Cadbury Athletic F.C.

Cadbury Athletic Football Club is an amateur football club based in Birmingham, England. Affiliated with the Cadbury confectionery company and playing in the company colours of purple and white, they are currently members of the Midland League Division One and play at the Triplex Sports Ground.

Cadbury Athletic
Full nameCadbury Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s)The Chocolate Men
Founded1994
GroundTriplex Sports Ground, Birmingham
ChairmanJohn Peckham
ManagerMatt Kirby
LeagueMidland League Division One
2019–20Midland League Division One (season abandoned)

History

The club was established in 1994,[1] and were admitted to Division Three of the Midland Combination. Despite finishing ninth in their first season, they were promoted to Division Two.[2] 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.[3] They were Division One runners-up in 2004–05, earning promotion to the Premier Division.[2]

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.[2]

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,[4] and then Alvechurch's Lye Meadow ground,[5] 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.[4] The ground was later taken over by Pilkington XXX, who were able to install floodlights.

Players

Several former youth players at Cadbury Athletic have gone on to play professional football, including Ryan Burge, Demarai Gray, Corey O'Keeffe and Daniel Sturridge.[6]

Honours
  • Midland Combination
    • Division One champions 2013–14
    • Challenge Vase winners 2000–01

Records
  • Best FA Cup performance: Preliminary round, 2015–16[2]
  • Best FA Vase performance: Fourth round, 2018–19[2]

References
  1. Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2016) Non-League Club Directory 2017, Tony Williams Publications, p437 ISBN 978-1869833695
  2. Cadbury Athletic at the Football Club History Database
  3. Club Honours Cadbury Athletic F.C.
  4. Pilkington XXX Pyramid Passion
  5. Match Preview: Cadbury Athletic (a) Archived 2017-05-28 at the Wayback Machine Hinckley AFC
  6. Birmingham City: Who is Corey O’Keeffe? Lowdown on Blues teenager who could feature against Newcastle United Birmingham Mail, 10 December 2016

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