Castle Combe Colts topped the table of Charter Standard clubs across the entire region by scooping a hugely prestigious Football Association awards double.
When Colts chairman David Lewis and secretary Trevor Newman accepted an invitation to annual Wiltshire FA Community Awards gala dinner, staged at Trowbridge’s Civil Hall on July 20, the height of their expectations was either an honourable mention or a repeat of the Highly Commended spot they earned at the same event in 2016.
Following immensely deserved gongs for grassroots heroes including referees, groundsmen, and volunteers, the awards for individual clubs were saved until last. Then, as Lewis and Newman listened in, a citation began which kept ringing with familiarity…
It included: "Formed in 1997, up to 300 players, 16 teams, highly successful Minikickers division, first club in Wiltshire to raise money specifically for and purchase a community defibrillator.
And ended with: "The award for Best Charter Standard Club in Wiltshire 2016/17 goes to CASTLE COMBE COLTS FC.”
But that piece of news was just the beginning, as the master of ceremonies continued ….
"The Colts were further entered into the South West Regional competition and emerged victorious in that as well. The judges recognised the club for an all-inclusive style, respectful club ethos and an attention to detail, meaning that all Colts emerge from the process better equipped for life than when they started there.”
After collecting the awards, a proud and delighted Newman said: “This is a truly amazing honour when you think of the numbers of clubs and all the fantastic volunteers driving those clubs forward.
“I have to say the level of support we are given by the Wiltshire FA – particularly the likes of Tim Hall, Kate Foote and Jodie Jordan – is outstanding. These people also repeatedly go 'above and beyond' the call of duty - we thank them so much.
“I say it often but never has it had a truer meaning - BE PROUD TO BE A COLT.”

Castle Combe Colts’ annual Festival of Football demonstrated that the beautiful game is alive and kicking as 200 teams showed off their skills in the sunshine.
A wonderful weekend of action featured the full range of age groups, with Reception and Year 1 children from the Colts’ own MiniKickers section having their chance to shine on the same pitches that saw under-16s boys and girls teams battle it out for the silverware.

Teams and their armies of supporters came from across Wiltshire, Bath, Bristol and Gloucestershire and were able to savour an event that ran like clockwork across three days thanks to the tireless efforts of the Colts’ committee, parent volunteers who parked cars, flipped burgers and served tea and coffee, as well as a mightily impressive team of referees assembled by Julian Sattin.
In all, 522 matches took place on immaculately prepared pitches and the increasingly-popular showpiece served up the usual mixture of cheers and tears from the participating teams. Respect – a word at the very heart of the Colts’ ethos – fantastic sportsmanship and fun were the real winners, however, and ensured all who visited the club’s picturesque headquarters enjoyed a day to remember.

The hosts came so close to grabbing the honours in two age groups, with the under-11 Whites and under-14 Whites edged out in close finals by Bishops Cannings and Bath City Blacks respectively. Trophies were largely shared across the board, with Bath Arsenal under-7s and FC Chippenham Jaguars under-8s collecting the two Fair Play Awards.

Proud Colts chairman David Lewis paid tribute to all who made the footballing feast possible, saying: “It was great to see so many different grassroots clubs represented across the weekend and we hope their experience was such that they will consider visiting us for many years to come.

“It takes a fantastic effort by many volunteers to ensure our tournament goes ahead, is run smoothly and this experience is an enjoyable one. I would like to personally thank every volunteer for their contribution to our tournament and extend and additional thank-you to our committee, who spend many hours in preparation and planning for the weekend.”
The club also extended its thanks to key tournament supporters the Lysley Family, Colin Ward, Chippenham Lions Club, Chippenham Pallet Company, MJ Church, Practical Van Hire and By Brook Valley School for in helping to make the event such an enormous success.

ROLL OF HONOUR 2017
U7 Fair Play: Bath Arsenal
U8 Fair Play: FC Chippenham Jaguars
U9: Swindon Supermarine Giants 0 FC Abbeymeads Tigers 1
U10: AFC Corsham Jaguars 0 AFC Corsham Panthers 1
U11 Sunday: Bishops Cannings Corinthians 1 CCCFC Whites 0
U11 Friday: Bradford Town Mustangs 1 Stratton B 2
U12: Bishops Cannings 3 Malmesbury Warriors 1
U13: FC Chippenham White (2) 1 FC Calne White 0
U14: CCCFC Whites 1 Bath City Blacks 2
U15: Lydiard Millicent A 4 AFC Corsham Jaguars 1
U16: FC Chippenham 0 Croft Junior Red (2) 1
U16 Girls: Melksham Town Yellow 0 Whitchurch Sports A 3

Castle Combe Colts FC invites you all – old friends and new – to come and join us in a Festival of Football this summer.
Our annual tournament will take place at our picturesque home in Upper Castle Combe and clubs may enter a maximum number of 2 teams in any or all of the following age groups:

