Thame United
Full nameThame United Football Club
Nickname(s)Red Kites
Founded1883
GroundMeadow View Park
Capacity2,500[1]
ChairmanRichard Carr
ManagerMark West
LeagueSouthern League Division One Central
2022–23Southern League Division One Central, 12th of 19

Thame United Football Club are a football club based in Thame, Oxfordshire, England. They were established in 1883 and joined the Hellenic League in 1959. The club currently competes in the Southern League Division One Central.

History

Thame United were formed in 1883, making them one of Oxfordshire's oldest clubs. They spent their early years playing in local Oxfordshire leagues. In 1959 they stepped up to the Hellenic League, where they were league champions in 1961–62 and 1969–70 and runners-up on three other occasions.

In 1988 the decision was taken to switch to the South Midlands League. In three seasons in this league United finished runners-up twice and then claimed the league title in 1990–91, which saw them promoted to the Isthmian League Division Three. Two promotions followed in quick succession, putting the club in Division One in 1995. Although United were relegated in 1998, they bounced straight back the following season under manager Andy Sinnott, who also led them to the semi-finals of the FA Vase and to within two points of achieving promotion to the Premier Division.

In October 2003 the club reached the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, going down 2–1 to Conference side Farnborough Town. Since then they have reached this point in the competition twice, losing 1–0 to Hornchurch and 5–0 to Forest Green. In 2004, due to non-league reorganisation, United switched to the Southern League Division One West.

In 2005 severe financial difficulties hit the club, with bailiffs seizing assets to offset unpaid VAT bills, and the landlord of their Windmill Road stadium serving them with notice of eviction. The club managed to limp to the end of the season playing at the ground of neighbours Aylesbury United and a rock-bottom finish saw them relegated back to the Hellenic League after 18 years away.

During the summer of 2006, Aylesbury were also evicted from their ground, leaving Thame homeless once again, leading to a new groundshare arrangement with AFC Wallingford. The results on the playing field continued to be poor, and they completed the 2006–07 season in a relegation position despite the improvement of results following the return of successful manager Mark West. Because of this, they were relegated to the Hellenic Football League Division 1 East for the 2007–08 season.

In October 2007 it was announced that the club planned to move to a multi-million pound venue at Church Farm in the North of Thame. They hoped to begin playing in their new stadium by the 2009–10 season, but as of October 2010 the stadium was still being built. After the stadium was completed, a game to celebrate the club's new stadium was played against Football League Two side Oxford United in January 2011.[2] Thame lost 3–1 with the new Meadow View Park's first attendance of 1,381.[3] At the end of the 2016–17 season, the club was promoted to the Southern League in Step 4 of the National League System under manager Mark West after a final day on which the "Red Kites" beat Henley Town 9–0. In their first Southern League game in decades, Thame came from behind to beat Chalfont St. Peter 2–1. In 2021 Thame United and Thame Boys / Girls merged. Richard Carr became chairman of Thame United with Jake Collinge taking on the role as Vice Chairman.

Management team

  • Manager – Ben Williams
  • Assistant Manager – Mike Hogg
  • First Team Coach – Jake Porter
  • Physio – Jen Pilcher

Staff

  • Chairman – Richard Carr
  • Vice Chairman Martin Pacetti
  • Groundsman Contractor
  • Kit / Turnstiles – Available
  • Photographer & Social Media – Oliver Pacetti
  • Videographer - Oliver Pacetti
  • Hospitality – Mark Hurley

Current squad

As of 11 April 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Craig Hill
— DF England ENG Matt Peake-Pijnen
— DF England ENG George Gilmore
— DF England ENG Finlay Murray
— DF England ENG Luke Carnell
— DF England ENG Lewis Thorne
— DF England ENG Harry Mepham
No. Pos. Nation Player
10 MF England ENG Dan West (Captain)
7 MF England ENG Greg Hackett
— MF England ENG Jack Tutton
— MF England ENG Jack Gardner
— MF England ENG Dave Pearce
— MF England ENG Kamal McEwan
— MF England ENG Hayden Beadle
— FW Dominica DMA Jefferson Louis
— FW England ENG Jordy Ngathe
— FW England ENG Harry Alexander
— FW England ENG Harlem Hale

Stadium

Thame United play their home games at Meadow View Park, Thame. Construction on the ground commenced in March 2010 at a cost of £3.1m, the team moving in to the ground in December 2010. [4] From the 2015–16 season, Aylesbury United signed a two-year deal to groundshare with Thame United.

The 20-acre site is also home to a number of local youth and community teams, 7 pitches including multiple artificial turf training pitches, club bar and function rooms.[5]

Club records

Honours

League

  • Hellenic League Premier Division Champions 2016–17
  • Hellenic League Champions – 1961–62 and 1969–70
  • South Midlands Premier Division Champions – 1990–91
  • Isthmian League Division Two Champions – 1994–95

Cup

  • Oxfordshire FA Senior Cup Winners – 1906, 1909, 1910, 1976, 1981, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2023
  • Oxfordshire Intermediate Cup Winners – 1977, 1979, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2014

References

  1. ↑ Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) Non-League Club Directory 2013, p670 ISBN 978-1-869833-77-0
  2. ↑ thamenews.net Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Thame United
  4. ↑ Carter, Gemma (14 August 2021), "Thame United - A Club History", Welwyn Garden City Football Club, pp. 11–12
  5. ↑ "Thame United - FA Cup journey". thefacup. YouTube. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-14. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Thame United". Thame United F.C. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  7. ↑ Chairboys On The Net [@GasmanCOTN] (February 15, 2022). "Long Crendon v Wycombe Wanderers attendance confirmed as 1,904. A ground record for @thameunitedfc and the highest #chairboys B&B attendance, other than a final, for 50 years!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Sources

51°45′21.0384″N 0°58′33.9342″W / 51.755844000°N 0.976092833°W / 51.755844000; -0.976092833

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