A Short History Of Forest Of Dean L.F.C.
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Forest Of Dean Ladies Football Club began life in 1995 as Tuffley Athletic W.F.C. playing in the Third Division North of the South West Women’s Football League. The majority of Tuffley’s first recruits were totally new to football, and at the start of the season they faced some very tough opponents and endured some heavy defeats against the likes of Cam Bulldogs and Merthyr Tydfil. However, before long they scored their first goal, won their first game, and eventually finished the season in third place. At the end of the 1995/1996 Season, Tuffley were offered the use of Cinderford Town AFC’s facilities, and so they changed their name to Cinderford Town Ladies FC and moved to Cinderford. The 1996/1997 Season saw a re-organisation of the SWWFL, and Cinderford played in the Second Division North. Cinderford had a good season finishing third in the league - the highlight being a tough Semi-final battle against Bath Ladies. The 1997/1998 Season saw another re-organisation of the SWWFL, and despite losing half of their players, Cinderford were promoted into the First Division. Cinderford had a tough season and ended up bottom, but chalked up another semi-final appearance. The Summer prior to the 1998/1999 Season brought new blood and new hope to Cinderford Town Ladies when a number of players from the City Of Gloucester team joined the club. They had enough players to set up a Reserve Team to play in the SWWFL Second Division. Cinderford’s First Team went on to enjoy their best season - winning both the First Division title, and the Cup - suffering one defeat in the League all season. Also along the way they got to the Semi-finals of the Gloucestershire FA County Cup, and the Quarter Finals of the Pat Sowden Cup. During the 1999/2000 season, now playing at Harrow Hill, Cinderford Town Ladies FC fielded just one team in the SWWFL Premier Division. They had another good season - finishing fourth on goal difference, and just four points behind Clevedon United, who took the title. They reached the final of the Gloucestershire County Cup - losing 4-2 to South West Combination side Bristol Rovers. Over the Summer of 2000, Cinderford Town linked up with Ross Town AFC and became Ross Town Ladies. Unable to play outside of Gloucestershire, due to the FA pyramid of football, Ross Town Ladies were kindly allowed to continue playing their games at Harrow Hill, until half way through the season when the bad weather caused massive fixture congestion. It was then that Broadwell AFC stepped in and offered the use of their pitch for the rest of the season. Ross Town finished the 2000/2001 season as Runners-Up of the SWWFL - beaten in the Premier only by Champions Newton Abbot. The only other team to beat Ross were South West Combination team Cheltenham, who won 2-1 after extra time in the Gloucestershire County Cup. Ross Town went on to win the Herefordshire County Cup - beating Hereford United 7 - 2. Broadwell AFC extended the use of their facilities to Ross Town Ladies for the 2001/2002 season, and despite finishing the season second from bottom due to a number of teams folding, Ross Town Ladies beat Frome United 1-0 in the Final of the Chairman's Intermediate Cup. Keen to play their football at Talbot’s Pleck in Ross-on-Wye for the 2002/2003 season, Ross Town Ladies resigned from the SWWFL and joined the West Midlands Women's Regional Football League First Division (South). They finished the season in third, and were Runners-Up in the Herefordshire County Cup - beaten 4-2 in the Final by Headless Cross. The 2003/2004 season saw Ross knocked out of the Worcestershire County Cup at the Semi-Final stage - Hereford Pegasus winning 3-0 on penalties after extra time saw the game tied at 2-2. Ross went on to finish in fourth place in the WMWRFL First Division (South). The beginning of the 2004/2005 season saw the formation of Ross Town Ladies Reserves, who joined the Gloucestershire County League Second Division, and the addition of U12s and U14s teams from Ross Rockets. This was a tough season for Ross Town Ladies Reserves. A number of First Team players left the club, and as Reserve Team players were drafted in to fill the gaps, the Reserve Team were left to play almost a third of their games with less than 11 players. The Reserve Team decided to leave Ross for the 2005/2006 season and set up on their own - playing in the Forest of Dean, where most of their players were from. After playing for a season in Coleford and finishing a creditable 3rd in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League Division Two, the Foresters were offered the use of the excellent facilities of Ellwood AFC. Forest of Dean Ladies finished the 2006/2007 season in 3rd place and the 2007/2008 season in 4th place, but a superb 2008/2009 season saw them runners-up in Division Two and the only team to beat champions Swindon Supermarine in the League and League Cup and going on to win 4-1 against the Division One champions Cleeve West Town in the Final, and so earning promotion to Division One. The 2009/2010 season saw the Foresters finish as Division One Runners-Up to Swindon Supermarine. |
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