FRIDAY, JUNE 30th 2017: U14 Girls & U16 Girls

SATURDAY, JULY 1st 2017: U7, U8, U10, U12, U14 Mixed & U16 Boys

SUNDAY, JULY 2nd 2017:U9, U11, U13 Mixed & U15 Boys

Please note these allocations may be subject to change and depend on the number of entries received
An Entry Form and a set of sanctioned Rules are  available for download below.
This year we are excited to extend our girls’ competition to include U14 and U16 teams on the opening night. There are a maximum of ten teams per age group – so be quick! This does mean we will drop our U17/U18 Lads competition for a year. This is because the club doesn’t have a team in that age group this year – but hopefully it will return in 2018.
Every effort will be made to accommodate an entry of two teams per team per age group, but should this not be possible any money banked for the second team will be refunded.
All entries will be dealt with on a first come, first served basis. The entry fee has been pegged at £20 per team again. CCCFC will charge £3 per car to cover parking and a programme. Additional programmes can be purchased from our sellers at £2 each.
Cheques should be made payable to Castle Combe Colts FC and be sent with an application form to Katie Sheppard at the address shown on the form. The closing date for entries is May 31st 2017. Note that no places will be confirmed until after this date and only then when the fee is paid in. Confirmations will be sent by email so please include your email address. If you would like confirmation by post, you’ll need to include a paid SAE.
Please note that the tournament is only open to teams affiliated to their own County Football Association. No academy teams or players are allowed – see the Rules.
There will be ample parking within a short walking distance of our sportsfield.
No refunds shall be considered should any team be withdrawn from the tournament, within two weeks of the event. Those of you who have been with us before will know that the entire field is used for what it is intended for – playing football or watching it –  and it is a wondrous sight. We have to employ a strict policy of no dogs or gazebos as there is simply not enough room.
If there are any further questions please contact us by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  
We very much look forward to welcoming you in the summer.
Yours in sport,
Trevor Newman (CCCFC Secretary)

Attachments:

CCCFC Tournament 2017 Invite Letter.pdf	211 Kb
CCCFC Tournament 2017 Entry Form.pdf	231 Kb
CCCFC Tournament 2017 Rules.pdf	294 Kb

The 300 young players of Castle Combe Colts FC paid tribute to those who sacrificed themselves to protect and secure our freedom by wearing special fabric poppies on their black and white shirts across two weekends in November.
The club took delivery of the poppies, the symbol of remembrance of soldiers who died in war, ahead of Armistice Day and children from all age groups have been proudly sporting them at pitches all over Wiltshire.
Pictured above are the U15s and U9s Blacks paying their respects before Mid Wilts League matches on November 13. Below are the U14s, U13s, U11s, U9s Whites and U7s ahead of their respective fixtures on November 6:

Castle Combe Colts welcomed nearly 200 teams from across the West Country and beyond as the club’s ever-popular summer tournament once again showcased all that is great about the grassroots game in England.

The 1,500 youth footballers on show ranged in age from the Colts’ youngest members, the under-6s MiniKickers, right through to the under-18s, who raised the curtain on the three-day festival on Friday evening alongside an inaugural competition for under-15s girls that was supported by six clubs from Wiltshire and Bristol.

Respect and sportsmanship were two primary themes of the weekend and the home club’s under-8s led by example as their Blacks team picked up one of the two fair play awards on offer on Saturday.
Colts chairman David Lewis said: “We are determined to see our tournament played in a good spirit and thank all of the participating clubs for making sure that tradition was maintained once again this year.

“Win, lose or draw, the fact we are involved in a sport we all love while upholding the values promoted by the FA’s Respect guidelines should make us all proud. We provide these events for the enjoyment of our children and we must never forget this.
“We hope that many friendships have been formed throughout the weekend and that all of our visitors, old and new, continue to consider us a tournament worth attending in future years.”

Mike Cook and Jo Hughes oversaw the organisation of the tournament and were assisted across the weekend by the club’s tireless committee members and a host of parent volunteers, who helped man the control tower, park cars and serve hundreds of beefburgers, hot dogs and other refreshments. The 450 matches that packed out the programme were expertly officiated by Julian Sattin’s team of enthusiastic referees.

Lewis was quick to thank them all for their respective contributions to what he called a “rich experience”, together with the invaluable support provided by Wavin Ltd, By Brook School, Chippenham Lions Club, Practical Van Hire, Superior Printing, Wiltshire Wood Recycling, Colin Ward and the Lysley Family.

ROLL OF HONOUR

Under-7 Fair play: Derry Hill Firestorm
Under-8 Fair play: Castle Combe Colts Blacks
Under-9: FC Chippenham Warriors 0 Bath City White 2
Under-10: FC Calne 1 Bishops Cannings A 3
Under-11: Bath City Youth 0 Trowbridge Town Raiders 0 (Bath win on pens)
Under-12: Trowbridge Town Stripes 0 Harwell and Hendred Youth 3
Under-13: Liden Community Green 3 Liden Community White 1
Under-14: Northside Athletic A 1 Melksham Town Tornadoes 1 (Melksham win on pens)
Under-15 Girls: Westbury Amazons Yellow 0 Melksham Town Yellow 1 (aet)
Under-15: Devizes Town A 0 FC Chippenham Youth 1
Under-16: FC Chippenham Youth 0 Melksham Town 1
Under-18: Melksham Town 2 Larkhall Athletic 1