to give up football Stuart has gone on to be a massive part of our current Walking Football section, building it up from just a few players to several teams
becoming one of our largest groups. Oh, and by the way he is the current England over 60’s walking football manager no less!

Covid as everyone is aware had a devastating effect in all walks of life but as a Club, we have come through this period stronger and more resilient. We did lose the
Community Section during this time but rebuilding this group is a challenge we are
looking forward to.
2022-2025

2022 we turned 25 years old and celebrated with a fun day for all our teams. This year also saw us become an England Football 3 Star Accredited Club as the Charter Standard award scheme was upgraded by the FA.
2023 saw a return to a more ‘normal’ season and also saw the return of our Annual Tournament where we welcomed visiting teams & a separate ‘Presentation’ Event.
2024 proved to be a difficult year for us with regards to our girls section with one
complete team together with their fully qualified Coach, and several players in other teams leaving to join ‘Gloucester City’.

They, without doubt have superior facilities and are looking to establish their Girls Section.

Whilst we are sad that this has happened, we go again and are looking forward to rebuilding this pathway with the help of our newly appointed Girls Section Manager who is looking forward to breathing new life into this section. Neil is an experienced Youth Coach who is full of ideas and presented an excellent Business Plan at the annual AGM. We look forward to reaping the rewards.
The Ladies, however, are going from strength to strength under the expert guidance of Jodie Tester.
This difficult season however, had a very successful end when we awarded GFA Club of the Year.

This is the 3 rd time we have won this coveted award, and we are over the moon. During the awards ceremony, Josh Hudd was also awarded ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’ and Mark Wolstencroft was recognised as ‘Highly Commended’ Grounds ‘Team of the Year.

Late December 2024 saw the end of an Era for Abbeymead Rovers when we learned that one of our Founder Members, Andy Tickner had sadly passed away
after a long and bravely born illness. Andy served the Club tirelessly from the very beginning for many years and was always there with advice, a voice of reason and a
sensible resolution. A wealth of knowledge and a calming influence, we will be forever grateful. A true gentleman. Rest In Peace Andy.
The 2024/2025 Season finished in a positive fashion with 2 of our members picking up Highly Commended Awards at the Gloucestershire FA Awards Ceremony, Sallie
Lavis our Club Welfare Officer and Vice Chairman for Positive Behaviour and Harry Cummings your Referee and trainee Groundsman for Young Volunteer.

We were also invited to apply to become a ‘Thriving Community Club’. We were successful
and this opportunity opens up a wealth new initiatives and funding which we are excited to explore.
Future
The Club has grown significantly over the past 25 years with our simple approach of
providing football for all who want it. To this extent the Club has been successful,
however, our current challenge is the minimal additional facilities available locally
(grass pitches/Astro slots etc). Because of this we are therefore unfortunately having
to, in many youth areas, say we are full. We will continue to do our very best to
maintain the teams we have and take on 3 to 4 new teams at U5 each year. We do
however aspire to grow in areas such as Walking Football and Disability. The Club
are proactively seeking new facilities and we remain optimistic.
Our Chairman
At the start the Chairman, Club Secretary and Treasurer Roles were shared by our 3
Founding members, so until 2003
Andy Tickner, Colin Jackson & Nolan Broadhead took on those responsibilities.
Stuart Langworthy 2003-2019

Paul Mason 2019-To Date

Our Ethos

Fun, Friendly Football for All

Our Vision

To provide enjoyable, affordable, safe and inclusive football for all

Our Core Values

Inclusive. Respectful. Honest.

A safe and fun environment

We strive to provide football for all in a safe and fun environment, and we have the policies and procedures in place to ensure this.

• Our qualified coaches have a minimum online FA Introduction to Football Coaching (Level 1).
• Our coaches have completed First Aid and Safeguarding Qualifications and renew these regularly.
• We are an England Football 3 Star Accredited Club.

A sustainable structure

We have built strong foundations to enable continual development and improvement.

Our operation is sustainable and our goal is to continue to provide football for the community for many years to come.

We are nonprofit making and all funds are used to develop and sustain the operation of the club.

Contact us:

Paul Mason (Chairman)

Email: chair@abbeymeadroversfc.com
Phone: 07738 343156

(Secretary)

Email: secretary@abbeymeadroversfc.com
Phone: TBC

Charlotte Smith (Youth Secretary)

Email: youth.secretary@abbeymeadroversfc.com
Phone: 07816 505449

Sallie Lavis (Club Welfare Officer)

Email: welfare@abbeymeadroversfc.com
Phone: 07443 417693

Please direct any mail to:
FAO: Abbeymead Rovers FC
Abbeydale Sports and Community Centre,
Glevum Way,
Abbeydale,
Gloucester,
GL4 4BL

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please only register if you have already been confirmed a place within the relevent team you are registering for. All new enquiries should complete the “Apply” form which can be accessed via our main website page top right, Registrations may be rejected if the registration form is completed but we are unable to confirm a place in a team.