Cadbury Athletic F.C.

History

The club was established in 1994, and were admitted to Division Three of the Midland Combination. Despite finishing ninth in their first season, they were promoted to Division Two. In 2000–01, a fourth-place finish was enough to secure promotion to Division One, with the club also winning the league's Challenge Vase. They were Division One runners-up in 2004–05, earning promotion to the Premier Division.

Despite finishing twelfth in the Premier Division in 2011–12, Cadbury Athletic resigned from the division and dropped into Division One. They were Division One champions in 2013–14, the last season before the league merged with the Midland Alliance to form the Midland League, with Cadbury Athletic placed in Division One.

Ground

The club originally played at the Cadbury Recreation Ground at the Cadbury factory in Bournville. Due to the lack of floodlights, the first team moved to Pilkington XXX's Triplex Sports Ground in Kings Norton, and then Alvechurch's Lye Meadow ground, before returning to the Triplex Ground.

The Triplex Ground was originally developed by Richmond Swifts. Levelling work between 1956 and 1958 led to banking being created on three sides of the pitch, with the fourth side left open for use as a cricket oval. A stand was built on the railway side of the pitch the mid-1990s, but Richmond left the ground after being unable to obtain planning permission to install floodlights. The ground was later taken over by Pilkington XXX, who were able to install floodlights.

After dropping into Division Two of the Midland League in 2021, the club returned to the Cadbury Recreation Ground.

Players

Several former youth players at Cadbury Athletic have gone on to play professional football, including Rico Henry, Ryan Burge, Demarai Gray, Corey O'Keeffe and Daniel Sturridge.

Honours

• Midland League
  • Division Two champions 2021–22
• Midland Combination
  • Division One champions 2013–14
  • Challenge Vase winners 2000–01
• Birmingham Saturday Vase
  • Winners 2021–22

Records

• Best FA Cup performance: Preliminary round, 2015–16
• Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 2018–19

References

References

1. Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) ''Non-League Club Directory 2017'', Tony Williams Publications, p437 {{ISBN. 978-1869833695
2. {{fchd
3. [https://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/cadburyfc/153211/History?id=8529 Club Honours] Cadbury Athletic F.C.
4. The club resigned from Division One at the end of the [[2020–21 Midland Football League. 2020–21 season]] and dropped into Division Two. The [[2021–22 Midland Football League. following season]] saw them win the Division Two title and the Birmingham Saturday Vase with a 4–0 victory over [[Tipton Town F.C.. Tipton Town]] in the final.[https://www.birminghamfa.com/cups-and-competitions/cups/2019-2020/saturday-vase-competition/results Results] Birmingham FA, 21 May 2022
5. [http://pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/pilkington_xxx.html Pilkington XXX] {{Webarchive. link. (6 November 2020 Pyramid Passion)
6. [http://hinckleyafc.org.uk/2014/08/15/match-preview-cadbury-athletic/ Match Preview: Cadbury Athletic (a)] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-05-28 Hinckley AFC)
7. [http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/birmingham-city-who-corey-okeeffe-12301612 Birmingham City: Who is Corey O’Keeffe? Lowdown on Blues teenager who could feature against Newcastle United] Birmingham Mail, 10 December 2016