The Early Years of Pannal Ash Junior Football Club

The roots of Pannal Ash Football Club stretch back to the early 1900s, but the Pannal Ash Junior Football Club as we know it today was officially founded in 1978 by Cliff Trotter.

Cliff, our Club President, has remained deeply involved with the club, continuing to coach our youngest players (U5/U6) on Saturday mornings at Oatlands Park.

The story of Pannal Ash’s first junior football team began in 1978 when Cliff was asked by the St. Mark’s Scouts Leader to coach a team representing the scouts in a 6-a-side tournament on The Stray. The team of just six boys triumphed in the competition, and after this success, the parents of the players requested that Cliff continue running the team. From there, they began playing friendly matches against teams from Leeds and York.

At first, the team trained and played on Tewit Well Park, and they were initially going to be called Tewit Well Park FC. However, the staff at Pannal Ash Children’s Home (NCH Fairfield) reached out to Cliff, asking if some of the boys from the home could join the team. In exchange, the club gained access to the home’s full-sized football pitch, located off Pannal Ash Road, opposite the current entrance to Rossett Sports Centre. It was then that the team adopted the name Pannal Ash Junior Football Club.

The club spent three enjoyable seasons playing on those fields before moving to Almsford Playing Fields, which has remained our home ever since.

In 1984, the children’s home closed, and the buildings were eventually demolished to make way for new housing. The playing fields were also redeveloped, but the club’s legacy and connection to the site live on.