The seeds of Hengrove Athletic were undoubtedly sewn in war-time Bristol, when in 1943 a group of 13 football mad youngsters broke away from Christchurch Hengrove Boys Club to form their own independent team, Hengrove Utd.
They did this because the adults in charge of the Boys Club made all the decisions without consulting the lads themselves which they felt was unfair and not democratic. Hengrove Utd was comparatively short-lived and the players rejoined the Boys Club because they wanted to play competitive football and not just participate in friendly games. The experience they gained successfully running their own team whetted their appetites and ambition to establish their own football club at some time in the future, when the war was over and their possible military service completed.
In 1948 fate took a hand. The verger at Christchurch was a keen football supporter and realised that a number of ex Hengrove Utd players were about to be demobbed. He was also aware of their boyhood aspirations to start their own club, so using his initiative he made a booking for a football pitch on the new Bush Playing fields, Hengrove, for a team that did not actually exist.
Gradually the ex-Hengrove Utd players were demobbed from National Service so a meeting was arranged and they formed a steering committee. The name Hengrove Athletic was suggested at a subsequent meeting and was unanimously endorsed.
A successful application was made to join the Bristol and Suburban League and they were placed in Division 3 for the start of 1948-49 season. A Reserve XI was established in 1950 and in the same year Hengrove Hall was rented for club meeting and social gatherings. The club continued to expand and the ‘A’ XI started in 1953, followed by the 30plusXI in 1959. These four football teams made Hengrove Athletic the largest club in the Bristol and Suburban League at the time – after just eleven years. A ‘B’ XI replaced the 30plus in 1962.
The first XI was accepted by the Somerset Senior League for the 1974-75 season, where they remained until 2005-2006 when they were runaway, unbeaten, Premier Division champions and joined the Western League for the start of the 2006-07 season.
It was always the clubs target to have its own ground and clubhouse, but in 1955 the club was given an opportunity to rent a privately owned sports ground in Ridgeway Lane, Whitchurch. A meeting was held with the owners, Victoria Motors Ltd and a deal was agreed. This was an excellent substitute, while the search for a ground and fund raising continued. It was at Ridgeway Lane on 1 December 1956, when the largest crowd ever to watch Hengrove, estimated to be 850-900, for the clubs first ever participation in the Somerset Senior Cup, when powerful Western League opponents Radstock, were held to a 2-2 score line.
The long search for a ground came to fruition on Sunday 7 June 1964 when Norton Lane was officially opened and Hengrove Athletic took up residence.
As a footnote, there is also wartime history to the club colours of green and white. With rationing and many shortages, football shirts were virtually unobtainable, so all members of Hengrove Utd donated an ordinary white shirt and a mother of one of the players kindly dyed them green in the bath at her Knowle home. The colour green had no symbolic meaning. It was the only colour available at the time! The founding fathers of Hengrove Athletic then agreed to retain these colours for the new club.
CLUB HONOURS
Alf Bosley Cup Winners – 1958/9 & 1963/4
Somerset Junior Cup Winners - 1964/5
Somerset League Cup Winners - 1979/80
Somerset Senior Cup Winners - 1979/80
Somerset Senior Cup Runners Up – 2003/4 & 2004/5
Somerset County Prem Division Winners – 2005/6
