The people, officials and teams behind Bristol's 120-year-old football league, where 'every game is played at home', will be featured in a new BBC podcast.
Always at Home: Bristol's Beautiful Game, produced by BBC Radio Bristol, explores the unique Bristol Downs League, the city's special history and the many famous people who played there.
Among them is former England cricket captain and Gloucestershire batsman Wally Hammond. Former England football captain and Arsenal player Eddie Hapgood. Steve Stacey was the first African-American to play professional soccer in England. and current Labor MP Kee Dadd.
All four divisions of the league play on the same set of pitches at Clifton Downs every Saturday at 2pm. This means that each game is played 'at home', with over 41 teams, over 1,500 players, and over 400 games per season.
David Graveney, former Gloucestershire University captain and later England Cricket chairman of selectors, called his time at Downs “the happiest period of my sporting career”.
“People look at me and say, are you insane or what? But it was the most special and fun period,” he said.
“You were selected for the national cricket team, you traveled the world, you played for Gloucestershire, you captained Gloucestershire and I can tell you, those were the happiest times.”
Former Scotland and Celtic goalkeeper Jonathan Gould is another player who played in the league.
“The weather hasn't always been nice at the Downs and it's been a bit rough. It's incredible to think that so many people come here at the weekend and enjoy a game of football,” he said. Ta.
“How do we make sure this still exists 100 years from now? Maybe we put money into it to keep it going. The referees want to be here, the players want to be here. It's part of Bristol's Saturday afternoon culture and it's incredible.”
The podcast also talks about Richard Morris, a professional referee in Leagues 1 and 2 as a volunteer with the Bristol Downs League, and looks at the history of Snead Park FC, the league's oldest continuously running team, dating back to 1897. .
Always at Home: Bristol's Beautiful Game is available on BBC Sounds.
