The Journey from Kingston Little League to Kew Association Youth

Kew Association Football Club was formed in 1906. As its name suggests, it began in Kew, playing on rented fields until 1996, when it obtained its present grounds on Riverside Drive in Ham, Richmond. (For a full history of the club go to www.kewafc.co.uk/history). For most of its first century, Kew AFC was an adults-only club. But that was about to change.

In the winter of 2004, Craig Evans and Andy Gates, seasoned managers and coaches with Kingston Little League realised that once boys had reached U13 level with KLL, youth football was nearly over for most of them (save those who had already been snapped by large Sunday League clubs). They decided to hand-pick those available to them within KLL and form a team in the vacant U13 slot with North Kingston Football Club - the nucleus of the side coming from the KLL team which had just won the National Little League tournament for the first time in 25 years.

The B squad, who were managed by Mike Snow, didn’t fare so well, finishing 6th in the South section, although they topped their league for Sportsmanship for their impeccable behaviour. Another high point was a thrilling 9-8 Cup quarter-final victory over Hampton and Richmond.

But at the end of the 2005/06 season, it seemed the adventure was about to come to a premature end and the teams would be broken up. The entire board of the North Kingston Football Club had decided to stand down and nobody was willing to take over. It was then that negotiations took place with Kew Association FC who invited us to join their new Youth program.  The A and B squads became Kew Association Youth and Colts. They were joined by the U14 North Kingston Colts, managed by Greg Cottee, which after two seasons had achieved promotion to the Premier Division of the West Surrey Youth League, and an existing U13 Kew Colts team, formed two years earlier.

In the first season at Kew, 2006/07, the Under 14 Youth side moved up to the Premier North division of the SYL, finishing mid-table, while it was a similar story for the Colts playing in the First Division. Sadly for the Under 15s, their first season at Premier level ended in relegation, while Kew Under 13s came mid-table in their Division Two.

A new season brought another team, as Kew again looked to provide football for boys coming out of Kingston Little League. Andy persuaded KLL manager, Paul Clark, to try his hand at club football. Thus the Under 15 Casuals were born, competing in the Epsom and Ewell Youth League. They finished just below mid-table in their first season, which proved to be a sharp learning curve for both players and management. It was also the entry season for a new-look Under 14s with another KLL management team at the helm, Stuart Whitwell, aided by Chris Self. Their team finished a creditable 5th in the SYL Division One after threatening promotion earlier in the season. Meantime, the Under 16 squad finished 6th in Division One, in what became  their final season together, as the boys headed to College, and too few decided to carry on. For the existing Under 15s, it was a season of mixed results. The Colts finished bottom of Division One, while the Youth were third in Premier North and would likely have earned promotion to the Premier Elite, had that not been reorganised for the 2008/9 season.

This season we start with an extra five teams as Kew AFC Youth continues its spectacular growth. We now have Teams at Under 8, Under 10, Under 11, Under 12 and Under 14, all playing in the Surrey Youth League, in addition to the Under 15s and three Under 16 sides.