Slimbridge AFC historian, Tim Blake, spoke to Parklife Sport on the remarkable story of how the club owns it’s own ground, something that is quite unusual for their level.
“This story goes back to the middle of the 1950’s, when a former player and chairman of the club, called Ivie Thornhill, bought this field for £600 with the intention, ironically now, of putting a house on it. He couldn’t get planning permission, though, so he put some farm machinery on it for a while, with some dairy cows living here. Then someone at the football club, because he was still involved, suggested that he let the team play here.
“So this was then turned into a football pitch, and they started playing here in 1958. Thornhill died a couple of years later, and he left the field to the club in his will; the deeds were handed over in 1960, and we’ve had it ever since.”
Slimbridge currently ply their trade in the Southern League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football, following a promotion last season. In the context of the wider football pyramid, this means they are four promotions from League Two, where Cheltenham Town play, who paid a visit to Thornhill Park in pre-season and came out 6-1 victors.
The Swans’ historian, archivist and press officer revealed just how important owning their ground is. “It gives the club stability; owning the ground, we don’t have to pay rent to anyone; it’s our piece of ground, and nobody can take it away from us.
“There’s a small group of trustees, of which I am one, over the ground. Unless we as trustees legally agree for something to happen to this ground, nothing can happen to it, which is incredible for our stability. We set budgets for the year and things like that; we don’t need to worry about ground rent increasing or anything like that. It’s very important, and quite unusual at this level.”
